[WP 34S] I finally bricked it :-(

[John Galt]

I discarded one set of batteries after a few days of playing with it also. I was initially unaware that pressing Reset will power down the calculator no matter what.

Anyway, I never measured the current required during flashing. I was hoping you would do that for me but I got tired of waiting :-)

After discarding the partially depleted batteries I used the external power supply to obviate any uncertainty regarding their remaining capacity. With no firmware and the calculator "on" it will draw a consistent 8.0 mA. That quickly diminishes once the flash operation begins. I recorded average current from the bench 3.0V power supply of 5.9 mA for the 19 seconds it takes to flash the unit.

The WP 34S draws much more than that during certain operations. I measured consistent current of 20.75 mA during operation by running N-Queens. Although Eric's spreadsheet compilation does not indicate what it was running and I cannot find Marcus's post from 2011 to determine that, his records are consistent with my measurements.

Conclusion: even one onboard battery is capable of supplying more than sufficient current for flashing, provided it has at least enough capacity to supply an operable WP 34S.