(71b) HP41 module programs in HP71b

[rprosperi]

41 Modules can't be used as-is in the 41 Translator. The translator provides a FORTH-based simulator that can run text files that are very similar, but not always identical to, FOCAL programs.

So, what you can do is use the tools Thomas mentioned above, then use one of several available RAW file translators to convert the individual RAW files to text (containing FOCAL listings), then bring those into the 71B via PIL-Box, and then you can use them in the 41Trans ROM. Some small tweaks are likely needed to get them to work, but such details are covered pretty well in the 41Trans manual.

Note however, that some ROMs have included some special non-FOCAL programs which can't be moved or used this way. When needed for performance or precision (or whatever reason) these special programs were implemented in MCODE, and sadly there is no solution for these, except possibly if you wanted to re-implement those as your own programs.

When you do a CAT-2 of the original ROM, the FOCAL program names begin with the little raised "T" in front of the program name, while MCODE programs don't have the "T", so you can quickly and easily tell by simply doing a CAT-2 of the module.

While the above is all true, many of the original HP ROMs were 100% FOCAL, so the odds are good with those (even if a lot of steps are required), however modern modules, such as most of Angel's amazing ROMs are nearly 100% MCODE.

It's an interesting topic to many folks, so please do post your results and lessons learned once you've done this.