how do i connect a vic 20 to a votrax type n talk?

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aaronfire
Vic 20 Newbie
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how do i connect a vic 20 to a votrax type n talk?

Post by aaronfire »

Hello everyone:

I am having problems getting my votrax type n talk to work, i have tried a straight cable and a null modem cable, when i power the votrax up it says system ready, but thats as far as i can get with it, im trying to get the vic to talk as i play the scott adams series, does anyone know what cable i should be using? does anyone know hoy to get these games to talk???

any help is appreated....
Thanks and regards: Aaron...
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Jeff-20
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Post by Jeff-20 »

If you get it working, please archive some sound samples! I am eager to hear the Scott Adams Adventure games.
High Scores, Links, and Jeff's Basic Games page.
carlsson
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Post by carlsson »

Did you somehow try to access it manually? A couple of months ago you asked the same question on the Vintage Computer Forum, to which I tried to dream up a test program:

10 open2,2,1,chr$(6):rem 00000110
20 print#2,"hello i am votrax"
30 close2

If the Votrax needs CR+LF after each line, you would have to use a logical channel > 128, i.e. open 202,2,1 and so on.

CHR$(6) equals one stop bit, eight bit word length and 300 baud. The talk device probably needs to be configured in the same way. You can set up a faster communication up to 1200 or perhaps even 2400 baud but for testing purposes it wouldn't do much difference.

I've never seen one of those devices, much less used one. If I got ahold of one, I would spend a Saturday afternoon testing it out. The same thing btw goes for all those 40 and 80 column adapters. As long as I don't have access to the hardware and there are no clear instructions how to use it, the second best thing I can do is to make educated guesses how to go on.

Please try the program above and report whether you get any action at all. Perhaps there is more to it than that, perhaps you will need to change the number of bits or baud rate. Perhaps you'll need to try both straight and crossed cables. Good luck.
Anders Carlsson

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aaronfire
Vic 20 Newbie
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Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:28 am

votrax vic 20 update

Post by aaronfire »

hello:

i have typed in the program u sent me, and then typed run, a question mark appears and nothing happenens, the updates i have are, i found the votrax manual online, and in the connections section someone scratched out and changed the connection configurations. they wrote the word "VIC",

if you read the manual it says THE RS232 VOLTAGE may need to be altered, it also says a signal must be held high and true in order for the votrax to recieve the data sent to it.....
would i wire the votrax to "recieve only?" or "send and recieve"
i an currently using a vic 1011a rs232 adapter to hook the votrax to the computer
and help is appreated.....
thanks and regards... Aaronfire
carlsson
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Post by carlsson »

Aaron followed up his post by sending me this email:
I now have the votrax talking. The program you gave me is a bit different then what i got to work,

10 open 1, 2, 0, CHR$ (06)
20 input a$
30 print#1, a$
40 goto 20

This opens the channel at 300 baud. Any suggestions on how to go about getting the adventure games to run???
The only difference is the secondary parameter. I always mix it up when using sequential files with the tape recorder. I thought 0 is load (input) while 1 is save (output) but obviously in this case it is the other way around since we're actually sending (outputting) data to the RS-232.

Anyway, I would have expected the Scott Adams' adventures to have a built in feature to output data. Perhaps there is a different SYS than the usual 32592? I haven't checked.

One way to possibly get it to work is to use the CMD command:

OPEN 1,2,0,CHR$(6):CMD 1:SYS 32592

If that works, all text PRINTed to screen would be echoed to the Votrax instead. Text that is POKEd directly to screen memory would be unaffected. I have no idea if it will work though.
Anders Carlsson

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Snogpitch
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Post by Snogpitch »

carlsson wrote:Aaron followed up his post by sending me this email:
I now have the votrax talking. The program you gave me is a bit different then what i got to work,

10 open 1, 2, 0, CHR$ (06)
20 input a$
30 print#1, a$
40 goto 20

This opens the channel at 300 baud. Any suggestions on how to go about getting the adventure games to run???
The only difference is the secondary parameter. I always mix it up when using sequential files with the tape recorder. I thought 0 is load (input) while 1 is save (output) but obviously in this case it is the other way around since we're actually sending (outputting) data to the RS-232.

Anyway, I would have expected the Scott Adams' adventures to have a built in feature to output data. Perhaps there is a different SYS than the usual 32592? I haven't checked.

One way to possibly get it to work is to use the CMD command:

OPEN 1,2,0,CHR$(6):CMD 1:SYS 32592

If that works, all text PRINTed to screen would be echoed to the Votrax instead. Text that is POKEd directly to screen memory would be unaffected. I have no idea if it will work though.

My manual for the adventure games indicates the votrax needs to be set for 1200 baud. To activate the unit within the game type V.
carlsson
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Post by carlsson »

Cool. Unless he's already a regular, I'll point Aaron back here to follow up if it works in practise.
Anders Carlsson

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aaronfire
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Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:28 am

votrax speaking gibberish

Post by aaronfire »

Hello everyone:

I tried the following to get the scott adams games to talk:

10 open 1, 2, 0, chr$ (06); rem 00001000
run
sys32592

the game did start, i tried typing "v" at the restore spot, but that did not work, however, when i hit v during the game the votrax made all kinds of noise, but it was just gibberish,

should the type n talk connection be set to "recieve only" or "send and recieve" for these games, i dont believe the votrax needs to send data back to the vic in this case, but you may know more then me regarding this, as always any help is appreated.....

i will keep you up to date
Regards: Aaron...
carlsson
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Post by carlsson »

If the serial connection is supposed to be 1200 baud, you should use chr$( 8 ) according to what I found previously.

%abcdefgh (binary format)

a = #stop bits: 0 = one, 1 = two
bc = word length: 00 = 8 bits, 01 = 7 bits, 10 = 6 bits, 11 = 5 bits
d = not used, always zero??
efgh = baud rate:

0001 = 50 baud
0010 = 75 baud
0011 = 110 baud
0100 = 134.5 baud
0101 = 150 baud
0110 = 300 baud
0111 = 600 baud
1000 = 1200 baud
1001 = 1800 baud
1100 = 2400 baud

All other combinations invalid.

What happens if you start the game and press V without manually open a channel first? At least you get something happening on the Votrax, which is a slight improvement.
Anders Carlsson

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Snogpitch
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Let us try the simple stuff first

Post by Snogpitch »

Since the channel to the unit was already open, I am not surprised things were distorted. Lets go under some assumptions.

The game cartridge knows how to talk to the unit properly. Therefore no need to open a channel to the device prior to playing the game.

From what I gather looking at the manual at: http://members.tripod.com/werdav/txtospm1.html

I would think send/receive mode is what you are looking for. Since the units need to talk to each other. Just like when you are using a modem on any computer.

Make sure the device is configured for 1200 baud as I previously mentioned. According to the Adventure manual "The Type 'N Talk must be connected to the Vic20 using either the VIC RS232 adapter cartridge, or the VIC to Type 'N Talk cable sold by Votrax." So, if your adapter is different than those, you might be having an adapter issue.

Make sure the game cartridge is fully seated. Then turn on your power to everything and type your sys32592 and hit return. You should be prompted to the selection of restoring a previously saved game. After you either press yes or no, then return, your next keypress should be v.

Now for the disclaimer, I do not have a Votrax, so all I know is from reading the manual. We should probably assume your rs232 adapter is working, and configured correctly. We should assume your cable is the right variety, i.e. not a null modem cable, ect. We should also assume your game cartridge is a real cart, not a copy or a disk based snapshot, etc. We can assume your port for the RS232 adapter is actually working. We can assume your Votrax is working as it should. If any of those are false, then you have your answer there.
aaronfire
Vic 20 Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:28 am

Post by aaronfire »

hello everyone:

just an update:

i am using a rs232 adapter, i am using an original game, and the cable is constructed from me at the recieve only set up. i tried turning on the vic,
typing sys32592, no, and then v i get noise but still gibberish....

my question is this. it says in the manual that the cts should be tied to the dcd in recieve only mode, should it be tied to both the rts, and dcd in send recieve mode??? or just the rts since no modem is used in this set up...
help always appreated....
thanks and regards: Aaron...
aaronfire
Vic 20 Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:28 am

Post by aaronfire »

hello everybody:

Im still troubleshooting and the only thing i feel it could be is the cable configuration, the jemco rs232 adapter manual im using says the vic 20 does not carry a CTS signal, the votrax manual says if this signal is not available from the computer to connect it to a pin that would serve as a "busy" indicator...

any one out there know which pin they could be talking about????
please let me know...

also any user port pinout for the vic 20 may also help me
thanks and regards: Aaron....
carlsson
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Post by carlsson »

It is in the Denial Wiki:
http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki ... =User_port

It is a parallel interface, thus you get PB0-PB7. The RS232 interface "converts" it down to a serial port with all those TXD and so on. Thus I don't know if you have much use of the raw pinout.
Anders Carlsson

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aaronfire
Vic 20 Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:28 am

busy indicator

Post by aaronfire »

any idea on which pin would serve as a busy indicator??
does dcd, or dtr act as a busy indicator???
what does the ring indicator do?? could it be used???

regards: AAron....
aaronfire
Vic 20 Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:28 am

i believe i found the problem!!!!!

Post by aaronfire »

hello again everyone!

in troubleshooting and going through my notes i see that the vic 20 does not produce a cts (clear to send) signal,
the type n talk specificly says it will speak gibberish if full hand shaking is not set up, how would i enable full handshaking between the two devices,

10 open 1, 2, 0, chr$ (08 ), + chr$ (????)
is this correct?
what fills in the blank???
and how would i check if there is a different sys command.....

any help is appreated....
regards: Aaron...
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