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WP 34S - major changes! - Marcus von Cube, Germany - 07-17-2011

We've made some major changes to WP 34S recently which will likely break many functions:

- The first message you'll see is "Erased". If not, you should manually force a clear.

- The assembler is no longer compatible with the current set of op-codes. (Edit: Already fixed by Neil)

- The flash image has yet to be tested.

I've added the lost flash region again. The commands to save and restore user state have changed:

STOM nn will save the user settable mode settings in register nn. The register contents may be inspected in 64 bit integer mode but shouldn't be viewed in decimal mode since it's a pure binary value. Type STO, then MODE (the CPLX key), then the destination.

RCLM nn will restore these settings from a register. The user has the sole responsibility for the validity of the restored value! Type RCL, then MODE (the CPLX key), then the destination.

I'll stop for now, it is getting late here. If the software crashes, just go back to an older release...

Edit: command names have changed.

Edit again: Walter has won the internal command naming contest. ;-)


Edited: 19 July 2011, 5:37 p.m. after one or more responses were posted


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Neil Hamilton (Ottawa) - 07-17-2011

Quote:
- The assembler is no longer compatible with the current set of op-codes.


Assembler is now up-to-date for SVN 1242 opcodes.

Hurray for the 4th flash page being back!


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Marcus von Cube, Germany - 07-17-2011

Thanks for the hurray! We need testers to make sure the space savings haven't introduced more bugs then can be fixed in the limited flash space left now.


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Paul Dale - 07-17-2011

Another big squeeze. The things effected are commands that don't take arguments from the stack (but they are allowed to return values to the stack or not) and every command that accesses user settable state has changed (both read and write accesses).

The first saved us a kilobyte, the second about half and put back the user state save and restore commands.


Quote:
The register contents may be inspected in 64 bit integer mode but shouldn't be viewed in decimal mode since it's a pure binary value.

What Marcus failed to mention is that looking at the state value in real mode is capable of locking up the device. Something on my to do list.


- Pauli


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Marcus von Cube, Germany - 07-17-2011

Since you can store any bit pattern in a register when in integer mode or by storing Alpha, the lockup, if any, could already be produced in earlier versions of the firmware.


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Cristian Arezzini - 07-17-2011

I haven't followed the latest developments very closely, but if opcodes changed again that means that if I update I'll loose my programs... Is there a way to convert them? Can the assembler be used to do so?


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Paul Dale - 07-17-2011

You will need to disassemble them using the version of the assembler that matches your firmware and then reassemble them with the latest.


- Pauli


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Paul Dale - 07-18-2011

Updating is also optional :-)
The basic functionality seems to be pretty robust & has been for a while.


- Pauli


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Cristian Arezzini - 07-18-2011

I know! :) In fact I haven't reflashed since 1151. But as many changes are being introduced lately, I would like to stay a bit more "current"...

Cristian


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Marcus von Cube, Germany - 07-18-2011

The serial routines are in but totally untested (because I need to implement the emulator counterpart for them first.) You should wait until I do announce the new features here.


I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - Gene Wright - 07-18-2011

The stack changes are critical enough that updating should be a necessity.

The earlier builds do not handle the stack the way all earlier RPN HP's have done. If you wish to use any code previously written as a base and convert it to the 34s, then you really must update or debugging the code will be a nightmare.

The SST change is another reason to reflash if you ever plan to step through code to debug. Seeing the step executed and its result in the display is critical to work like previous calculators.

So, IMO, update!


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - Namir - 07-18-2011

URL for the latest update, please? I go to the typical URL ad get an old version.


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - Gene Wright - 07-18-2011

Latest Version list

the URL above always shows the latest builds but remember - these are often NOT necessarily stable. :-)

download and use at your own risk.


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - Namir - 07-18-2011

Thanks Gene! What s the URL for the emulator?

Namir


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - fhub - 07-18-2011

Quote:
What s the URL for the emulator?

I'm using the following link:

http://wp34s.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/wp34s/

Here you can see immediately the current version at the top after the item "Directory revision:".

If this number is newer than your latest verison, then just click on this number and you'll get the site with ALL files changed with this revision, and you can also download the files from here.

For the emulator you need the following files (which are all in trunk\windows\bin):

wp34sgui.exe

wp34s.exe (not absolutely necessary)

emulator.dll

1 Medium 34s.skin

2 Compact 34s.skin

3 LED 34s.skin

wp34s_medium.bmp

wp34s_compact.bmp

wp34s_LED.bmp

Edited: 18 July 2011, 1:13 p.m.


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - Walter B - 07-18-2011

... and once you've downloaded these, you will only need updating wp34sgui.exe until the layout will change.

Walter


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - fhub - 07-18-2011

... and sometimes also emulator.dll is updated. ;-)

(not-updated files don't even appear in the revision list)


Re: I would say updating is necessary not optional :-) - Marcus von Cube, Germany - 07-18-2011

Quote:
... and once you've downloaded these, you will only need updating wp34sgui.exe until the layout will change.

... or until I change the linkage between the exe and the emulator dll. That's what I had to do today. You will need emulator.dll because it contains a new function which is called by wp34s.exe.


Re: WP 34S - major changes! - Paul Dale - 07-21-2011

Actually, this doesn't seem to be a problem.

Look at but don't modify the value in real mode. Not that looking at it there is at all interesting.

Officially, the mode word is opaque and cannot be user modified without risking a complete lock up.


- Pauli