Subject: Attention TI BASIC Lovers

From: fdos <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 12:06:49 -0700

Our amazing AL guru Tursi seems to be a GPL guru also as he has 
successfully patched our original TI EA module and the 80 column version 
of Winfried Winkler's modified EA module to support TI BASIC programs 
running in GRAM7 via MSAVE (from MG Gram Kracker utils).  This means all 
those CALLS like; INIT, LINK(), LOAD(), CHARPAT() & VPEEK(), etc., and 
if you can get your hands on the patched WW EA you'll get additional 
CALLS to dress up your basic programs like XB programs (similar 
capabilities are in my TI BASIC+, not yet released) in GRAM7 or VDP memory.

Even more amazingly he has patched Rich Gilbertson's EABASIC, so the EA 
CALLS he added will work with MSAVE6 which covers GRAM3 - GRAM7 (no room 
for any module as you create your own using an enhanced version of TI 
BASIC), or you can further enhance your TI BASIC programs by plugging in 
the TI Speech Editor module, and have the same speech capabilities as XB.

Obviously these modified modules (EA & WW-EA) and TI BASIC can only be 
fully used by those who have an 80K GK or Gramulator, or HSGPL card and 
similar GRAM devices or those with PC emulators; although P-GRAM(+) 
users can make use of the modified EA & WW-EA, just not EABASIC or 
better yet, EABASGRM.

I encountered some difficulties along the way as I was passing files 
from my MESS emulator and from my NanoPEB to and from Tursi.  I used a 
method that does not work with Fred Kaal's TIHDX program set which 
allows NanoPEB users to transfer files over a serial connection to a PC 
that is just like a disk manager (specifically DM2K), and the 38.4Kbps 
transfer rate is plenty fast.  Anyway some of the files I was getting 
from Tursi and Rich were not of the V9T9 format, so when I used Window 
Explorer to put these files in the TIHDX director/sub-directory they did 
not show up on the TI side as valid TI files.  It's wise to use another 
Fred Kaal program for this task instead of Windows Explorer or other PC 
tool.  It is known as TI99dir.exe (a fantastic tool for all files that 
will end up on a CF7/NanoPEB CF card, and it's great to backup/restore 
1GB CF cards.  That's for sure.  Thanks Fred.

And my hat is off to Tursi for doing the really hard stuff, and then 
explaining it in a way I can understand.  Super job.  I can't begin to 
describe all the hobby fun I'm going to have until I really retire. :-)

-- 
Bill R Sullivan (FDOS)
Go Forth+ or X4th99