GETTING 'V9t9' V6.0 TO WORK FOR YOU
-----------------------------------

Some people have reported experiencing problems while trying to get 'V9t9'
v6.0 running.  This file is an attempt at soothing the installation woes.
The instructions here may not solve all of your problems, but they will help
to point out the 'traps and tricks' of 'V9t9' v6.0 installation.

These instructions assume a rudimentary knowledge of DOS, the 'Disk Operating
System.'  If you don't know a thing about DOS, consult someone who does.  It
is not within the scope of these instructions to teach you DOS.

These instructions have been verified, using both 'MS-DOS 6.22' and a
'Windows 95' version of DOS.  The following three files were needed:

'600V9t9.Zip' - Version 6.0 of V9t9.
'TIMRaD2.Zip' - The second release of the 'TI-99/4A Modules, ROMs and Disks'
                'Zip' file.
'PKUnZip.Exe' - The 'PKUnZip' programme.  You should have this programme in a
                directory to which your MS-DOS 'Path' environment-variable
                points.

This file contains four sections: 'Installing 'V9t9',' 'Running a 'V9t9'
Demonstration,' 'Getting 'V9t9' to Run' and 'Configuring 'V9t9' to Run at
Approximately the Same Speed as a Real TI-99/4A.'

Let's get started.


Installing 'V9t9'
-----------------

Create a temporary installation directory on your hard drive's root
directory, giving it a name like 'Install,' or 'Inst.'  'UnZip' the
'600V9t9.Zip' file to there.  You will use the default 'PKUnZip' options, by
entering "PKUnZip 600V9t9.Zip."  Once this is done, you can run the
"Install.Exe" programme which is extracted.

The 'V9t9' installation programme should start running, requiring you to read
five screens full of text.  To get through them, press <Enter> six times, and
you will be prompted for the directory in which you would like to install
'V9t9.'  If, for example, you choose to install 'V9t9' in the directory
'C:\DOSApps\V9t9,' you need to backspace over all of the default text in the
field, and type in "C:\DOSApps\V9t9" instead.  You will then be asked whether
you want the 'V9t9' demonstration files installed or not.  Press <Y>.  When
asked where you want them installed, just press <Enter>, to select the
default location.  The programme will then uncompress and install the
emulator, and ask you what type of PC you have.  The purpose of this prompt
is solely for the installation programme to determine the speed of your
computer, so that it may configure 'V9t9''s video update speed.  Select the
system that best matches yours.  You may, for example, have a 486 PC running
at 100MHz.  Since there is no provision for this option, select option 11,
'Pentium 60.'  After this step, you will need to press <Enter> two more
times, after which the installation programme will exit, and throw you into
the documentation-reading programme.  Press <Alt>-<X> to leave the programme,
and you will be left in 'V9t9''s new directory.  You have now installed
'V9t9,' and you may delete your temporary installation directory.


Running a 'V9t9' Demonstration
------------------------------

The first way to get results is to run one of the demonstrations which you
were asked about earlier.  To run a demonstration recording of 'Munch Man,'
type "V9t9 /D Demos\386DX40\Munch.Dem" and press <Enter>.  Statistically, it
is very unlikely that the demonstration will run the first time - if it does,
skip to the next paragraph.  Rather, you will probably get a message which
says "Sound Blaster DMA driver DRV\CT-VOICE.DRV not found," V9t9 may simply
lock up, or your computer may even crash.  If either of the latter two events
occur, press <Ctrl>-<Break> to exit 'V9t9,' or reset your computer.  To get
around this problem, open up the file 'V9t9.Cnf' in a text editor, such as
'MS-DOS Editor,' locate line 191, which says "PlaySound = +sbdma," and
disable the 'SBDMA' option by changing the line to "PlaySound = -SBDMA."
Exit the editor and try running the demonstration again, by typing in "V9t9
/D Demos\386DX40\Munch.Dem" and pressing <Enter>, as you did earlier.  If it
still doesn't work, go back into the text editor, locate line 191, and add
" -SBlaster" to the end of the line, which will disable the Sound Blaster
check completely, and try again.  If it doesn't work now, add " -Adlib" to
line 191, which will disable Adlib detection and force the sound to come out
of your PC's speaker, and try once again.  If it STILL doesn't work, then add
" -PCSpeaker" to that line, which will disable all of V9t9's audio
capabilities, and try again.  If it doesn't work now, then you have real
problems, and, unfortunately, you will have to seek assistance elsewhere.

Hopefully, a demonstration of 'Munch Man' will pop up.  The sound should come
out of either your sound card's speakers or your PC speaker.  Of course, this
also depends on the configuration of your particular sound card.  To exit the
demonstration prematurely, press <Ctrl>-<Break>.  Alternately, you may simply
wait for the demonstration to halt on its own.


Getting 'V9t9' to Run
---------------------

Now that you have the demonstrations working, the next step is to get 'V9t9'
working fully.  For this, copy the 'TIMRaD2.Zip' file, which contains the
all-important TI-99/4A ROM and GROM images, to your 'V9t9' directory.
Extract the file into the this directory, making sure that you extract it
retaining 'Zip' file's directory structure.  The 'PKUnZip' command-syntax
that you need to use is "PKUnZip -D TIMRaD2.Zip."  Once you have done this,
you may remove the 'TIMRaD2.Zip' file from 'V9t9''s directory.

If you have been successful thus far, you should be able to type in "V9t9" at
the DOS prompt and have the 'V9t9' module menu appear.  The menu asks you to
choose a module, or press <0> for no module.  Since there are no modules
configured, simply press <Enter>, and the emulation should start.  You should
be able to enter TI BASIC and start programming, if you so wish.

Now for the real test.  Exit 'V9t9' with <Ctrl>-<Break>, and type "TI-Games"
at the DOS prompt.  This should cause 'V9t9' to start, and display a menu of
game Command Module(tm) images that were configured to run from the
'TI-Games.Bat' file.  For now, just press <Enter> to select 'Munch Man,' and
see if you can get the game to run.  If you were able to get the
demonstration of 'Munch Man' to run, then the actual game should run now.
When you are finished with 'Munch Man,' you can exit 'V9t9' by pressing
<Ctrl>-<Break>.  If you have played 'Munch Man before, you will most likely
find that the game runs either too fast or too slowly.  To get the emulator
running at the correct speed on your PC, you will have to carry out the next
step:


Configuring 'V9t9' to Run at Approximately the Same Speed as a Real TI-99/4A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the nice things about 'V9t9' is that it will run faster than a real
TI-99/4A on just about any PC available today.  This is wonderful for your
utilities and applications, but what about your games and educational
titles?  For the purpose of these, it will be necessary to run the emulation
at the speed of the original TI-99/4A.  You can approximate this speed by
running a benchmark programme in 'V9t9,' timing it, and comparing the results
with a known reference.

Such a benchmark programme is included in the archive.  It is a 'TI BASIC'
programme on the diskette image, 'Utilitie.Dsk,' which is configured under
both 'TI-Games.Bat' and 'Games.Bat' to be emulated as 'DSK2.'  To make use
of the programme, type 'TI-Games' at the DOS prompt, to start up the menu of
Texas Instruments game modules, then choose '0' for no modules, and press
<Enter>.  The emulation should begin, following which you should enter 'TI
BASIC, before typing "OLD DSK2.BENCHMARK" and pressing <ENTER>.  This will
load the programme, which you will need to time, into memory.  Type "RUN"
and prepare your stopwatch.  Then, start your stopwatch at exactly the
instant that you press <ENTER>.  The screen will turn green and the programme
will start running.  Keep timing until the programme ends, which will be with
an audible beep and the screen colour will return to cyan.  Based on the
feedback from owners of real TI-99/4As in the United States, the time that
the programme takes to run should be within a split second of 9 minutes, 43
seconds.

No doubt the programme will not be close to this result.  You will need to
correct the situation.  Exit 'V9t9,' and open up the 'TI-Games.Cnf' file in
a text editor.  If you go to line 45, there is a line which contains the
text, "DelayBetweenInstructions = 57."  This line is the one that sets the
processing speed for 'V9t9.'  If the result for your test was too slow, then
decrease this number.  If your result was too fast, increase the number.
Having done that, save your 'TI-Games.Cnf' file and re-run 'TI-Games.Bat' and
check the speed.  Keep repeating the process until you get a result that is
as close as possible to 9 minutes, 43 seconds, if you want to emulate a
United States TI-99/4A.

(A side note for users in Europe, South Africa, Australia and most countries
around the world in which the PAL or SECAM video systems are employed:  if
you really want to operate 'V9t9' at the same speed as your 'real' TI-99/4A,
you will need to modify an additional variable in the 'TI-Games.Cnf,'
'Games.Cnf' and 'Edu.Cnf' files.  Find line 53, which, you will see, contains
the text, "TimerSpeed = 60."  You should change it to "TimerSpeed = 50," in
order to emulate a 50Hz TI-99/4A.  Also, the result for the benchmarking
test, which was verified on a real 50Hz TI-99/4A, should be 9 minutes, 42 and
3/10ths of a second, which is slightly faster than a United States TI-99/4A.)

Now that you have 'V9t9' v6.0 up and running, please consult Ed Swartz's
comprehensive documentation for 'V9t9,' which will assist you in taking
advantage of some of 'V9t9''s more useful advanced features.


"One man can make a difference."