In this video, we explore the ti s colorful world of graphics capabilities and options in ti basic, extended basic, and assembly on the ti 99 4a, with examples of the computers variety of video. In the case of the ti 99 4a, the microprocessor the tms9900 understands 69 different instructions, encoded by a total of 57792 numbers i. Programming graphics on the ti994a newline99 youtube. Assembly on the 994a ti994a development atariage forums. Ti basic is based on dartmouth basic and complies to the american national standard for minimal basic ansi x3. They assume you have a knowledge of programming in assembly.
Lotus 123 formats not really relevant to the ti, but i do use the original lotus 123 file format for fast and effective data exchange. These pages are dedicated to the texas instruments ti 99 4a home computer. This manual assumes that you already know 8 programming language, preferably an assembly language. The only manual available today focusing on programming games in tms9900 assembler. It still has a substantial following, and i still use mine to this day. The fourth chapter is a reference section which discusses, in alphabetical order, all ti extended basic commands, statements, and functions. Assembly language by mark wills for the texas instruments ti 99 4a computer. Smyths forth tutorial collected and combined into a single document. First we made a theoretical foundation and then we get inside of coding.
View and download texas instruments ti994a user manual online. You will need to purchase the editorassembler manual for information on the 99 4a assembly language, and should be aware that the manual is not written for the novice. Ti 99 4 and 99 4a personal computer system software comprehensive specification known titles. The ti994 and ti994a are the first 16bit home computers, using the texas instruments tms9900 16bit cpu. Faq, links, avis, emulators, screen saver and theme, history, equipment sources, more. These pages are dedicated to the texas instruments ti994a home computer. The editorassembler allows you to write assembly language programs on the 99 4a. The goal of this book is to help you learn how to use the texas instruments assembly language tools specifically designed for the tms320 fixedpoint dsps.
They contain mainly technical information on the various processors and memory chips found in the console, on peripheral cards and cartridges and on additional hardware. Here is another view of the architecture of the ti994a that may help you in visualizing the. Introduction to linux assembly language, x86 architecture, 64bit x86 assembly, arm assembly language, arm thumb, 8bit 6502 or 16bit 65c816 programming, video game programming and assembly code optimization. Prior to the ea, all software for the 994a was written on an expensive ti mini computer with a 994a emulator, and i think tombstone city was the only ti produced software ever written on the 994a itself. Aug 21, 2010 the article on wikipedia has the years messed up. Besides ti basic, assembly is the other primary programming language available for the ti 83 series calculators. The art of assembly language page iii the art of assembly language full contents forward why would anyone learn this stuff. This was propietary and very slow, but it allowed assembly access to floating point math. May 12, 2010 unfortunately the ti 99 4a is a single tasking computer and this feature of the cpu is not really needed, so instead of a benefit it becomes a slow down. If youre a computer geek and into vintage computing like me, youll really enjoy this book. Bruce harrisons art of assembly series in micropendium is an extensive tutorial on tms9900 assembly language. When you write in assembly, you write in a human readable form of machine code, which allows you to create quicker programs that can access and do more than ti basic. The lbla itself occupies the module, and the maximum machine code program you may write with it is therefore about 750 bytes.
Beginners introduction to the assembly language of atmelavr. In this series of html files is all you will need to join the ranks of expert programmers making cheap knockoffs of game boy and cellphone games. They were still in the styrofoam packaging but the box was missing. The instructions and sample programs in this book are designed for use with the texas instruments ti994a computer. Prior to the ea, all software for the 994a was written on an expensive ti mini. Mistakes in assembly can be messier than in ti basic but usually only as severe as a ram clear, so before. Which brings us to the reason why the wp is so important and why you should always have the wp set to a location in the 256 bytes of scratch pad ram, which is the only 16bit ram in the 99 4a. The texas instruments ti 994a is a home computer released in june 1981 in the united states. I hope you find something useful and interesting on these pages. Other pc assembly language books still teach how to program the 8086 processor that the original pc used in 1981. Assembler is easy to learn it is not true that assembly language is more complicated or not as easy to understand than other languages. Ti 994a basic ti99basic is a version of texas instruments basic as found in rom on the ti994a.
Editor assembler is a native development system for the ti 99 4a. A guide to programming the texas instruments compact. Unlike ti basic, which uses commands and functions that are easy to understand, assembly is programmed in the calculators own machine language. I have used a ti 99 4a since 1981, and it is really a great computer. With the ti mini memory module and this book, you will be programming ti assembly language programs in no time. It features a text editor, a tms9900 machine code assembler, and sample code including an assembler version of tombstone city. It also includes a very thick about 2 inches reference manual that covers.
The ti 99 was pretty much the only computer to use the tms9900, just like the cpu itself, the ti 99 wasnt designed like most computers with almost all its ram as vram it actually uses vram to store basic programs which is not as fast as proper memory. I guess the tutorials on assembly language will help you. A site dedicated to the classic 1980s home computer, the ti994a. Library in assembly language for programming arcade games. The set of valid numbers accepted by the processor therefore constitues a language. In this mode, any program may address any memory or device in the computer. Ti basic is an ansicompliant basic programming language interpreter built into the 1981 texas instruments ti 99 4a home computer and its predecessor, the ti 99 4 1979. I specifically recommend tom swans excellent book, mastering turbo assembler, which will take. The editorassembler allows you to write assembly language programs on the 994a itself. What i want to do is get you familiar enough with the jargon and the assumptions of assembly language so that you can pick up your typical introduction to assembly language and not get lost by page 6.
Ti994a basic compiler wilhelms instructions youtube. I have the ti, extended basic, and fair knowledge of assembly on other platforms. At any rate, im looking for things i would need in order to do assembly on the ti, including assembly manuals. It is an enhanced version of the less successful ti994 which was released in late 1979. Also see the white noisecompiled video and my speed test video as well. If you have more time and dont mind if your chip remains 99 % in a wait state type of operation, you can choose any language you want. Introductory information gives you an overview of the assembly language development tools and also discusses common object file for. Ti basic programs are generally slower than asm programs due to the fact that the calculator reads each command line in the ti basic program one at a time. For those unfamiliar the ti994a was a home computer by texas. I was lucky enough to find a pair of the original ti joysticks brand new at a yard sale this past weekend. A digitized and edited version of the series, including seven unpublished articles, is available in the cyc, which is part of cadd electronics pc99 suite of ti 99 4a emulator.
Like it says on the box, are there any good tutorials for using dos and disk drives on the ti 99 4a. Ti 99 4 and 99 4a personal computer system software comprehensive specification. Texas instruments editorassembler ti994a assembly language. To follow the discussion youll need some knowledge of digital electronics and notions of assembly language programming. A site dedicated to the classic 1980s home computer, the ti 994a. They claim that the ti 99 4 was released in 1979 when in fact it is from 1977. Feb 26, 2011 basic compiled into assembly is up to 40x faster in some cases. While the basic on the 99 was very slow, i learned assembler on it, and the assembled programs were much faster than the vic20 or c64. Something a total noob to the platform would be able use, because, like right now, all i could do is insert a cartridge and thats it. Further ti 99 4a manuals available in 1037109 style. The computer holds the distinction of being the first 16bit personal computer, having a 16bit tms 9900 cpu running at 3. The information included will be generally useful with other computers incorporating basic programming. The basic interpreter was not written in assembly language as you might expect.
Chapter 4 learning and using jed 99 a programming environment for assembly language 4. Multiple system emulator that supports the ti994, ti994a, ti998, and geneve. Ti basic should be mastered before attempting assembly language. Welcome, one and all, to learn ti83 plus assembly in 28 days the ultimate read. Your contribution will go a long way in helping us. Free assembly language books download ebooks online textbooks. Phm 3024 indoor soccer different blackwhite 99 4a manual. The tutorials in the playlist will give you nice idea of assembly language. The texas instruments ti 99 4a was an early home computer, released in june of 1981. The major slowdown in the 99 was the ti graphics program language chip set. Instead it was programmed in something called graphics programming language.