NanoPeb questions

[newTIboyRob]

Hi, I am interested and hopefully can obtain a NanoPeb, but don't know much except the basics: replaces the giant and with RS232, 32k memory expansion and has 3 emulated disk drives. I'd just like to start off with 2 questions:

 

1) Since it contains the disk drive concept, are there downloadable files for TI Extended Basic and even 1 more cart that I could put on the drive and call from there, (if so, a link to the former is appreciated!) or would I still need cart/s? 

 

2) I see it has a serial port. I have the Axiom parallel printer interface. Not sure if possible that I could still use that, say with a parallel to serial converter cable, and how it would need now to connect/come into play in the chain? 

Edited November 1, 2023 by newTIboyRob

[JB]

2 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

Since it contains the disk drive concept, are there downloadable files for TI Extended Basic and even 1 more cart that I could put on the drive and call from there, (if so, a link to the former is appreciated!) or would I still need cart/s? 

You will still need cartridges.

[RickyDean]

6 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

Hi, I am interested and hopefully can obtain a NanoPeb, but don't know much except the basics: replaces the giant and with RS232, 32k memory expansion and has 3 emulated disk drives. I'd just like to start off with 2 questions:

 

1) Since it contains the disk drive concept, are there downloadable files for TI Extended Basic and even 1 more cart that I could put on the drive and call from there, (if so, a link to the former is appreciated!) or would I still need cart/s? 

 

2) I see it has a serial port. I have the Axiom parallel printer interface. Not sure if possible that I could still use that, say with a parallel to serial converter cable, and how it would need now to connect/come into play in the chain? 

As stated by @JB, you will still need cartridges, your not going to get away without one of those unless you invest in some type of gram device and have cartridge binaries stored on you NanoPeb drives. The serial port should not interfere with the Axiom or vice versa, but I can't say that for sure, since I don't own a NanoPeb. The NanoPeb should have a pass-through edge connector on the end from where it plugs into the side of the TI, and the Axiom should work from there, but again that's an unknown from me. Not sure if all lines go through and don't know about any possible address conflicts.

[+arcadeshopper]

these haven't been manufactured for some time

you will only find a used one if you find one at all

 

the equivalent replacement is a combo 32k/tipi card with a rasp pi zero on it. I have them in stock at arcadeshopper.com

[+arcadeshopper]

35 minutes ago, RickyDean said:

As stated by @JB, you will still need cartridges, your not going to get away without one of those unless you invest in some type of gram device and have cartridge binaries stored on you NanoPeb drives. The serial port should not interfere with the Axiom or vice versa, but I can't say that for sure, since I don't own a NanoPeb. The NanoPeb should have a pass-through edge connector on the end from where it plugs into the side of the TI, and the Axiom should work from there, but again that's an unknown from me. Not sure if all lines go through and don't know about any possible address conflicts.

nanopeb is a closed system. it is the last thing on the side port and has no passthrough..

 

[+OLD CS1]

2 hours ago, RickyDean said:

The NanoPeb should have a pass-through edge connector

It does not.

[HOME AUTOMATION]

Cuts down on hardware-compatibility issues though.

[Kchula-Rrit]

There seem to be some compatibility issues with the NanoPEB serial port, because mine has trouble receiving data.  A while back, someone pointed me to a patched version of FasTerm, but any files I transferred from my Win98 machine wound up being corrupted in one way or another.

I had to settle on taking the CF out and using a CF reader to transfer binary files to and from the TI, which meant I could not mount it into a case.  The serial port came in handy for sending program listings or debugging info to the Win98 system, which used the ProComm terminal emulator to receive files.

Reserving 8 bytes at the top of VDP RAM does not seem to cause any problems; I thought it might mess up some of the buffers and pointers that Thierry Nouspikel discusses in his VDP info.

K-R.

[+OLD CS1]

There is an issue between the v1 and v2 nanoPEBs, the former using a 9902 and the latter a 16550 UART.

 

4 hours ago, arcadeshopper said:

the equivalent replacement is a combo 32k/tipi card with a rasp pi zero on it. I have them in stock at arcadeshopper.com

For generally the same price you would pay for a nanoPEB when in production, maybe $20 more.   Given that the nanos are no longer in production, there really is no reason to hold out hope to find one and eschew the TIPI at this point.  This is not about the Latest and Greatest^TM technology, but rather the most feasible: there is no all-in-one PEB replacement currently in production other than the 32k/TIPI, and with a Pi-Zero it is reasonably priced (for now, as we head into another round of scarcity.)  Even for the novice, it can remain in a static configuration (no updates to the firmware or DSR) unless you desperately need new functionality.  @jedimatt42 is pretty good at stable releases.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

1 hour ago, Kchula-Rrit said:

There seem to be some compatibility issues with the NanoPEB serial port, because mine has trouble receiving data.  A while back, someone pointed me to a patched version of FasTerm, but any files I transferred from my Win98 machine wound up being corrupted in one way or another

Fred's HDX server (PC side) and DM2K modified for the CF7 and nano (TI side) work well for transferring files.  That is how I copied files to/from my nano CF7+ and nano serial (v1) except for those times i wanted to load multiple disk images, and then I used his TI99Dir program to copy the disk images.

 

The hardware creator did not realize that with the PEB RS232 cards, the serial ports can be accessed without enabling the DSR ROM.  I patched Telco, Mass Transfer, Midi Master, and a few other serial programs years ago. I also patched Funnelweb to address the issue it had with the extra 8 bytes of VDP RAM usage.

 

The nano is nice if you want to play with a serial port but I think for most applications and stability and availability, the TIPI+32K is the way to go.  The Ubergrom cart has a serial interface so that is an option as well.

[+arcadeshopper]

1 hour ago, Kchula-Rrit said:

There seem to be some compatibility issues with the NanoPEB serial port, because mine has trouble receiving data.  A while back, someone pointed me to a patched version of FasTerm, but any files I transferred from my Win98 machine wound up being corrupted in one way or another.

I had to settle on taking the CF out and using a CF reader to transfer binary files to and from the TI, which meant I could not mount it into a case.  The serial port came in handy for sending program listings or debugging info to the Win98 system, which used the ProComm terminal emulator to receive files.

Reserving 8 bytes at the top of VDP RAM does not seem to cause any problems; I thought it might mess up some of the buffers and pointers that Thierry Nouspikel discusses in his VDP info.

K-R.

Likely you are trying to transfer faster than fastterm can handle. It's "fast" as in .. 2400 baud.. not 9600 not 19200 etc.. there will be overruns on the nonexistant buffer on the uart and there's no software buffer to compensate for this. 2400 may be too fast for some data even.. slow it down till it's not corrupted

There are two terms for the 4A that don't do this.. term80 and timxt they both implemented buffers in software and can go up to 19200

[Kchula-Rrit]

4 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

There is an issue between the v1 and v2 nanoPEBs, the former using a 9902 and the latter a 16550 UART.

...

Mine looks like a v1; there is a 9902 chip on it.  Did not know there were any other UARTs used in them.

K-R.

[Kchula-Rrit]

2 hours ago, arcadeshopper said:

Likely you are trying to transfer faster than fastterm can handle. It's "fast" as in .. 2400 baud.. not 9600 not 19200 etc.. there will be overruns on the nonexistant buffer on the uart and there's no software buffer to compensate for this. 2400 may be too fast for some data even.. slow it down till it's not corrupted

There are two terms for the 4A that don't do this.. term80 and timxt they both implemented buffers in software and can go up to 19200

As I recall, I had started at 1200bps and slowed it down, but never got a good download, even at 110bps.  I would have have tried 50bps, but ProComm would only go "down" to 110.  It may have been because I was using XMODEM protocol for downloads, but I remember straight ASCII text downloads failing, too.  Wound up taking the CF out of the NanoPEB anyway, because the image got corrupted.

Did not think to set up my "real" PEB to see if downloads would work there.  Have to try it when my IDE board arrives.

K-R.

[Kchula-Rrit]

3 hours ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

Fred's HDX server (PC side) and DM2K modified for the CF7 and nano (TI side) work well for transferring files.  That is how I copied files to/from my nano CF7+ and nano serial (v1) except for those times i wanted to load multiple disk images, and then I used his TI99Dir program to copy the disk images.

 

The hardware creator did not realize that with the PEB RS232 cards, the serial ports can be accessed without enabling the DSR ROM.  I patched Telco, Mass Transfer, Midi Master, and a few other serial programs years ago. I also patched Funnelweb to address the issue it had with the extra 8 bytes of VDP RAM usage.

 

The nano is nice if you want to play with a serial port but I think for most applications and stability and availability, the TIPI+32K is the way to go.  The Ubergrom cart has a serial interface so that is an option as well.

Thanks!  I will have to try them out.  I thought DM2K was a disk manager, like the TI cartridge.  Fred's site has been a gold mine for info, and for things to drool over.

I was looking at the TIMXT conversation referenced, and there is talk of a special cable necessary?

K-R.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

27 minutes ago, Kchula-Rrit said:

I was looking at the TIMXT conversation referenced, and there is talk of a special cable necessary?

TIMXT does not require a special cable in the sense that there is no hardware handshaking requirement and the buffering mechanism handles up to 38.4K with a PEB RS232 and a simple cable.  If I remember correctly, the Ubergrom UART can also be used at 38.4K with TIMXT.  I haven't done anything substantial with the program in a long time though I was recently asked to look at the keyboard routine repeat-character issue, so maybe I'll poke at it over the holidays if the spirit moves me. 

[Kchula-Rrit]

9 hours ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

Fred's HDX server ...

 

The hardware creator did not realize that with the PEB RS232 cards, the serial ports can be accessed without enabling the DSR ROM.  I patched Telco, Mass Transfer, Midi Master, and a few other serial programs years ago. I also patched Funnelweb to address the issue it had with the extra 8 bytes of VDP RAM usage.

 

The nano is nice if you want to play with a serial port but ...

This is probably wandering off of the original topic...

Since the NanoPEB is out of production, I wonder if it could be easily modified to give CRU access at all times, like the "real" PEB boards.  It has been a while since I took the CF adapter off of mine, but I seem to recall that everything, except for the UART and the DSR ROM, is in that little square chip which would render everything a moot point.

K-R.

[Kchula-Rrit]

4 hours ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

TIMXT does not require a special cable in the sense that there is no hardware handshaking... 

Thanks, good to know.  I have to get my system back together to try it out.  Also have to dig out the power brick to run the NanoPEB...

K-R.

[newTIboyRob]

So, trying to understand here.

 

• If I was lucky enough to find a working and used NanoPeb though, would I be still be able somehow to use the Axiom parallel printer interface with it, despite, as we are saying, the NanoPeb would need to be the last part of the chain?  I do see the Axiom is directly connected to the speech synth in my basic set up, but it itself does have that gray chip connection at its back.

 

• If that answer is no, could I just disconnect the Axiom from the speech snyth, run the NanoPeb off the speech synth, and get a hybrid serial on one end and parallel on the other cable to connect to a Star printer from the NanoPeb?

 

If neither is possible, meaning printing is going to be difficult or downright not even possible, the NanoPeb would be out of the picture for me unfortunately. I really hope it isn't actually, because if I can't find the elusive TI-Calc cart, the only other spreadsheet cart I know of is the fabulous Multiplan, which requires the 32K ram expansion and a disk drive, that the NanoPeb would cover.

 

This following last post on my other thread about digital recording sums up my situation nicely as it pertains to the NanoPeb thread here:

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by newTIboyRob

[globeron]

 

@newTIboyRob  I think you can continue chaining.    Thus   TI-99/4A,  then Speech Synthesizer,   then Axiom, then  NanoPEB  (but use an externa 5V with 2.1Ampere adapter)

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ti-99-axiom-parallax-printer-1844644600

 

 

* there is 1x line in the Speech Synthesizer where you can add a wire to continue the 5V supply (there is an article on AtariAge, but I forgot the details)

 

 

[Stuart]

13 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

So, trying to understand here.

 

• If I was lucky enough to find a working and used NanoPeb though, would I be still be able somehow to use the Axiom parallel printer interface with it, despite, as we are saying, the NanoPeb would need to be the last part of the chain?  I do see the Axiom is directly connected to the speech synth in my basic set up, but it itself does have that gray chip connection at its back.

 

• If that answer is no, could I just disconnect the Axiom from the speech snyth, run the NanoPeb off the speech synth, and get a hybrid serial on one end and parallel on the other cable to connect to a Star printer from the NanoPeb?

As well as the NanoPEB, there is also the CF7+ - pretty much the same device but with a parallel port rather than a serial port. But is has been out of production for even longer than the NanoPEB so you'll probably have trouble finding one. No guarantee that the parallel port is compatible with whatever software you're using although it does allegedly replicate the PIO device.

[newTIboyRob]

That's a shame about the CF7+. With the Axiom, I was able to easily print to it in TI basic with first opening Axiom then simple print # statements.  My Axiom basic set up is below. What is that gray chip at the back in photo #2?

Edited November 2, 2023 by newTIboyRob

[RickyDean]

18 minutes ago, newTIboyRob said:

That's a shame about the CF7+. With the Axiom, I was able to easily print to it in TI basic with first opening Axiom then simple print # statements.  My Axiom basic set up is below. What is that gray chip at the back in photo #2?

That isn't a chip, it's a metal guide plate for whatever you attach to that side of the Axiom.

[newTIboyRob]

Oh I see, ok then. Could that metal guide plate attach to the NanoPeb or no?

[RickyDean]

Just now, newTIboyRob said:

Oh I see, ok then. Could that metal guide plate attach to the NanoPeb or no?

I would say that anything designed to fit the side of a TI could be plugged in there, but I haven't used my Axiom in 30 years so can't say for sure. Don't have a NanoPeb to see either. I do have a CF7+ and it uses a ribbon cable to plug into the side of the ti, so it would fit.

[newTIboyRob]

...If my needs weren't so simple and that C7F+ wasn't so "ancient" by today's standards.... problem solved. Haven't given up on the NanoPeb just yet though, and still not buying that Olympus recorder just yet either til I can sort all this out!  ... @RickyDean... how do you like your CF7+?

Edited November 2, 2023 by newTIboyRob