xbii Research on Myarc Extended Basic II

[RXB]

1 hour ago, arcadeshopper said:

@Lee Stewart this is the thread I referenced on the zoom today 

So we only have the XB II code for Geneve and not for the TI99/4A only version as the Geneve version will not run on a TI99/4A as far as I know.

I could be wrong but would like the Source Code for XB II of the TI99/4A

[+9640News]

14 hours ago, RXB said:

So we only have the XB II code for Geneve and not for the TI99/4A only version as the Geneve version will not run on a TI99/4A as far as I know.

I could be wrong but would like the Source Code for XB II of the TI99/4A

I have tried to acquire that source code, but no luck thus far. 

[+dhe]

A while back, I sent an original Wincherster drive that came from Dee Turner, which might have came from Mac McCormick to @Ksarul - we were kind of hoping some McCormick source code might be on it....

[kl99-interims]

On 7/1/2020 at 6:59 PM, retroclouds said:

Do we have a timeline to compare the TI Basic in the 99/2 with Extended Basic II on the 99/8.

It's confirmed that the TI-Basic on the 99/2 is a complete rewrite in assembly language (but lacking graphics manipulation commands on the 99/2).

 

 

There is no Grom chips in the 99/2.

There is no TMS99xx VDP chips in the 99/2.

There is no Video RAM in the 99/2.

Instead a certain memory range in CPU RAM is meant for video output and those 768 bytes are displayed on the screen, all interaction towards video output is different.

The leader of the development group did a large article somewhen and confirmed in there that the BASIC was outsourced to some university group.

Afaik we don't have the source code to the system, only compiled two versions of rom dumps (from me and fabrice).

greetings, kl99 (some atariage.com account issue)

[kl99-interims]

On 6/30/2020 at 9:37 AM, retroclouds said:

4. BASIC on the TUTOR

• I believe the Tutor Basic was pretty much the 99/8 Armadillo Basic (1).
  However, here I read that it’s in fact GPL (needs to be confirmed)

Best is you watch this video entry, which was revealing proof my research that Tutor BASIC can actually be compiled out of the TI Extended BASIC source code in most parts, with only a few bytes/lines in source code adapted.

 

if the video quality is not good, i still have the original video file somewhere.

 

And here is the matching Forum thread by me:

 

[+hloberg]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:16 AM, 9640News said:

I have tried to acquire that source code, but no luck thus far. 

in that MyXBII source 'doesn't exist' or 'someone got it but doesn't want to give it' ?

[+Ksarul]

1 hour ago, hloberg said:

in that MyXBII source 'doesn't exist' or 'someone got it but doesn't want to give it' ?

A lot of the programming was initially done by Mack McCormick, but that code was not on the hard disks he passed on to the community when he bailed from the TI while he was in Germany. Those disks did include a number of useful bits of source code, to include the source for Extended BASIC II as implemented on the 99/8 and the DSR source for the Myarc Floppy controller. That data has been available on WHT for quite some time. I have one of Mack's original drives and Dee Turner had the other. Dee's drive eventually ended up in the hands of @dhe, who sent it to me to verify the contents. There was no additional code on it other than what I'd seen 30 years ago though.

 

As to the subject of code that exists/doesn't exist, the only likely source of a copy of it would be Lou Philips. I believe that was who @9640News contacted to try to obtain it, but Lou may not have it anymore or may not be motivated enough to look for it. Matters not, as the results of either answer would be the same: no additional source code to peruse.

[+9640News]

2 hours ago, hloberg said:

in that MyXBII source 'doesn't exist' or 'someone got it but doesn't want to give it' ?

If anyone has the source, it is Lou and he has thus far not worked through all his disks or backups to find it.  Lou has had other priorities and pulling out his hardware has not been a priority.

 

Beery

[+hloberg]

48 minutes ago, Ksarul said:

...

 

As to the subject of code that exists/doesn't exist, the only likely source of a copy of it would be Lou Philips. I believe that was who @9640News contacted to try to obtain it, but Lou may not have it anymore or may not be motivated enough to look for it. Matters not, as the results of either answer would be the same: no additional source code to peruse.

sigh, modding it to use SAMS would be really cool.

[+dhe]

1 hour ago, hloberg said:

sigh, modding it to use SAMS would be really cool.

 

 I've thought the same myself....

[+retroclouds]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:35 AM, Ksarul said:

A lot of the programming was initially done by Mack McCormick, but that code was not on the hard disks he passed on to the community when he bailed from the TI while he was in Germany. Those disks did include a number of useful bits of source code, to include the source for Extended BASIC II as implemented on the 99/8 and the DSR source for the Myarc Floppy controller. That data has been available on WHT for quite some time.

@Ksarul do you have any pointers in what directory and disk image files the above can be found on WHT ? Thanks.

[+Ksarul]

3 hours ago, retroclouds said:

@Ksarul do you have any pointers in what directory and disk image files the above can be found on WHT ? Thanks.

Here is the directory with the 99/8 source disks and source for the Personality Card.

[jbdigriz]

I've mentioned it before, but I do have some MXBII sources on floppy. Unknown condition and uncertain if they are only the  Geneve version, but I believe there may be 99/4A versions as well. They came with the developer Geneve I got from someone other than McCormick. It will be a minor miracle if the disks are readable at this point, and I can't promise anything, but I'm trying.                                                                                                                                                  

[+9640News]

26 minutes ago, jbdigriz said:

I've mentioned it before, but I do have some MXBII sources on floppy. Unknown condition and uncertain if they are only the  Geneve version, but I believe there may be 99/4A versions as well. They came with the developer Geneve I got from someone other than McCormick. It will be a minor miracle if the disks are readable at this point, and I can't promise anything, but I'm trying.                                                                                                                                                  

Definitely if you can extract the source, it would be much appreciated for many!

[JasonACT]

Just linking threads, please ignore if you're a regular member here...

 

On 2/14/2024 at 8:48 PM, JasonACT said:

SAMS is slow...

DSK1.zip 40.58 kB · 21 downloads

 

[RXB]

Mmm running tests on various XB's for speed test:

 

90 CALL SPRITE(#1,65,2,20,20)
100 CALL CLEAR
110 OPEN #1:"CLOCK"
120 INPUT #1:A$,B$,C$
130 FOR C=1 TO 10000
140 CALL POSITION(#1,20,20)
150 NEXT C
160 INPUT #1:D$,E$,F$
170 PRINT A$,D$:B$,E$,C$,F$
180 END

Hit RUN and it says SYNTAX ERROR IN 140?

 

Save program to disk and it runs fine from XB, XB3, XBGEM and RXB 2024B?

[+OLD CS1]

34 minutes ago, RXB said:

Mmm running tests on various XB's for speed test:

 

90 CALL SPRITE(#1,65,2,20,20)
100 CALL CLEAR
110 OPEN #1:"CLOCK"
120 INPUT #1:A$,B$,C$
130 FOR C=1 TO 10000
140 CALL POSITION(#1,20,20)
150 NEXT C
160 INPUT #1:D$,E$,F$
170 PRINT A$,D$:B$,E$,C$,F$
180 END

Hit RUN and it says SYNTAX ERROR IN 140?

 

Save program to disk and it runs fine from XB, XB3, XBGEM and RXB 2024B?

Should that be CALL LOCATE() ?

[RXB]

5 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Should that be CALL LOCATE() ?

OMG you are right I have it backwards should be CALL POSITION(#1,X,Y)

My notes are wrong as I just looked it up in XB manual page 146

[+OLD CS1]

4 hours ago, RXB said:

OMG you are right I have it backwards should be CALL POSITION(#1,X,Y)

My notes are wrong as I just looked it up in XB manual page 146

What gets me is how the names technically make sense, but seem intuitively backward to me:

 

POSITION returns the position of a sprite, but in my mind it should position the sprite.

LOCATE places the sprite in a specific location, but in my mind it should locate the sprite.

[Gary from OPA]

Since I have a myarc 512k card myself. I can run it stock. But it seems the eeprom on my myarc is missing the 128kos support. Anyone have the upgraded Myarc dsr and the original files?

[+9640News]

I think this is the file you need.Myarc512K.BIN

[Gary from OPA]

55 minutes ago, 9640News said:

I think this is the file you need.Myarc512K.BIN

thanks i will test that out.

[atrax27407]

FWIW, that file is identical to the one I have in my archives as Vn 2.1 which was the last official MYARC DSR release.

Edited February 27 by atrax27407