COMP.SYS.TI FAQ

The following is a set of answers to some frequently asked questions on the comp.sys.ti newsgroup. There is no guarantee that any of these answers are currently valid, or even helpful. If you find an error or omission in this FAQ, please let me know. Thank you to all those who have suggested changes and additions.

One thing we could really use is an FTP site to hold detailed information. For example, if a list of vendors and/or user groups becomes available, it would be better to make it available by FTP rather than in the FAQ.

NOTE: If you want something added to the FAQ, please send the answer as well as the question. I don't know everything.

Table of Contents

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1) What is the focus of this newsgroup?

2) Where can I find TI-8x calculator software?

3) How can I make a cable to connect my TI-8x to a PC?

4) What is the Myarc 9640/Geneve?

5) What are some TI 99/4A FTP sites?

6) How can I expand my TI 99/4A?

7) What is Funnelweb?

8) How can I connect Atari joysticks to the TI 99/4A?

9) How can I transfer files between the TI 99/4A and a PC?

10) Is there a TI 99/4A magazine?

11) Are there TI 99/4A emulators for other computers?

12) What are the pinouts of the 99/4A connectors?

13) How about adding this to the FAQ?

14) What is the SuperAMS, and how do I get my hand on one?

Answers

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1) What is the focus of this newsgroup?

The comp.sys.ti newsgroup is for discussion of computers made by Texas Instruments. The bulk of the discussion tends to revolve around the TI 99/4A, a remarkable home computer which was discontinued in 1983 due to the cutthroat nature of the home computer market at that time.

2) Where can I find TI-8x calculator software?

There is an anonymous FTP site at archive.ppp.ti.com which maintains a collection of software for TI's graphing calculators in the /pub/graph-ti directory. It has been reported that ftp.internic.net also has these files. The bit.listserv.graph-ti and bit.listserv.calc-ti newsgroups contain useful files as well.

3) How can I make a cable to connect my TI-8x to a PC?

I have been told that there are schematics available on the World Wide Web at "http://www.algonet.se/~mha/ti.html". If you decide you would like to buy one, it is apparently carried by Educalc (800-633-2252) and Advantage Marketing (800-937-9777), as well as some other dealers whose names you can get by calling 800-TI-CARES. The prices from dealers are supposed to be better than buying direct from TI.

4) What is the Myarc 9640/Geneve?

A few years after TI dropped the 99/4A, a third party supplier of 99/4A peripherals (Myarc) completed a design for a replacement computer which had many enhancements over the 99/4A. This machine was originally to be called the "Myarc 9640 Family Computer", but Myarc suddenly decided to use the name "Geneve" which is not universally liked. The computer is a card for the 99/4A Peripheral Expansion Box which replaces the interface card used to connect to a 99/4A console.

In its standard configuration, the 9640 is 3-5 times the speed of a 99/4A and comes with 512K of CPU RAM, 128K of video RAM, a battery-backed clock chip, joystick and mouse ports, and an IBM PC/XT keyboard. The video processor provides significantly better graphics, as well as 80 column text display, with an analog RGB (not VGA) monitor. The native operating system is an MS-DOS clone called MDOS, and 99/4A software is run with an emulation utility called the "GPL Environment". In either MDOS or GPL, some of the system RAM can be used for print spooling and/or a RAMdisk.

5) What are some TI 99/4A FTP sites?

There aren't many. One has recently come into service at solutions.solon.com (the /pub/ti99 directory).

6) How can I expand my TI 99/4A?

In all sorts of ways. The 99/4A console is fairly limited in what it can do, but with a Peripheral Expansion Box (PE Box or PEB for short), you can easily add a serial/parallel interface, a floppy disk controller, and 32K of memory expansion. This is probably the minimum you want if you plan on making serious use of your 99/4A.

You can also add an MFM or SCSI hard disk, a RAMdisk card, a clock card, an 80 column/advanced graphics card, an IBM PC keyboard, a GRAM device (allows loading of cartridges from disk), and the list goes on and on. There are many options for those who want to push their 99/4As to the limit.

7) What is Funnelweb?

Funnelweb is a descendant of the TI-Writer word processor, but has gone far beyond it. Funnelweb provides a menu-driven environment into which you can integrate all sorts of software. Among the many features of the environment is the ability to catalog a disk without loading a disk manager, the ability to run all sorts of machine language programs with the Extended BASIC cartridge plugged in, and bundled utilities like a disk editor and a disk manager. There are word processing and programming versions of the editor portion, and there is support for 80 column cards. There's far more to say about Funnelweb than is appropriate for a FAQ, but hopefully this will be enough of an overview to give some idea.

8) How can I connect Atari joysticks to the TI 99/4A?

Editor's note: this information was provided by Sam Carey. ________
( 1 2 3 4 5 )
\ 6 7 8 9 /
\______/
TI Joystick pins Atari Joystick Pins
-- -------- ---- ----- -------- ----
1) N.C. ------------1) Up S
2) Stick B--| | ----------2) Down t
Ground | | | --------3) Left i
3) Up-----------+ | | --4) Right c
4) Fire---------|-|-|-| | 5) N.C. k
Button | | | | +-----6) Fire btn
5) Left---------|-|-+ | | 7) N.C. B
6) N.C. |---|-|-|-|---|-8) Ground
7) Stick A--------------- | 9) N.C.
Ground | | | | | |
8) Down-------- --|-|-|-|-|-1) Up S
More?
9) Right---| |---+-|-|-|-|-2) Down t
---------+-------3) Left i
[Female] | | --4) Right c
| | 5) N.C. k
--|---6) Fire btn
| 7) N.C. A
----8) Ground
9) N.C.

[Male]

Bob Sutton adds that another option is to find a pair of non-working TI joysticks and add 9-pin connectors to that cable. Which colors go to which pins is unknown, but the diagram above and a decent ohmmeter should be enough to figure it out. Bob adds that he made his by trial and error.

9) How can I transfer files between the TI 99/4A and a PC?

There are basically two options: PC-Transfer or a serial cable. In either case, only text files are typically good candidates to move. Picture files also can be useful when moved from one system to the other.

PC-Transfer is a program which requires a Myarc or CorComp floppy disk controller. It allows reading and writing of floppy disks in the MS-DOS 360K disk format.

Using a serial cable, you simply use a terminal emulation program on each end, doing an XMODEM (or other supported protocol) transfer.

10) Is there a TI 99/4A magazine?

Yes, MICROpendium has been around for over ten years now, and is still in print. Their address is:

Micropendium
PO Box 1343
Round Rock TX 78680

A 12 issue (one year) subscription is $35 for domestic (U.S.) subscribers.

11) Are there TI-99/4A emulators for other computers?

At the time of this writing, are at least two emulators available for MS-DOS PCs. There has been some work on TI emulators for other computers, but no details are available as to the status of those projects.

One of the two DOS products is PC99 from CaDD Electronics. It is a commercial software package which was designed emulate the TI 99/4A as fully as possible. Information is available by e-mail from mjmw@xyvision.com, or by U.S. mail by writing to:

CaDD Electronics
45 Centerville Drive
Salem, NH 03079-2674

The other is called "V9t9", and is shareware. It was written by a student named Edward Swartz. Due to legal hassles from TI, this emulator was pulled off the market for a while, but a new version is now available on various FTP sites, including:

ftp.io.com:/pub/usr/edswartz/v9t9
ftp.uni-erlangen.de:/pub/pc/msdos/emulator/ti994a
ftp.wustl.edu:/pub/msdos_uploads/emulators/ti994a

The v9t9 author's e-mail address is swartze@ralph.txswu.edu.

12) What are the pinouts of the 99/4A connectors?

This information is too lengthy to include in a FAQ, but Thierry Nouspikel (nouspike@cmu.unige.ch) has a text file with this sort of information and has volunteered to send it to interested parties.

13) How about adding this to the FAQ?

If you think something should be in the FAQ, feel free to let me know. Please note, however, that this FAQ is intended to provide helpful pointers, not detailed information. Listing all of the TI user groups would be an example of something that would be far too big to include in a FAQ.

14) What is the SuperAMS, and how do I get my hands on one?