HP-41C disk drive.

[geologie]

I have some questions about re-learning the operations of my beloves HP-41 claculator and accessories. I just restart the HP-IL disk drive but...

1- I can list the programs i made decades ago on some of the disks and i can copy programs individually on the calculator but there is also some type of backup files i'm interest in but can't find the command in the drive user manuel. Where are the commands description of that disk as the manual is really thin about them, no backup and restore options in the original manual...

2- Some of my disk are mark, by myself, as LIF and other are NON-LIF. I can read and copy from them without difference, why did i wrote that on my disk in bold black?

3- At the time i use that calculator, i had a 8-bit XT computer HI-IL interface card but can't find any computer that will accept it anymore. I also read on this forum that there is a kind of USB gadget that can be use insted of this old card, where can i have info on that USB interface?

Thanks!

[Dave Britten]

You'll want to consult the HP-IL adapter manual for the specifics. Section 3 has all the details of mass storage operations.

If this was a backup created with WRTA, then you should be able to load it with READA. Put the filename into the alpha register first, as with most of the other storage commands.

The USB interface you've heard about is probably the PIL-Box. I've got one that I use with my 41 and 71B. It's a must-have if you're into HP-IL! You run the ilper software on your computer, and it emulates an HP disk drive.

http://www.jeffcalc.hp41.eu/hpil/