well, now that I've FINALLY backed-up that FLASH, I guess I should start working on the stuff to actually /use/ it!

Which, too, isn't really what this project was about... another tangent or branch in the fractal that is this project... to /enable/ this project. Zooming out to get the whole picture... I can't really seem to do. But, having finished the last part, at least I can zoom out a little.

OK, so I added the FLASH chip months(?) ago so that I could do quick nonvolatile backups of my progress with this project... a place to permanently store source code, libraries, executables, etc. Especially for those moments when I'm about to try some code or hardware modification that might wipe the memory...

The irony, I guess, is that I wound-up doing /most/ of that stuff /while/ trying to backup the flash to eventually enable my doing /of/ that stuff. Heh.

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And, now, I don't really have many ideas of what else I wanted to do like that. Heh!

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Software-wise, there was some discussion about writing a custom OS, or at least some bare-metal code that could boot the system separately from TI-OS... basically dual-boot the thing. But, again, I don't really know what to /do/ with that!

That idea, though, extended to my full-RAM-backup-to-FLASH idea might make restores easier... hmm. Backup from within TI-OS, then if "memory cleared" flip a switch to boot from flash, wherein the memory would be restored and plausibly TI-OS could be given back control (flipping that switch back, or maybe toggling a flip-flop) as though it'd never been not running... 

But... again, heh... this wasn't the project, just an enabler!

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Other ideas, well... at one point I thought maybe it'd make for a handy UI for other projects, e.g. a dumb terminal for an arduino or maybe even a linux box... but, really... small screen, weird keyboard... A SmartResponse would be smarter. And, besides, why add an arduino when what we've got here is a full-fledged computer? 

OTOH, maybe I'm not thinking about this right... if I thought about this TI-86 as a (MY) friggin' calculator (since my trusty TI-82 I've had since middleschool was somewhat poorly hacked with a backlight that causes memory-clears), yahknow, a tool instead of as a thing to be hacked, maybe it'd be a bit more like a piece of test-equipment. Then, a dumb-terminal already at my side could be quite handy. Hmmm.

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In a similar vein, I've somewhat pondered connecting #sdramThingZero - 133MS/s 32-bit Logic Analyzer to it... kinda goofy, in this era, but a huge part of that project was the goal of its being inerfaceable with even old compies of this vintage via parallel port.

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In other realms, well... For some reason I've felt the urge to connect up some old ISA cards, CGA, VGA, Soundblaster... I really have no idea why, though... just to make this a computer, I guess.

In other other realms... well... blinking LEDs is doable with a shiftregister on the link port... that's just software, hack-wise. 

Adding a PS2 keyboard to the link port shouldn't be too difficult, especially having seen the 200Hz interrupt handler can call a user-function. I think someone already did that. Even a PS2 mouse, as I recall (huh, how would that work with the OS?)

So, I suppose that was part of my interest in seeing about other I/O options than the link port, because a serial port, mouse, and keyboard can't all be connected at once, eh?

Heh.

Oh, I got a for-parts Palm Vx for less than $10... was kinda thinking about /maybe/ hacking its backlight into this calculator... and now it occurs maybe the touchscreen is also possible.

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Oh, and some thoughts of hooking up #The Artist--Printze...

But, really... I dunno what I'm going for with all this... and after finishing the FLASH backup /finally/ instead of elation, I've mostly felt like most of my projects are little more than a waste of time. 

This past month my poor van has been trying to tell me she needs some lovin'... and believe me, she deserves far better than I give her... But I'm nowhere near as good at that stuff, and you saw how a three-hour project, in a realm I know a bit about, turned into WEEKS. Imagine something like that happening with engine parts strewn about. Now imagine that with those parts strewn about a car-parts-store's parking lot for weeks. Heh. Oh, nevermind the fact the calculator-project cost like $20, total... would that even cover spark plugs? Poor Vanna keeps taking one for the team.