Is there a way to convert a BIN file into several E/A 5 image files?

[rgjt]

Is there a way to convert a BIN file on FG99 into several E/A 5 image files?

[HOME AUTOMATION]

That word "convert", sounds to be used like a sort of catch-all term here. Since .bin files, on the FG99, are meant to be presented within the CPU >6000->7FFF address range, (which on the FG99, is not fully loadable from the address bus), or presented as GROM,  in the >6000->FFFF range, which could be loaded as GRAM, but not by the EA5 LOADER.

 

Seems like more goal needs to be revealed, in order to proceed.

 

Should be easy enough to chop-up a bin file, with a HEX-EDITOR, then type in the HEADER data. But than it would have to go on DISK/TAPE, in SAVE/LOAD format.

 

The SAVE, utility(E/A, 24.5, Pg. 420), is meant to process TAGGED OBJECT CODE. So logically, you could DISASSEMBLE, REASSEMBLE, than LOAD and feed.

Edited July 9 by HOME AUTOMATION

[+Schmitzi]

 

We need one Multihyper-Hightech-Overall-Conversion-Tool 

[Gary from OPA]

I myself been looking around for bin to G/K converter that would be the best way, as cartridge dumps when natively were on TI they were originally stored in gram kracker format, but that format only works for normal sizes cartridges with 2 or 4 ROM pages and 8 groms.

 

Instead I been manually converting the ones I needed, there is utilities that go from g/k to bin format but not the other way around.

 

There is extended format of the 6 byte headers for loading files into Rambo, Sams, vdp, multiple grom bases and a loader written for it, but right now I can't recall were I remember seeing the documention on it, but again no conversion program as back then everything was stored natively on the ti99 that was designed before the days of emulators and pc storage devices.

Edited July 10 by Gary from OPA

[rgjt]

Well, it looks like the suggestion of disassembly and reassembly by Home Automation might be the easier path to tackle this.

Create the OBJ file(s) and then use the SAVE or SAVE2 utility (by Fred Krall) to create the E/A 5 image file(s).

Another on my todo list.

 

[+Ksarul]

One note on the various loader file types BITD. GRAM Kracker was but one of several formats. TI had their own format, used for all of their GRAM devices and IIRC later adopted for the HSGPL. There were also a couple of other loader formats out there that were popular in Europe. If you happen to have a Wiesbaden Supermodul II, it will load files in any of the cartridge GRAM formats that were available before the early 90s (it recognizes them on load without user intervention) and it will save the files it has in memory to any of those known formats as well. This was very useful when you had GRAM devices using different storage formats. . .the only real limitation was that files could have no more than four ROM banks and five GRAM banks, as that was the storage limit on the cartridge (it ignored GROMs 0-2)

[Gary from OPA]

56 minutes ago, Ksarul said:

One note on the various loader file types BITD. GRAM Kracker was but one of several formats. TI had their own format, used for all of their GRAM devices and IIRC later adopted for the HSGPL. There were also a couple of other loader formats out there that were popular in Europe. If you happen to have a Wiesbaden Supermodul II, it will load files in any of the cartridge GRAM formats that were available before the early 90s (it recognizes them on load without user intervention) and it will save the files it has in memory to any of those known formats as well. This was very useful when you had GRAM devices using different storage formats. . .the only real limitation was that files could have no more than four ROM banks and five GRAM banks, as that was the storage limit on the cartridge (it ignored GROMs 0-2)

do you remember the link to or have the file handy, that documented the almost universal header format i recall that was invented, it could have been by wiesbaden as well, that allowed to ID in the header if the data following would be Rambo page, or vdp block, or a AMS page (this was before SAMS), besides handling multiple gram bases, and of course the 4 rom banks as well.

Edited July 11 by Gary from OPA

[+Ksarul]

3 hours ago, Gary from OPA said:

do you remember the link to or have the file handy, that documented the almost universal header format i recall that was invented, it could have been by wiesbaden as well, that allowed to ID in the header if the data following would be Rambo page, or vdp block, or a AMS page (this was before SAMS), besides handling multiple gram bases, and of course the 4 rom banks as well.

That was a completely different program--the Wiesbaden program was specific to the standard cartridge load bytes of the day--and expected the files to land in GRAMs 3-7 and up to four banks in the >6000 RAM space in the cartridge. Here's a copy of the flowchart used by the software to determine cartridge format (in German).

 

 

GRAM Flowchart-3.pdf

[rgjt]

No, I don't have the reference to the universal header format that you invented. This is way above my TI99 knowledge, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction.