Looking for HP-42S ROM image
Message #1 Posted by Thomas Okken on 29 June 2004, 8:46 a.m.
Hi all,
I'm interested in writing a HP-42S emulator. (The usual reasons -- the best calculator ever, but they aren't making any more, and so, like with the Commodore 64, we need emulation to make sure we never have to be without this great little machine.) I'm probably biting off more than I can chew (is there enough information of the HP-42S hardware around?) but who knows, with a little peek at Christoph Giesselink's Emu42 source code, I may be able to do it, and if I succeed, a PalmOS version is next on the agenda (after all, handhelds should be emulated on handhelds!).
Anyway, now I get to the first big hurdle: getting a ROM image. I figure reading the bytes using the memory scanner and typing them into the PC could be done in a month or so, if I spend a couple of hours a day at it, but I'd probably kill myself before I'm done, and besides, in between 131072 keystrokes, and error or two is bound to sneak in, and then how am I going to find those? <shudder>
I have no HP-48 to run INPRT on, and don't feel like buying one either (yes, I'm cheap), and I have two left hands when it comes to hardware, so the project of building an IR receiver to hook up to my PC does not seem too promising either.
So, I was wondering if someone who already has a rev. C ROM image could be persuaded to send me a copy?
I don't want anyone to break the law, but since I own an actual HP-42S rev. C, I think I'm within my rights (fair use or whatnot) to possess an electronic copy of the machine's ROM, and I don't think it matters where I get it (I am not a lawyer, though).
I'd be happy to email a photograph of myself holding a current newspaper and my HP-42S, as evidence that I actually own said machine.
If anyone could help me out, I'd be much obliged!
- Thomas
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