InfernalKeith Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 8 hours ago, Casey said: For me, it would be the beige sidecar Hexbus interface and speech synthesizer that were shown on the box of the beige 99/4A but never released. Several years ago I picked up a NIB beige 99/4A from EBay - it was fun to open that up as I remember receiving the same for Christmas when I was a child. The first TI I owned was a new beige 99/4A from Triton Products, bought with my paper route money. I still remember what it smelled like when I opened the box. One of these days when I've wrangled more space I want to have full black-and-silver and beige systems set up side-by-side. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262672 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) 23 hours ago, Mtlatc said: Looking for opinions. What is the Holy Grail of the TI99 4/A world? All retro systems seem to have one. Is it a rare cart? A obscure piece of hardware? What says you, the quasi experts? TIA. My single mother bought mine for AU$229 (with Parsec) a few months before the end of 1983. It was my x-mas present (at my request) when I was 11. I somehow convinced her to let me have the 2 manuals to read, and read over and over I did, even though the computer itself was hidden away until the big day... I sold it in 1988 when I was 16. It had enough GRAM and RAM to host TI Extended Basic (the only paged ROM cartridge I owned, and every other cartridge I was able to copy) and the internal 32KB expansion (+16KB cart) was on the 16bit data-bus, which was both very fast... and sometimes a bit rubbish being too fast, I think I hacked TI-EXB's V/GRAM routine for that, and I added a switch on the rear to slow it back down. Needless to say, I knew the schematics of this machine like the back of my hand, as it was all my own work knowing no-one around me who was at all that interested. I had also cracked Diskassembler's protection, pressing my *LOAD interrupt button just at the right time, listening to the disk drive, and saving off a copy. Took a week or two, plus a few other tricks, it was the only properly protected software I had ever seen. But on this topic I say... Make your own Grail. Edited May 31, 2023 by JasonACT 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262726 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 13 hours ago, arcadeshopper said: Pcode PEB cards aren't rare, working ones are I have 10 broke ones here.. Are they fixable? It would be a damn shame if they were not... Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262728 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 For me, one of the CP/M cards complete with original disks would be absolute Nirvana. Still trying to get into @Ksarul's will specifically for that purpose 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262729 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 15 minutes ago, Vorticon said: with original disks I'm with you there. 21 years ago, I knew I would someday get back into the TI-99... I saw an eBay auction for the TI-EA package and I snipered it... The guy sent me the package, then sent a message saying "sorry, but I couldn't find the floppy disks". I've still got the cartridge and manual (with corrections, one by TI [a single page printed incorrectly] and some by him - which are the same as noted by TI in the final updates). Still, it was the manual that taught me so much about computers (but was also so different to everyone else's damn it). 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262735 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhodes Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 There were TI99's that were "re-branded" and used in schools. The name eludes me though. Some one here has to know, I'm sure. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262769 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 My holy grail would probably be any unreleased prototype or a WIP version of a released game. There seem to be a lot of unreleased games for the TI-99 but I don't think many of them have been properly studied (where did they come from? how complete are they? Why didn't they get released? etc.). Other than a new prototype I think my ultimate 'want to have' is a Geneve card simply because I'd like to have a use for my PEB again (I use a CF7+ for disk games and 32K). That and it can run Tomy Tutor games (with some modification) which I have an interest in. The whole story of the Geneve always interested me. 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262781 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 36 minutes ago, jrhodes said: There were TI99's that were "re-branded" and used in schools. The name eludes me though. Some one here has to know, I'm sure. Control Data I think? I have never seen one of those, but it would be very cool to have one. 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262788 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switch1995 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 For me: The cup that Jesus drank from when he programmed on the TI-99/4a. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262793 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 2 hours ago, Vorticon said: Are they fixable? It would be a damn shame if they were not... I've fixed 3 so far.. two needed a new 245 (known issue where they blow up the 245 if left powered on for a long time) and one needed new roms the mask roms were not working correctly. There is one date code that all of them are bad from the factory and I haven't dug into fixing them yet. This was documented BITD and everyone shipped them to TI for replacement. I have a few of those here. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262795 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 1 hour ago, Switch1995 said: For me: The cup that Jesus drank from when he programmed on the TI-99/4a. @Ksarul was there and probably has it. 1 9 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262817 Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdugnate Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) On 5/30/2023 at 9:07 AM, OLD CS1 said: Since we are being honest, do you have any examples of your indictments? As anyone is capable, you are welcome to create a thread of your grievances for honest discussion rather than taking troll-like pot-shots in other peoples' threads. did i miss something? for rare-type stuff, isn't there a P-Code sidecar and some kind of Video Modulation-type sidecar that are relatively rare? edit to add: ah, I see that @arcadeshopper beat me to that one. 😅 Edited May 31, 2023 by digdugnate 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262822 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 1 hour ago, digdugnate said: did i miss something? No. Just someone we used to know... 1 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262860 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apersson850 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 19 hours ago, arcadeshopper said: Pcode PEB cards aren't rare, working ones are For us who don't have it just to look at, but to be able to acutally use it, it's the same thing. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262884 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apersson850 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 4 hours ago, Tempest said: My holy grail would probably be any unreleased prototype or a WIP version of a released game. I have Return to pirate's isle from when it was still on a diskette. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262888 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 9 minutes ago, apersson850 said: I have Return to pirate's isle from when it was still on a diskette. Wasn't that a commercial release though? I've seen the disk and it looks like a regular release (just on disk). Or was the disk version never released? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262892 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 My holy grail is some one to find the Choplifter prototype and Atarisoft's Joust. Did Atarisoft and Parker Bros. have any other prototypes in development that we didn't know of?? Also to see a Video Controller Card complete with cables along with one of compatible video recorders. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262906 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 It is kind of weird that the TI-99 never got a port of Choplifter as pretty much every other computer of the time did. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262915 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 4 hours ago, digdugnate said: did i miss something? Nothing of value. 4 hours ago, digdugnate said: Video Modulation-type sidecar that are relatively rare? I want to say that someone was, at one time, working on a clone of the Mechatronics side-car. 1 hour ago, apersson850 said: For us who don't have it just to look at, but to be able to acutally use it, it's the same thing. I had a full set for a while but could not find the time to work with it. Kind-of disappointed, kind-of not. 28 minutes ago, Torrax said: My holy grail is some one to find the Choplifter prototype and Atarisoft's Joust. Okay, yeah, I would like to see those. 28 minutes ago, Torrax said: Did Atarisoft and Parker Bros. have any other prototypes in development that we didn't know of?? OTTOMH, Tutankham, but that has turned up. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262923 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 13 minutes ago, Tempest said: It is kind of weird that the TI-99 never got a port of Choplifter as pretty much every other computer of the time did. Especially since ColecoVision and MSX got one, which are the same VDP. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5262924 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 6 hours ago, Tempest said: Wasn't that a commercial release though? I've seen the disk and it looks like a regular release (just on disk). Or was the disk version never released? There was never an authentic disk release of Return to Pirate's Isle, so far as I've seen. Tex-Comp did one of their notorious "Backup" disks of the cartridge, and at least one WIP version on disk made it into the wild as well. Lastly, there were several cartridge cracks out there on disk. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5263070 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 1 minute ago, Ksarul said: There was never an authentic disk release of Return to Pirate's Isle, so far as I've seen. Tex-Comp did one of their notorious "Backup" disks of the cartridge, and at least one WIP version on disk made it into the wild as well. Lastly, there were several cartridge cracks out there on disk. A wip version? Tell me more. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5263071 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 11 hours ago, jrhodes said: There were TI99's that were "re-branded" and used in schools. The name eludes me though. Some one here has to know, I'm sure. Two options there: Control Data with their Plato systems for schools, or Tronics, which primarily used an Amway style pyramid sales system targeted mostly to individuals--although some commercial/educational sales were built into their model, as they also sold variants of the Scott Foresman school management modules (I have never seen a survivor of these with the Tronics labels though). 1 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5263072 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 1 minute ago, Tempest said: A wip version? Tell me more. So far as I remember, it was the code right before it was committed to GROM. There may not be any differences in it other than the address range it operated in natively. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5263074 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DuaneAL Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 12 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: @Ksarul was there and probably has it. That can't be true.... If ksarul had one, he would have reverse engineered it and made it available for all of us to purchase, and I guarantee the workmanship would have been better than the original! 1 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/351761-what-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-ti99-4a-world/page/2/#findComment-5263109 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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