RickyDean Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 20 minutes ago, newTIboyRob said: 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? Here on the Whtech Repository is a copy of thje Disk Controller Manual https://ftp.whtech.com/datasheets and manuals/Hardware/Texas Instruments/PHP1240 Disk Controller Card/ti floppy controller card manual.pdf It has information about saving a file from cassette to Disk on pg 44, but there is also a lot of good information about file operations. The CF7+ and NanoPeb mimic the TI disk controller so all commands should be the same. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 @RickyDean... thanks for that, and good to see you. Happy New Year 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 20 minutes ago, newTIboyRob said: @RickyDean... thanks for that, and good to see you. Happy New Year And have a Happy New Year, to you too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 1 hour ago, newTIboyRob said: 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? DSK1 will require a file name. (CS1 doesn't recognize filenames at all). One choice would be to replace the "CS1" with a very specific filename like "DSK1.CALCFILE", but this means your file will be overwritten each time you use it. A better option would be to add a line requesting a filename, between 1280 and 1290, like: 1281 INPUT "FILENAME: ":FN$ Then change 1290 to add that filename to the OPEN command: 1290: OPEN #1:"DSK1."&FN$,INTERNAL,INPUT,FIXED 192 A similar change before line 1410 to allow you to specify an output filename. This way, you can deal with multiple files on the same disk image. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 !!IGNORE - Answered above!! A file-name is needed in those statements. Also you can add an option to ask for a file-name. -Hard Coded- 1290 OPEN #1: "DSK1.TIC-001",INTERNAL,INPUT ,FIXED 192 1410 OPEN #1: "DSK1.TIC-001",INTERNAL,OUTPUT,FIXED 192 -Soft Coded, No Input, Just change FN$ to your own. Make sure line #1 is not used by the program- 1 FN$="DSK1.TIC-001" 1290 OPEN #1: FN$,INTERNAL,INPUT ,FIXED 192 1410 OPEN #1: FN$,INTERNAL,OUTPUT,FIXED 192 All Load/Saves will use DSK1. I suggest using separate Volume with just TI99/4A Calc and its save file(s). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 ** IMPORTANT!! ** Definately pull the Axiom out of the chain!!!! As the CF7+/NanoPEB emulates both the TI Disk Controller Card and the TI RS232/PIO/TP Card. The Axiom and Nano/RS232 are conflicting with each other. It could explain the issues we are having. And removing it will avoid damage in the long run. Should of thought of this from the start. Just forgot about the dual nature of the CF+/NanoPEB device. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Wow, a lot of great stuff here! Ok, I will now go and pull out the Axiom from the chain. The last thing we need is another variable in the equation! @Torrax and @Casey you both gave awesome, and pretty similar answers for solutions for the changes, thank you both. I kind of like the idea of the program asking you to input the filename though. Thus, all 4 changes then would be: 1281 INPUT "FILENAME: ":FN$ 1290 OPEN #1:"DSK1."&FN$,INTERNAL,INPUT,FIXED 192 1401 INPUT "FILENAME: ":FN$ (I still need to add this line?) 1410 OPEN #1:"DSK1."&FN$,INTERNAL,OUTPUT,FIXED 192 After you guys verify the above changes are correct, I will go down and try. Thanks so much for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Axiom manual 2 hours ago, Torrax said: Definately pull the Axiom out of the chain!!!! As the CF7+/NanoPEB emulates both the TI Disk Controller Card and the TI RS232/PIO/TP Card. The Axiom and Nano/RS232 are conflicting with each other. It could explain the issues we are having. And removing it will avoid damage in the long run. The nanoPEB only offers RS232 or COM1 (depending upon the version, one with a 9902 UART the other with a 16550 UART.) I believe the Axiom only has AXIOM or PIO devices, which should not conflict with the nanoPEB. In any case of a DSR conflict, the one lowest in CRU space takes precedent. While it may not functional properly, I am not certain anything will be damaged with this configuration. EDIT: I just checked the Axiom manual. It defaults to using the AXIOM device, but will respond to PIO and can be configured to respond to RS232, configured by jumpers. That could, indeed, conflict with the nanoPEB's RS232 device, but it will not matter if neither are intended to be used. Actually kind-of neat the Axiom will take RS232 output and convert it to parallel. BTW, it also appears the Axiom installs at CRU >1B00 by default, which I believe is higher than the nanoPEB's RS232 CRU which would be either >1300 or >1500 if compatible with TI's RS232/PIO controller. Oh, it also looks like it has an autostart function which watches for the space bar at startup to run a printer test. That being the case, it could be messing with the nanoPEB's own startup which puts information on the Master Title Screen. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 The nanoPEB is attached at the end of the chain. TI - Speech - Axiom - nanoPEB. I don't know if there are timing issues. Or that the Axiom connector has all the side port bus lines connected on its connector. I've never owned one of these printers with their own interface. So will the Axiom DSR override the nanoPEB's DSR as it is before it? I would like him just to have the TI - Speech - nanoPEB to diagnose any issues with the above configuration. Get the nanoPEB working consistantly first. And then add it to the end of the chain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 While I was disconnecting the Axiom, I ran into another snag, but I bet you guys know the fix. For viewing, I temporarily have to use the RF box connected to the back of the TV. Don't know the precise terminology here, but the small metal prong "U" shaped piece on the left side of the end of that wire antenna line- the metal piece that connects to the little black adapter which connects to the tv- has broken off from the rest of the wire. Should I cut the off the other metal piece, expose bare wire on that side to make them the same and then reattach both back onto the black plug, or could I get a way with just duct-taping the metal piece back to where the wire detached, then screw the "U" back into the black adapter and then reconnect that to the back of the tv? @OLD CS1 ... good to see you, Happy New Year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 I am also totally lost about the Axiom. Printing things will be an important part of my TI experience, but not if that Axiom is going to cause issues down the line! I now have it unhooked, thus currently only TI --->Speech Snyth -->NanoPeb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Can any hardware experts chip in here. Not sure on the design of the CF7+/nanoPEB DSR scheme and circuitry. Will it co-exist with an Axiom side port interface and its internal circuitry design. And are all side port signals pulled through properly to its own external connector. The CF7+/nanoPEB would be attached to this. Much thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 hour ago, newTIboyRob said: Don't know the precise terminology here, but the small metal prong "U" shaped piece on the left side of the end of that wire antenna line- the metal piece that connects to the little black adapter which connects to the tv- has broken off from the rest of the wire. This is a common problem with those. I went through two of these things in my youth for the same reason. I simply exposed the bare wires and screwed them into the TV terminals, but the metal is soft and broke easily. If you can, you should try to re-crimp with suitable connectors (we did, and it lasted marginally longer than just the bare wires, but it was a more secure attachment.) 1 hour ago, newTIboyRob said: @OLD CS1 ... good to see you, Happy New Year! You, as well! 1 hour ago, newTIboyRob said: Printing things will be an important part of my TI experience, but not if that Axiom is going to cause issues down the line! I do not, at least at this time, think the Axiom is an issue. But, that remains to be seen. I understand it will be a crushing blow if it turns out it cannot work in your arrangement. However, I would first consider the nanoPEB is the issue, being all other hardware is of the era and seems to have worked fine it their time. 1 hour ago, Torrax said: Will it co-exist with an Axiom side port interface and its internal circuitry design. And are all side port signals pulled through properly to its own external connector. The CF7+/nanoPEB would be attached to this. Looking at the manual, it has a photo of the circuit board. It looks like all of the signals are passed through. I would expect that to be the case is it was expect to co-exist with other hardware of the time. If not done, already, I would clean the contacts on the Axiom to ensure a good connection. You have a few options for doing so. I like the little fiberglass brushes made just for the job. Stiff plastic brushes or good cotton swabs (I also use my SO's exfoliating cotton face pads, much to her chagrin,) and 70% isopropyl alcohol work, too. Would not hurt to do the same to the Speech Synthesizer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 What makes this more complicated is... since I properly mounted the Axiom's feet on the table, making it sit flat and level, it naturally made a more secure connection at the Speech Synth since it wasn't weighing down over the edge of the table. Since then everything has been working much more reliably. But I just may be getting lucky of course. I honestly don't know if I really should remove the Axiom out of the chain or keep it in and gamble with the ability to print being the reward... only later to find out it really was the Axiom and not communication brain freezes between the two devices. Tough call there. The safer option...but I don't know if this is possible... is there any way to run that printer straight from the NanoPeb and just leave the Axiom out of the equation completely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhataKowinkydink Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 50 minutes ago, newTIboyRob said: is there any way to run that printer straight from the NanoPeb and just leave the Axiom out of the equation completely? That's what I was wondering. Seems like you could just use the nano's RS232 - provided your printer can do serial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 (edited) Star printer= parallel connection. But what about the cost and ability to use what looks like the serial connector on the back of the Nanopeb and run a serial to parallel printer cable (or some kind of converter if need be) to the printer. This would put all the Axiom talk completely out of the equation and I could print my life away. Edited January 10 by newTIboyRob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 27 minutes ago, newTIboyRob said: serial to parallel printer cable (or some kind of converter if need be) I guess such a thing actually does exist: https://westwardsales.com/black-box-pi045a-rs-232-to-parallel-converter At least, it did exist, and has been replaced by this: https://westwardsales.com/black-box-pi125a-r2-parallel-converter Still available used: https://ebay.com/itm/186194482496 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 (edited) Thanks for that. Wow... yikes $115???... that is like more than I paid for my entire TI set up including Axiom and printer! Oh man. That Axiom is looking better and better now Edited January 10 by newTIboyRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 (edited) ..was able to use the bare wires, fasten those to the adapter's screws and plug the adapter back to the back of the tv with success. Actually got an even clearer picture that way with no U metal pieces! So... back in business visually. @Casey .. thank you so much! That 4 line modification to the TI CALC program worked PERFECTLY. I just brought up the original TI4ACALC I had saved on the NanoPeb, made those 4 changes, resaved and voila... now a version that can load and save to the NanoPeb. I smiled actually. It's kind of nice too because I'll save the original TI4ACALC cassette for preserving the nostalgic idiosyncrasies of using tape, and I have the ancient-to-more modern digital conversion for piece of mind. All pretty cool if you ask me. All that for this clunky program. But it was actually a fun detour in the end, and it worked, and now I can put that complete program to bed. Nighty nite! This leaves me with the final concept: since the Console Writer cart is not Nanopeb-friendly (but nice to have the option to pop that cart in if I am feeling nostalgic again and want the challenge, or more like nightmare, of saving to and loading from tape, it does that nicely) but since I also still would like a word processor usable with the NanoPeb, my final hurdle will be entering the land of CF Readers and disk images for TI Writer and its associated necessary volume and also the associated necessary volume for my Multiplan cart since that cart commands a program disk. In case anyone is interested, with a compass pointing once again wonderfully provided to me by @Torrax , I was able to find and snag this quite versatile piece on Amazon about an hour ago, using a $4 coupon and taking advantage of the free-shipping-over-$35 concept, which brought the final price down to $10.99 plus tax: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ARAH6O0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Once that thing arrives and I learn how to get those required files usable so I can fully use TI Writer and Multiplan with the NanoPeb, and once I settle the above Axiom business with the printing (what good is a word processor if you can't print from it, after all!), it will be... game over here. Hope you stay with me though Edited January 10 by newTIboyRob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Those serial to parallel convertors are pricey now a days. More of a niche market. You could find them at a lower price in the late 80's and 90's -- $30 to $50 CAN (cheaper in US funds). Had one for my Apple IIc and using it on the Apple IIgs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 On 1/9/2024 at 7:58 PM, newTIboyRob said: 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. yes ti-writer works fine, funnlweb is a software version of tiwriter and editor assembler that runs entirely from disk .. rather than a cart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 On 1/9/2024 at 8:32 PM, newTIboyRob said: @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 seems ok at first glance, i sell a tested working one in my store.. otherwise ymmv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 (edited) I thought it might be nice somewhere along the way to have the ability to go into Utilities, should I ever need to. Except... I didn't get quite get there yet. The screenshot below shows what's on my DSK2. when running the DIR program we have talked about earlier in the thread. From what you see in the screenshot, how do I get into Utilities? I thought the Utilities might be CFMGR, so I put in the E/A cart , went into regular TI BASIC and typed the following: OLD DSK2.CFMGR then RUN... but it didn't work. (Though I saw VCATALOG is excellent, I would rather still use this great DIR program which will allow me to keep the XB cart in there for programming, instead of having to swap out the E/A cart.) Am I in the wrong area? Was that the correct file to try? Do you see another one there I should have used? Is there another way to access some kind of basic Utilities with the NanoPeb? Edited January 11 by newTIboyRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lee Stewart Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 (edited) 40 minutes ago, newTIboyRob said: From what you see in the screenshot, how do I get into Utilities? I thought the Utilities might be CFMGR, so I put in the E/A cart , went into regular TI BASIC and typed the following: OLD DSK2.CFMGR then RUN... but it didn't work. CFMGR is an E/A5 program. With the E/A cartridge in, choose ‘2’ for “EDITOR/ASSEMBLER”, then ‘5’ for “RUN PROGRAM FILE”. When prompted for a file, enter “DSK2.CFMGR”, after which the program is loaded and started. Check in the spoiler for more information than you probably want to know about E/A5 programs. Spoiler E/A5 programs are one or more memory image files that are 32 sectors or less in size (not counting the FDR). If there is more than one file, they are serialized with the last character of the filename incremented for each additional file in the image chain. Each file before the last one will be 32 sectors. The last file in the chain may be less than 32 sectors. In this case, there are two files: CFMGR and CFMGS. The first is 32 sectors, the second, 31 (after removing the FDR sector from the reported file size). You load the program as in the last paragraph by naming the first file in the series. ...lee Edited January 11 by Lee Stewart additional information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newTIboyRob Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 Oh ok, will try that. Thank you Lee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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