Identify HP-71B software?

[mfleming]

I was fortunate enough to acquire a 71B with the latest ROM and HPIL ROM from That Place recently. It included a CMT 64K module with some survey software. I checked Sylvain's Compendium and Joe's LIF collection but could not identify the software source. Here are some details

Code:


Typewritten label

Survey Data
Coll. 4.07
SDC880718C
ABACUS 1988


HP-71B output

>VER$
HP71:2CDCC HPIL:1B SDCCHR2 STR:A SSI:D CSTU:A TXTU:A
>
>SHOW PORT
0.05  16384  2
1     65536  2
0      4096  0
0.01   4096  0
0.02   4096  0
0.03   4096  0
>CAT :PORT(1)
  NAME   S TYPE   LEN    DATE    TIME PORT
LEX1       LEX     736 01/05/00 22:43 1    
LEX2       LEX     837 01/05/00 22:43 1    
LEX3       LEX    1249 01/05/00 22:43 1    
LEX4       LEX    1007 01/05/00 22:43 1    
LEX5       LEX    1512 01/05/00 22:43 1    
SEQ        DATA   2091 01/05/00 22:43 1    
FCNTRL     DATA   3081 01/05/00 22:43 1    
SDCKEYS    KEY     493 01/05/00 22:43 1    
AS         DATA    350 01/05/00 22:43 1    
ZCONF      DATA    280 01/05/00 22:43 1    
ZYDUP      TEXT      0 01/05/00 22:43 1    
ZUTIL      BASIC  6644 01/05/00 22:43 1    
FFFKEYS    KEY     493 01/05/00 22:43 1    
SDC        BASIC 44891 01/05/00 22:43 1    
Z2SCNTL1   DATA    345 01/05/00 22:46 1    
ZYSCNTL2   BASIC   754 01/05/00 22:46 1    
Z2SCNTL2   DATA    345 01/05/00 22:46 1

The SDC program, when run, displays

Quote:Free ABACUS Software
Resale NOT Allowed
Copyright 1987, ABACUS
A Div. of Calculus Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
All Rights Reserved
Survey Data Collector

So, is this is some sort of support software given to purchasers of a surveying program? If so, which one? I'm sure I remember seeing ABACUS somewhere. Does anyone have information on the above ROM content or on the company mentioned? Any information appreciated!

~Mark

[Dave Frederickson]

The most complete list of 71B modules can be found on HP Collection's website.
http://www.hp-collection.org/71database.html

Perhaps if you were to share a dump or image of the EPROM we could help figure it out.

Here's the overlay for the software, maybe that will help.

[mfleming]

Thanks Dave. It does seem to be the ABACUS survey software. It is a match for Matthias' ROM database but an earlier version. It came with a blank overlay so I didn't have one like you show to help with identification.

I've attached an HP9114B LIF image of the ROM content that you can load into Emu71. Not sure how to capture a ROM image, but this would be nice to add to the MultiMod collection. If I had just a few more program bytes I could add a ROM copy to MM command

~Mark

[J-F Garnier]

(01-27-2023 04:29 PM)mfleming Wrote:  I've attached an HP9114B LIF image of the ROM content that you can load into Emu71. Not sure how to capture a ROM image, but this would be nice to add to the MultiMod collection. If I had just a few more program bytes I could add a ROM copy to MM command

Thanks for the files.
The easiest way to make a ROM image is to use the ROMCOPY LEX; for true ROM image collectors the best way is to make a dump using PEEK statements (examples at various places) because it preserves everything.

Anyway, the individual files are good enough to have an idea of the content.
The LEX files are always interesting to explore:

Code:

LEX ID # 93 
Keywords # 93010 to 93010 
Poll Handler
XWORD 93010 SDCCHR2

LEX ID # 82 
Keywords # 82008 to 82019 
Poll Handler
XFN   82008 LTRIM$
XFN   82009 RTRIM$
XFN   82010 TRIM$
XFN   82011 RPT$
XFN   82012 REV$
XFN   82013 LWRC$
XFN   82014 LWC$
XFN   82015 ROT$
XFN   82016 SPAN
XFN   82017 MEMBER
XFN   82018 SBIT$
XFN   82019 SBIT

LEX ID # 98 
Keywords # 98028 to 98030 
Messages # 98001 to 98003 
Poll Handler
XWORD 98028 SETUP
XFN   98029 SERIAL$
XFN   98030 ERROR

LEX ID # 82 
Keywords # 82001 to 82006 
Poll Handler
XFN   82001 KEYWAIT$
XWORD 82002 SCROLL
XFN   82003 MSG$
XWORD 82004 INLINE
XFN   82005 KEYNAM$
XFN   82006 KEYNUM

LEX ID # 240 
Keywords # 240001 to 240001 
Poll Handler
XWORD 240001 DELETE
LEX ID # 240 
Keywords # 240003 to 240006 
XFN   240003 FILESZR
XWORD 240004 INSERT
XWORD 240005 REPLACE
XFN   240006 SEARCH

LEX2, LEX4 and LEX5 are known LEX files with common keywords.
LEX1 implements a SDCCHR2 keyword, that is used once in the SDC program.
LEX3 seems to implement commands for a serial communication, but the keywords are not used in the programs. Hard to figure out the usage without any example.

[edit:]
The ROM was likely to be used with another ROM, because there are statements such as
CALL CIO(E) IN FFF
in the programs, referring to a FFF file that is not within this ROM.
FFF likely stands for "Flex. File Frmt.", the name of another Abacus ROM. One can currently be seen on eBay.

J-F

[mfleming]

(01-27-2023 09:05 PM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  LEX3 seems to implement commands for a serial communication, but the keywords are not used in the programs. Hard to figure out the usage without any example.

J-F

Thanks for the LEX header dump. Looks very 41'ish. Playing around with the program I did see it try to initialize and choose a comm port and baud rate. A user manual would obviously be a great help!

I'll copy or peek a ROM image this weekend...

~Mark

[Dave Frederickson]

(01-27-2023 04:29 PM)mfleming Wrote:  Not sure how to capture a ROM image, but this would be nice to add to the MultiMod collection.

A procedure can be found in the Emu71/Win manual.
https://hp.giesselink.com/Emu71/Emu71.htm

Note that ROMCOPY shouldn't be used to create an image of an EPROM. The reason for this is that the function of ROMCOPY is to generate checksums and if used to create an image of an EPPROM the checksum will overwrite the IRAM identifier. The EPROM would now be identified as a ROM and that might cause undesirable consequences.

An alternative would be use EPRMCPY from the CMTTOOLS included with the CMT EPROM programmer which is just ROMCOPY with different defaults but avoids having to deal with command options.

Dave

[mfleming]

Thanks for the instructions Dave. With all the other things going on lately it's been a while since I've had an extended hands-on session with the 71B. Exploring the new one renews the fascination.

Attached is a zip file with the following content
DUMP.BAS - The BASIC program to dump the ROM content
SDC407.BIN - ROM image, tested with Emu71
SDC407.EMU - ROM file converted to EMU (?) format
SDC407.TXT - Hex file produced by the above dump program

I hope a bit more can be discovered by plugging in the BIN file. I'll create a DAT file sometime soon for MultiMod and upload to the Github repo.

~Mark

[J-F Garnier]

(01-29-2023 05:50 PM)mfleming Wrote:  Attached is a zip file with the following content
DUMP.BAS - The BASIC program to dump the ROM content
SDC407.BIN - ROM image, tested with Emu71
SDC407.EMU - ROM file converted to EMU (?) format
SDC407.TXT - Hex file produced by the above dump program

Thanks! This ROM image has a a IRAM header and a correct CMT checksum (not the HP ones), showing that this module was built with CMT tools from a 64K RAM port.
BTW, the .EMU unpacked format (one nibble per byte) is not really needed, the .BIN works on both Emu71 /DOS and /Win.

Quote:I'll create a DAT file sometime soon for MultiMod and upload to the Github repo

But it will be of little use without the companion ROM, see my note above.

J-F

[mfleming]

(01-30-2023 08:27 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  Thanks! This ROM image has a a IRAM header and a correct CMT checksum (not the HP ones), showing that this module was built with CMT tools from a 64K RAM port.
BTW, the .EMU unpacked format (one nibble per byte) is not really needed, the .BIN works on both Emu71 /DOS and /Win.

Quote:I'll create a DAT file sometime soon for MultiMod and upload to the Github repo

But it will be of little use without the companion ROM, see my note above.

J-F

Ah ha, that would correspond to my original supposition that this CMT was created by the original owner. The starting message implies the code was provided by ABACUS, probably on floppy disc, to support the main ROM. With the code preserved I suppose the CMT module can be reused...

Quote:Free ABACUS Software
Resale NOT Allowed
Copyright 1987, ABACUS
A Div. of Calculus Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
All Rights Reserved
Survey Data Collector

[Dave Frederickson]

(01-30-2023 08:27 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  But it will be of little use without the companion ROM, see my note above.

I believe the "companion ROM" is the Flexible File Formatter (FFF) EPROM. See HP-Collection's database.
BTW, the FFF EPROM is currently available on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224326595785

Unfortunately it's an older version and the seller is known for unfair prices.

Dave

[mfleming]

(01-30-2023 03:43 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  I believe the "companion ROM" is the Flexible File Formatter (FFF) EPROM. See HP-Collection's database.
BTW, the FFF EPROM is currently available on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224326595785

Unfortunately it's an older version and the seller is known for unfair prices.

Dave

Yeah, saw that. Reminds me of the old joke about the kid selling a cup of lemonade for $50 (only need to sell one). I've looked at the labels of the two ABACUS ROMs and I'm beginning to wonder if my own might have come from ABACUS itself. Label was peeled down to show the CMT logo.
   

[Dave Frederickson]

Here's a guy who worked at Abacus.
https://www.facebook.com/tom.arneson.7/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-arneson-409a9b18

Maybe he knows.