some NanoPeb 101 questions

[+Torrax]

Use the longer program watch out for typos. And save a copy on each drive with a filename of "DIR".

[newTIboyRob]

@Torrax...Ok, but before I type the longer program... I think I should first fix why we had success  in TI BASIC with the OLD DSK1.ZTEST and RUN, but this didn't work in XB, which froze after I typed RUN, waited 2 minutes, still was frozen, and the FCTN-4 for the break point had no effect.

 

So the current goal before I type in the longer what you called the DIRECTORY program: what do I need to do to be able to save say a new short file in XB?

 

Is this where mounting to other locations comes in?  What do you suggest? 

 

Edited January 8 by newTIboyRob

[newTIboyRob]

@Torrax  In other words, right now I am still able from the home TI start up screen to go into TI BASIC and access the ZTEST file, and I am also able to go from the home TI start up screen into XB and get the READY prompt, but when I typed in OLD DSK1.ZTEST and then typed RUN there in XB, it froze on me, and nothing was able to break out.

 

So I first want to be able to create, save and load a file in XB without it freezing on me. After we solve this, I will type in the longer DIRECTORY program.

Edited January 8 by newTIboyRob

[+Torrax]

Go to TI Basic and set the DSK1, DSK2, DSK3 mount points to VOL1, VOL2, and VOL3.

Type in the longer DIR program. Save it to all three drives. Run it to see if anything is shown for all three drives.

 

The blue screen in XB is worry some.  I wonder if the 32K is not working properly.  Could explain the lockups.

 

[newTIboyRob]

@TorraxI tried a different approach while you were typing your last reply. I went into XB and typed in a new and different short program of 2 lines:  10 CALL CLEAR    20 PRINT "XBTEST" and then saved it with SAVE DSK1.XBTEST

Typed NEW, then OLD DSK1.XBTEST   and it did not freeze, and it found and ran the new file perfectly.

 

So maybe what I learn from this is:   the earlier file we made called ZTEST, since it was created in regular TIBASIC, was not accessible using XB?  Because that was when it froze. Don't know.

 

But the good news here... is now new programs can be written, saved, and loaded back in XB without freezing. So we, thankfully now, have cleared that hurdle.

 

 

Edited January 8 by newTIboyRob

[newTIboyRob]

@Torrax  ...  So that would be CALL MOUNT (1,1)  CALL MOUNT (2,2)  CALL MOUNT (3,3) and then type in the DIRECTORY program, and saving it DSK1.DIR   DSK2.DIR     DSK3.DIR   ... yes?

Edited January 8 by newTIboyRob

[+Torrax]

Yes, all from TI Basic. XB will load the programs fine.

 

 

Shutting down for the night.  Good luck there.

Let me know if there is anything shown for VOL1, VOL2, VOL3 with the program.

 

[newTIboyRob]

Good news to report:  Once I did the 3 separate CALL MOUNT (1,1)  CALL MOUNT (2,2)   CALL MOUNT (3,3)  any new file I typed in was able to be saved, e.g.  SAVE DSK1.TESTING  and recalled with e.g. OLD DSK1.TESTING.

 

Also had success with that super DIR program, saved it to all 3 drives, and it indeed did show the files on each of the 3 drives, whichever one you asked it to list. That program is just awesome. Thank you @Torrax, who also agreed with my sequence for powering on and off. So going back to my very first post on this thread, all 3 of those original questions have been successfully answered and now put to bed.  Tremendous accomplishment! 

 

With the other different and final 2 unposted questions I have remaining, I am working and making progress on 1, which leaves me with only one final question/topic which I will attempt to solve tomorrow. It is basically how to save a data file with a different cart such as Multiplan or Console Writer inserted.  I am hoping it is just a direct replacement of DSK1 for CS1 when it comes time to save and load a file, but I haven't yet tried this out with either of those 2 carts.

 

Once I get that solved, all 5 of my questions on the NanoPeb will have been successfully answered and I can ride off into the sunset a more than happy cowboy. 

Edited January 8 by newTIboyRob

[+Torrax]

Checkout my "Yet Another Directory Program for BAS/XB" post for a bug fix.

Try to keep the original formatting for the time being.

The "P" is for file protection and a  "Y" will be displayed if it is.

 

Try loading and running the CATALOG and VCATALOG programs from XB.

 

Also try this from TI Basic:

 

CALL UNMOUNT(1)

CALL UNMOUNT(2)

CALL MOUNT(1,2)

CALL MOUNT(2,1)

 

To swap the volumes. Then BYE and select Extended Basic. 

Something might happen there.  Let me know if it does.

 

Talk to you later in the day to answer the rest of your questions.

[+FarmerPotato]

Hey @newTIboyRob, first you're welcome!  Second, It's awesome there are so many people here to help!  

 

There was a sheet of paper in the 1st package, a spreadsheet with all the volume names. Maybe you could photograph that and post it here?

 

The CF was a 2 GB that I formatted and loaded up with a bunch of DSKs in TIDIR. I didn't know about the VOL1 utilities so probably those are not there.  There was a DM2KCF7 or something somewhere. 

[newTIboyRob]

Later today I will attempt the data file saving using the Console Writer and Multiplan carts I last mentioned and also that concept with the TI Calc cassette program I had been working with prior. I will report back with the results on those. For now, here are the 5 sheets that were sent to me with the NanoPeb:

[globeron]

 

Is the NanoPeb powered with at least 5V 2.0 Ampere?  (try different adapters if possible), or with higher Ampere 3.0?

I used a cable before with USB (so I could change easily adapters with USB interface, like Phone adapters, I noticed some adapters did not work well)

Maybe that's the reason Extended Basic locks up. 

 

Or you have to wait a little bit (5 seconds?), because Extended Basic first tries to load automatically DSK1.LOAD   (if the DSK1. and the LOAD program exists). 

After it times out, then it will go to the *READY* prompt.

 

 

Maybe this video helps:

 

[+Torrax]

Found out that Volume 2 has the NanoPEB/CF+ Utils image.

So the blue screen from XB is from the LOAD program being on DSK2.  And is crashing from not finding needed files on DSK1.

Just need to CALL MOUNT(1,2) to load the utils when needed.  And switch to an empty or another Volume when done.

 

Volume 1 seems to have a corrupt disk header.  Maybe the CF card is going bad there??  It just needs reformatting as nothing much is on it yet.  Use this volume as a temp/work for non-important stuff.

[newTIboyRob]

This might temporarily veer us off topic a bit, but it is still ultimately NanoPeb-related. At first I thought I was having cart and/or cart slot issues, as I was getting a blank black screen with a hum when trying different carts. Sometimes even got a blue screen with swatch-like patterns!

 

I shut off the Nanopeb to see if there were communication issues... but still I most commonly was getting a black screen with a hum when I try a cart.

 

However, I tried something else. I disconnected the whole right side of the chain from the Ti console: speech synth, Axiom, NanoPeb  (after first safely shutting all off, etc.)

 

Now, I tried to start up the TI... working perfectly.  I inserted a Star Trek cart... working perfectly.

 

Can someone please explain, in laymen's terms, what caused the rest of the chain to temporarily and suddenly go "out" like that?  Right now I just have the TI by itself connected to the TV and have yet to reattach the rest of the chain.   I'm no expert, but I would think the NanoPeb is behind all this, because I never experienced any issues with just the TI, speech synth, Axiom and printer combo.

 

If I had to "part" with 1 chain member it would be the speech snyth and just disconnect that and continue with the rest of the chain. But not if I don't have to and only if you think it may help things.

 

Any thoughts here?  And what do I do next???

Edited January 9 by newTIboyRob

[+Torrax]

How about removing the Axiom printer interface out of the chain.

Carefully attach the NanoPEB to the Speech Synthesizer and attach that to the TI.

So your chain would be TI, Speech Synth, and NanoPEB.

I have both my CF7+ and NanoPEB attached to two Speech Synths.

Making it easy to remove just the Synth from the TI when needed.

 

The Axiom connection to the TI might be the same as the Flex Cable of the TI P-Box.

In where a slight misalignment on the side could cause issues.

[newTIboyRob]

Oh ok, interesting, I will try that removal and set up change.  But does this mean I am doomed to not being able to return to my full chain set up if there is in fact a slight misalignment?  Any way around this?

The obvious answer is to just reattach the Axiom only when I need to print something... but for my needs with the data files, that would mean my not being able to print often   

[+Torrax]

Looking at the print outs I don't see a volume for Multiplan.  Your gonna need that to run the program.

 

Definately going to need a CF Reader to put a few more needed disk images to the card.

What do you have for a PC?  A Windows, MAC, or Linux machine?

[newTIboyRob]

First let me say... that you were very smart to mention about misalignment. I was set to change the signal path when what you said gave me an idea to actually look to see how the Axiom was sitting. Sure enough, it itself has little feet which had slipped away and slightly askew off the edge of the long table it was sitting on... kind of free fallin' (RIP Petty) and left dangling. And with the weight of that thing over the edge, that drag down if you will was enough to weigh down things just enough to loosen the entire chain connection relating to the speech synth. And it did. So maybe it was that and not the NanoPeb after all, because when I put the Axiom feet back on a flat level surface and not hanging about and then tightened the connections at the Speech snyth, I was back in business. Awesome clue Torrax! 

 

 So in short... I learned from this: always check your connections, even if you yourself didn't do anything or make any changes. Sometimes things like animal tuggings or in this case, gravity, can wreak havoc.

 

I will return to the Multiplan after I get the Console Writer and TI Calc file savings happening.  But just for some info now... PC still running Windows 10

Edited January 9 by newTIboyRob

[+Torrax]

The CF7+/NanoPEB volumes use a size of 400K with 1600 sectors.  The sector size is 256 bytes.

Some volumes may contation smaller sizes and are image copies of various formats.

 

Here's a list of the common FDC controllers for the TI and the disk formats used.

 

Size Sectors Density/Type                         FDC Controller

==== ======= ==================================== =================

 90K   360   SDSS - Single Density Single Sided   TI/CorComp/Myarc

180K   720   SDDS - Single Density Double Sided   TI/CorComp/Myarc

160K   640   DDSS - Double Density Single Sided   Myarc

320K  1280   DDDS - Double Density Double Sided   Myarc

180K   720   DDSS - Double Density Single Sided   CorComp/Myarc  

360K  1440   DDDS - Double Density Double Sided   CorComp/Myarc  

400K  1600   VOL  - Full Sector Alloc Bitmap Used CF7+/NanoPEB   

360K  1440   QDSS - Quad Density Single Sided     Myarc (512b sec)          

720K  2880   QDDD - Quad Density Double Sided     Myarc (512b sec)    

 

 

[newTIboyRob]

Thanks for that Torrax. So now that things have been, at least for the time being, working fine, what's left for me in terms of my "quests" is 2 things:

 

A) to see if I can use the Console Writer cart I have to save, load and print a data file with the NanoPeb  (maybe someone else has TI Writer so this could be useful)

B) to get a cassette program called TI 99 4/a Calc that has limited, but still some, use from a tape and onto the NanoPeb and then be able to save, load and print a data file

 

So though I tried both above, I will first talk about my journey with A)   (and as the post keeps winding, I will eventually get to B).

 

The Console Writer cart loaded fine, I selected  EDIT a file, typed a line out and selected the menu's SAVE option.  (I was lucky enough to find someone on Ebay who took screenshots of the manual, and just as I suspected, the command to save to diskette, here the NanoPeb is:  DSKn.FILE   ... so I tried DSK1.PEBBY. )  But here's where it gets kind of interesting....

 

After it saved, there was a brief moment of flashing screen jumble. I reinserted the cart, selected 2 to get back into Console Writer, selected the GET (load) command from the menu, typed in DSK1.PEBBY per the manual to load... but it said COULD NOT OPEN FILE.  Another interesting thing I thought is that it "ghost saved", as in, I know it did save, because when I went back to the aforementioned DIR program, the PEBBY file was indeed saved to DSK1.

On another attempt, I had even tried saving the same file to DSK3.PEBBY, but same fate. 

 

So, in short... it did save a Console Writer cart data file to the NanoPeb, but couldn't load it back in. There were however 2 things I noticed:

 

1) the DIR showed up as D/F as the file TYPE. What does that stand for? 

2) The manual has some really fun, unusually colloquial wording. Here is a direct quote:

 

"The program may go bonkers if you attempt to get a file from a system that does not have a disk drive connected. If this happens, just reinsert the cartridge or press the reset button on the cartridge
Expander unit."

 

I was confused at that one for a couple of reasons ... the NanoPeb here is acting as a disk drive, no?  And also, when I powered down, reinserted the cart, and tried a reload, it still could not open the file it saved.

 

Any thoughts here on why and if there is a fix or work around?  It's really a very nice little word processor cart and I would love to see if I can use it in its full capacity.

[+arcadeshopper]

nanopeb needs a 5v DC REGULATED supply.. you will have issues with the device with a unregulated supply

[+arcadeshopper]

7 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

Thanks for that Torrax. So now that things have been, at least for the time being, working fine, what's left for me in terms of my "quests" is 2 things:

 

A) to see if I can use the Console Writer cart I have to save, load and print a data file with the NanoPeb  (maybe someone else has TI Writer so this could be useful)

B) to get a cassette program called TI 99 4/a Calc that has limited, but still some, use from a tape and onto the NanoPeb and then be able to save, load and print a data file

 

So though I tried both above, I will first talk about my journey with A)   (and as the post keeps winding, I will eventually get to B).

 

The Console Writer cart loaded fine, I selected  EDIT a file, typed a line out and selected the menu's SAVE option.  (I was lucky enough to find someone on Ebay who took screenshots of the manual, and just as I suspected, the command to save to diskette, here the NanoPeb is:  DSKn.FILE   ... so I tried DSK1.PEBBY. )  But here's where it gets kind of interesting....

 

After it saved, there was a brief moment of flashing screen jumble. I reinserted the cart, selected 2 to get back into Console Writer, selected the GET (load) command from the menu, typed in DSK1.PEBBY per the manual to load... but it said COULD NOT OPEN FILE.  Another interesting thing I thought is that it "ghost saved", as in, I know it did save, because when I went back to the aforementioned DIR program, the PEBBY file was indeed saved to DSK1.

On another attempt, I had even tried saving the same file to DSK3.PEBBY, but same fate. 

 

So, in short... it did save a Console Writer cart data file to the NanoPeb, but couldn't load it back in. There were however 2 things I noticed:

 

1) the DIR showed up as D/F as the file TYPE. What does that stand for? 

2) The manual has some really fun, unusually colloquial wording. Here is a direct quote:

 

"The program may go bonkers if you attempt to get a file from a system that does not have a disk drive connected. If this happens, just reinsert the cartridge or press the reset button on the cartridge
Expander unit."

 

I was confused at that one for a couple of reasons ... the NanoPeb here is acting as a disk drive, no?  And also, when I powered down, reinserted the cart, and tried a reload, it still could not open the file it saved.

 

Any thoughts here on why and if there is a fix or work around?  It's really a very nice little word processor cart and I would love to see if I can use it in its full capacity.

Display Fixed is D/F  usually a text file is DF 80 or DV 80.. depending if the record length is fixed or variable.  whats the number?

how many sectors is the file?  if it's 0 it's likely just empty

 

"the program may go bonkers" you can't use it with the nano plugged in then as it is a disk controller as far as the TI is concerned

 

There are many other word processors, and with a nano you should be able to run funnlweb fine from a disk it's on whtech if you need it

 

Greg

 

[newTIboyRob]

Thank you @arcadeshopper you cleared up a lot for me. Yes, as I recall, the D/F was in fact 0. Ah yes, disk controller, not actual disk drive, ok. Oh that's shame that I can't use the Console Writer cart with the Nano plugged in, I really liked this cart. Do you think maybe the TI Writer cart would work with the Nano instead?  

 

I remember my sheet having funnlweb, so I will explore that in case the TI Writer cart won't work with the Nano either.

Edited January 9 by newTIboyRob

[newTIboyRob]

@arcadeshopper ... Greg, I know it can get dicey with polarity and pins with the 5v regulated power supply.

 

So would this be good for the Nano? https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adapter-Regulated-Security-Transformer/dp/B0CJTTK6ZS/ref=sr_1_10?crid=3TXPF4YLKZQWL&keywords  or can you point me to the least expensive one that would be safe to use with it? 

 

Thanks

[newTIboyRob]

Until I get a word processor that I can use with the NanoPeb, and before the final stop of the Multiplan cart, in the mean time, I was playing around with that cassette program I have called TI 99 4/A Calc. Last night I was successful in loading the program from tape into the TI and saving it to DSK1 on the NanoPeb.  So at least I got the main program saved digitally for eternity. Last night I was also successful saving a data file made with the program to tape, but I couldn't get it to save on the NanoPeb, and I think I know why.  If you follow along with the important snapshot of the program I posted below:

 

The load routine in lines 1220-1390 clears the spreadsheet and loads a cassette data file.  (with the CS1)
The save routine in lines 1400-1510 saves the current spreadsheet on cassette.  (via CS1)

But since I want to load and save as a disk file, if I alter lines 1290 and 1410 respectively to now become:

 

1290 OPEN #1: "DSK1",INTERNAL,INPUT ,FIXED 192
1410 OPEN #1: "DSK1",INTERNAL,OUTPUT,FIXED 192

Would the above change even work, and if so is that all I need, or do you foresee other change/s that need to be made before I even try this out?
I also wasn't sure if it would work at all with those other words & areas in lines 1290 & 1410, or with the remainder of this program I found on the IA...but it was worth a shot here to see if all it was was a simple terminology swap.

 

What do you think? 

Edited January 9 by newTIboyRob