48SX computer connectivity

[JDW]

What is the easiest and fastest modern way (please mention software & hardware) to connect a 48SX to a computer (preferably a Mac)? Obviously a USB method would be preferred if using a cable.

I own a 28S but nothing later. I'm just curious as to connectivity should I acquire a 48SX (not GX, but SX).

Thank you.

[cruff]

The 48SX only has a serial port, which could be attached to a serial to USB cable. HP sold a cable that went from the 4 pins on the 48SX to a female 9 pin connector. People used to make their own from female pins epoxied to a piece of tongue depressor. I don't recall if I have my own version anymore, I have the official cable. If you go that route it would be easy to wire up a FTDI serial to USB adapter.

Then you can use Kermit to transfer data.

[rprosperi]

(07-02-2016 04:14 PM)cruff Wrote:  The 48SX only has a serial port, which could be attached to a serial to USB cable. HP sold a cable that went from the 4 pins on the 48SX to a female 9 pin connector.

One of those HP cables is for sale here, but it only works with very old Macs that have that round serial connector (looks like a PS/2 or S-Video connector).

[Sylvain Cote]

First you need to acquire a hp48-serial to USB cable like the one here.

Then on the Mac running OSX ...

Download & Install MacPort (http://www.macports.org/install.php)

Run the "Terminal" application located in "Utilities" folder
// the following lines starting with "//" are comments
// on the command line, type de following ...

// update port software
sudo port selfupdate [return]

// update port installed packages
sudo port upgrade outdated [return]

// install kermit command line application
sudo port install kermit [return]

// connect the hp48-serial-to-USB cable & list your actives USB devices (in my case it's SLAB_USBtoUART)
ls /dev | grep USB [return]
// cu.SLAB_USBtoUART
// tty.SLAB_USBtoUART

// create a folder where you will put your HP-48 files
cd [return]
mkdir hp48 [return]
cd hp48 [return]

// start kermit software
kermit [return]

// configure kermit
C-Kermit> set line /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART [return]
C-Kermit> set baud 9600 [return]
C-Kermit> set parity none [return]
C-Kermit> set flow-control none [return]
C-Kermit> set carrier-watch off [return]

> start kermit server
C-Kermit> server [return]

The HP-48S/SX Owner's Manual Vol. II Chapter 33 P.612 to P.634 explain how to configure and use the serial interface on the calculator.

Sylvain

[JDW]

Bob & Sylvain, thank you.

[JDW]

(07-02-2016 06:23 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  Run the "Terminal" application located in "Utilities" folder...

It seems that Hoppi might provide a more intuitive GUI to file transfer with a Mac. Have any of you Mac users tried it?

[Sylvain Cote]

(07-03-2016 01:57 PM)JDW Wrote:  It seems that Hoppi might provide a more intuitive GUI to file transfer with a Mac. Have any of you Mac users tried it?

Interesting, I have never used it.
I have to leave for the day but I will try it tonight and will report back.
Best regards,
Sylvain

[pdo]

(07-03-2016 01:57 PM)JDW Wrote:  It seems that Hoppi might provide a more intuitive GUI to file transfer with a Mac. Have any of you Mac users tried it?

Hi there, I'm the author of Hoppi. I know at least one person has tried it with a 48SX and found that it works okay, and I myself have a 48GX and 49G+/50G so know for sure that it works okay with those calculators.

Let me know if you have any problems and I'll try to help.

Paul

[JDW]

(07-03-2016 03:10 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  ...I will try Hoppi tonight and will report back.

How did it go? And with what Mac and OS did you test?

[Sylvain Cote]

(07-04-2016 11:49 PM)JDW Wrote:  

(07-03-2016 03:10 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  ...I will try Hoppi tonight and will report back.

How did it go? And with what Mac and OS did you test?

Hello JDW,

Sorry for the testing delay, I had to finish something for another museum user.

My test system is a MacBook Pro 17" (8GB RAM & SSD) running 10.11.5.
- Downloaded v1.3.1 from here.
- Installation is pretty standard.
- Usage is not intuitive at first, but easy to use once you get the hang of it. (~ 5 minutes)
-> warning: the application will crash if you specify a data folder with spaces in the path
- I was able to transfer files from/to the HP-48SX to/from OSX without any issue.

Great job Paul for your Hoppi program, thanks!

Best regards,

Sylvain

[pdo]

(07-05-2016 12:55 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  -> warning: the application will crash if you specify a data folder with spaces in the path

Oh bugger, that's not supposed to happen! I'll look into it...

Thanks for the feedback,
Paul

[pdo]

(07-05-2016 12:25 PM)pdo Wrote:  

(07-05-2016 12:55 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  -> warning: the application will crash if you specify a data folder with spaces in the path

Oh bugger, that's not supposed to happen! I'll look into it...

Do you have a specific test case that causes a crash? I've been trying some folder names with spaces, but so far have not seen a problem -- I've tried a 48GX with the built-in "Transfer" app and a 49G+ with my Hoppi RPL library.

Thanks for your help,
Paul

[Sylvain Cote]

(07-05-2016 07:30 PM)pdo Wrote:  

(07-05-2016 12:25 PM)pdo Wrote:  Oh bugger, that's not supposed to happen! I'll look into it...

Do you have a specific test case that causes a crash? I've been trying some folder names with spaces, but so far have not seen a problem -- I've tried a 48GX with the built-in "Transfer" app and a 49G+ with my Hoppi RPL library.

Thanks for your help,
Paul

Hello Paul,
It's 15h55 here (EDT GMT-4h) and I am at the office right now.
I will recreate the crash condition later tonight and report back the result.
Best regards,
Sylvain

[Sylvain Cote]

(07-05-2016 07:30 PM)pdo Wrote:  Do you have a specific test case that causes a crash? I've been trying some folder names with spaces, but so far have not seen a problem -- I've tried a 48GX with the built-in "Transfer" app and a 49G+ with my Hoppi RPL library.

After several tests, it appears that semi-colon ';' is not loved by Hoppi.

Create a folder like this: "HP-48 data (G;GX)"
Try to make it your active folder ... and bang, you end up in your console.

Remember, the only illegal characters for folder & filename in OSX with HFS+ are the colon ':' and forward slash '/', everything else is legal.
Also the max path length is 255.

Best regards,

Sylvain

[pdo]

(07-06-2016 01:03 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  After several tests, it appears that semi-colon ';' is not loved by Hoppi.

Okay, thanks for finding this. I'll look into it tonight when I get home (I'm in the UK, which is GMT+1 at the moment :-).

Regards,
Paul

[pdo]

(07-06-2016 12:24 PM)pdo Wrote:  

(07-06-2016 01:03 AM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  After several tests, it appears that semi-colon ';' is not loved by Hoppi.

Okay, thanks for finding this. I'll look into it tonight when I get home (I'm in the UK, which is GMT+1 at the moment :-).

Turns out this is to do with Common Lisp's logical pathname syntax, where semi-colon is a pathname component separator. Since I use some pathname manipulation functions in my code I have unfortunately allowed this Lispism to leak through to the application. Fixing this will take a little time (more than I have available tonight anyway), so until then I can only suggest that everyone avoid semi-colons in their names :-(

I'll post an update when it's fixed,
Paul