Transferring programs to and from an HP41CL

[rprosperi]

(11-23-2017 11:02 PM)brickviking Wrote:  Is there no way to do this aside from purchasing yet another piece of hardware (PILbox)?

My short answer is no. (knowing there is no better way to get someone to come up with one than to say it can't be done...).

Keep in mind that the 41 was popular before PCs were widely used, so serial ports, cables, baud rates, etc. were still years and many $$ away. In recent years, JF Garnier's PIL-Box has IMHO enabled a whole new 2nd life of interest in the 41 (as well as 71B, 75C, etc.), by simulating the original peripherals with modern and cheap hardware; since they exactly simulate the original HP-IL, all the original tools, ROMs, programs, accessories, etc. work as they originally did, so the need for serial comm. is not so important.

Also, hardly any PCs come with serial ports any more, and USB/Serial converters are often plagued by driver issues, cheap clone chipsets that don't work on all machines, and other small but highly annoying issues which frustrate many users. USB (by comparison) just works.

If you really like to tinker and get deep with the tools, Geir's answer is totally correct and great advice, you can do this with Serial transfers to RAM blocks and use HEPAX to move it to Expanded memory, etc. but it's a 37-step process to move a single FOCAL program. With a PIL-Box, it's 1 or 2 steps. Which is not to say one is "better" than the other, it's just a matter of how you want to spend your time - moving the FOCAL program, or using it once moved.

Short recommendation: Get a PIL-Box. It's a decision you will never regret.

Small factoid to consider: Have you ever seen an add to sell a PIL-Box in the classifieds, or seen a post complaining that the PIL-Box isn't worthwhile?