[Copyright 2000,2002 Frank Durda IV, All Rights Reserved. Mirroring of any material on this site in any form is expressly prohibited. The official web site for this material is: http://nemesis.lonestar.org Contact this address for use clearances: clearance at nemesis.lonestar.org Comments and queries to this address: web_software_2011 at nemesis.lonestar.org]
Notice: This installation procedure requires a 32K Model 100 system and requires about 22,568 bytes of RAM to be available during the install process. In this procedure, 11,973 bytes are for the text file version of PERIOD and 10,595 bytes for the tokenized BASIC version of PERIOD. (Once the tokenized BASIC version is saved, the text version may be deleted.)If you only have a 24K Model 100 or have some data on the Model 100 that you can't delete, use the cassette load of the tokenized BASIC file which is described below. That method only requires about 10,595 bytes of RAM.
PERIOD is too large to run on a Model 100 that is only equipped with 8K of RAM.
To download PERIOD.DO to a Model 100, use the TELCOM program. Press "Stat" and enter a low baud rate (I used 300 baud) and 7-1 settings like "37I1E".
On a PC or other computer where the PERIOD.DO file is stored, select an available RS-232 serial (COM) port, start a terminal emulator program and configure similar speed and word size settings. Connect a serial cable between the Model 100 and the other computer. Between a PC and the Model 100, you will probably need to use a NULL modem adapter.
Once you have everything cabled, verify that you can type on each computer and see the text on the other. Get simple character transfers working by adjusting settings or cable arrangements before proceeding.
Once you have the two systems communicating, the PERIOD.DO may be downloaded into she Model 100 by pressing the "Down" button in TELCOM and specifying a file name, such as "PER17.DO". On the other computer, use the feature provided in the terminal program you have chosen for uploading an ASCII file. (UNIX and similar platforms have such capabilities in "cu" and other terminal utilities. For DOS and other platforms, "kermit" and other programs are freely available.)
The Model 100 will display the downloaded text as it comes in, so you can check your progress. If the text appears garbled, you may not have parity or word length set correctly or the baud rate you selected may be too high. 300 Baud is probably the fastest speed you should use.
After downloading appears to have completed successfully, end the download session on the Model 100 by pressing "Bye" and then press "Menu" to exit TELCOM. Now, review the file that was downloaded by selecting its name in the main menu (this places you in an editor) and verify that there are no extra characters at the beginning or end of the file. You can reach the start and end of the file directly by pressing [CTRL] [UPARROW] to go to the start of the file or [CTRL] [DOWNARROW] to go to the end. Delete any leading or trailing characters that are not part of the program. Now exit the editor by pressing "Menu". Any changes you make in the Model 100 editor are stored the instant that you make them.
Start BASIC from the main menu. Within BASIC, type LOAD "PER17.DO". BASIC should respond with a "Wait" display which will flash for a few minutes. Eventually it should complete with no error messages. If you get the "?OM Error", it means you don't have enough free memory available, and if there are no other programs or files you can delete to make room, you may have to use one of the other methods to load this program. Other error messages probably indicate that the program got garbled during downloading. If that happens, type "NEW", then type KILL "PER17.DO" to delete the bad file. Now exit BASIC, start TELCOM and and repeat the download process, possibly using a lower baud rate this time.
If the load was successful, you can now delete "PER17.DO" by typing KILL "PER17.DO". Now, save the BASIC program by typing SAVE "PER17.BA". You can now run the program by typing RUN, or you can exit BASIC by pressing "Menu" and run PERIOD by selecting the program name from the main menu.
This method assumes that you have a sound card and audio playback programs of some sort in a UNIX, PC-DOS or other computer. The provided ".WAV" files can be played from this other computer and instead of sending the audio to speakers, plug the cassette cables that lead to a Model 100 into the SPKR OUT or LINE OUT jack on the sound card. For stereo sound cards, you will need to obtain a stereo to mono 1/8" adapter or equivalent patch cables since the Model 100 cable has a mono 1/8" plug and the sound card probably has a 1/8" stereo jack. On the standard Radio Shack Model 100 cassette cable, the black cable is the one you want to connect to the SPKR OUT or LINE OUT jack on the sound card via that adapter or patch cable.
On the Model 100, enter BASIC and type "CLOAD". You should hear a click from the Model 100. It is now listening for the tape backup data to appear and will wait indefinitely. If you need to exit this command, press [CTRL][BREAK].
On the other platform, decompress the provided files if you haven't done that already (GUNZIP and other tools will work), and have the audio utilities play the ".WAV" file. You should hear the data tones coming out of a speaker in the Model 100. If you don't, check your cable wiring and make sure the sound card output isn't muted or otherwise turned down. For SoundBlaster cards, the audio needs to be turned up about as high as it will go, but you may have to experiment to find the most reliable playback setting.
When the Model 100 recognizes the data tones, it should display a message indicating that it has found a file to load. This should happen within ten seconds of the start of the tones. If nothing happens after ten seconds of tones, the volume is probably not right. Abort the playback, adjust the volume level of the sound card and play the file again. When the Model 100 responds to the start of the data tones, wait until the Model 100 displays "Ok" or indicates an error. If it displays "Ok", the entire file has been loaded correctly. If it runs for a while and aborts without loading the entire file or it displays an error, the volume level may need further adjustment. If you need more signal, don't forget to turn both the master volume and the wave audio volume control up on the sound card mixer and it may help to mute the CD and MIDI inputs. (Some cards divide the maximum volume across the number of enabled inputs to the mixer.) If you have other speakers plugged into the sound card on another jack, unplug them so that the only sound is that coming out of the Model 100.
The data is provided in both the tokenized BASIC format, and in the text file format the Model 100 uses for other files. (Use the tokenized BASIC format if you have a 16K, 24K or space-constrained 32K Model 100.)
The text format file is divided and stored as multiple records on "tape", so it takes longer to load, but may be easier to work with if the Model 100 has sufficient memory. You can also load the text format "tape" into the text editor. If the load aborts early, you can determine how far the load got before it failed. You can then adjust the volume, repeat the load and see if you are getting further or not as far after each volume change.
Once started, PERIOD displays the prompt "Element?" and waits for a command. The commands are:
| Pressing [F1] or [?]: | This displays a list of the available commands. |
| Pressing [F8] or typing "Menu" (on Model 100 systems):
Pressing [F8] or typing "System" (on PC-DOS systems): |
Exits PERIOD and BASIC and returns to the Model 100 main menu.
Exits PERIOD and BASIC and returns to the DOS. |
| Entering a decimal number:
(Example: 15.9, 15.0 or 15.) |
Searches for an element with approximately the same Atomic Weight.
(Element 8, Oxygen, Atomic weight 15.9994) |
| Entering an integer number:
(Example: "40") (Example: "183") |
Displays the element with that Atomic Number, also known as the Element
Number.
(Element 40, Zirconium).
If the integer number entered is too large to be an Atomic number, the number
is assumed to be an atomic weight and a search is made for an element with that
approximate atomic weight.
|
| Entering one or two letters:
(Example: "Cu") (Example: "Zi") |
Searches for an element with that symbol.
(Element 29, Copper, symbol "Cu").
If there is no matching symbol name and two characters were entered, a second
search is made to see if the letters that were entered are the first two
letters of an elements full name or an alternate name.
|
| Entering three or more letters:
(Example: "Cur") (Example: "Wolf") | Searches for an
element which has a name or an alternate name that starts with the same
letters.
(Element 96, Curium, symbol "Cm") Because of the way the search is performed, entering "Cop" would find Copper, entering "Co" would find Cobalt, and entering just "C" would find Carbon, as Carbon is the element with the lowest atomic number to start with the letter "C". (Element 74, Tungsten, also known as Wolfram) |
[Copyright 2000,2002 Frank Durda IV, All Rights Reserved. Mirroring of any material on this site in any form is expressly prohibited. The official web site for this material is: http://nemesis.lonestar.org Contact this address for use clearances: clearance at nemesis.lonestar.org Comments and queries to this address: web_software_2011 at nemesis.lonestar.org]
Return to the PERIOD Index page
Visit the nemesis.lonestar.org home page and index