[WP-34S] Cable and flashing options for Mac users

[Dave Frederickson]

Jose,

I see no need to reinvent the wheel and build your own USB-Serial adapter when Harald's board, like the one Katie used, works just fine. You might need visual feedback, but members have been flashing their calculators for seven years without LED's. I myself bricked two of my calcs when a wire broke and a few of the pogo pins bent and no longer made good contact. The problem was resolved without the need for indicators, and Harald's board has buttons. Good thing I didn't sell you the last of my pogo pins.

Regarding "the hard way", that was a rhetorical question. But since you brought it up, realize that there's a "bagfull" of the blue-buttoned RS-232 cables out there and I'm pretty sure most members are using USB adapters with them and not plugging them directly into a serial port on a vintage PC.

For the simplest solution, you're half right. A ready-made cable is the way to go. But as far as nobody offering such a product, you're wrong. Harald's board does the trick. Okay, 95% of it. Just solder on a six-pin cable with a plug of you choice and voila, you're up and running.

So if you have a USB adapter lying around and you want to save a couple of bucks, sure, go ahead and turn it in to something useful, but to present your solution as the only show in town and not offer alternatives is doing a disservice to the readers of this forum.

For the record, here's Harald's original post from 2012 announcing the availability of his USB boards. The version to replace the original HP cable is described at the end of the post and now includes a cable and pushbuttons.

Personally, I'd rather spend my limited time on this planet playing with my calculators rather than building USB adapters. So the only thing left is to decide which one to play with, my souped up 71B with a FRAM71 or the recently acquired HP-97.

Dave

Edit: In case you need an endorsement ...

(02-20-2014 05:14 PM)walter b Wrote:  ... Harald's boards are the nicest and most useful HW addition to a WP 34S I know.

d:-)