Retro Computing

IMPORTANT NOTE – If you have a TI-99/4A Home Computer equipped with Stuart’s Internet Browser, then come have a look at the TI version of Wagner’s TechTalk! You can find us using his browser at wagnerstechtalk.com/ti99/index.htm directly on the TI-99/4A!

The following are the latest TI-99/4A / Retro Computing videos from Wagner’s TechTalk. Much more is planned for this year. Enjoy!

Hook up a Retro Computer/Console to an HDMI TV/Monitor: TI-994A, TRS-80, ColecoVision & Atari 2600

In this video, we will connect several retro game consoles and computers to a modern HDMI Monitor including: An Atari 2600, TI-99/4A, ColecoVision and TRS-80 CoCo Model 2. Connecting retro computers to a modern TV/Monitor may not be easy if you haven’t done it before, but hopefully after this video you’ll be a pro! I tried many devices for replacing the VCR until I found one that worked with these machines, including units from Best Buy, WalMart and others. I finally found one that was able to connect all of these machines to an AV output that would work with the AVtoHDMI upscaler and video capture card. Please see the links below.

Items shown in this video


TI-99/4A Links and Resources

Nova Launcher på Twitter: "Come join us in our new Discord server. Another  great place to talk with other Nova users as well as a place to report  bugs, feature requests and
The TI-99/4A Discord

Here you’ll find a number of TI-99/4A links and resources that may be helpful to you:

  • ArcadeShopper – Where to find all kinds of TI-99/4A related hardware, software and accessories.
  • ti-99 resources – Large collection of TI-99 related information.
  • whtech.comMASSIVE collection of TI-99/4A related resources. Including old articles, newsletters and much more!
  • Stuart’s Page – Creator of Stuart’s browser and much, much more!

TIPI/32k Installation into a TI-99/4A Speech Synthesizer? AWESOME!

In this video we will check out the new TIPI/32k board that easily installs into the TI-99/4A Speech Synthesizer housing. This cool device brings 3 emulated drives, 32k RAM expansion, Internet access and much more to your nearly 40 year old TI Home Computer!

Helpful Links

Additional Items you may need

TIPI/32k Setup and demonstration video

FinalGROM 99: Run most all TI-99/4A Cartridges from a single cartridge! +DEMO Retro and NEW GAMES!

This amazing cartridge by Ralph Benzinger allows you to easily install TI-99/4A .BIN files to an SD card for use by the TI-99/4A. This allows you to have a single cartridge that can run/play most any application/game on a stock TI-99/4A console.

In this video, we’ll launch a few applications and try out several games and even the infamous “Don’t mess with Texas” demo! So sit back, grab your favorite beverage and let’s have some fun with FinalGROM 99 and the TI/99/4A!

FinalGROM Documentation


Browsing the Internet on a TI-99/4A Home Computer with Stuart’s Browser and TIPI

We’ll check out Stuart’s Browser for the TI-99/4A and TIPI! This new version of his browser supports the networking features of the TIPI to allow you to browse the internet from a computer that is nearly 40 years old. We’ll have some fun checking out a TI-capable version of the Wagner’s TechTalk website and visit some additional sites designed specifically for the TI.

Helpful Links


Dragon’s Lair for the TI-99/4A Home Computer- NEW in 2019! FULL Play-through in practice mode

In this video, we’ll un-box #59 of the less than 100 original Dragon’s Lair games (by HarmlessLion) for the TI-99/4A Home Computer! There are a small number of released cartridges into the wild and we will play the full game that you may remember from the 1983 laser disc classic.

To assist me in completing the game, we’ll take advantage of the practice mode where no lives can be lost. Keep in mind, any pause you see during the game-play is only the game waiting on me to press the correct move while in practice mode. There is no lag during an actual game.

You can read more about the history on this project from the author’s blog.
The original AtariAge thread announcing the game’s imminent availability may be found here.

Dragon’s Lair for the TI-99/4a was announced/released on Jan 31st 2019. My copy was #59 and was received on March 14th 2019.


TIPI: Raspberry Pi connected to a 40 YEAR OLD TI-99/4A Computer!-Gaming/Chat/Mouse/Disk/Telnet+

This is a comprehensive video of the newly released TIPI (Raspberry Pi solution for the TI-99/4a) available at ArcadeShopper.com and created by JediMatt/ElectricLab. While it’s a little long (~42 min.) it will help you through the setup and demonstration of many of the capabilities available.

This video is ideal for new TIPI users as well as someone contemplating getting one for their own Ultimate Retro TI-99/4A setup.

This video covers the following topics

  • Brief Intro. of the TIPI
  • Assembly of the 32k Sidecar + TIPI
  • New Case for the above (Awesome design and perfect fit!)
  • Creating the TIPI Disk Image for the RPi
  • How to configure the TIPI to your WiFi Network
  • How to use the Built-in Telnet client to connect to your RPi (can also be used to connect to BBS’s)
  • How to use TI-Artist with a Mouse + TIPI
  • Demonstration of MYTI99.com programs including: Chatti, Chess and (my favorite) SNEK!
  • How to access your TIPI via a UNC Path and copy files
  • How to use the TIPI Web Administrator to create folders and new TI Files
  • Demonstration of loading your TI Files (from the TIPI) on the TI-99/4a
  • Where to purchase a TIPI + 32k Sidecar and also the 3D Printed case!

TI-99/4A Home Computer Introduction / History 

Introduction to the TI 99/4a Home Computer which was launched in 1981. It was one of the first (if not “the” first), 16-bit microprocessors available for the home. This video takes you back to the early days with a little bit of my own memories of this fantastic Home Computer!


AWESOME TI 99/4A UPGRADES: the nanoPEB

The nanoPEB is a modern alternative to the larger Peripheral Expansion System released in the early 1980’s. While the nanoPEB doesn’t allow adding expansion cards, it has most everything most TI users could appreciate. (*Note – You may also find the TIPI an interesting alternative to the PEB)


Preparing and Managing the nanoPEB CF Card with TI99DIR

If your CF card is in need of an upgrade (or is missing/damaged), you’ll need to know how to create a new image for the nanoPEB. You may also want to know how to easily copy new TI disk images to your CF volumes, this video will show you how easy it is to do all of this!



TI-99/4A – AWESOME UPGRADES: Video converters, TI99Sim, FlashRom99 and more!

we’ll take a look at the type of adapters you would need to replace the TI Monitor with a VGA/HDMI Monitor. We’ll also look at the TI99Sim running on a Raspberry Pi 3b which can nicely emulate the TI on a RPi3. We’ll also consolidate a large collection of TI cartridges into a single FlashRom99 cart.


TI-99/4A running Machine code in stock TI Basic (emulated in this video)

This code was loaded into the classic 99 emulator by copy/paste directly into TI-Basic. Then run, it was amazing!

Harry Wilhelm developed the method for running machine-code in BASIC. He essentially overruns certain memory locations to force machine code into memory

The code was not written by me, but can be found here.

Special thanks to the TI 99ers facebook page for posting this and many more great TI resources!