I/O error 66 = ?

[newTIboyRob]

So in the above photo you are showing the connection into your USB device. Even if I connected my device to the back of the PC sound card to get the data into the device via the 3.5mm audio cable, how could I then connect from my earphone out jack on the device into the TI?   The TI only has a rear cassette port, power supply and video port. 

[+Atari2600PAL]

You plug your TI cassette port white lead into the earphone socket on your USB device 

 

the red/black/white leads in the image are the ends of the TI cassette cable 

[newTIboyRob]

Oh I see, (I never did it this way and didn't realize you could, so I didn't register exactly what you meant.)  Thank you, ok, I will give this a try.

Edited October 9, 2023 by newTIboyRob

[newTIboyRob]

I wasn't able to have any luck still. Here are photos of the device I was using. This voice recorder is like 20 years old, very obscure, very little info on the internet even. I was, however, able to get a nice clean signal 3.5mm out of the back of the PC into the top jack of the SIMS (photo 3). The volume range to use on this particular model is 15 to 20, which is what we think of as typical audible to as loud as the unit gets... but still NO DATA FOUND from the original WAV file from this thread when connecting the TI cassette port's white lead into the earphone socket on the righthand side of the voice recorder (photo 4), at volume 15 and up to 20.  ...???

 

[chris36]

I have the program TI994ACALC written to cassette.  I'm in the US.  I can ship it to you.  Private message me your shipping details.

[Ed in SoDak]

Just asking here... you are putting the cassette machine on record?

At this point, I think pics or good sketches are needed here.

[newTIboyRob]

@chris36  ... so shines a good deed... in a weary world.

[+Atari2600PAL]

10 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

but still NO DATA FOUND from the original WAV file

That’s a shame

 

As I mentioned, it’s taken me a few months (and several purchases) to find a solution that works for me. It seems different people/systems have different results. It all seems a bit hit n miss

 

At least the offer from @chris36 will get you what you wanted

[newTIboyRob]

Hopefully, yes. I want to thank you @Atari2600PAL , as you have been polite, kind, patient and helpful in your contribution here. I sincerely appreciate that.

[newTIboyRob]

Yes, Chris saves the day here. I will post again with the results in case anyone wishes to know the outcome of the saga.

[+khanivore]

Hi @newTIboyRob did you get this working?

[newTIboyRob]

@khanivore  ... funny you mention that... I was just about to test that now. Will report back.

[newTIboyRob]

So I did in fact have success with the tape provided by @chris36  It loaded right in, so the first thing I did, before even running the program, was to try to make 2 back up safety copies. Strange thing about that was, the first back up saved quickly and perfectly and when I went to do the second, with the program still in memory, I tried 3 straight passes with 3 different cassette tapes, same exact settings, and all 3 failed. Determined as I am, I turned it off, came back to it later, and tried a 4th take. Turns out that one was the charm and I was able to make the little spreadsheet you see here. I'm a little disappointed that it didn't have a Print option, despite its age, as a report generation would have been nice to see on paper. That would be a nice little addition to the program for someone to see if they could put that feature in the code listing. I was not however, successful at loading or saving that spreadsheet I made onto a separate data file tape, after several attempts. Kept getting different line errors, (Input # issues), yet when I checked the program listing printed in the actual manual, the program on screen was verbatim.

 

Another oddity: after dinner, I tried the program again from a fresh boot and that time Chris's tape would not load, after 3 failed attempts. But my Backup #1 copy did, so I was glad to have thought ahead and done that. 

 

So in short.... though it likely is the minority of people reading here...  but if anyone is in fact new to the tape concept of loading and saving programs, just, in general using tape regardless of platform, be prepared that you are likely at some point or other going to be very frustrated, and then some, because fiddling with tapes can be a very tricky and finnicky thing- a nerve racking, trying, and quite exasperating process. I speak from quite a bit of experience in this regard and others will likely have had similar encounters. I actually was aware of all that even before all my platform posts involving tape, and I have, all along, been just trying to make do with the tape recorders I still had before they died. (And on another computer I have, the recorder did die quite soon, almost as a "sign" and forced me to go into a direction I didn't want to have to go in at all- despite my foreknowing it would have been a good direction- but it turned out to be a great one for my particular needs!)    

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by newTIboyRob

[newTIboyRob]

I am not sure if I understood what another forum member contributed in terms of power supplies as it relates to I/O errors. My TI itself is fine, the power plug makes a slight hum and gets warm, but I wouldn't say overly hot.

 

If the power supply is in question, are we saying that it could be the cause of success sometimes with loading tapes or not?

It's all a mystery to me, because I loaded Chris's original tape today and right off the bat it worked again.

 

Just to finish off with some final thoughts on this TI 99 4/A CALC program, in case anyone is interested in this particular program aside from my loading and saving to tape issues... As you can see, I played around with it a little more to determine if I could come to a final decision about it after all.  Things I liked were the ability to use the arrow keys of FCTN E,X,S,D and FCTN S to remove characters from line entry.  On the negative side, other than no printing availability from the program itself, the biggest buzz kill for me is the formulas, say for simple addition of all those vegetables; it would only allow a max of 4 at a time to be calculated instead of a block such as AB:KB or the like...   By the time I did all that, plus the fact that I realize and understand that it simply really can't move any better or faster for what this program is... I would say it is better suited for if you just want to use the columns for listing text, as a semi-wordprocessor, rather than go through the tedium of multiple calculations. As a lister it is super! .. but these calculation limitations, again, at least to me, actually quite compromise and hinder the purpose and intention of this as a calc program.

 

It took me longer than you would think to get the screen looking like that with the totals being complete and accurate.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by newTIboyRob

[HOME AUTOMATION]

On 10/7/2023 at 1:09 AM, newTIboyRob said:

I have a good audio 3.5mm cable coming straight out of the back of the PC where I disconnected my RealTech Speakers, and ran it straight into the AUX in on the tape recorder. I have recorded Atari WAV signals successfully this way, so I know the cable is good.

Consider that the manner in which stereo/mono, jacks/plugs, interoperate is not standardized. So, many different possibilities can manifest. 

Sometimes the mono-jack's sleeve-wiper, makes contact with the stereo-plug's ring.

Sometimes the stereo-jack's ring-wiper, might contact the mono-plug's sleeve\tip.

 

This results in different mismatch conditions...

 

For instance, if tip/ring should interconnect, L/R channels are summed, this has subcategories depending on whether the source or destination is actually stereo capable, and whether or not the recorded material is mono, stereo, or single-ended.

If ring/sleeve should interconnect, and if the source is stereo, one channel is shorted to ground. This will likely have a degenerative effect on the other channel as well.

Having either the ring or tip wire, connected at the destination, while not connected at the source, can introduce noise, as the unterminated wire acts as an antenna.

...and others.

 

So, if you are using mismatched jacks/cables, sometimes things go well, sometimes not. The final resting spot of the plug may not be optimal. Pulling a plug in/out slightly, or until you feel a wiper align with the tip's detent, can change the results as well.

 

If you are using a stereo source, consider using a cable wired for summing, some contain coupling capacitors, and/or resistors. In this case it helps to assure that both channels record properly, and at similar levels.

 

Alternatively, you could wire one channel from your stereo source, to the TI's only input.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

On 10/7/2023 at 11:15 PM, HOME AUTOMATION said:

If you can re-up the sound from your player, maybe signal analysis will reveal something

I had hoped that if you UPLOAD the audio file, or audio of the file you are attempting to LOAD, myself and or others might recognize an issue, or if someone is able to LOAD the file successfully, that will eliminate some of what may not be going wrong.

[chris36]

In addition to interference I wonder if the cable being used could be faulty, like a broken wire that sometimes is touching and then not touching.  Have a multi-meter to test it with?

[HOME AUTOMATION]

Was pretty tired by 1:23AM...

I mustof meant to include these in my above post.

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by HOME AUTOMATION

[newTIboyRob]

@chris36  ... hi. No multimeter to test unfortunately.