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Finally found a TI 99/4! With midi???

snuci

snuci

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Nov 22, 2012
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Location
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
I am the very happy purchaser of a TI 99/4 (my first TI). It has a reported video issue that I may need some help with when I get it if it is problematic but, surprisingly, it also comes with a midi device?

It looks like an ECE Midi device for an Amiga 1000 and may have inadvertently been mixed in with the lot but it has a gender changer of some sort. There is no way this goes with a TI, right? You can see a picture in this auction: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/272096350562

Any information is much appreciated.
 
I fully agree. If you don't need the MIDI interface for something else, I have been looking for one (so I don't have to build one).
 
I've never seen a MIDI interface like that for the TI, although there is a MIDI Master software package with a special MIDI cable for the RS-232, so it is possible that this device might actually work with a TI. You got a really good deal on the /4 there. Congratulations. I put the maintenance manual for the /4 up on WHTech a few weeks ago, so if it does have problems, you have the original troubleshooting guide for it. You also got one rare cartridge with yours. The Terminal Emulator I is one of the harder production TI cartridges to acquire. I didn't see a picture of the overlay though--that is hard to find too, as a lot of them were lost over time. . .
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

KC9UDX, I will hang onto the Midi interface and pair it with my Amiga 1000 but thanks for asking.

Ksarul, I'm completely new to TI but the /4 has been something that was on my want list for a while. I tend to like finding the stuff that's harder to find and that Buy It Now was hard to not pull the trigger on immediately. It was up for sale for 23 minutes :)

The items in this auction are a little confusing but everything beyond the actual /4 is a bonus anyway, in my view. From what I've read, the Terminal Emulator I cartridge needs the TI RS-232 module as would the Midi interface. I don't see the cartridge (as you pointed out as well) in the pictures or the RS232 interface listed or in the pictures so at this point, I'll have to see what arrives and take it from there. Should be an interesting project.
 
I got the TI 99/4 and it's in great shape. I tried to take it apart to check it (as I do with most vintage computer equipment) but I stopped at the RF shielding. No joy in trying to see the TMS9900. Anyway, it did come with the Terminal Emulator 1 cartridge and manual, the Statistics cartridge and manual and the normal overlay was in the TI 99/4 owners manual. But... I have nothing to connect the RF box to so I haven't been able to see it power up.

Is a Commodore 5 pin DIN cable compatible with the TI 99/4? I am hoping to use that cable and a Commodore 1702 monitor if it works.
 
Thanks. It was complete luck (and timing). I was fortunate to find it at that price for sure.

I did find my Commodore AV cable finally and the system works like a charm. Maybe a little too good. When I press the keys, I get repeating keys. If I lightly touch them I am okay but even this doesn't work all the time. Is this normal? Trying to type a small BASIC program is near impossible. My cartridges work fine other than the Terminal Emulator I giving an error but I assume this is because I don't have the serial interface.
 
You may want to play with the keys a little to clear any stickiness from them. Pressing ten or twenty times will usually do it. With the early /4A keyboards, it was possible to pull the keytops and clean the contacts inside. I don't believe you can do that with the /4 keyboards though, which was why I suggested working them a bit to see if that clears up the problem. The TE I error is because it is looking for and failing to find the RS-232 (serial) interface.
 
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