HP Forum Archive 17

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49g+/50g v.92 ROM Upgrade Message #1 Posted by John Kono on 16 Apr 2007, 2:55 a.m. I happened to notice that HP is offering this "ROM" update and I was wondering if anybody has updated a 49g+. If so, I've got a couple of questions... 1) Having looked through the zip file and the HP site, I can't seem to find any information on what issues this update actually addresses. Does anyone have a list of bug fixes included or something? 2) What version of the firmware (i.e. version as reported by the VERSION command) does this upgrade include? Thanks!

Re: 49g+/50g v.92 ROM Upgrade Message #2 Posted by James M. Prange (Michigan) on 17 Apr 2007, 8:38 p.m., in response to message #1 by John Kono Quote: I happened to notice that HP is offering this "ROM" update and I was wondering if anybody has updated a 49g+. Yes, both the 49g+ and 50g. The 48gII emulator included with Debug4x also uses this update, although I don't know whether it's yet used for the (non-flash) ROM in the newest 48gII units. Rather interestingly, with a slight modification to a .KML file, this update can also be downloaded from the emulated 49G to a real 49G as well. Quote: If so, I've got a couple of questions... Quote: 1) Having looked through the zip file and the HP site, I can't seem to find any information on what issues this update actually addresses. Does anyone have a list of bug fixes included or something? Apparently, HP's current policy is to not list which issues have been addressed by an update. However, the readme.txt file included with Bernard Parisse's latest ROM does list changes since 2.01; see http://www-fourier.ujf-grenoble.fr/~parisse/english.html. For some known issues, also see http://bugs.hpcalc.org/, and for other hints, try a search of the comp.sys.hp48 usenet group archive; see http://groups.google.com/advanced_search?. Quote: 2) What version of the firmware (i.e. version as reported by the VERSION command) does this upgrade include? Well, on a 50G, it will report "Version HP50-C", on a 49g+, "Version HP49-C, and anything else (48gII or 49G) "Version HP48-C", in any case, followed by "Revision #2.09". In any case, updating either the 49g+ or 50g is very easy, and I advise using this update, unless you care to update to Bernard's "Version HPxx-G Revision #2.10-7". By the way, the "v.92" designation no doubt comes from this ROM being build 92. Regards James

Re: 49g+/50g v.92 ROM Upgrade Message #3 Posted by John Kono on 20 Apr 2007, 1:49 a.m., in response to message #2 by James M. Prange (Michigan) Quote: Rather interestingly, with a slight modification to a .KML file, this update can also be downloaded from the emulated 49G to a real 49G as well. Nifty! I may have to try that at some point. Thanks for the tip! Quote: Well, on a 50G, it will report "Version HP50-C", on a 49g+, "Version HP49-C, and anything else (48gII or 49G) "Version HP48-C", in any case, followed by "Revision #2.09". That's what I was looking for. Thanks! Quote: By the way, the "v.92" designation no doubt comes from this ROM being build 92. That's pretty much what I figured. The most annoying thing about the update package is that it doesn't indicate anywhere what firmware versions it applies to, or how to check whether or not it's already been applied. Frustrating. Interestingly enough, I just got a recently manufactured 50g (CNA710xxxxx) and it still has the rev 2.08 image. I guess the update hasn't made it to manufacturing yet. Thanks for the info, and I'll be looking into Bernard Parisse's release. It looks like it has some interesting enhancements. John Edited: 20 Apr 2007, 1:53 a.m.

Re: 49g+/50g v.92 ROM Upgrade Message #4 Posted by Mike (Stgt) on 20 Apr 2007, 4:20 a.m., in response to message #2 by James M. Prange (Michigan) Well, ah, probably I get the answer RMF, anyway: I tried Bernard's Version on Emu48 and get "HP48-G Revision #2.10-7" displayed. An elder ROM from Bernard correctly displayed "HP49-...". In the KML I define Model X in both cases. TIA 4 all hints. Ciao.....Mike

Re: 49g+/50g v.92 ROM Upgrade Message #5 Posted by James M. Prange (Michigan) on 20 Apr 2007, 6:49 p.m., in response to message #4 by Mike (Stgt) The revisions 2.08, 2.09, and 2.10-7 ROMs were apparently intended for only the ARM-based models (48gII, 49g+, and 50g), and never check for the possibility that they're actually running on a 49G. The VERSION command (which can be decompiled with Nosy) first checks whether it's a "Big Apple" (49g+ or 50g), and if so, whether it's a a 50g. If it's a Big Apple but not a 50g, then it must be a 49g+. If it's not a Big Apple, then it must be a 48gII, right? But it appears that the ROM code is actually developed using a 49G, or perhaps more likely, an emulated 49G. The PC based emulator doesn't emulate the ARM processor or ARM-emulated "Saturn+" (AKA "Saturnator") processor with its additional opcodes as used in the ARM based models, but only the "hardware Saturn" with its legacy opcodes as used in the 49G. So at that point in development, it can run just fine on a 49G, although it does misidentify which model it's running on. As a final step, some legacy code is replaced with faster Saturn+ routines. Bernard's revision 2.10-7 is also available as a .flash file for the 49G. For information on installing 2.08 or 2.09 on a 49G, see this comp.sys.hp48 thread. Regards, James Edited: 20 Apr 2007, 6:54 p.m.

Re: 49g+/50g v.92 ROM Upgrade//200LX Message #6 Posted by Mike (Stgt) on 23 Apr 2007, 6:16 a.m., in response to message #5 by James M. Prange (Michigan) Thank you very much for your long explanation. And tnx a lot 4 the link to the comp.sys.hp48 thread where I found mentioned VM/CMS -- my favourite OS. With your help I now understand Bernard Parisse's statement some time ago, when he offered "the last CAS for the HP49G". Formerly I understood it as announcement to stop any further work on it. The other way round: Bernard will focus on the ARM-based machines (well, that's in conflict with the 2.10-7 .flash he offers for the 49G). Anyway, the ROMs he offers run fine in Emu48 versions with a revision code that ends with a "+". I found one on Bernard's site and one is bundled with Bill's Debug4x (quite new, last compile 4/17/2007). In this context I remember Christoph Gießelink's statement at the last Allschwil meeting: he has nothing to do with those "+"-Versions of Emu48, the developement is just based on the Emu48-freeware (GNU General Public License), but that's all. He is a purist and his emulators are as close as possible to the real HW. To emulate the ARM-based machines in a similar manner would be quite some work. Now a little subject drift: how difficult would it be to do an emulator of similar quality as Emu48/Emu42 etc. for the HP200LX? Yes, I know, it sounds dull to emulate a DOS-machine on a PC. But i) the Connectivity Pack does not the "virtual multitasking" of the 200LX, ii) there are replacements for several applications running on Windows with some restrictions, and iii) we have "Felix" (alas not the latest revision) but not all DLLs to run the code compiled for the target HW. So where are the experts which may point to the right direction or say "stop, almost impossible"? Ciao.....Mike BTW, Christoph! I hope to find some time that we may meet between the Allschwil events. M.

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