How to run TI programs

[scanline_]

Hi fellow 99ers!

 

It's ages ago I've touched a 99er and apparently I forgot the basics

I stumbled across a website that hosts some Extended Basic games.

Some are disk images and some are TIFILES and for some reason I can't get the TIFILES games to run.

For example there's a game called 'Alien Landing'. The requirements say I need the Extended Basic cartridge

and the executable to be run is 'Alienland'. Alright so far, I started TIDir, created a new empty diskimage and put

that TIFILES .bin file into. One thing that popped straight into my eyes is that the TI filename is 'ALIENARC'.

Anyway, I've 'mounted' the diskimage and tried to load it like:

OLD DSK1.ALIENARC

 

but all I get is an 'I/O ERROR 02'.

 

After a deeper look at TIDir I realized that the game is of type 'INT/FIX' and not 'PROGRAM'.

Unfortunately I really can't remember what that is and I'm completely lost!

 

How do I load and run such a game?

Furthermore what are those 'DIS/FIX', 'DIS/VAR', 'INT/FIX', 'INT/VAR' filetypes anyway?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[+Lee Stewart]

First off, you need to read through the New to the group? TI-99/4A FAQ, Hardware and software resources READ FIRST! thread on this forum.

 

I am guessing you are using an emulator, but you have not shared which one.

 

41 minutes ago, scanline_ said:

Alright so far, I started TIDir, created a new empty disk image and put that TIFILES .bin file into.

 

Not sure what you mean by “.bin”.

 

42 minutes ago, scanline_ said:

Furthermore what are those 'DIS/FIX', 'DIS/VAR', 'INT/FIX', 'INT/VAR' filetypes anyway?

 

These are file formats:

• DIS = DISplay, i.e., human readable, format
• INT = INTernal, i.e., binary, format
• FIX = FIXed record size
• VAR = VARiable record size

...lee

[scanline_]

Hi Lee.

 

Well, I read quite a lot but this particular problem doesn't show up.

The emulator doesn't really matter as I generally need to know how to run that TIFILES file from

a disk image. With '.bin' I'm refering to the file extension of that particular file. If it helps, the

game in question is posted on this site: http://tigameshelf.net/xb.htm

'Alien Landing' (Alienarc.bin) almost at the bottom of the page.

 

I just noticed that there are actually two files in this file - I thought a TIFILES file is a single

file only. A double-lick on the file inside TIDir reevals that there is 'ALIENBEST' and 'ALIENLAND'

of type INT/VAR, INT/FIX respectively.

[+Lee Stewart]

 

Did you read the instructions at the beginning of the TI Game Shelf site? Most of your questions are answered there.

 

59 minutes ago, scanline_ said:

I thought a TIFILES file is a single file only.

 

It refers, indeed, to the format of a single TI file, but the file you referenced is an archive file that contains TIFILES format files. As per the website’s instructions, you need to remove the “.bin” extension and un-archive the files with Barry Boone’s Archiver or, as you discovered, just open the archive file with TI99Dir. You then need to copy those files to a directory for FIAD use (Files In A Directory) with Classic99 or into a DSK disk image where that may be required/desired. Once you have the two files extracted, you can run the game in XB with

OLD DSK1.ALIENLAND

...lee

[scanline_]

Quote

Did you read the instructions at the beginning of the TI Game Shelf site?

Of course I did - it's refering to *.arc files not *.bin though so the confusion - meanwhile I figured it must be some kind of compressed format.

Thanks for your effort!

[WhataKowinkydink]

2 hours ago, scanline_ said:

Of course I did - it's refering to *.arc files not *.bin though so the confusion - meanwhile I figured it must be some kind of compressed format.

Thanks for your effort!

Exactly right ARC files are compressed archives.  You need to extract the archive then you should have your .bin.

 

5 hours ago, Lee Stewart said:

I am guessing you are using an emulator, but you have not shared which one.

Sure he didn't name a name, but this was clear enough :-/

6 hours ago, scanline_ said:

I stumbled across a website that hosts some Extended Basic games.

 

[+Lee Stewart]

2 hours ago, scanline_ said:

Of course I did - it's referring to *.arc files not *.bin though so the confusion - meanwhile I figured it must be some kind of compressed format. Thanks for your effort!

 

It was not referring to “.arc” files by extension. It was referring to ARC files, i.e., TI archive files. The TI archive files end in “ARC”—this is not a DOS or Windows convention. They do not have to end that way. It is simply an indicator. The file, ALIENARC, ends in “ARC” per the website’s information. And...instruction (1) is very clear regarding that type of file on the website, i.e., that it artificially has “.bin” appended (probably to allow it to be posted), which must be removed to use Boone’s ARCHIVER on the file, but, as you discovered, does not prevent TI99Dir from extracting the ARChived files from it.

 

...lee

[+arcadeshopper]

Pretty sure a blablac.bin file is a CARTRIDGE BINARY  not a FIAD  load it as a cart?

 

[+Lee Stewart]

7 hours ago, arcadeshopper said:

Pretty sure a blablac.bin file is a CARTRIDGE BINARY  not a FIAD  load it as a cart?

 

Nope. When it says it needs the XB cartridge and that the files are TIFILES format, it is not a cartridge binary. The instructions say to strip off the “.bin” extension to copy to a DSK image, but that is not necessary for Classic99. Also, if the TI filename ends in “ARC” (not an extension), it is an archive file extractable with Barry Boone’s ARCHIVER (after stripping away “.bin”) or with TI99Dir without bothering to strip the artificial extension.

 

...lee

[+arcadeshopper]

 
Nope. When it says it needs the XB cartridge and that the files are TIFILES format, it is not a cartridge binary. The instructions say to strip off the “.bin” extension to copy to a DSK image, but that is not necessary for Classic99. Also, if the TI filename ends in “ARC” (not an extension), it is an archive file extractable with Barry Boone’s ARCHIVER (after stripping away “.bin” or with TI99Dir without bothering to strip the artificial extension.
 
...lee

Well that's not very smart because everything that's .bin is a cartridge everywhere else.

Archives should be plainly marked as archives. Binary should be plainly marked as binary

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[+Lee Stewart]

Just now, arcadeshopper said:

Well that's not very smart because everything that's .bin is a cartridge everywhere else.

Archives should be plainly marked as archives. Binary should be plainly marked as binary

 

I agree! I was guessing that the extension was added to allow extension-less files to be uploaded. Most of us would use “.txt” for that. The (Boone) archives do seem to be clearly marked by insuring the filename (before extension) ends in “ARC”—but, there is still that awkward “.bin”.

 

...lee

[+arcadeshopper]

 
I agree! I was guessing that the extension was added to allow extension-less files to be uploaded. Most of us would use “.txt” for that. The (Boone) archives do seem to be clearly marked by insuring the filename (before extension) ends in “ARC”—but, there is still that awkward “.bin”.
 
...lee

Arc or ark in the old days, I used ARK to differentiate a TI file from a archive from a PC file

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[+OLD CS1]

IIRC, the TI Game Shelf is hosted on Earthlink which has no MIME type for .dsk, but .bin is recognized as APPLICATION/OCTECT-STREAM so it can be downloaded.  Maybe uploading DSK files as ZIPs might be helpful.