[V41 + IRBlinky + HP82240B] PRPLOT fails on example

[WrongWay]

Following the directions here: https://archived.hpcalc.org/greendyk/hp4...er/49.html
with a confirmed good Virtual HP-IL link between V41 and HP-82240B emulator, PRPLOT fails when running the example program. Is there a way to set the emulated 82240B into TRACE mode?

The only time I've gotten PRPLOT to work was using the oorex 82162A which is so unreliable for me in windows 10 that it's functionally useless.

I have the following modules installed in V41
HP41CX Operating System
AVIATION
NAVIGATION
82160 HP-IL

PRFLAGS output:
SIZE = 100
DEG
FIX 4
FLAGS:
21, 26, 28, 29, 37, 40, 55

Here is what I am doing:
1) I create the "sinx" program as described in the manual "WIGGLE"
2) excute PRPLOT
3) follow the on screen prompts and the printer outputs the image which doesnt look anything like the expected plot

the listing for sinx

Code:


LBL "SINX"
SIN
END

   

[Valentin Albillo]

.

Perhaps the wrong angular mode (DEG, RAD) ?

V.

[Thomas Okken]

It looks like it doesn't emulate ACCOL and the other buffer-related print functions properly? Those are used by the PRPLOT program to print the axes and to position the little 'x' marks with single-pixel precision.

[WrongWay]

(02-25-2022 12:39 AM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  Perhaps the wrong angular mode (DEG, RAD) ?
V.

according to the calculator it's in degree mode
PRFLAGS output:
SIZE = 100
DEG
FIX 4
FLAGS:
21, 26, 28, 29, 37, 40, 55

the lower case w printing looks odd too.
the print should look like this:
   

so the formatting is incorrect in several locations

[Thomas Okken]

Lowercase w is binary 1110111, that's the bit pattern used to print a segment of the X axis. It should look like a vertical bar with a gap in the middle, but the printer emulator clearly isn't handling the codes that are being sent for graphics printing, and printing characters instead.

[WrongWay]

(02-25-2022 01:52 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Lowercase w is binary 1110111, that's the bit pattern used to print a segment of the X axis. It should look like a vertical bar with a gap in the middle, but the printer emulator clearly isn't handling the codes that are being sent for graphics printing, and printing characters instead.

Thanks for that insight about the bit patterns! I wonder if there is anything that can easily be done from a user perspective to address the issue or if this is a deeper issue. My guess is it's the latter.

[WrongWay]

For clarification this is the printer emulator: https://hp.giesselink.com/hp82240b.htm

[Thomas Okken]

Everything points to 82143A/82162A control codes being sent to an 82240B. Which isn't surprising, because that's what your setup sounds like. But how does the connection between the emulated 41 and the emulated 82240B even work? I'd expect an emulated IR module between the two, not emulated HP-IL. I'm afraid I can offer no advice on how to fix this...

[Didier Lachieze]

I think I reproduced your set-up with:

• V41 9G
• ILBinky V1.0
• Virtual HP-82240B Printer
  

I configured V41 as you did:

• HP41CX Operating System
• AVIATION
• NAVIGATION
• 82160 HP-IL
  

I started the ILBlinky interface, the 82240B printer and initialized the Virtual IL with PWRUP. Then printing to the virtual 82240B was functional.

I tried the example described here to print graphics ensuring that the MAN mode was set (Flags 15 and 16 cleared) and it failed as visible on the screenshot below:

   

The first line printed was the X register with PRX

The second line is the ACCOL graphic output where clearly the printer is interpreting the print buffer as characters and not as graphic. After each ACCOL the character was visible on the printer text window but not on the graphic window, it's only after the last PRBUF that the line appeared on the graphic window.

Then I switched to TRACE mode (flag 15 set, flag 16 cleared) to verify the print mode was working correctly, and it was.

I tried also to build a special character as described here and again it failed, no graphic output.

   

So it seems that the HP82240B Printer Simulator and/or the ILBlinky are not handling the HP 41 graphic instructions correctly.

[WrongWay]

Yup that looks like the issue. I too was unable to build a custom character. I followed the instructions for the chars program: https://archived.hpcalc.org/greendyk/hp4...er/23.html
this was the output, it looks like it fails on a lot of characters if the 82240B shares the same character set as the 82143A: https://archived.hpcalc.org/greendyk/hp4...er/37.html

Code:


 1
 2
 3
 4

 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10
 11
 12
 13|
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27 30
 31
 32 
 33!
 34"
 35#
 36$
 37%
 38&
 39'
 40(
 41)
 42*
 43+
 44,
 45-
 46.
 47/
 480
 491
 502
 513
 524
 535
 546
 557
 568
 579
 58:
 59;
 60<
 61=
 62>
 63?
 64@
 65A
 66B
 67C
 68D
 69E
 70F
 71G
 72H
 73I
 74J
 75K
 76L
 77M
 78N
 79O
 80P
 81Q
 82R
 83S
 84T
 85U
 86V
 87W
 88X
 89Y
 90Z
 91[
 92\
 93]
 94^
 95_
 96`
 97a
 98b
 99c
 100d
 101e
 102f
 103g
 104h
 105i
 106j
 107k
 108l
 109m
 110n
 111o
 112p
 113q
 114r
 115s
 116t
 117u
 118v
 119w
 120x
 121y
 122z
 123{
 124|
 125}
 126
 127░

  chars.bmp (Size: 23.5 KB / Downloads: 4)

[WrongWay]

(02-25-2022 09:09 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Everything points to 82143A/82162A control codes being sent to an 82240B. Which isn't surprising, because that's what your setup sounds like. But how does the connection between the emulated 41 and the emulated 82240B even work? I'd expect an emulated IR module between the two, not emulated HP-IL. I'm afraid I can offer no advice on how to fix this...

That's a good point. If the control codes being sent aren't for the correct printer then it would stand to reason it should fail. I tried using the V41 Ir-Print.mod module but it immediately sends the cpu into a loop.
I configured the setup as follows the HP-41 uses the HP-IL module, the HP-IL module to connect to the IR Blinky program then that outputs to the printer.

[WrongWay]

(02-25-2022 11:09 AM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  I tried the example described here to print graphics ensuring that the MAN mode was set (Flags 15 and 16 cleared) and it failed as visible on the screenshot below:

Where did you find the reference to which flags set the printer mode? I saw it once and can't seem to locate it again.

[Sylvain Cote]

(02-25-2022 05:54 PM)WrongWay Wrote:  Where did you find the reference to which flags set the printer mode? I saw it once and can't seem to locate it again.

Code:

Flag C Description
 15  * HP-IL printer
 16  * See below
       15 16  Desc.
        0  0  Manual
        0  1  Normal
        1  0  Trace
        1  1  Trace with Stack
 17  * Partial record (no CR)

[rprosperi]

Although Sylvain's reply provides the settings, the answer to where they are described is in the 82160A HP-IL module User Manual and Quick Ref Guide. Since the 82162A HP-IL peripheral printer could be controlled by various controllers (41, 71, 75, 85) the configuration logic is in the IL controller, not the printer itself.

[WrongWay]

Thanks Bob and Sylvain!