evank

I haven't tried yet.

Yes! When I commented a few weeks ago, I hadn't read the earlier comments. But you are absolutely right. @Coder Shah it is imperative that any Mindstorms history recognizes how Interface A was NOT invented at MIT or by Lego, but from the English organizations mentioned on my website. It's a coincidence that MIT was separately working on their own Lego robotic designs around that time. This is all preceded by Lego's own analog robotic system from the 1980 Idea Book, #8888.

I see your point about a nice-looking test pattern. I just figured it would be 63 (all on) or, as you noted, 42 - now THAT would be appropriate! Lego engineers clearly had a sense of humor. To check the connection of the 9751, your code must send a text string to Interface B: "Do you byte, when I knock?" and confirm the interface's reply, "Just a bit, off the block." The weird part is, the text string is mentioned in one of the 9750 manuals! (I forget which one right now. Just got out of bed. I'll check later.)

Here's something weird. In the Lego-provided IBM (9771) code (http://www.brickhacks.com/ibmbasic.php), the check-out lines are: 10000 P=925 10010 OUT P,21 10020 IF (INP(P) AND 63)=21 THEN OUT P,0 ELSE ERC=4 : GOTO 20000 In 10010, I have to wonder: why is the test value 21? What's special about that number?

Here are the BASIC and COMAL-80 instructions that came with the Lego Commodore 64 cable ... again in German! https://archive.org/details/lego_c64_manual_basic_comal

I re-uploaded the book to the correct collection ("Vintage Lego Robotics"): https://archive.org/details/steuern-und-regeln. Now I'm going to scan the COMAL-80 instructions, which came with the Lego C-64 cable.

Do you still have the picture? What was the source?

I emailed the author again to ask about the disk. I didn't know there was an accompanying disk until Toastie mentioned it today.

When you said colleague I thought you meant it literally.

He's your colleague? LOL, small world!! I only asked him about permission to scan/upload the book and interpret it in English. I didn't ask about software, because I didn't know there was any. As I said though, ideally we'd have an English translation of all of the Pascal matter, and also the Turbo C matter that he covered.

@Toastie and anyone else fluent in German: I scanned a period Lego robotics book (written in German) and my friend posted it on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/sundr ... It's not yet in the correct collection, but I will fix that soon. Chrome translated the raw text into English for me. Unfortunately it is not formatted and there are several errors. I put that file onto my Google drive and made it public at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_AJxvJdXLtW-vEFCQ_nv0cSR30QxX4S/view?usp=sharing. Can someone do a proper translation? I have written permission from the author, but he didn't have time to do this. According to the table of contents, there are sections about programming 9750 in C and Pascal! So if it takes too long to translate the whole book, then I'd love for someone to focus on just those sections. I know @alexGS feels the same way. He really wants to use Pascal!

(Deleted by Evan due to redundancy of merged threads)

(Deleted by Evan due to redundancy of merged threads)

Because the input (rack movement) is physically analogous to the output (model movement.) To be digital, it would have to be abstracted. One could build that in Lego, but it's not what is happening in the relevant models.

Probably my fault. :) #8bitisbetter

@Toastie - I haven't used Qbasic much. Did you start with the same 9771 initialization code as in regular BASIC? --------------- 1000 'INIT 1010 P=925 1020 OUT P,21 1030 OUT P,0 1040 RETURN

@Toastie -- I meant in the context of only the original Lego-endorsed hardware. Not using modern PCs, microcontrollers, or any other aftermarket hardware. (An exception would be custom cables.)

Thanks Brian. I fixed the link. I know a couple of people, on and off this forum, who are interested in making Interface A work on an Atari 800/xl. In addition to using hardware no endorsed by Lego, I'd also like to know if anyone has used programming languages not endorsed by Lego. For example on my (under construction) code page at http://www.brickhacks.com/6.php, I list the six systems that Lego documented: 6502 assembly, BASIC, COMAL-80, Lego Lines, Logo II, LogoWriter Robotics, and TC Logo. I also have a bullet point there (and soon, an aftermarket book scan) where someone documented using Pascal for this purpose. I'm wondering if anyone has published instructions for other languages. If not, then EB forum readers should consider this a challenge! :)

This thread is for discussion about hacking the Lego set 9750, also known as "Interface A", primarily using 8-bit systems from the 1980s. Forum members such as @Toastie, @alexGS, and I have long been hijacking other threads so it's time to make a new one. Administrator @Jim may move some of the recent posts over here. From around the middle of the 1980s through the early 1990s, Lego endorsed (via published applications and teacher's manuals) seven programming languages with Interface A: 6502 assembly, BASIC, COMAL-80, Lego Lines, LOGO II, LogoWriter Robotics, and TC LOGO. (As I'm typing this, I just realized that I can't count: I wrote "six" on my website at http://www.brickhacks.com/6.php. It is indeed seven choices! I'll fix it tonight or tomorrow.) Lego also endorsed five kinds of computers: Apple II, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Philips P-2000 (and all of the relevant sub-models, clones, etc. -- for example it's perfectly acceptable to use a Laser 128, Commodore 128, generic PC, etc.) The challenge How may the system have been hacked, using only technology that was commonly available from 1987-1992? Rules: 1. Use any computer and any programming language you like, as long as it was for sale in 1992 or earlier (as the next-generation 9751 / Interface B debuted in 1993.) 2. Don't use any add-on hardware that was not available back then. A breadboard is fine; an Arduino is unacceptable. 3. It's okay to run emulators if you do not have original machines, but you can't use any additional features that did not exist back then. You can use Windows 1.0 or 2.0, but not 3.1 libraries, etc. I'll be the judge, jury, and executioner and with permission I'll feature the best answers on my website. Everything from this point on, ending after Jim's post 7 hours ago, is content that he moved from the other thread. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everyone -- @alexGS documented his method, at my request, of using a PC parallel port so you don't need the ISA card. His work is based on Tom Cook's earlier work. I linked to his document at http://www.brickhacks.com/4.php Personally I prefer using the original hardware :) and still have a few of the PC kits with ISA cards for sale. I invested a substantial amount of money in these, so I'm hoping people here want to buy them!

Lego's own website says the art map has more than 11,000 parts. https://www.lego.com/en-us/categories/adults-welcome/article/biggest-lego-sets-ever-made?consent-modal=show

With set 1038, Universal Buggy, I know for fact that Lego intended hobbyists to control it by their own means and hacks -- because Lego engineers who worked on it told me so. And there are plenty of examples of companies like the Robokit folks who loved using Lego with their own interfaces. But do you have any further evidence, preferably something documented, that Lego "endorsed" those aftermarket products? Just because Robokit and its peers used Lego, doesn't mean Lego officially endorsed it. So I am curious what makes you say that. :) We know Lego * tacitly * endorsed it.

Got 100 posts now, so for for-sale ad is now live. :) Please check it out: Nice!! <Edit - Looks like I replied to the wrong thing. Sorry>

This for-sale ad is for people my age :) (40-plus) and for younger folks who love tinkering on retro technology. In the 1980s, Lego had a part called 9750 Interface A, which lets you connect your 8-bit computer to Lego motors, sensors, and lights (using the 4.5-volt system). The set worked with the Apple II, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, IBM PC, and Philips P-2000. There were slightly different versions for each computer, although the Interface A is the same for all of them. I recently acquired several of the IBM PC version. I'm selling them for $400 each, plus shipping/handling. I'm located in New Jersey, USA. You get: one 9750 Interface A, two 9700 Technical Control Center (the actual Lego pieces), and one 9771 PC-ISA card (works with any PC-compatible DOS computer that has an ISA slot.) Many more details about this hardware, and how to program it, are on my website at www.brickhacks.com. (All of the manuals are on the Internet Archive in the collection called 'vintage Lego robotics' which is linked on my site.) Please send me a private message if you're interested in buying one of the bundles. Or comment in this thread if you have general questions.

It would be cool to see a Lego model of the (real) Antikythera device! There are some online videos of Antikythera MOCs.

I agree, that would be a helpful feature. I've used many different web forums but cannot recall seeing a save button anywhere.