TI Calculator Tutorial with *Games*

[DyE Hard II]

Ok, here is a tutorial from TI on how to connect your calculator to other calculators and to your computer and also how to put programs, games, and applications on your calculator.

GETTING THE RIGHT CABLE
TI's graphing calculators come with short cables to link one calculator to another, but you may need to obtain a separate cable to connect your calculator to your computer, depending on the model. Users of the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, TI-84 Plus, TI-84 Plus Silver Edition, and TI-89 Titanium have a computer cable included with their calculator. Otherwise, you can buy such a cable from Texas Instruments. You have two options, a serial or USB cable. Of if you'd like to save money and have the expertise, you can build your own homemade cable. If you are still confused, TI has a chart of calculators and link cables, as well as a informative page.
Serial TI Connectivity Cable
Commonly referred to as the "black link" or "TI Graph Link", the serial TI Connectivity Cable is the classic link cable and works with every calculator. Since it is one of Texas Instruments' official link cables, you will be able to use TI's supported software and be guaranteed that you will be able to transfer data to current and future TI calculators from your PC or Macintosh. For more information on this cable and a list of vendors who can ship you a TI-Graph Link, see Texas Instruments' TI-Graph Link page. Note that this cable also comes in a gray-colored version ("gray cable") which is less common and has slight technical differences.
USB TI Connectivity Cable
Termed the "Silver Graphlink Cable", the USB TI Connectivity Cable is the model currently found in most stores. It works on both the PC and Macintosh and plugs into a USB port. The only official TI software to support this cable is TI Connect. TI Connect was supposed to be the successor of TI's original TI-Graph Link, and in many ways it is. It has a much faster transfer rate than TI-Graph Link, however it does not suport the 82 or 85 for the Windows version. The TI Connectivity Kit comes with a cable and computer software, both of which work with your computer, TI handheld, data collection technology and TI-InterActive! The software includes a Data Editor, Screen Capture, OS Downloader, Group Explorer, and the Device Explorer. Many calculators that TI sells today come with this cable and the software you need for all these features.
Mini-A to Mini-B USB Cable
Also called the "direct USB cable", the "TI Connectivity Standard Mini-A to Mini-B USB Cable" is packaged with the TI-84 Plus series and the TI-89 Titanium. These calculators have a mini USB port in addition to the traditional I/O port. The direct USB cable connects the calculator and the computer together via USB. This cable requires TI Connect software to operate and works on both the PC and Macintosh. You cannot buy this cable for any other calculator models.
Homemade Cables
The more adventurous (and thrifty) may prefer to build a link cable from parts or buy a pre-built homemade cable. Most of these cables are not compatible with the TI-Graph Link and require third-party software, but can suit the needs of most users. Unfortunately, there is no third-party Macintosh link software at this time; Mac users will need to buy an official TI-Graph Link or construct a Graph Link-compatible link cable. Please see the Link Cables area in our Hardware section for help making your own cable.


GETTING THE RIGHT SOFTWARE
While TI's linking software will support a TI-Graph Link under Windows or Macintosh with any TI graphing calculator, homemade link cables require homemade software for transferring data with your calculator. (The serial link is reported to work with TI's software in "black cable" mode, however.) Some of this third-party software supports multiple link cables and calculators, while others are designed specifically for one cable or calculator. Before choosing a homemade link, you should make sure appropriate linking software exists with support for your operating system and calculator.
No matter what cable you choose, we highly recommend you download TI's official Graph Link software for your calculator. Even if you can't use it to transfer data (for example, if you get a parallel cable), it's still useful for ungrouping calculator data files (more on that later) and viewing or editing BASIC programs on your computer.



Here are download links for the program to be able to transfer your things from your computer to your calculator.



Mac OS X download: http://education.ti.com/educationpor...00&inputpage=I

Windows download:

http://education.ti.com/educationpor...99&inputpage=I



DOWNLOADING PROGRAMS
Once you have your cable and linking software correctly installed, you're ready to start building your collection of calculator programs. A good place to start is our File Archives section.
.ZIP Files
Most files you will download from our site end in ".ZIP". These files actually contain several individual files packaged together for easier downloading. You cannot send ZIP files directly to your calculator; you must first "unzip" them to get the files they contain, and then send those files to your calculator. If you don't already have an unzipper, try WinZip or 7-Zip (for Windows users) or StuffIt Expander (for MacOS users).
Inside ZIP files you'll find the following types of files, which are the actual calculator programs and data files.
Group Files
Typical filenames: file.73g, file.82g, file.83g, file.8xg, file.85g, file.86g, file.89g, file.92g, file.9xg, file.v2g
Group files are similar to ZIP files, but they contain only calculator data files (such as programs and formulas). Unlike ZIP files, group files can be sent to the calculator without being "ungrouped" first. If you want to get at the contents, however (one reason might be to open the program file and read the code), the easiest way to do this is using the TI-Graph Link software for Windows or MacOS. Once you have extracted your group file from the ZIP file you downloaded, open the TI-Graph Link software and choose Ungroup from the File menu. Find the group file on your system and the software will extract any program files and other data from inside.
Calculator Data Files
Typical filenames: file.89i, file.89p, file.89s, file.89z, etc.
(instead of '89' you will also see '73', '82', '83', '85', '86', and '92', corresponding to files for each calculator; .8xp indicates 83 Plus)
Once you've downloaded a file and unzipped it (if necessary), you'll have one or more of these files, which you will send to your calculator. Use your favorite linking software to transfer all of the necessary files to your calculator, then read below for help running your new programs.
BASIC Programs
Typical filenames: file.73p, file.82p, file.83p, file.8xp, file.85p, file.86p, file.89p, file.92p, file.9xp, file.v2p
Many of the programs in our archives are written in the calculator's built-in, BASIC-like language. After these programs are sent to your calculator, running them is as easy as accessing them from the PRGM menu or typing the program's name in the home screen.
Assembly Programs
Typical filenames: file.82p, file.83p, file.8xp, file.85s, file.86p, file.89z, file.92p, file.9xz, file.v2z
If you downloaded a program from an "asm" folder in our file archives, you downloaded what's called an assembly program. Unlike BASIC programs, which can be typed directly into the calculator, assembly programs are normally written on a computer and are more difficult to program, but run much faster on the calculator.
If you downloaded assembly programs for your TI-83, TI-83 Plus, TI-86, TI-89, TI-92 Plus, or Voyage 200, you probably will not have to do anything special to run these programs (follow the BASIC instructions above). These calculators have built-in assembly ability; that is, the calculator was made with running assembly programs in mind.
If you are trying to run an assembly program for your TI-82, TI-85, or TI-92, you will need an assembly "shell" first. Since these calculators weren't intended to support assembly programs, it's only possible by using a loophole which allows you to run the shell program, which in turn presents a menu to allow you to run other assembly programs on your calculator. Determine which shell your program requires, then download and send it to your calculator first before you can use other assembly programs.
If you have a TI-83 or TI-83 Plus and find that an assembly program doesn't run, you may need a shell. While one is not required by the calculator itself, most games require a shell such as Ion (83 or 83 Plus) or MirageOS (83 Plus/84 Plus). You can find these shells in our file archives.




Here are a couple links to download games:


Tetris
http://www.ticalc.org/pub/83plus/basic/games/tetris.zip


20 Seconds
http://www.ticalc.org/pub/83plus/basic/games/20sec.zip


Bomberman
http://www.ticalc.org/pub/83plus/bas.../bomberman.zip

Contra 83
http://www.ticalc.org/pub/83plus/bas...s/contra83.zip



You can find more games at the TICalc Archive of games here:
TI-83/84 Plus BASIC Games - ticalc.org



All information from Welcome - ticalc.org

[Demonspeed16]

nice find but i doubt u wrote this...

[Carbon]

i saw super mario bros once... Anybody else seen that?

[DyE Hard II]

no like i said, i got the information from ww.ticalc.org and just put it together

Quote: Originally Posted by Yhbt

i saw super mario bros once... Anybody else seen that?

heres super mario bros:

http://www.ticalc.org/pub/86/asm/games/mario.zip

[superaison]

I still want pictures.

[DyE Hard II]

Quote: Originally Posted by superaison

I still want pictures.

theres really nothing to take pictures of. what would you like pictures of?

[gillilandboy]

The games I would guess.

[kyo555]

very cool

[Carson]

Great post man, thanks

[VelocityMods]

i have super mario bros

[dukecaputo]

nice

[poopoo]

i cant find mario the link brings me to tetris

EDIT::nvm found it

[pattyricks]

Hey is anyone willing to share any additional information about the programs msd8x and usb8x. I am very interested in the idea of expanding my calculators memory to the GB but I'm having trouble getting this program to cooperate and the already written information on the program is a little vague.