HP Forum Archive 08

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problems with my hp48g memory expand Message #1 Posted by jorge arango on 19 July 2002, 10:29 a.m. I'm looking for help with my hp48g. I expanded my hp48g to 384 kb, the resident memory (port 0) to 128 kb and 2 aditional ports of 128kb each one. in this moment en i turn on the the calculator , display the message " warning: invalid card data", i make the sequence of PINIT, chage the batteries, and i still receving the message. aditional when i transfer any library and tried to storage en port 0 , it displays " STO error: object in use", or if i storage in port 1 "port 1 is merged" i need help !!!!!!!! Jorge Arango

Re: problems with my hp48g memory expand Message #2 Posted by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) on 19 July 2002, 10:59 p.m., in response to message #1 by jorge arango Hi; when you say "expanded my hp48g to 384 kb" you mean you opened the calculator and soldered memory I.C's? Or you plugged memory cards? I am curious to know about it... If you opened it, how did you enlarge its memory? Did you follow any particular instruction set? I have a 48G+ and I was once told it is possible to increase its memory to more than 300K. But I have not seen any instructions to do so. If you followed some receip, I'd like to read it. Can you share? Cheers.

Re: problems with my hp48g memory expand Message #3 Posted by Jonathan Busby on 19 July 2002, 11:48 p.m., in response to message #2 by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) said : "I have a 48G+ and I was once told it is possible to increase its memory to more than 300K. But I have not seen any instructions to do so. If you followed some receip, I'd like to read it." Go to the "HP 48 Calculator Unofficial Upgrade Page" for all your memory upgrading needs. :) : http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7584/ Jonathan ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remove the random permutation of "NOSPAM" from my e-mail address before replying.

Re: problems with my hp48g memory expand Message #4 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 20 July 2002, 12:55 p.m., in response to message #2 by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) Luiz: as Jorge message does not refer to a -GX, memory cards are not an option; so he must have opened it. I have a 48G+ too, and am also curious about expanding it to more than 300 KBy RAM, to be able to run the HrastProgrammner HP41 Emulator, which can only run in a 49 or a 48 GX with extra RAM. However, the dollar rate may prevent me to be active about such luxuries for quite a while! Kind regards

Oops! You're right... Message #5 Posted by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) on 20 July 2002, 6:33 p.m., in response to message #4 by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) Hi, Andrés; I did not notice that. In fact, Jorge mentions a 48G. Sorry... Now I am worried about what may be wrong: the IC's themselves? Is there a way to check for their integrity? If a bard memory card is inserted in a 48GX, will it generate such warning messages? I'm guessing Jorge has done everything by the numbers, so my best guess (too weak, I know) is checking for the IC's. If you, Jorge, are confident about what you've done, there's no ned to check for soldering and connections (I would...). I'd like to help a bit more. Success.

Just a question Message #6 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 20 July 2002, 7:18 p.m., in response to message #5 by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) Are the firmware (ROM images) of a 48G, 48G+ and 48GX exactly the same? (This time I have no experience to boot) I know the 48GX treats differently the RAM installes in its two slots, what is expected when you expand internally a 48G+? Today seems to be the "address space day" apart from being the "friends day" in my country at least... It conmemorates Neil Armstrong walk in the moon, July 20, 1969. All MoHPC friends: have a nice friends day!!

Re: Just a question Message #7 Posted by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) on 20 July 2002, 11:03 p.m., in response to message #6 by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) Hey, guys, and Andrés; we do not have a "friends day" here in Brazil (al least, not that I know), but the moon walk is a celebration. In USA, at least. Thanks for your kindness, Andrés. About 48 internals: sometimes these "just a question" tease us. At the moment I read it at first, I thought: "No way they are different" ("De jeito nenhum que elas são diferentes!"; this is my actual thought...). But I started thinking about it and one question came to me: not the system itself, because they would have different versions, and we have only one set of ROM images for the three of them, but I think of some HW difference. I have a working 48G MBoard with no LCD (broken), no RAM (donated to the 42S) and three broken cooper trails (may be repaired). I would like having a look at one 48GX's board. Andrés, when you write different ROM images, you mean they would have different addresses so the 48G/G+ would only see a fixed amount of RAM while the GX would be able to see more? Is that it? If so, I am now curious to know about it. Greetings.

Re: Just a question Message #8 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 21 July 2002, 2:48 p.m., in response to message #7 by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) I would like to know if there is specific code in the GX ROM (for instance, to manage RAM card detection, RAM card protection, card battery monitoring, ports addressing, etc.), and if such code is not present in the G+ ROM (since it is not supposed to be used). If that were the case, it may well happen that a G+ cannot "see" extra RAM installed (soldered) by the user. Of course, hardware provisions for address decoding, etc are also needed, apart from the code needed to manage the extra RAM. I understand there are people who found success expanding their G+, so it may be possible; I don't know any details about how...

Re: Just a question Message #9 Posted by Jonathan Busby on 22 July 2002, 2:58 a.m., in response to message #8 by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) wrote : "I would like to know if there is specific code in the GX ROM (for instance, to manage RAM card detection, RAM card protection, card battery monitoring, ports addressing, etc.), and if such code is not present in the G+ ROM (since it is not supposed to be used). " AFAIK the ROM code among the different 48 models is the same for any given ROM version. "I understand there are people who found success expanding their G+, so it may be possible; I don't know any details about how..." Yes, it is possible and has been done many times. A few companies including Cynox ( http://www.weinert-engineering.de/index_e.htm ) even offer pre-upgraded 48's . For technical details on doing it yourself see the link I just posted in this thread : http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7584/ . Much useful information can also be found at www.hpcalc.org by searching for upgrade, card or hardware for example. Jonathan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remove the random permutation of "NOSPAM" from my e-mail address before replying.

Re: Just a question Message #10 Posted by Ellis Easley on 22 July 2002, 5:24 a.m., in response to message #9 by Jonathan Busby I don't know what happened to "jorge" but between him and "Hiroshi Ito", I'm all revved up to expand my 48G's RAM so I can use MetaKernel! That's what I like about the Forum - it gives me ideas to try out on my calculators. BTW, I've been wondering what the message is in the graphics that flash very briefly on the screens of the 39G and the 49G when they are reset. Finally, I used my PC Cam to take a video of it so I could look at a still frame. It says "Powered by The [???]Meta Kernel" (I can't make out the three symbols before Meta Kernel). So, I guess I'm already using MetaKernel in those calculators. The 49G FAQ suggests that it is only software that makes the 49G any faster than the 48G (which seems to be part of what MetaKernel does for the 48G). After staring at the screens through a bunch of reboots, I think the three letters might be "MDC". Maybe that is a combination of the initials of the programmers? (their names and pictures can be displayed by pressing some additional keys [F2, F3, APPS, VAR, HIST, <sqr root>, SIN, COS] from the test screen [ON-F4]) Or a corporation whose name I should recognise? I had been expecting a "J" for Jean-Yves, who seems to be the main guy behind MetaKernel, or an "A" for his last name. Also I see that the graphics says "ver. 3.00". Jean-Yves 48 MetaKernel page (from about 2000) refers to a possible "MetaKernel 3.00" for the 48GX - that must be what went into the 49G after HP hired him. Also the 49G flashes a credit for the CAS before the one for MetaKernel, which the 39G does not. I wonder if the 40G does, since it contains CAS? The 49G also displays a "crossword" with the names of the developers plus "vger" and "aco" when you exucute "RULES"; when you press "EEX" from the test screen you see a picture of a 49G prototype; and there is a Tetris game you can start by entering "HpMad" (including quotes) on an entry line, such as in the MODE setting screen. Apparently there is another Tetris game, invoked by typing MINEISBETTER at a certain spot, in the ROMs after 1.18 (the last production release ROM). I learned most of this in the 49G FAQ from hpcalc.org.

Re: Just a question Message #11 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 22 July 2002, 10:27 a.m., in response to message #10 by Ellis Easley Thank you, Jonathan and Ellis!

Re: Oops! You're right... Message #12 Posted by jorge arango on 22 July 2002, 10:27 a.m., in response to message #5 by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) I didn't the work, i payed for that. who i check the ic's?

Re: Oops! You're right... Message #13 Posted by Ellis Easley on 22 July 2002, 5:16 p.m., in response to message #12 by jorge arango Whoever did the work should be able to find out why it isn't working. Do you know if they tested it after doing the modifications? It would be meaningful to know if it was working, then stopped working correctly.

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