VOGONS


TANDY Dos-Gaming-Thread (1000RL/HD)

Topic actions

First post, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Hi,

I just ordered my first Tandy machine because I would love to have an entry Dos-Gaming-PC.
I choose the Tandy because there are many old Dos-Titles where the best Version is for a Tandy.

This thread should be used in order to collect some "must-play" titles and to give tips if a game
will not run with tandy-mode. Perhaps there are some patches that came later and no one knows them?

I have also configured my T1000 as it is shown here: http://www.oldskool.org/guides/tvdog/RLRLX.html
ZipDrive100MB with ISA-Card.

Thx
Doc

Last edited by dr.zeissler on 2014-09-24, 13:10. Edited 2 times in total.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 1 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

1. Is it true, that there are Games that will not run with the advanced featureset (3voice,dac,cga-16color) of my 1000 RL/HD (8086) because they need an AT-Class machine (286) ?

2. Is there a "flag" in oder to get Falcon (F-16) in Tandy-Mode? (seems to be CGA 4 color only to me, no automatic detection?)

Last edited by dr.zeissler on 2014-09-24, 10:42. Edited 1 time in total.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 2 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I am planing some kind of "compact-disk-catalog" for my Tandy.

Therefore I will take a 720KB-Disk with "config.sys/autoexec.bat" (booting from Dos in ROM and Activating looking for config.sys/autoexec.bat in Disk A:)
Then showing an ACSII-Made Floppydisk (something like the Disk that is displayed when monster-bash (apogee) asks for Disk2) with a menu e.g.:

TCDC TandyCompactDiskCatalog 1
Choose your Game
1. BattleChess
2. Arkanoid
3. etc.

This should be easily done by using "choice".
The structure behind should be something like that:

A:\PRG\ ...the Games ...
A:\DRV\ ...the Drivers ...
A:\autoexec.bat (with the menu)
A:\config.sys

When I manage to do something in assembler a nice "stutterfree scrollingtext" and an "3voice-tune" would be really nice,
but I do not think that I can do this. I thought about something like that http://www.spiny.org/medway/medway_1_10.html
but not in graphics mode.

I think it is possible, that some Dosgames can be "ripped", so only the files for the Tandyversion are on the "Compact-Disk".
It is also possible to do "Bootingdisks" with Dos 3.x on it, but I can use the Build-in Dos in ROM to save space on the Disk.

Doc

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 3 of 177, by Cloudschatze

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

There are a number of games that offer support for the RL's 320x200 and 640x200 16-color graphics modes, 3-voice sound/music, and even Tandy DAC playback, but are otherwise unplayable on the RL due to the inadequacy of its CPU. Sierra's SCI1 titles fall into this category. Other games, such as Interplay's "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary," support the ETGA graphics mode, but will not even start on the RL, presumably due to the use of a CPU check or 286 opcodes.

Concerning what will work though, I mentioned on the Vintage Computer forum that the RL should handle most games produced through 1990 reasonably well. I'm not sure where your interests lie, but the list is fairly large, and includes titles by Accolade, Brøderbund, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, MicroProse, Origin, Sierra, The Learning Company, and everything in-between. There are certainly more than a few "must-plays," but Prince of Persia is worth checking-out on the RL, and supports the PSSJ DAC besides.

Also, the ability to drop the RL down to 4.77MHz allows many of the earlier, speed-sensitive PC and Tandy titles to play at a proper rate. Due to recent experience though, I'll suggest that you'll need to have the VSYNC IRQ5 jumper in place for a number of these.

Reply 4 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Thx!

1. "VSYNC IRQ5 jumper in place" That does not tell me anything, what does it do/mean?
2. I am interested in the old titles before 1990, for later Games a have 286/EGA, 286/VGA, 386/VGA,486/VGA and various Pentiums
3. Yesterday I created the ANSI-Disk-Master. I will post it later in order to get a feedback, perhaps someone could do a better one.
4. I am not a programmer, I don't know anything about it, but I have TP70 and would like to create a smooth!! textscroller in 80x25, perhaps someone could help too.
5. Yesterday I tested "outrun" and it uses 16colors AND the 3Voice and the DAC. Mobygames says the the DAC ist only for the TL/286 Models..so this must be wrong.
6. There are over 700 Titles that support Tandy, so a lot of possible choices 😀
7. The "Falcon"-Problem that I mentioned above still exists. Is there a special Version for the Tandy, or do I need to set a "flag" at startup. "falcon -tandy" does not work, i only get 4color CGA.

Doc

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 5 of 177, by Great Hierophant

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
dr.zeissler wrote:

Thx!

1. "VSYNC IRQ5 jumper in place" That does not tell me anything, what does it do/mean?

There is a set of three jumpers on the RL's motherboard. One assigns IRQ5 to vertical sync, which is how the original PCjr. and Tandy 1000 worked. Some early games that support Tandy/PCjr. graphics expect IRQ5 to be assigned to VSYNC. However, PC/XT hard drives also use IRQ5. You have the option of using IRQ5 or IRQ2 for the hard drive in the RL by setting the proper jumper. Read Pages 101-102 of the Tandy 1000 Tech Notes & Jumper Manual, Volume 1.

dr.zeissler wrote:

5. Yesterday I tested "outrun" and it uses 16colors AND the 3Voice and the DAC. Mobygames says the the DAC ist only for the TL/286 Models..so this must be wrong.

No, the TL/SL is a common designation. It refers to two systems, the Tandy 1000 TL and the Tandy 1000 SL. The TL uses a 80286 CPU and the SL uses an 8086 CPU, and both were released at the same time. Additionally, theses later systems, TL/2, TL/3, SL/2 and RL & RL-HD systems support Tandy graphics and the Tandy DAC. Some other systems support the Tandy DAC chip but not the Tandy Graphics chip.

dr.zeissler wrote:

7. The "Falcon"-Problem that I mentioned above still exists. Is there a special Version for the Tandy, or do I need to set a "flag" at startup. "falcon -tandy" does not work, i only get 4color CGA.

Special version required : http://www.mobygames.com/game/falcon/cover-art

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/ - Nerdly Pleasures - My Retro Gaming, Computing & Tech Blog

Reply 6 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Thx! It is really hard to find the special Tandy Versions of a Game. I found "boulder-Dash" and "Superboulder-Dash" but both seem to use only CGA an Beeper. According to the follwing artice, it seems that I need a special Version to get Tandy support. I could not find a special Tandy Freeware/Abandonware Site on the Internet and Disk-Originals are rare and expensive and have the risk, that they will not run anymore, because the disks could be damaged over the long time 🙁

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.de/2012/06/ib … 1000-games.html

IBM PCjr. and Tandy 1000 Games […]
Show full quote

IBM PCjr. and Tandy 1000 Games

Originally, I was going to place this article in my Unique PC Hardware and Game Support, but I decided it deserved its separate article. It is well-known that the IBM PCjr. was not a greatly successful home computer. Too expensive, compatibility issues and its upgrade woes doomed it to failure in the marketplace. It was a weird product released by a company that had little prior experience marketing to the consumer market. Even though the machine was only on the market for 18 months, it still had a substantial impact on PC gaming.

That impact was manifested in the Tandy 1000. Released in March, 1985, for the same price as the now discontinued IBM PCjr., $1,199.00, it was a far superior machine and very competitive with an IBM PC 5150. (Actually, Tandy 1000s may have seemed inexpensive, but they got you on their extras). This machine is pretty much what IBM should have released, a true IBM PC compatible with better graphics and sound. Tandy originally intended its computer to be a more compatible PCjr. clone, but when they were ready to release it, the PCjr. discontinuance had been announced and Tandy switched gears and advertised it as an IBM PC compatible.

Unfortunately, in the 18 months of the PCjr.'s life, several games had been released for the IBM PC and PCjr. that would only display advanced graphics and sound if it detected a PCjr. The games determined by the system they were running on by checking the PC identifier byte at F000:FFFE, which was FF for a PC, FD for a PCjr., FE for an early XT and all PC Portables, FB for a later XT, F9 for a PC Convertible and FC for an AT and XT/286. Clones almost invariably identified themselves as PCs to ensure maximum compatibility, and Tandy 1000s were no exception. So those games that detected whether they were being used in a PC or PCjr. would detect a PC if they were being run on a Tandy 1000 and utilize CGA graphics and PC Speaker sound.

There are other compatibility issues between the PCjr. and Tandy 1000s.

Joysticks - The IBM PCjr.'s joysticks work just like IBM PC joysticks. Tandy 1000 joysticks come from the TRS-80 Color Computer and while analog, do not work in exactly the same way as PC joysticks. Usually this is not a big deal, but the differences may cause a game using tight timing loops to get confused.

Floppy Interface - IBM located the floppy adapter at I/O F0-FF on the PCjr., 3F0-3FF on the PC. Tandy went with the PC I/O ports. Games with disk routines (typically for copy protection) that do not use Int 13 and instead directly address the floppy disk controller directly should fail.

BASIC - The IBM PCjr. came with BASIC partially contained in ROM and additionally on a cartridge, the IBM PC came with it partially in ROM, and the Tandy 1000 came with it on solely on a disk. Games that embed or call BASIC or BASICA from IBM PC-DOS in their execution will not work with the Tandy 1000 because those programs require BASIC in ROM.

Keyboard - The IBM PCjr.'s keyboard is basically compatible with the PCs, although not as easy to use due to the fewer keys and the chiclet arrangement. However, with Fn key combinations it is possible to generate all the keystrokes of the PC keyboard. The Tandy 1000's keyboard interface came from the less-than-PC compatible Tandy 2000, and while compatible at the BIOS Int 16 level, there are real differences on how the keyboards work at the hardware level. Games bypassing the BIOS routines may fail to recognize keyboard input.

Cartridges - The Tandy 1000 did not have cartridge ports, so those games that appeared on cartridges only would be beyond the Tandy's capabilities. More ports would have been likely but for the video game crash of 1983.

Memory requires its whole section. First, as the PCjr. was only intended to have 128KB of RAM, the RAM is shared between the CPU and the Video Gate Array. This meant that RAM performance was substantially slower on a PCjr. compared with a PC. Although the original Tandy 1000 also only had 128KB on the motherboard, there are no slowdowns on those machines even though 128KB is shared between video and CPU. Games relying on the slowness of the PCjr. will run too fast on a Tandy 1000.

By the end of 1985, the 128KB of the PCjr. and its abyssmal performance began to be seen as too limiting and developers began to target the Tandy 1000 instead. As the PCjr. was officially dead by March of that year, few developers felt it necessary to support the quirks of the failed system. At this point having a Tandy 1000 was much more important than an IBM PC.

Second, the PCjr. was not designed to be upgradeable beyond 128KB, while the Tandy 1000 was always intended to go up to 640KB. The TX and most of the later models allowed 768KB in the conventional memory space to eliminate the need to take RAM from conventional memory. Eventually IBM thought it would be a good idea to allow memory upgrades to 640KB, but the PCjr. informs programs of its total memory in a different manner compared with PCs and Tandy 1000s. Games requiring 256KB of RAM will not work in a PCjr. unless they are specifically aware of sidecar RAM expansions.

Third, the PCjr. tried to be somewhat compatible with CGA by implementing the CGA graphics window at the B800 segment. It does not have any memory at that area and borrows it from the top of the first 128KB. The PCjr. strictly implemented the window to 16KB. This means that for 32KB graphics modes, 320x200x16 and 640x200x4, only half the graphics would be shown if the programmer wrote to the B800 window. In the PCjr., the graphics would have to be written directly to the 1700 segment. The direct graphics window in the PCjr. would stay within the first 128KB no matter how much expansion sidecar RAM was installed in the system.

Tandy improved on this in two ways. First, it expanded the window at segment B800 to 32KB, allowing all the pixels of the 320x200x16 and 640x200x4 to be shown using that window. Programs did not have to ask the system where the top of the RAM was. Second, the direct graphics memory window is always at the top of RAM up to 640KB. So if a user had maximized his RAM in a pre-TX machine to 640KB, the 512-640KB portion of RAM would be shared between CPU and video. Unfortunately this broke compatibility with PCjr. only-programs that wrote graphics directly to the first 128KB of RAM.

Games automatically detected the Tandy 1000 by first searching the BIOS ROM for the string TANDY. It will be found in any Tandy 1000 because it is shown on the BIOS copyright screen upon bootup. Then it checked the byte at FC00:0000, and if was 21, then the game knew it was running on a Tandy 1000. If not, then the game would assume it was running on another Tandy PC-compatible system like the Tandy 1200 or 3000, which could use regular PC graphic adapters. Games that autodetect a Tandy will utilize the advanced graphics and sound. If a Tandy 1000 was not detected, then the game would use CGA, Hercules or EGA graphics and PC Speaker sound. This occurs even if the game can run in a PCjr.

By 1987, most games did support EGA graphics, which can display identical graphics to the Tandy 1000, so the need for a Tandy 1000 was dwindling. Toward the end of 1988, Sierra and other game companies began supporting discrete sound cards like the Adlib and midi devices like the Roland MT-32. Thus the importance of the 3-voice sound began to wane and by 1990 with the Sound Blaster's digital audio playback support, the need for a Tandy 1000 was all but eliminated.

Rules of thumb for game compatibility :

Game states it supports IBM PC & PCjr. - chances are it will only show 16-color graphics and play 3-voice sound on the PCjr.
Game requires 256KB or greater RAM - chances are it will not work on the IBM PCjr.
Game supports IBM PC, XT, AT, Tandy 1000 - without a specific mention of PCjr. compatibility, assume it will not work on the IBM PCjr., especially if it requires 256KB or more RAM.

Disk-based Game specifically for PCjr. - will probably work more or less in a stock Tandy 1000 or 1000A. Later Tandys come with 256KB or more RAM, and most likely will not work.

Booter games supporting Enhanced Graphics or Sound on PCjr. only :
Agent USA - 320x200x4 resolution, uses solid graphics for better picture on RGB monitors instead of stripey graphics intended for composite color monitors with CGA.#
Alley Cat - 320x200x4, palette uses different colors and not subject to CGA restrictions. Enhanced title screen music,
Bannercatch
Below the Root - Uses 320x200x4, Graphics adjusted for optimal results for composite color display when run on PCjr. Enhanced music on title/demo screen#
Boulder Dash - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects*
Boulder Dash II - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects*
Crossfire (Cartridge) - 320x200x4, palette uses different colors and not subject to CGA restrictions.
Jumpman - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.0+ - 160x200x16, 3-voice sound effects
Microsurgeon (Cartridge) - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects
Mine Shaft (Cartridge) - 320x200x4, palette uses different colors and not subject to CGA restrictions.
Mouser (Cartridge) - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects
Murder on the Zinderneuf - 160x200x16
Oil's Well# - 160x200x16
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (Cartridge) - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects
Pitstop 2
River Raid (Cartridge) - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects
ScubaVenture (Cartridge) - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects
The Seven Cities of Gold - 640x200x2 composite color (ideal) or 320x200x4 (select by pressing A at title screen), 3-voice music and sound effects
Superbowl Sunday# - 160x200x16
Troll's Tale - 320x200x16 (effective resolution for graphics is 160x200x16)
The World's Greatest Baseball Game - 160x200x16, 3 voice sound effects

* - Super Boulder Dash, which is a compilation booter from Electronic Arts, does support Tandy 1000 graphics and sound, but the available image did not properly crack the Tandy/PCjr. versions of these games, so a fix is required and has been accomplished. The standalone releases of Boulderdash I & II may not support Tandy 1000s because they were released before the Tandy 1000 was released.

# - Tandy 1000 versions of these games may possibly exist, as they were advertised in Radio Shack/Tandy catalogs.

$ - Does not actually support more than four colors on the screen at any time, but can select freely from the 16-color palette, unlike CGA.

% - Modern remake exists with Tandy and VGA support.
@ - Looks best on a composite color monitor or TV.
+ - Supports 256KB (only available with a memory sidecar)

Booter games supporting enhanced graphics or sound on a Tandy 1000 w/256+KB only :

- Defender of the Crown - 320x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects^
- Marble Madness - 320x200x4, palette uses different colors and not subject to CGA restrictions, 3-voice music and sound effects.
- Sid Meier's Pirates! - 320x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects^@
- Demon's Forge - 320x200x16 - Unknown if 256KB is required

^ - Also supports EGA
$ - Does not actually support more than four colors on the screen at any time, but can select freely from the 16-color palette, unlike CGA.
@ - An official DOS conversion exists that may work with a PCjr. with the Tandy 1000 mod.

It is important to note that the following games had separate releases for the PCjr. and Tandy 1000

Demon Attack (Cartridge for PCjr., Disk for Tandy) - 160x200x16, 3-voice music and sound effects.
King's Quest (PCjr. version probably works on 128KB Tandy, Tandy version works on PCjr.) - 320x200x16 (effective resolution for graphics is 160x200x16)

Touchdown Football - 160x200x16, 3-voice sound effects (including speech!)

The Tandy releases are considerably rarer. Demon Attack for Tandy may have a title screen. The PCjr.'s version of Touchdown Football's speech will be too fast on a Tandy, perhaps the Tandy version fixed that.

DOS games, games which are not self-booting, are usually far more friendly to the Tandy 1000 than the PCjr.

Booter games supporting enhanced graphics or sound on a Tandy 1000 or PCjr. with same program

King's Quest II - Romancing the Throne
The Black Cauldron
Donald Duck's Playground

Last edited by dr.zeissler on 2014-09-29, 07:20. Edited 1 time in total.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 7 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I'll post my tiny, stupid "autoexec.bat/Disk-Menu" later this day. It is very simple done but it does not work properly yet, because of some errors in the Batch-File calling the choosen game to start. I am just at the beginning, so please do not lough about this. Thx!

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 8 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Here is my first attempt. It has to be copied to a disk. the games are not included. (copyrights) It does not work properly in Dosbox.

What has to be done:
- Color
- Better Game-Chooser
- Quit-Funktion

Attachments

  • Filename
    TDGC001.ZIP
    File size
    10.89 KiB
    Downloads
    197 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 9 of 177, by Great Hierophant

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
dr.zeissler wrote:

Thx! It is really hard to find the special Tandy Versions of a Game. I found "boulder-Dash" and "Superboulder-Dash" but both seem to use only CGA an Beeper. According to the follwing artice, it seems that I need a special Version to get Tandy support. I could not find a special Tandy Freeware/Abandonware Site on the Internet and Disk-Originals are rare and expensive and have the risk, that they will not run anymore, because the disks could be damaged over the long time 🙁

Read this blog entry, you may be able to get some Super Boulderdash goodness from it :
http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2014/09/t … e-versions.html

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/ - Nerdly Pleasures - My Retro Gaming, Computing & Tech Blog

Reply 10 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Thx! I will test the Tandy-Patch for Boulder-Dash the next days. I cant find the Falcon Tandy-Version (5,25" extra-Disk) in the Internet.
Yesterday my new! 21MB XT-IDE drive was delivered from the US. Now I can use the Harddisk for some essential Stuff like Deskmate.

But what are essential Programs that I should use for this T1000RL-machine ?

- Filemanager:
Volkov Commander (small, fast) only 64KB and one INI File

- GUI's:
Deskmate is in Rom, the addon's must be installed from Floppy to Harddrive (5 Disks) I will install this later this week.
Windows 1.03 (I think this will run OK on the machine)
Geoworks 1.2 (This might possible run also)
HD-Menu (my favorite HDD-Menu; small fast)

- ChkPRG:
Systest (Chip)
MIps
Landmark

- Coding:
GW-Basic

- Graphics:
Fractalgenerator? (What might run?)
Deluxepaint (supports only 320x200@16 Colors) Which Programm supports 640x200@16 Colors to?

- Viewer:
Which Viewer support the native Tandy-Formats?

- Player:
Which Audio-Player (mod etc.) supports the Tandy Dac/3voice

Yesterday I tested some games and I was shocked about the quality of some titles (mostly done by the Bitmap Brothers).
The graphics and sounds are pretty stunning for an 8086 machine, when I play "Xenon2" or "Gods" for example.

Absolute stunning this Tandy machine!!

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 11 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

The Boulderdash-FIX does not work. The fix searches of the IMG file and I have one ".com" and one "bin" file.

Is there any Win1x or Win2x driver for the Tandy-Video (640x200@16colors?)
I can't find any Video-Driver for Win1x/2x so I need to use CGA-Mono instead, which sucks.

PC-Geos has also no Tandy1000-driver.

Doc

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 12 of 177, by Cloudschatze

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I suggest digging through Jeffrey Hayes' (Tvdog) Tandy archive, where, pertaining to some of the things you've asked about, you'll find...

A Windows 2.x and 3.0 Tandy video driver:
ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/tvdog/tandy1000/ut … es/tandydsp.zip

And, Jeffrey Hayes', "Tantrakr" MOD/S3M player for the Tandy DAC:
ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/tvdog/tandy1000/sound/tt11.zip

I recently updated my own RL just a bit...

tandyrl_s.jpg

Secret Sauce

  • CPU: AMD 8086 @ 9.54MHz
  • MEMORY: 640K base
  • STORAGE:
    Internal - Seagate ST-351A/X (40MB), 3.5" floppy (720K)
    External - Shuttle EPST Parallel SCSI ──► Iomega Jaz (1GB) ──► Iomega Zip (100MB) ──► Minolta CD-10 (2GB CompactFlash)
  • VIDEO: Tandy Graphics Adapter II chipset (128K)
  • AUDIO: Tandy PSSJ-2 (SN76496 core w/enhancements + DAC), Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum16 ──► Roland MT-32
  • GAME: Built-in, 2 x 6-pin DIN

The storage subsystem is obviously overkill, but hopefully illustrates some of the available options.

And yes, that's Space Quest III, playing from a Jaz cartridge, and with full MT-32 sound support, on a lowly, single-ISA-slotted, 8086-based system. 😎

Last edited by Cloudschatze on 2014-10-05, 20:23. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 13 of 177, by Great Hierophant

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
dr.zeissler wrote:
The Boulderdash-FIX does not work. The fix searches of the IMG file and I have one ".com" and one "bin" file. […]
Show full quote

The Boulderdash-FIX does not work. The fix searches of the IMG file and I have one ".com" and one "bin" file.

Is there any Win1x or Win2x driver for the Tandy-Video (640x200@16colors?)
I can't find any Video-Driver for Win1x/2x so I need to use CGA-Mono instead, which sucks.

PC-Geos has also no Tandy1000-driver.

Doc

As for Boulderdash, you clearly do not have the right file. You need the Retrograde Station bootable disk image and apply the patch to that file.

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/ - Nerdly Pleasures - My Retro Gaming, Computing & Tech Blog

Reply 14 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

WTF..stunning T1000RL

- Do you need/use the internal 40MB HDD anymore?
- My new 20MB is nice but it is loud, I don't know how loud the 40MB is.
- You config is very stunning, but you need a mpu401i-Interface for the MT32, therefore another card is needed e.g. Roland/MidiQuest?
- I do not understand yet how you did the "hook-up". The single slot must be the ProAudio-Card.
- What OS do you use and which medium does it boot?
- If you have 1GB Jazz, do you use 32MB Partitions? Or do you use MS-Dos 5.x for 1GB Partitions.
- I have some Problems with my PS/2 mouse. If I use the Cutemouse 1.9 than I have no Win2x Mouse. If I use the MS-Driver no mouse is found. The MS-Driver works with my 286-AT and a Bus/or serial Mouse. The Logitech 3.x and above driver works also with the Tandy, but not in Win1x/2x
- Windows 2.03 has TANDY 1000 support, but there is a Problem with the mouse (see above)

Doc

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 15 of 177, by Cloudschatze

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
dr.zeissler wrote:

- Do you need/use the internal 40MB HDD anymore?

The parallel-to-SCSI interface is not bootable, making it necessary to boot from either the internal drive, or from a floppy disk containing the SCSI drivers. The internal drive wouldn't be needed in a floppy-only configuration, of course, but having one certainly makes things easier.

- My new 20MB is nice but it is loud, I don't know how loud the 40MB is.

I replaced the ST-325X with an ST-351A/X just a few weeks ago. If you ever have a similar opportunity, I very-much recommend doing the same, for while the ST-325X is terrifically noisy, the ST-351A/X is comparatively whisper-quiet.

- You config is very stunning, but you need a mpu401i-Interface for the MT32, therefore another card is needed e.g. Roland/MidiQuest?

The PAS-16 has a UART (non-intelligent) MPU-401 interface. A number of games provide MT-32 playback using just UART functionality, including titles from MicroProse, Dynamix, and even Sierra's SCI1+ games (the latter of which aren't exactly playable on the RL). Sierra's SCI0 games however, including Space Quest III, have an MT-32 driver that does expect an intelligent MPU interface. While this would normally present a problem, I'm using a UART-only MT-32 driver created by NewRisingSun. 😉

- I do not understand yet how you did the "hook-up". The single slot must be the ProAudio-Card.

Correct. The single slot is populated by the PAS-16, to which the MT-32 is connected by a joystick-to-MIDI adapter. All of the external SCSI devices are connected to the (byte-mode bidirectional) parallel-port, through a parallel-to-SCSI interface.

- What OS do you use and which medium does it boot?

MS-DOS 6.22, from the internal hard-drive.

- If you have 1GB Jazz, do you use 32MB Partitions? Or do you use MS-Dos 5.x for 1GB Partitions.

I'm using the larger partition sizes. The Jaz cartridges have a single, 1GB partition, and the (4GB) CompactFlash card has a single, 2GB partition. The ST-351A/X and Zip disks are partitioned as 40MB and 100MB, respectively.

- I have some Problems with my PS/2 mouse. If I use the Cutemouse 1.9 than I have no Win2x Mouse. If I use the MS-Driver no mouse is found. The MS-Driver works with my 286-AT and a Bus/or serial Mouse. The Logitech 3.x and above driver works also with the Tandy, but not in Win1x/2x
- Windows 2.03 has TANDY 1000 support, but there is a Problem with the mouse (see above)

I highly recommend using a serial mouse with this system. The PS/2 mouse implementation in the RL can be confusing to drivers, given the 8-bit IRQ usage.

Reply 16 of 177, by Cloudschatze

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Not sure if you're interested in performance metrics at all, but the following were gathered using James Pearce's, "DiskTest" utility, with the RL running in its default, 9.54MHz state.

Seagate ST-325X (DMA-mode)

  • Write Speed : 115.64 KB/s
  • Read Speed : 127.72 KB/s
  • 8K random, 70% read : 5.9 IOPS
  • Sector random read : 9.4 IOPS
  • Average access time : 107 ms

Seagate ST-351A/X (DMA-mode)

  • Write Speed : 176.32 KB/s
  • Read Speed : 247.79 KB/s
  • 8K random, 70% read : 7.5 IOPS
  • Sector random read : 9.1 IOPS
  • Average access time : 109 ms

Seagate ST-351A/X (PIO-mode)

  • Write Speed : 131.54 KB/s
  • Read Speed : 162.80 KB/s
  • 8K random, 70% read : 6.5 IOPS
  • Sector random read : 9.3 IOPS
  • Average access time : 107 ms

Note that the following devices are limited by the parallel-port throughput (to which they're all connected). Notwithstanding, the performance is impressive enough, especially as compares to the internal drive metrics.

Iomega Jaz 1GB

  • Write Speed : 161.39 KB/s
  • Read Speed : 132.69 KB/s
  • 8K random, 70% read : 11.5 IOPS
  • Sector random read : 28.4 IOPS
  • Average access time : 35 ms

Iomega Zip 100

  • Write Speed : 161.39 KB/s
  • Read Speed : 125.99 KB/s
  • 8K random, 70% read : 6.2 IOPS
  • Sector random read : 8.5 IOPS
  • Average access time : 118 ms

Minolta/Microtech (P)CD-10 w/SanDisk Ultra 4GB

  • Write Speed : 150.98 KB/s
  • Read Speed : 123.67 KB/s
  • 8K random, 70% read : 13.2 IOPS
  • Sector random read : 46.6 IOPS
  • Average access time : 21 ms

Reply 18 of 177, by dr.zeissler

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I found the XTfiles.rar and the TDYfiles.rar and they contain a lot of usefull programs,
but I have not found the tandy-version of spectrum holobytes FALCON.

My Tandy 1000 RL/HD has got the XTIDE-Adapter with 32MB and 128MB FlashCards as HD 😀

I also have not found a paint-programs that supports the Hires 16 Colors. Dp2 uses 320x200@16, but not 640x200@16.

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines