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Page Created May 25, 2003

Welcome to

Ed Gerken's

TI99/4a page!

Catman Disk Catalog Manager V2.13

Catman 2.13 TI
New version allows turning the printer on or off, but some portions of the program are still incompatible with Mac V9T9. Runs fine "native" on an actual TI system. This file is a straight Xmodem transfer using Telco. Just port it back to a TI and you're all set!

Catman 2.13 Mac V9T9
Same program as above, but already converted for V9T9. As noted above, not all of the various options will run properly under V9T9, so this file is still in the testing stages. A Mac V9T9 file, but may port properly to a PC. I don't have a PC to test this out, though.

Download an archive of Timer
and associated programs


Timer's main menu. Check out the date typo!
Y2k, or Ynot2k?


A sequence in progress.


A simple XB loader program with a twist. After a brief delay, it will auto-load the first program in the list, no keypress needed! Or simply press the number of any program before the delay runs out. Easily edited XB. Useful when you typically run one primary program, but ocassionally run a support program or two.

File Reader is a program by Tom Burke which I modified to make viewing the doc files easier. Drawpoker was written by Manual Constantinidis of the Australia National TI99 User Club. Time 7 is an early update attempt that was never finished, but much of the new code from that version was later incorporated into Timer v6.04.

TI Archive of Timer v6.03
Includes docs, support programs. Archive created with Barry Boone's Archiver III, then transferred to the Mac using Telco's XModem. Otherwise, they are unaltered TI files, ready to port back to a TI and use! Requires Barry's Archiver Version III or the equivalent.

MAC V9T9 Archive of above
Same as above, but files have all been converted to run under Mac V9T9. Still in ARC III format.

Updated Timer v6.04 V9T9 Format
Also an ARC III archive, files are in Mac V9T9 format. Latest version of Timer, less buggy, with other minor changes to make it more compatible with V9T9. Same old docs as above, but program has changed somewhat. The archive also includes Catman v2.12, a disk library cataloging program I wrote. Catman does not yet run properly with Mac V9T9.

Timer v6.04 V9T9 Stuffit Archive
Same as latest version above, but in Mac Stuffit format. Archiver III is not needed, but Stuffit is.

(They're small, so grab all four! Why should I have the only cluttered hard drive?)

New Version Note:
The newest version of Catman, v2.13, is available for download separately at the top of the page. The major change between v2.12f and v2.13 is the ability to disable the printer.


Catman was written to create a TI-Writer or Funnelweb compatible catalog of an entire TI disk library. Catman can also convert the catalog to a TI-Base compatible database file, or print catalogs from within the program itself. This version, 2.12f, will run under V9T9, but the catalog option crashes the program, since it is not possible to disable the printer without rewriting the program. An apparent bug in V9T9, or at least in the Mac version of it, makes it impossible to directly edit large XB programs, such as Timer or Catman, that are stored in Internal/Variable 254 format (Int/Var254, IV254). Using Mac V9T9 to re-save large programs of filetype IV254 changes the filetype to PROGRAM, and the changed program will no longer load. Such programs must have the original edited on an actual TI console, and then re-ported to the Mac to work properly. Beyond that, it also seems that certain file operations do not complete correctly under V9T9 as they do when using an actual TI99. Unfortunately, this includes the disk cataloging portion of Catman, so the library function still doesn't work correctly under Mac V9T9.

If anyone has found a way around these drawbacks, please send me an e-mail! Until I get Catman rewritten to work with Mac V9T9, you'll have to content yourself with this version, which does work fine on a TI system. This file is in V9T9 format, I don't know if it will port directly back to a TI without some reverse conversion being done first. If I get an interested e-mail or two, I may try to do the rewrite to make Catman work correctly under V9T9.

Since this is just a small startup page, you won't find a lot of TI99 content here yet. Till we get the site expanded a bit, scroll down to the links below and take a moment to browse some of our other pages on the web. My wife, Sandy, and I have many hobbies and interests, and we both enjoy preparing fossils for a living. Just click on any of the links you find here, and enjoy your visit!

It is gratifying to see there are still a few TI die-hards using and enjoying the system. (Thanks, Rich Polivka and all the rest of you!!) As you can see by the TI screenshots above, I have switched to a Macintosh platform, but I still keep a full TI setup and I'm experimenting with the Mac V9T9 programs. I have yet to find a programming language for the Mac that can replace what I used to do in Extended Basic on the TI, but with Mac V9T9, I can enjoy the best of both worlds.

Besides dabbling with programming in EXB, I hacked my TI hardware as well, adding disk drives, fabricating cables and scratching together enough parts to keep things working. It was more from a lack of funds that I cobbled things together as I did, but I learned many hardware tricks about the TI along the way. I'd be happy to test my own memory "circuits" if anyone needs a little hint or kink to help hook up their old TI or keep it operating. I used to be pretty good at multiple floppy drive setups and null modem cables between various computer systems. What I still remember after 5 or 10 years is anybody's guess, but I'd be glad to try to help anyone who asks.

Like everybody else who accumulated TI items from flea markets and yard sales, I've also got the shed crammed with boxes of TI magazines, catalogs, manuals, cartridges, cassettes and disks, drives, consoles, systems and etc. If somebody has a part they desperately need, or is seeking an item missing from their own collection, I may have one or two lurking about. For a reasonable fee, of course! Hey, for the price of a used iMac, some lucky soul might just get a whole mess of TI stuff!

TI recollections aside, photography has been my steady career over the years, and I still use my TI to time darkroom processes with a program I wrote especially to handle the long series of individually timed steps. As it turns out, the program is flexible enough to handle many other timing tasks as well. I am offering Timer and some associated programs here for free download to anyone who can make use of them.

The advent of the "Digital Age" may have made darkrooms as "obsolete" as the TI99 was presumed to be years ago, but there may be a few of you out there who still enjoy the art and craft of watching your prints appear in the developer tray. If so, I hope you find my program useful, and I'd appreciate hearing from you about it!

Thanks for visiting!

E-Mail

While you're here, be sure to stop by and see us at White River Prep Labs,
just click on any of the links below!

The skull and neck of a Mosasaur, a ferocious 20 foot long marine reptile of the late Cretaceous. Click the photo for an enlarged view, be sure to note the "extra" teeth in its throat, used to help swallow an unwilling meal!

White River Preparium

Oligocene and Cretaceous Fossils. Prepared and Unprepared Mammals, Turtles and other fossils

We specialize in custom fossil preparation and restoration, and we also offer prepared and unprepared Paleontological specimens for sale or trade. Inventory is small, and always changing, but most of the items pictured are available for sale. Please contact us for the most current listings.

E-mail us or call at (605)574-2051 for more information on our inventory, or to inquire about preparation of your own specimens. For a quick tour of our website,
click on the buttons and links!
All photos on this website © 1999-2008 Ed's Photo, unless noted otherwise.


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