HP 15c CE - New firmware update officially available!

[jthole]

There is no direct conversion program (apart from Pierre's excellent interactive Excel based tool) for converting between DM15L and HP 15C CE states?

[AnnoyedOne]

(11-02-2024 04:42 PM)jthole Wrote:  There is no direct conversion program...

Not to my knowledge no.

If SwissMicros releases 2-line firmware and/or a new DM15L, and I buy one, I'll use the spreadseet to keep it and my HP-15C CE "in sync".

A1

[ajay_m]

I have, unfortunately, had a couple of instances of keybounce, so far just the '8' key, since the firmware upgrade. The problem occurs on key release, so that you get a digit on keydown and one on keyup. This appears to confirm that in fact the basic algorithm may be flawed as discussed earlier in this thread. I hope perhaps another firmware update with an improved algorithm could be released - it's certainly much better now, but the problem is definitely not entirely resolved.

[Hani76]

My experience with the latest firmware on my HP-15 CE is similar to ajay_m's. Although it has reduced the number of key bounces substantially it has not eliminated them.

When I purchased my HP-15 CE in June this year I was experiencing the occasional key bounce but it was tolerable. The frequency of key bounces however, gradually increased with time and by the end of August the keyboard began to perform very poorly. I was getting frequent key bounces with virtually all the number keys, arithmetic operator keys, square root and the tan key. In addition, the 5 key was sometimes not registering and had to be pressed a little harder than the other keys.

After updating the firmware the reliability of the keyboard improved significantly and it is now at about the level that it was when I first purchased it. I too am hoping that an update to the firmware that fully resolves the key bounce issue will be released in the future.

[battlecoder]

Hi!
I received the cable today (and an HP16C overlay that I couldn't resist getting along with the cable!) and was able to update the firmware successfully.

A couple of things:

1.- I wasn't using the calculator a lot before the update (I was in the process of getting familiar with the 15C through an emulator on my phone; Of course I didn't want to wear down my calculator during learning), but in my limited usage with the actual device, I never experienced key bounce, so I can't really say how much it "improved" there.

2.- (Probably the most relevant bit) I had to uninstall the VISA drivers that I had on my computer (That I had installed to connect to my electronics lab equipment) because they were apparently interfering with the SAMBA drivers. No idea which one of the VISA drivers was it, but I uninstalled them all, and got the update app to work after that. I had long moved my "lab" connectivity software to another computer, so uninstalling the drivers from this machine wasn't a problem.

3.- QUICK UPDATE: I think I found a bug in the 16C mode. If you press a key while checking the STATUS (f+"." to show the status, then press any key for example . again while it's showing) the calculator freezes and requires a reset to work again. Anyone willing to try on yours to see if it's a "me" problem or an actual bug?

Anyway, I'm quite happy with the updated calculator and kudos to the people involved in developing both the firmware update as well as the tools, cable, overlay, etc. And this forum, of course. It's quite a delight to see an active community of both devs and users.

[jthole]

I have had the calculator for two days now (shipping took a bit longer than I expected) and already loaded it with some useful programs.

• No key bounce for me so far, despite trying.
• My Win11 laptop recognised the 15C immediately.
• Pierre's excellent Excel based tool makes copying programs to the calculator really easy.
  

It's probably not going to replace my DM42 as my "do it all" calculator, but it's a great addition (finally going to retire my old 11C).

[Tranka2010]

(11-04-2024 01:25 PM)ajay_m Wrote:  I have, unfortunately, had a couple of instances of keybounce, so far just the '8' key, since the firmware upgrade. The problem occurs on key release, so that you get a digit on keydown and one on keyup. This appears to confirm that in fact the basic algorithm may be flawed as discussed earlier in this thread. I hope perhaps another firmware update with an improved algorithm could be released - it's certainly much better now, but the problem is definitely not entirely resolved.

Ok so it's not just me. I have FW 0A0Ah and the other day I was noticing that 8 was having issues (I guess I was typing a lot of 8s that day), I was worried I might have a failing key, but seems like it might be a firmware bug given what you are seeing. I can't recall seeing any debounce issues with other keys.

[RPNerd]

(11-08-2024 10:10 PM)battlecoder Wrote:  I think I found a bug in the 16C mode. If you press a key while checking the STATUS (f+"." to show the status, then press any key for example . again while it's showing) the calculator freezes and requires a reset to work again. Anyone willing to try on yours to see if it's a "me" problem or an actual bug?

Confirmed (on the 2024-06-03 version with checksum 0A0A). If you press a key while the status is showing, it crashes the calculator. If you wait for the normal display of the X register to return before pressing keys, everything works fine. On the original HP 16C that I have, keypresses are simply ignored until normal display of X returns.

Don't hold your breath for a fix, though. The extended 15C mode and 16C mode are completely NOMAS (NO MAnufacturer Support).

[battlecoder]

(11-11-2024 07:21 AM)RPNerd Wrote:  

(11-08-2024 10:10 PM)battlecoder Wrote:  I think I found a bug in the 16C mode. If you press a key while checking the STATUS (f+"." to show the status, then press any key for example . again while it's showing) the calculator freezes and requires a reset to work again. Anyone willing to try on yours to see if it's a "me" problem or an actual bug?

Confirmed (on the 2024-06-03 version with checksum 0A0A). If you press a key while the status is showing, it crashes the calculator. If you wait for the normal display of the X register to return before pressing keys, everything works fine. On the original HP 16C that I have, keypresses are simply ignored until normal display of X returns.

Don't hold your breath for a fix, though. The extended 15C mode and 16C mode are completely NOMAS (NO MAnufacturer Support).

Thanks for confirming the bug. One of my concerns was that maybe it was an issue with my unit or something, that was only made apparent while in 16C mode, because as much as I searched, I didn't find anyone else running into this problem before.

And exactly as you said, I assume we are not going to get a fix for this anytime soon. I mean, there's still a chance, considering that the decimal display issue was fixed when an update for the calc was released, but I'm not expecting a patch or a new version that only fixes this.

[AnnoyedOne]

(11-11-2024 03:16 PM)battlecoder Wrote:  Thanks for confirming the bug.

Documented here.

https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-21...ght=prefix

I assumed (falsely) that you'd find this by yourself.

A1

[J-F Garnier]

(11-11-2024 03:38 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  

(11-11-2024 03:16 PM)battlecoder Wrote:  Thanks for confirming the bug.

Documented here.
https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-21...ght=prefix

I too reported it, even earlier, but this didn't catch much attention:
thread-20281-post-180003

Here are the bugs of the 16c mode, or deviations from the original 16C, that I was able to gather:

1. MANT (f-PREFIX), MEM, STATUS, SHOW-BASE: display not maintained while the key is held down,
if a key is pressed during the temporary display, the machine hangs
2. SST, BST, R/S : next program line not displayed while SST/BST or R/S is held down in run mode
3. ON/+, ON/-, ON/x, ON/: test sequences don't work and hang the machine
4. ON/. doesn't change the decimal separator, and hangs the machine
5. SST/BST don't repeat when held down in program mode

If you know an other bug/deviation, please let us know !

J-F

[battlecoder]

(11-11-2024 03:38 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  Documented here.

https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-21...ght=prefix

I assumed (falsely) that you'd find this by yourself.

A1

I absolutely did not find that. Thanks for the link.
I was doing some searches on the forum involving "16C mode" and "Status" and yielded no results. The post you linked mention that it happens in other "temporary" info displays that freeze when a key is pressed while they are showing info, which is the same behavior I observed with status, so probably the same bug.

(11-11-2024 03:50 PM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  I too reported it, even earlier, but this didn't catch much attention:
thread-20281-post-180003

Here are the bugs of the 16c mode, or deviations from the original 16C, that I was able to gather:

1. MANT (f-PREFIX), MEM, STATUS, SHOW-BASE: display not maintained while the key is held down,
if a key is pressed during the temporary display, the machine hangs
2. SST, BST, R/S : next program line not displayed while SST/BST or R/S is held down in run mode
3. ON/+, ON/-, ON/x, ON/: test sequences don't work and hang the machine
4. ON/. doesn't change the decimal separator, and hangs the machine
5. SST/BST don't repeat when held down in program mode

If you know an other bug/deviation, please let us know !

J-F

I'm definitely saving this list. Massive thanks for compiling it. I'll keep playing with the 16C mode and see if I can find something else!

[Alexis Layton]

Hi Folks,

I've installed the SAM-BA 2.18 software under Windows 11 running under Parallels Desktop 20 on an Intel iMac.

The problem I'm having is when I laugh SAM-BA the window is so small all the input fields are truncated and I cannot see the popup control on the right to select the correct board.

At the moment I've got a bricked HP-15C CE....

Any advice?

[rprosperi]

(11-11-2024 11:38 PM)Alexis Layton Wrote:  Hi Folks,

I've installed the SAM-BA 2.18 software under Windows 11 running under Parallels Desktop 20 on an Intel iMac.

The problem I'm having is when I laugh SAM-BA the window is so small all the input fields are truncated and I cannot see the popup control on the right to select the correct board.

At the moment I've got a bricked HP-15C CE....

Any advice?

Don't laugh?

Sorry, could not resist...

Others have got this to work on Macs, but don't worry, it's quite hard to truly brick a 15c CE device, you will almost certainly be able to re-flash it when you can access a machine that you can run SAM-BA on.

[ctrclckws]

(11-11-2024 11:38 PM)Alexis Layton Wrote:  Hi Folks,

The problem I'm having is when I laugh SAM-BA the window is so small all the input fields are truncated and I cannot see the popup control on the right to select the correct board.

Any advice?

I can sympathize with you on the problem. The first little window that comes up on my Windows 10 computer is too small also and the size is not adjustable so it is difficult to see what is required.

The SAM-BA software is probably not supported so it will not be changed.

[Divasson]

Hi,

I had the same problem here with parallels. Bring the computer screen to very high resolution in windows options (much higher than the default, but not the top. Depending on the actual Mac, between 2560 and 2700) and the problem will be solved.

Please revert if any problems!