A question re go71

[Didier Lachieze]

Hi Valentin,

I'm not using go71b very often but I should be able to provide some answers to your questions.

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  

• I have no idea what the "Text" slider does. I notice no change after moving the slider and pressing Ok.

This slider controls the size of the text for the help provided when you touch the left part of the LCD screen (Flags, Base Functions, Base statements, Math ROM, JPC-F ROM)
 

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  

• I also have no idea what checking "Full" does. I notice no change either.

This setting means "Full screen", on my tablet "Full" hides the lower row with the navigation (and three dots) buttons. As you have physical buttons, it's not relevant for your tablet.
 

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  

• the miniscreens produce some lines above the display, but selecting various values frequently results in one less line (i.e.: miniscreen 8 produces 7 lines) and never more than 9 lines (though there are miniscreens 10 and 11 available

On my tablet miniscreens 10 and 11 work fine and produce respectively 9 and 10 lines (10 and 11 counting the LCD screen).

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  I wonder if there's some reasonable complete documentation somewhere. The app seems to come with very little docs and I'll need it to see how to:

• import or paste a 71B program which I have as a Windows plain text file (.txt)
• output or copy some program in go71b as a text file that I can use in Windows (Emu71)
• use additional ROMs or increase the amount of RAM available

The only documentation I'm aware of is in two parts:

• the description on Google Play
• this page on the author web site
  

I'm not aware of any possibility to import/export text files with go71b. You should be able to import/export LIF files but I never tried it.

Using additional ROMs or increasing the amount of RAM available is done through the config screen brought up when you press the right side of the LCD screen, however it's been a long time since I did any of these actions and I'll need to spend some time refreshing my memory. I just remember that as for go41cx you need to put the ROM binary files in a specific directory on your tablet (/Android/data/o2s.emul.hp71b/files/...) and then import them in go71b via the config screen, before being able to plug them in a port.

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  After using it for an hour or two and with no other app running in the table (not even updates or notifications) I frequently experienced freezes: the LCD display would freeze, the cursor stopped blinking, and the app didn't respond.

I never experienced such freezes on my tablet but it may be because I'm not using it at 128x, or more likely because I'm not using as much as you.

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  Re the screen + LCD or full screen options, I've found no way to have the screen lines and the tablet keyboard visible at the same time, so I don't see how can I use these two options if I can't type anything.

I think these options are meant to be used with an external (bluetooth) keyboard.
EDIT: once you have selected screen + LCD or full screen, then press toggle keyboard to get the tablet keyboard visible. On my tablet sometimes the keyboard is covering the bottom screen lines. Going to the Android home screen and then back to go71b solves this issue.

(07-25-2018 09:52 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  I sincerely hope I can finally use it as I expected to do. The lack of documentation, lack of adaptation to my tablet's screen (the LCD display looks horrible and nearly unreadable, with pixels like golf balls, and the multi-line screen looks no better) and frequent freezing makes me doubt it will be useable. I haven't still left any feedback at the Google Play Store but right now it deserves no better than 1 star.

I'm not sure go71b is well suited for a power user such as you. It provides a nice 71b emulation on the go, the configuration is a bit cumbersome and it obviously lacks a good manual but it may not provide all the extras you have with EMU71.

On my 8" tablet the LCD display looks OK, and the keyboard size is good (on my phone it's too small). On a bigger tablet, as there is no specific adaptation to the screen size I understand this app may not look good.