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Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well I wanted to see how well the keyboard works, and it all works fine:

PXL_20260810_090502702.jpg
PXL_20260810_090502702.jpg (339.16 KiB) Viewed 71 times
PXL_20260810_090510292.jpg
PXL_20260810_090510292.jpg (260.98 KiB) Viewed 71 times

It's only assembled with the 2 screws holding in the mainboard, but it's enough to test.

One small problem is that some of the keys are sticky, so I likely need to clean and lubricate the stems to get things going smoothly before I reassemble for good.

That won't happen until the memory upgrade is done though, but I really wanted to try it all together :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Keyboard now working lovely after a bit of a clean and a little lube :)

In the old ROM the function keys allowed setting of 40/80 column, but the EXOS 2.04 ROM doesn't, but it seems the commands 'text 40' and 'text 80' do the same thing.

Need to do a little reading on what options BASIC has.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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stephen_usher
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by stephen_usher »

I did find the manual on-line. Not sure where though.

Also, you have "OS" commands available to you within BASIC using the ':' operator. It's basically the same as '*' on the BBC. So, ":help" will list the ROMs and versions and give you help in the same way as "*HELP" on the Beeb.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:23 pm I did find the manual on-line. Not sure where though.

Also, you have "OS" commands available to you within BASIC using the ':' operator. It's basically the same as '*' on the BBC. So, ":help" will list the ROMs and versions and give you help in the same way as "*HELP" on the Beeb.
Sounds interesting, will go and have a look for the user manual.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Manual found on archive.org.

A quick skim through and it seems to be quite a decent bacsic and well thought out machine.

I like that each function key has up to 4 options:

F key
Shift+F key
CTRL+F Key
ALT+F key

And all do differrent things. Seems like a decent version of BASIC as far as I can see.

Being able to use the joystick for editing is pretty cool too.
Attachments
Enterprise_Programming_Guide.pdf
(30.24 MiB) Not downloaded yet
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Thought a size comparison with the Speccy might be interesting:

PXL_20260811_100555998.jpg
PXL_20260811_100555998.jpg (377.03 KiB) Viewed 23 times

I'd always imagined the Enterprise being a lot bigger.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Hmm, I'm a little concerned.

If I leave it running for a period of time, I get screen corruption.

For example, I leave it running a program that prints out characters to screen, and it eventually crashes.

I think I'll need to get the thermal camera on it, see if there is a bad RAM IC, I do hope it isn't a custom IC.

Will get pictures soon but I have the G7000 on the bench just now.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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mrbombermillzy
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by mrbombermillzy »

rubber_jonnie wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2026 10:19 pm For example, I leave it running a program that prints out characters to screen, and it eventually crashes.
Probably not the case 99% of the time in this situation but just to check; its definitely not a buggy program, right? :D
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

mrbombermillzy wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2026 10:29 pm
rubber_jonnie wrote: Tue Aug 11, 2026 10:19 pm For example, I leave it running a program that prints out characters to screen, and it eventually crashes.
Probably not the case 99% of the time in this situation but just to check; its definitely not a buggy program, right? :D
Nope, pretty simple for/next loop with no weird characters as far as I can tell...
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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stephen_usher
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by stephen_usher »

Type the program in here. I'll see if it replicates on my machine after a similar period.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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