(HP71B) HP-IL PILBOX ILPER ILVIDEO setup; HowTo?

[J-F Garnier]

(11-27-2023 06:40 PM)floppy Wrote:  HP41 has its own HDRIVE1.DAT. HP71B has its own HDRIVE16.DAT (clear separation of data).

As I mentioned a few times on an other HP41 forum that I can't link here, this is not correct.
Well, it may look correct most of the time, but is not as a general rule.

The HP41 accesses all the mass storage units for most commands, except DIR and NEWM.
That is, when you attempt to load (READP) or save (WRTP) a program, the 41 searches for the file (to be loaded) or for a place (for a file to be saved) on each mass storage unit, starting from the address defined by SELECT.

Example with your setup:
With the HP-71, create and save a dummy program named PROG1 on the unit you dedicated to it.
The resulting file will be of type BASIC.
Now, use the HP-41, create a dummy program also named PROG1, and attempt to save it on the unit dedicated to the 41.
You will get a "DUP FL NAME" error.

If you are aware of this behaviour, your setup is perfectly usable. Just take care to use different file names for 41 and 71 files. Also be aware that when the 1st unit will be full, the 41 will automatically use the next unit.

More details in section "Using Multiple Mass Storage Devices" of the HP-41 HP-IL manual.

J-F