Can someone explain ROM/GROM/RAM expansions to a newbie please?

[Vstar]

Hi,

I've just finally managed to get hold of TI99/4a. I have fond memories of them as friend of mine had one back in the day.

I don't remember the setup he had, but it played a great game of Space Invaders, and several other games which talked (which blew my mind in '82).

 

I've been doing a lot of reading and I'm finding it somewhat confusing. I'm looking at a FlashROM99 or a FinalGROM99. And/or the 32K RAM expansion.

 

What's confusing is that the FinalGROM99 seems to have superseded the FlashROM99 ?

But the FinalGROM99 also has RAM onboard? So do I need the 32K RAM expander?

 

I guess most of the software I want to play with came on cartridges, like Parsec, Invaders, Alpiner, etc.  Do these play from the FlashROM99? Or did they need the 32K RAM expansion?

 

Or is it best just to buy the FinalGROM99 and the 32 RAM expansion and be done with it?  

What about games that came on disk? Can they be loaded from the FG99?

 

Many thanks.

 

[RickyDean]

I would get the FinalGrom99m and the 32k ram. I'm not keen on the ram expansion in the FG99, but it's not usable as system ram. That is what the 32k if for. If you can purchase the sidecar SAMS ram, that is better to future proof your purchase as coders start making games that fit in it.

[+OLD CS1]

1 hour ago, Vstar said:

What's confusing is that the FinalGROM99 seems to have superseded the FlashROM99 ?

Yes.  The FlashROM is only capable of loading ROM cartridge images up to 32k in size.  The FinalGROM can load ROM and GROM images up to 1MB.

1 hour ago, Vstar said:

But the FinalGROM99 also has RAM onboard? So do I need the 32K RAM expander?

The RAM on the FG99 is only for cartridge space, to be used for cartridge images and is not directly accessible by the computer otherwise.  Yes, you still need the 32k RAM accessory, as @RickyDean points out.  As he also points out, you should probably get the SAMS if it is not much more expensive.  It will help "future proof" your setup as new software comes out to take advantage of the extra memory it provides.

[JB]

1 hour ago, Vstar said:

What about games that came on disk? Can they be loaded from the FG99?

 

Nope. The FinalGROM is "just" a cartridge. You need something that connects to the right-side port for mass storage(be it floppy drives, emulation of floppy drives, or something more exotic)

[+arcadeshopper]

Spent a lot of time writing the FAQ which covers this

 

https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/ti-99-4a-faq/