Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

r. pienne · 02-07-2015, 01:22 PM

(02-07-2015 01:05 PM)Tugdual Wrote: I haven't been able to figure out how to enter text in a program.
I could understand that the trick is to use EQN and then I entered text letter by letter using RCL.
Next line is a PSE to show text.
Problem is that I get a different text, it says 'syntax error' which somehow is correct since the EQN means nothing. Anybody can help me to understand what I missed?

Set flag 10, which will make the machine display your "equation" instead of trying to evaluate it.

R.

Tugdual · 02-07-2015, 01:46 PM

(02-07-2015 01:22 PM)r. pienne Wrote:
(02-07-2015 01:05 PM)Tugdual Wrote: I haven't been able to figure out how to enter text in a program.
I could understand that the trick is to use EQN and then I entered text letter by letter using RCL.
Next line is a PSE to show text.
Problem is that I get a different text, it says 'syntax error' which somehow is correct since the EQN means nothing. Anybody can help me to understand what I missed?

Set flag 10, which will make the machine display your "equation" instead of trying to evaluate it.

R.

Thank you! Really didn't think about checking flags...
For other beginners: http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/download..._Flags.pdf

Derek W · 02-07-2015, 05:29 PM

(02-06-2015 04:57 PM)Thomas Radtke Wrote:
(02-06-2015 10:31 AM)Derek W Wrote: I think the hardware quality is very good, it's just a pity that the firmware bugs couldn't be ironed out, for contractual reasons that Tim W has described in earlier posts.
What were they? Do you have a link by chance?

I think it would have been in the earlier version of this forum but quite a time ago.

From memory, the 35s was developed by an external subcontractor to meet an HP specification, which, despite the bugs, it did - maybe the spec was insufficiently detailed? The subcontractor therefore would not do further work on it, but the intellectual property stayed with them not HP, so HP couldn't (and can't) update it. No updates or bug fixes have ever been issued.

Something of a contrast to the WP34 & WP31 teams, whose response speed in bug fixes has been amazing.

Thomas Radtke · 02-07-2015, 05:42 PM

I know it was outsourced Derek, just like the 33s which has been debugged to some degree (even the LCD was changed). Actually the 33s still contained bugs that later appeared in the 35s also (lock up in loops with flag 10 under some condition), so we can safely assume they share the same codebase. Why the 33s could be modified and the 35s won't is beyond me.

Dwight Sturrock · 02-07-2015, 05:49 PM

About a year ago I wrote a HP35 emulator in C++. It is a console program for Windoze that mimics the functionality of the 35. It took me about a month in my spare time. In the last year I have been only been able to find 2 bugs.

Hard to believe people were PAID to produce the HP35S were so careless and unprofessional.

Tugdual · 02-07-2015, 08:05 PM

(02-07-2015 05:49 PM)Dwight Sturrock Wrote: About a year ago I wrote a HP35 emulator in C++. It is a console program for Windoze that mimics the functionality of the 35. It took me about a month in my spare time. In the last year I have been only been able to find 2 bugs.

Hard to believe people were PAID to produce the HP35S were so careless and unprofessional.

There was all this trend to rush offshore developments. How much would you care for $20/month? IT people are costs, the most hated people on earth...

John Galt · 02-08-2015, 03:49 AM

(02-07-2015 01:05 PM)Tugdual Wrote: I haven't been able to figure out how to enter text in a program.

For an example of its use in a game that I wrote, and that you might enjoy: http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-2375.html

The game sets flag 10 upon entry. Edit the program's exit routines to reset it to your preference.

MarkHaysHarris777 · (This post was last modified: 02-08-2015 07:51 PM by MarkHaysHarris777.)

(02-07-2015 08:05 PM)Tugdual Wrote:
(02-07-2015 05:49 PM)Dwight Sturrock Wrote: Hard to believe people were PAID to produce the HP35S were so careless and unprofessional.
There was all this trend to rush offshore developments. How much would you care for $20/month? IT people are costs, the most hated people on earth...

I got side-tracked with my flash-box, but I'm still working on my 35s review (for amazon, and this site) and I must say in advance (some y'all already know) I love that little machine and I plan to run the wheels off of it. Its solid, it looks great, it feels great, its display is fabulous, and once I'm aware of the non-bug list (quirks really) it has NO problems-- none. ... I'm using that brilliant little box to cross-check the WP34s as I'm learning how to make use of (its) zillion function library!

This is what I put in my letter to (HP) essentially: produce another generic 35s (same box, keyboard, and display) but use the hardware of the 30b (arm proc, 'n so forth)... make it flash-able (repurpose-able) and provide the appropriate schematics and sdk yadda yadda... in other words, produce a flexible community friendly product that will meet the needs of general users, but will be able to supply the sophisticated community of the 34s for years to come. There is a market for it, and there is sufficient demand in that market to make the prospect feasible.

Cheers
marcus

Thomas Radtke · 02-09-2015, 06:44 AM

(02-08-2015 03:59 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote: [...] but use the hardware of the 30b [...]

If I'm not mistaken, this platform (SoC) is going to be replaced. Hopefully there will be an easy way to attach a two-line dot matrix LCD.

walter b · 02-09-2015, 10:30 AM

(02-09-2015 06:44 AM)Thomas Radtke Wrote:
(02-08-2015 03:59 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote: [...] but use the hardware of the 30b [...]
If I'm not mistaken, this platform (SoC) is going to be replaced. Hopefully there will be an easy way to attach a two-line dot matrix LCD.

Why being so conservative?

d:-?

Thomas Radtke · 02-09-2015, 11:31 AM

My eyes aren't good enough for pixels as tiny as to allow the LCD having more than two lines and still leave space for some keys. If it weren't for small pockets, I'd be in for the battleship-class.

MarkHaysHarris777 · 02-09-2015, 08:49 PM

(02-09-2015 06:44 AM)Thomas Radtke Wrote:
(02-08-2015 03:59 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote: [...] but use the hardware of the 30b [...]
If I'm not mistaken, this platform (SoC) is going to be replaced. Hopefully there will be an easy way to attach a two-line dot matrix LCD.

What is the future of the WP34s project?

What if the community could produce their own hardware, as well as their own software? Chose our own display (stack levels, graphs), chose our own Arm, chose our own memory limits, 3D print the keyboards, I/O from the beginning is a given, micro sd cards, ... why not?

marcus

Massimo Gnerucci · 02-09-2015, 09:03 PM

(02-09-2015 08:49 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote:
(02-09-2015 06:44 AM)Thomas Radtke Wrote: If I'm not mistaken, this platform (SoC) is going to be replaced. Hopefully there will be an easy way to attach a two-line dot matrix LCD.

What is the future of the WP34s project?

What if the community could produce their own hardware, as well as their own software? Chose our own display (stack levels, graphs), chose our own Arm, chose our own memory limits, 3D print the keyboards, I/O from the beginning is a given, micro sd cards, ... why not?

marcus

Exactly, why not?
Time to start studying the 43S...

MarkHaysHarris777 · 02-09-2015, 09:33 PM

(02-09-2015 09:03 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:
(02-09-2015 08:49 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote: What is the future of the WP34s project?

What if the community could produce their own hardware, as well as their own software? Chose our own display (stack levels, graphs), chose our own Arm, chose our own memory limits, 3D print the keyboards, I/O from the beginning is a given, micro sd cards, ... why not?

marcus

Exactly, why not?
Time to start studying the 43S...

You're right. I have a couple of ideas... I'll post them on the 43s status page... looks like its up to 15 pages (might need a separate board category).

marcus

Thomas Radtke · 02-10-2015, 06:13 AM

(02-09-2015 08:49 PM)MarkHaysHarris777 Wrote: What if the community could produce their own hardware, as well as their own software?

Have a look at those swiss guys and their DM-15CC. With improved keyboard contacts and some other minor quality improvements, I'd be quite satisfied with this kind of hardware.

Tugdual · 02-10-2015, 02:11 PM

(02-10-2015 06:13 AM)Thomas Radtke Wrote: Have a look at those swiss guys and their DM-15CC. With improved keyboard contacts and some other minor quality improvements, I'd be quite satisfied with this kind of hardware.

Bumpy plastic keyboard doesn't look attractive.

When people can give time, we achieve projects such as the WP34s. Superior software makes it a fantastic calculator except for the ugly keyboard with stickers, the average screen and the cheap case (this is just my opinion and reason why I purchased a much simpler 35s for everyday use). How can we move ahead from there? We need a superior hardware on top of the superior software but for that we need money, not just time.

There are two ways to approach that:
- Hp finally decides to innovate and go for a new concept that would be superior hardware (Prime is definitely a superior hardware) and open source software.
- the community acquires funding and develop its own hardware

I never quite understood if the 43s project owners had envisaged to go for crowd funding but for now my concern is that we may end up with a very DM15C like hardware. I don't want a concept, I want a full featured calculator!

John Galt · 02-10-2015, 02:54 PM

(02-10-2015 02:11 PM)Tugdual Wrote: I never quite understood if the 43s project owners had envisaged to go for crowd funding but for now my concern is that we may end up with a very DM15C like hardware. I don't want a concept, I want a full featured calculator!

I don't profess to know anything about the WP 43S or those involved with its creation, but from all indications I think they would would be satisfied with nothing less.

The WP 34S is the only proof I have of their uncompromising dedication to quality and attention to detail. It's nothing short of amazing and eclipses HP's finest efforts, but there is no question the hardware's limits have been reached. If I read their intentions correctly, it's that limitation they're trying to overcome by designing their own, something HP has been either unwilling or unable to do for reasons I do not understand.

When using the WP 34S the obvious question that comes to mind is "why can't HP do this" - a question for which I can only speculate the answer is "marketing". I don't want a cheap disposable calculator. There are already plenty of them around. I want an HP!