HP48G Connectivity Method in 2022

[TomC]

Thank you all very much for your comments and findings.

I am currently having flashbacks that there was some special handling on the HP48 for backing up - recall ARCHIVE and RESTORE. I believe these commands are limited to Kermit protocol.

More investigations ongoing.

Cheers,
TomC

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(09-18-2022 11:23 PM)Mark Power Wrote:  

(09-18-2022 10:48 PM)TomC Wrote:  Hello Mark:

This is very interesting. I am curious how one would then perform a backup of the connected calculator.

Thank you,
TomC

To backup main memory put c-Kermit into server mode on the Mac, or simply start Hoppi, and use this program on the 48 to create a backup file called ARCMEM:

Code:

<< :IO: ARCMEM ARCHIVE >>

Replace ARCHIVE with RESTORE to restore the backup to the calculator.

[rprosperi]

(09-19-2022 11:24 AM)TomC Wrote:  I am currently having flashbacks that there was some special handling on the HP48 for backing up - recall ARCHIVE and RESTORE. I believe these commands are limited to Kermit protocol.

Your Jedi senses serve you well, the manual confirms that the ARCHIV command is intended only for KERMIT, and while XMODEM can indeed be used for serial transfer of variables, there is no support for a fiull backup via ARCHIV. Mystery solved. But your confusion is not surprising, no one here seems to have recalled this either...

[DavidM]

(09-19-2022 11:24 AM)TomC Wrote:  More investigations ongoing.

I did some spelunking this morning in the comp.sys.hp48 newsgroup and came across this thread that essentially announced an alternate version of Conn4x (with what appears to have an earlier build number than the "official" release, despite it being newer). I can confirm that this build 2361 version is able to successfully complete the backup process with my 48G.

There's a wrinkle, however. Bill's suggestion to simply rename the original version and likewise rename his alternate one as "Conn4x.exe" didn't work for me. I had the same result as several others in that thread (various exceptions and memory errors). Following the advice of one of the posters in that thread (Steve R.), I simply left the b2361 version named the way it was and ran it from the same location. At that point everything worked as it should with the XMODEM server running on the 48G.

So it's not a very pretty solution, but it does at least allow you to successfully make a backup using the tool you're already familiar with. Hopefully this will get you going!

[rprosperi]

Thanks David, I was going to look for this today, as I recalled that Bill's version made some tweaks to various things, possibly including XMODEM. It's indeed odd that this version has a higher version number, I suppose Bill got an earlier release code base and modded that one. The Release notes show only minor big fixes and adding help files in various languages for all release past 2349.

[HP67]

(09-18-2022 10:31 PM)Mark Power Wrote:  

Quote: What is the recommended method to connect with my HP48G series from a Win10 Machine or MacBook?

On both a 2015 Intel MacBook Pro and 2021 Apple Silicon MackBook Pro running macOS Monterey 12.6 you can use the original command line c-kermit or Hoppi.

Agreed

I also use Kermit on UNIX and Linux. I got them from the Columbia archive site and some of the Linux I run also has Kermit in their package manager.

It's a throwback tool but quite good, and for me at least it's generally useful (serial terminal etc.) even beyond talking to the HP 48.

[Liamtoh Resu]

I was able to send programs, one at a time, from the HP38G to the
virtual XP environment. I set the compatability to win95. I had to
enable the usb/prolific serial adapter in virtualbox.

[zavorra]

It should not be too difficult to connect a "rs232 to ttl" to a hc06 and connect over bluetoot, or to a esp32/esp8266 and create a small wifi gateway

[iceblink]

Late to this thread, but I can report the exact same issues as TomC with ConnKit4 on WIndows, it allows xmodem transfers with the custom XSERV library installed but does not do backups.

Instead I used HPComm a "HP 48/49 PC link kit"

https://www.hpcalc.org/details/3713

This works in Windows 11.

I am connecting a HP48G and using a CH340 based USB serial cable. (I already had installed working drivers for that) connecting to the HP serial cable.

Just ensure it connects on COM1-COM4, if it is higher you'll have to uninstall other serial devices until a lower COM port is available (then reinstall/reinsert you HP Serial cable and check in Devic Manager that it is assigned a low COM port number)


The program works with default HP Calc settings, you just press right-shift and right arrow on the HP48G to start the communications, when you do a backup it automatically switches to ASCII mode. You can also drag and drop between the PC and HP48G.