+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 3 minutes ago, atrax27407 said: Thanks - does it work with the F18A and 80-columns? No, that's my problem I updated the DSR and it all fell apart EDIT: I mean I updated the DSR and the 80 column support broke (which is why I think the mod must of been in the DSR). It did work before that though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Atari2600PAL said: No, that's my problem I updated the DSR and it all fell apart EDIT: I mean I updated the DSR and the 80 column support broke (which is why I think the mod must of been in the DSR). It did work before that though Maybe you can find an answer in the information about MAME setup for the HSGPL card https://www.ninerpedia.org/wiki/Setting_up_the_HSGPL_for_MAME Edited January 30 by RickyDean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 13 minutes ago, RickyDean said: Maybe you can find an answer in the information about MAME setup for the HSGPL card https://www.ninerpedia.org/wiki/Setting_up_the_HSGPL_for_MAME Thanks. Interesting information, but even MAME HSGPL only works in 80 column with EVPC graphics enabled (no support for F18a) Looks like I might of had the only card that worked with F18a and I destroyed the function (there was no option in the DSRLDR3 to save the existing DSR else I would of done that first) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Did you get any HSGPL disks with the card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Just now, atrax27407 said: Did you get any HSGPL disks with the card? Nope, just the card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Looks like it was a custom 80-col DSR, then.😪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Just now, atrax27407 said: Looks like it was a custom 80-col DSR, then.😪 Sadly yes. I’ve reverted to 40 column dsr for now so fctn-8 works It has the basic functionality at least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) The previous owner may have edited information in the DSR to make the card respond with the F18A, it is still relatively new and the HSGPL was designed to work with the SNUG CPU card and 80 column cards in the PEB box. Maybe you can contact the deceased owners family and see if they had files related to the card, that they'd be willing to let go. Maybe someone here has a similar arrangement that they have done and could furnish the needed files too. But that may be a rare combination, again as the F18A is pretty new to the community, compared to the HSGPL card. Edited January 30 by RickyDean spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Everything was donated to the UK TI user group and they aren’t aware of being in possession of any disks/files for it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Someone in the USA purchased the other snug cards and various disks last December, so they may have something. But unless they are reading this we’ll probably never know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 9 minutes ago, Atari2600PAL said: Someone in the USA purchased the other snug cards and various disks last December, so they may have something. But unless they are reading this we’ll probably never know Oh how I wish that someopne had been me. I was not doing to much with the TI in the SNUG heyday, missed out on some goodies. ;( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 @Atari2600PAL, I would think it would be possible to run the Mame version of the TI99/4a with the HSGPL card and 80 column card emulation, then pull the DSR from the emulated system and compare it to the information you have and maybe hexedit the real DSR file to match? I don't think Michael has emulated the F18A in Mame, so that is probably not an option at this point in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 @RickyDean I think MAME needs the DSR from SNUG website, so would be identical? Is there a program that let's you debug step by step an EA5 program please? The VDP type check must be pretty early in the program launch, so would like to get an idea of what it's doing... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Mame has a built in debugger that you can use, if testing in emulation and so does Classic99. Js99er has a built in logger, visible from the webpage that offers some visibility. As for real TI experience, I don't know, that'll have to be answered by someone else here on the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Just now, RickyDean said: Mame has a built in debugger that you can use, if testing in emulation and so does Classic99. Js99er has a built in logger, visible from the webpage that offers some visibility. As for real TI experience, I don't know, that'll have to be answered by someone else here on the forum. Thanks. I have classic99 installed will take another look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Actually the first thing would be, IIRC, that the F18a needs to be unlocked Am going to search for a bit of EA5 code that puts the F18a into 80 column mode and then returns without re-locking it (or calls the 80COL SNUG app) and see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On WHTech there are two zip files containing a ready-to-use HSGPL setup: https://ftp.whtech.com/emulators/MAME/div/ These files (hsgpl40.zip and hsgpl80.zip) are also automatically downloaded by my MAME setup tool (mameprep[_cygwin]). You have to unpack them in the nvram/ti99_4a folder, or in the nvram/ti99_4ev folder when using the EVPC (80col) card. Yes, and the F18A is still not available in the TI emulation in MAME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 31 minutes ago, Atari2600PAL said: Actually the first thing would be, IIRC, that the F18a needs to be unlocked Am going to search for a bit of EA5 code that puts the F18a into 80 column mode and then returns without re-locking it (or calls the 80COL SNUG app) and see what happens Seems I don't remember correctly (nothing unusual there!) According to some threads I've read 80 column mode can be enabled without unlocking, just need to find a bit of example code that does that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Atari2600PAL said: Seems I don't remember correctly (nothing unusual there!) According to some threads I've read 80 column mode can be enabled without unlocking, just need to find a bit of example code that does that I would look through the F18 main thread here on Atariage. It seems to me that the F18A would need to be unlocked in the firmware of the device, or in the DSR of the HSGPL card, as you turn on and off the TI, and the DSR will be accessed accordingly. If your TI was already in 80 column mode, before this incident happened, I don't think it was turned off by reloading something. If it was already in 80 col mode, it seems that if you used the 80 col version of the DSR, it should automagically work? Also @F.G. Kaal's Ti994w emulator has V9938 support and a debugger feature https://hexbus.com/ti99geek/Projects/ti994w/ti994w.html Edited January 30 by RickyDean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 T80 mode can be enabled on the F18A without unlocking by writing 4 to VR0 and otherwise setting the registers up for text mode. AFAIK this is the same as on the v9938/9958. But any attempt to use the extra VDP RAM of the v9938/9958 will fail. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 38 minutes ago, Asmusr said: T80 mode can be enabled on the F18A without unlocking by writing 4 to VR0 and otherwise setting the registers up for text mode. AFAIK this is the same as on the v9938/9958. But any attempt to use the extra VDP RAM of the v9938/9958 will fail. Thanks is there an example of a simple bit of assembler that will do that please? Have started reading the F18a thread but it’s all quite in-depth discussions about various things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 4 hours ago, Atari2600PAL said: Seems I don't remember correctly (nothing unusual there!) According to some threads I've read 80 column mode can be enabled without unlocking, just need to find a bit of example code that does that Yeah, there is no requirement for unlocking I am aware of changing the F18a to run in 80 column text mode. I do that with the 80 Column version of AfterHours BBS. If there is free space at the end of the DSR, modify the powerup vector to point to code at the end of the DSR to write the necessary byte(s) to the video registers. As I recall, there was a bit that was a difference between the 9918 and 9938 that was required or the Title Screen would be messed up on the Geneve. It is possible this same bit in Grom 0 is the issue and you just need to change that bit in one of the video registers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 3 hours ago, Atari2600PAL said: Thanks is there an example of a simple bit of assembler that will do that please? Have started reading the F18a thread but it’s all quite in-depth discussions about various things Here is code I use to switch to 80 column text mode with a 9938. LI R0,>0004 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>01F0 BLWP @VWTR SWPB R0 MOVB R0,@>83D4 LI R0,>0203 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>0402 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>032F BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>0A00 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>0980 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>07F1 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>0C17 BLWP @VWTR LI R0,>0800 LI R1,>2000 LI R2,>0800 >0800 10.03.2022 BLWP @VMBR LI R0,>1000 BLWP @VMBW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lee Stewart Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) 5 hours ago, Atari2600PAL said: is there an example of a simple bit of assembler that will do that please? This should work: VDPWA EQU >8C02 ;VDP Write Address *++ Writing registers in reverse order is TMS9918 safe. TEXT80 BYTE 0,>10,>4F,0,0,0,>88,>4F,1,6,1,>E8,3,>F0,4 ;registers VR14..VR00 *++ Change these ^^ ^^ for different FG/BG colors. *++ They should be the same values. The >4F is dark blue on white. The reverse *++ (white on dark blue) would be >F4 for each of those two registers. *++ Set up VDP registers VR00 to VR14 in reverse order... VRSET LI R0,TEXT80 ;load address register table for TEXT80 LI R1,VDPWA ;load VDP Write Address LI R2,>8E00 ;start at VR14..8 (MSb set) is register-write flag MOVB @TEXT80+13,@>83D4 ;VR01 value to scratchpad RAM screen timeout loc LIMI 0 ;don't need if interrupts already disabled VSET02 MOVB *R0+,*R1 ;copy next VDP register's value to VDP NOP ;delay..not sure we need it MOVB R2,*R1 ;write VR# and write-reg flag AI R2,>FF00 ;next register down JNO VSET02 ;write another register if not done ...lee Edited January 31 by Lee Stewart correction & explanation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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