Re: was CP/M text only or did it have graphics similiar to, say, CGA ?

In article <VfCdnYf9y5Vha7TeRVn-jA@xxxxxxxxxxx> "William J. Leary Jr." <Bill_Leary@xxxxxxx> writes:
>"Jeff Wieland" <wieland@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:dgcrmi$jn0$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> In article <momdnR-wU4ilzbreRVn-pg@xxxxxxxxxxx> "William J. Leary Jr."
><Bill_Leary@xxxxxxx> writes:
>> >I built an S100 card for my CP/M system based on that same chip. The
>only
>> >thing I ever really got working with it was a Christmas tree with
>blinking
>> >lights. At that point I was programming only in assembler and it was a
>bit
>> >tedious. When I later got C running on the machine I'd gotten too busy
>to
>> >try the card again.
>>
>> A former colleague of mine built a video card for his Big Board using
>> a TI-9918A and an Intel 8085. IIRC, he could download programs into
>> it to control the 9918a, effectively making it a graphics coprocessor
>> (why else would you have the 8085?).
>
>Could also be used to replace some amount of support logic, though as I
>recall the 9918 was relatively easy to work with. But I'd agree, in
>general. If I went to the trouble to put that on the board, that's how I'd
>use it. And I seem to also remember that there were some features of the
>9918 which could potentially require a lot of CPU time to handle. Something
>about moving sprites or checking for collisions or some such. Off loading
>that from the primary CPU would have been a Good Thing.
>
> - Bill

My friend probably still has the board -- I know that he still has the
Big Board and it's 8" drives, etc. I'll have to ask him about some of
this stuff some time.

BTW, I've got the TI data book for the TMS9918A, TMS9928A, and TMS9919A
right in front of me, along with the TLC Logo manual. I should get the
ol' Kaypro out. I did replace the batteries on the Advent clock
earlier this year. I use a pair of alkaline AA's in a holder from
Radio Shack, since the I wasn't too keen on soldering directly on the
small lithium cells that would have been an exact replacement. Advent
had had a couple of "ears" added to the small barrel shaped 3V battery.
--
Jeff Wieland
.

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