9 replies to this topic

[_shameless_]

i have a bjl cable made and have all the software needed, and even installed windows 98 on my pc as i heard that seems to work best with bjl. only problem is, i have a laptop with no lpt port or pci port so i cant install a pci lpt port. could i do it through an lpt usb adapter or do i need an actual lpt port for it to work?

thanks in advance!

[Jag_Slave]

I heard its useless without the oldschool ports. At least thats what I've always had to use.
I'm sure theres an alternative (I barely know these things myself).
The guys of Reboot, U-235, Jagware, and "Rush" from StormWorks- I'm sure will have a lot of valuable info for you soon

[sh3-rg]

USB adapters don't seem to work. Zerosquare designed the CatNip - a replacement USB device for BJL & other things, but it wasn't released and I'm not sure what the status of that is.

There are other solutions if you have a Jag CD, but they aren't as flexible as BJL and won't make use of your setup.

[Zerosquare]

USB parallel port adapters won't work with BJL.

PCMCIA/PC card/ExpressCard parallel ports will.

[rush6432]

Yeah, you'll have to go with a pci parallel port card. They can be found on newegg.com for 20 dollars or less most of the time. not exactly a hot commodity these days.

As for OS, i was able to get windows xp to work with lo_inp.exe loader that someone had created. im not quite sure who made it anymore but it worked flawlessly for me on a Windows XPe even..
if you can get windows xp you'll have more available programs to work with while developing (photoshop/paintshop pro/programmers notepad, notepad++ ect...) just a few usefull programs if you dont have them already. beware however if you go with windowsxp you can only really use sln/smac tools and not the original mac/aln atari linker/compiler tools. Due to the way winxp works it doesnt play nice and causes stack faults and the programs crash.

As for bjl. just a heads up. make sure if you start coding that you start with good known startup code that has been tested on a skunk or alpine. I myself ran into the issue of developing partial programs only to find out when loaded onto a skunk or alpine that they didnt work for some un-known reason. From what i've narrowed it down to, it has to do with the state that the bjl leaves the system in. It sets up the system video and OP, but make sure your code re-does this or else you'll run into some funny issues like i did. Hopefully that helps save some time for you.

Have fun with the coding!!!

Edited by rush6432, Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:44 AM.

[sh3-rg]

rush6432, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:43 AM, said:

i was able to get windows xp to work with lo_inp.exe loader that someone had created. im not quite sure who made it anymore but it worked flawlessly for me on a Windows XPe even..

Think it might have been that man Zerosquare again \o/

[Zerosquare]

Indeed, but all I did was tweak the original uploader's code a bit

Edited by Zerosquare, Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:29 AM.

[rush6432]

Zerosquare, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:28 AM, said:

Indeed, but all I did was tweak the original uploader's code a bit

Works like a charm!

[_shameless_]

thanks! just gotta relocate my jag then and i should be good to go(pc with pci port is on the opposite side of where i got my jag lol) i can still use my jag for gaming after i get the bjl rom installed right?

[LinkoVitch]

Yup, I think you press "B" on the pad to start the cart game, it says on the BJL screen what the buttons are to start the Cart. Been a while since I used BJL but I was able to play normal cart games in the system.

Good luck & have fun