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[TI-83+/84+][TI-82][TI-83] HoustonTracker 2 on-calc music editor

Started by utz, October 06, 2015, 01:25:44 PM

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Dream of Omnimaga

I actually like the design of the parcus, but I prefer the TI-83+ style TI-82 and especially the TI-84+ design by far. I don't actually mind the old rectangular cases that much, but I prefer the TI-85 for those. My main issue with the Parcus models is that they seems to be very cheaply made. For example, the TI-83 Parcus uses a blue LCD, which is weird considering it's from 2000. Even the TI-82 Stats used a blue LCD.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

garvalf

I've received the TI82, it looks pretty good and the screen hasn't damaged lines. However, I can't connect to it with tilp on Linux, with the same settings and the greylink cable I'm using for my TI83+ (I just change the calc model to TI82 of course).

It just says in the (linux) console:
(tilp:12152): ticables-WARNING **: aucun périphérique trouvé !

I'll try on windows to compare.

  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ fr, TI-82
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: c64, zx spectrum, atari st, sega megadrive, sega master system, nintendo NES, gameboy...

Lionel Debroux

#77
Beware that on the 85 and 82, most operations require that the calculators be explicitly put in receive mode first. The 82 and 85 are dubbed "non-silent calculators" by libti*/tilp, as opposed to the "silent linking" feature provided by newer models.
Member of the TI-Chess Team.
Co-maintainer of GCC4TI (GCC4TI online documentation), TIEmu and TILP.
Co-admin of TI-Planet.

garvalf

Thanks for reminding that. I've followed the instructions on http://irrlichtproject.de/houston/manual.html so I've already put the calc in receive mode.
I'll search further... The graylink usb cable should be compatible aynway.
  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ fr, TI-82
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: c64, zx spectrum, atari st, sega megadrive, sega master system, nintendo NES, gameboy...

garvalf

I managed to transfer Crash and HT2 binaries to the calc with Tilem on Windows... I still don't understand why it didn't work ok Linux.
On windows I had to use port n°3, other ports won't do it (probably they are relative to some COM things and we have to make it match) but on Linux I can use port 1 on my TI83+ (especially because I have to manually link this port to the real one detected by the system). I'll give it another try...

I really prefer the sobriety of the TI82. The TI83+ plus.fr could have been ok, by why those wtf "bubbles" around the screen?? Also in transparent  green it's nicer than in blue...

But now I'm ready. With the spring coming, it's nice to go out in the fields for making some music...
  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ fr, TI-82
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: c64, zx spectrum, atari st, sega megadrive, sega master system, nintendo NES, gameboy...

Dream of Omnimaga

Yeah I had that linking issue with the 82/85 at first. It took me ages to figure out that they didn't support silent linking. I'm sorry to hear that you still have issues on Linux, though, Garvalf.


As for myself, I prefer the 84+SE due to USB support, 15 MHz and flash memory, but the TI-82 was still fun to mess around with back then. And of course the TI-85. I still wish that TI had made a 15 Mhz TI-86 Plus.

@garvalf if you make new HT2 music feel free to share it. Maybe in a separate topic under Music Showcase? :)
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

Lionel Debroux

Normally, Windows is far more troublesome than other platforms, due to the USB driver muck.

Did you make sure that the permissions on the serial ports enable your non-root user to access your GrayLink cable, as described in the CONFIG file mentioned by the output of the install_tilp.sh script ?
Member of the TI-Chess Team.
Co-maintainer of GCC4TI (GCC4TI online documentation), TIEmu and TILP.
Co-admin of TI-Planet.

garvalf

QuoteDid you make sure that the permissions on the serial ports enable your non-root user to access your GrayLink cable,

no, but with my TI-83+, I can transfer files from my PC (linux) without problem. I unplug the TI83+, plug the TI82, change the settings in tilp for matching the model, but it doesn't work :(

I have this:
ticables-INFO:     noeud /dev/ttyS0: accessible
ticables-INFO:     est utilisable: oui

(edit) Now it works. Like on windows, I had to use port 3 (/dev/ttyS2 instead of ttyS0, that means "sudo ln -sf /dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/ttyS2") and now I can transfer and receive files!

Also I couldn't "restaure" to install Crash because the file selection doesn't show any file when I browse for the CRASH.82B because the extension was in upper case, but if I rename it to CRASH.82b I can see it. Maybe my tilp version is too old. (1.17)


Quoteif you make new HT2 music feel free to share it.

sure!

QuoteI prefer the 84+SE due to USB support,

I thought it wouldn't be possible to get 1-bit sound because of the usb support, but it seems they kept the old 2.5 mm link socket so it must be a great calculator...
  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ fr, TI-82
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: c64, zx spectrum, atari st, sega megadrive, sega master system, nintendo NES, gameboy...

JosJuice

Quote from: garvalf on March 19, 2016, 09:27:50 PM
I thought it wouldn't be possible to get 1-bit sound because of the usb support, but it seems they kept the old 2.5 mm link socket so it must be a great calculator...
Indeed. That's what I like about the TI-84+(SE) – it keeps classic 8x calculator features like the link port, monochrome screen and 83+ compatibility while still being relatively modern :)
  • Calculators owned: TI-84+ SE, Casio fx-CG10

Dream of Omnimaga

Yeah, only the 84+CE dropped the link port. I wish they kept it for sound and 83+ compatibility.

Also I wonder if calc sound is really 1 bit or if it's 8 bits? I always thought that the bit number was based on the CPU bits, like how NES music is 8 bits and SNES 16 bits.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

JosJuice

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 20, 2016, 05:42:36 PM
Also I wonder if calc sound is really 1 bit or if it's 8 bits? I always thought that the bit number was based on the CPU bits, like how NES music is 8 bits and SNES 16 bits.
Calculator link ports can only output digital 1-bit audio. That consoles usually are labeled by the CPU's bitness can get confusing, because the graphics and sound output can have completely different amounts of bits or can even be analog. For instance, the NES graphics didn't actually have 8-bit colors – it didn't use RGB at all. So-called 8-bit music is not at all the same as audio that's stored with 8 bits per sample.
  • Calculators owned: TI-84+ SE, Casio fx-CG10

garvalf

yep.

@DJ Omnimaga You can have a look at this page, the first picture display an interesting explanation of audio resolution:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_bit_depth

" the bit depth is 4, so each sample's amplitude is one of 16 possible values."

Btw I think on the GameBoy (which is a 8-bit console), the audio is 4-bit as well.


For 1-bit music, there is only 2 values: 0 or 1 (no sound or sound)

Btw it's also possible to get very high fidelity audio with "only" 1-bit. The resolution can be low, but if the frequency is high (higher than what a z80 CPU can handle), then the sound will be of "high quality": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Stream_Digital

Of course it doesn't mean we can't get good music with our low end CPU on ZX spectrum or TI calc, quite the contrary, but it's another matter ;)

  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ fr, TI-82
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: c64, zx spectrum, atari st, sega megadrive, sega master system, nintendo NES, gameboy...

Dream of Omnimaga

Ah thanks for the explanation, guys. I was wondering since a long while. :) It's interesting how much quality we can get from the calculator link port, though. I mean, look at TruSound. Sadly, that makes it hard to have compression, though.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

garvalf

I've made and recorded a new tune with Houston Tracker 2 :

https://soundcloud.com/garvalf/joie-et-tristesse (it's a cover of one of my other AY musics). It was quite long to type. I've just copied the notes from my Vortex Tracker Project and added a few new things.
  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ fr, TI-82
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: c64, zx spectrum, atari st, sega megadrive, sega master system, nintendo NES, gameboy...

Dream of Omnimaga

Hm the beginning reminded me a bit of some Sega Genesis intros lol. The rest is very nice too. Nice job :D
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

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