HP-41 Question about transferring ROMs from HP-IL tape to NoV-64

[Mark Power]

I've just got a NoV-64 from Diego Diaz, which is a fabulous bit of kit and I wonder if anyone has solved this problem regarding loading old MLDL-OS format ROM images from HP-IL tape:

Back in the 1980s I used an ERAMCO RSU with ERAMCO MLDL software. All the ROMs I wrote were transferred to/from tape using the SAVEROM/GETROM functions in the MLDL-OS software. This format appears to be incompatible with the HEPAX READROM/WRTROM functions.

I've managed to load the original MLDL-OS software into NoV-64 from a bootstrap file I saved back in 1986 using just the ZENROM. This saved the MLDL-OS ROM to tape as a 820 register data file and I reloaded manually it using the sequence:

SIZE 205
0 "MLDL-OS" SEEKR
0.204 READRX
MCED GET hex133 dec205 ADR B000
READRX
MCED GET hex133 dec205 ADR B400
READRX
MCED GET hex133 dec205 ADR B800
READRX
MCED GET hex133 dec205 ADR BC00

So now page B of my NoV-64 contains the MLDL-OS with SAVEROM and GETROM functions. However when I execute GETROM to load one of my many other ROM images, which are 640 register data files, the tape appears to go through the motions of loading the ROM image, but when I look in the relevant memory page it is empty, apart from some junk value in the first byte of the page.

That the ZENROM and HEPAX modules use the m-code WROM instruction to write to ROM, ERAMCO RSU, MLDL, etc. and this is supported by NoV-64 suggests that MLDL-OS also should work.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I really don't want to manually enter 12KB of hexadecimal by hand. I'd debug the code in GETROM, but the first ROM I want to load from tape is my m-code Debugger :-\

[Ángel Martin]

You're right the NoV64 should support the Eramco code as well. Is there any way to test the ROM image files on tape? Maybe they are in bad shape and that's the reason the download fails, not the GETROM code running on the Nov64.

I'm thinking you can do the test with the PilBox and EMU41 - with the real tape also connected on the loop. I'm sketchy on the details but that should be a way to tell if the tape files are ok.

AM

[Diego Diaz]

Hi Mark,

Have you tried to plug any ROM pac (say into port 4) then SAVEROM it to tape, remove the module and GETROM it back from tape to RAM?

This will test if the HW is working as expected.

I've got not the set up to test this myself currently.

Please share the results.

Best wishes.

Diego.

[Mark Power]

Solved it! Rather than load the MLDL-OS from my tape I realised it is already in the Clonix directory under the name ESMLOS7B.ROM. I loaded this one direct into NoV-64 and GETROM works fine - so there was something corrupt with the one I had on tape (maybe I never used it from tape in the 1980s because I had it in a real ROM).

All my other ROMs on the tape seem to load perfectly, so I'll start converting them to ".ROM" format and transferring them to my Mac to preserve them should the tape fail, tidy up the handwritten notes (I couldn't afford a printer for the HP41 which was my only computer at the time) and publish them.

Maybe of most interest to Geoff Q will be my alternative LAT/LONG input routine I wrote for Colin Crowther to make sure that he got entry of the positive and negative values the correct way around for entry into the Nav Pac whilst flying 747s. (Did anyone ever wonder what happened in Datafile V9N3P13? Colin ghost wrote the article but only the first page got published).

The retro m-coders might like my m-code debugger, but that does require a bit of work to get the notes typed up. Unless I can find the floppy disk containing my degree dissertation, find something capable of reading the disk and figure out a way to get the ancient word processing file into a format we can all read! IIRC original IBM PC (pre-Windows) running perhaps original Word or Word Perfect. Maybe OCR of the one and only dot matrix printout of the notes.

Digital archaeology makes you realise how things have moved on and how we need to be careful about keeping archived material in a format that can be read as tech generations move on.

[Ángel Martin]

Good news then, I look forward to the unearthed jewels you'd find...

[Mark Power]

Some of questions:

1) In NoV-64 Block 2 Page F looks like it contains the ROM I've dumped, but when I put it into the PIC programmer and load it with microbrn.exe the block at the end lists the ROMs I have loaded in Block 1, but Block 2 is empty. Is that correct or should I see something relating to my ROM?

2) The .HEX dump is 180K - does that sound correct?

3) Trying to run the HEX to ROM function as per the Clonix manual:

Run "RAM2ROM4.exe" and enter the filename you choose in the step before. This will extract your ROM image from the .HEX file and builds a .ROM file which you will more likely want to share with the rest of the world.

But when I run RAM2ROM4.EXE from Windows Explorer it just exits without doing anything. Run from the command prompt it just says "Bad Command or filename". Any suggestions?

It's all tantalisingly close!

[Dave Frederickson]

(04-18-2016 06:43 PM)Mark Power Wrote:  Some of questions:

1) In NoV-64 Block 2 Page F looks like it contains the ROM I've dumped, but when I put it into the PIC programmer and load it with microbrn.exe the block at the end lists the ROMs I have loaded in Block 1, but Block 2 is empty. Is that correct or should I see something relating to my ROM?

2) The .HEX dump is 180K - does that sound correct?

3) Trying to run the HEX to ROM function as per the Clonix manual:

Run "RAM2ROM4.exe" and enter the filename you choose in the step before. This will extract your ROM image from the .HEX file and builds a .ROM file which you will more likely want to share with the rest of the world.

But when I run RAM2ROM4.EXE from Windows Explorer it just exits without doing anything. Run from the command prompt it just says "Bad Command or filename". Any suggestions?

It's all tantalisingly close!

RAM2ROM4 is a 16-bit application which is unsupported in Win7-64 but ran fine in DOSBox. "Bad Command or Filename" sounds like you're typing the name wrong or it's not in the current directory.

Dave

[Diego Diaz]

Hi Mark,

1) Yes, this is correct, the files you dumped from RAM does not show up in the configuration data recorded at the end (EEROM memory) of the module. This area shows only the .ROM files configured using the USB programmer.

2) Also correct, this .HEX file size is according to the range used by NoV-64 contents. Of course, the size depends on how many .ROM images you have in the module's memory; 181K is typical size for NoV-64 with seven images on Flash (this includes the one dumped from RAM).

3) RAM2ROM4.EXE should work both from Windows or from DOS command prompt (it does not run on Win 10, 64 bits); assumed you are in the working directory and the .HEX file is also placed in the same directory.

Are you running a VM under Mac? If so, have you tried other DOS .exe files? Do you have access to a real Win/DOS box to check this out?

Share the details.

Best from Spain.

Diego.

[Mark Power]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm running Windows7 64 bit under Virtual Box on a Mac. So that's perhaps the problem. I'll try DOSBox or hunt for a non-64 bit PC.

[Diego Diaz]

Hi again Mark,

Don't bother yourself with even more virtualizations, 32 bits, Windows boxes, etc.

Since I have to recomplile the RAM2ROM4.exe tool in order to face the many 64bit Windows out there I'll send you a new (RAM2ROMZ.exe) so you can test in your current setup.

Check your mail. ;-)

Diego.

[Mark Power]

Success! Thanks Diego.

One thing I had to do though to get it to work was to set the PATH.

Oddly I checked the version of Windows I have and it is 32bit (but running on a 64bit Mac). RAM2ROM4 still doesn't work though - even with the PATH set. Something odd with my setup then I suspect.

Just need to check re-loading the ROM file to make sure it has done the full round-trip correctly.

[Mark Power]

One more question, which has probably been answered before but I can't find the answer to: is there a utility to convert a .ROM to a .MOD?

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(04-19-2016 09:07 PM)Mark Power Wrote:  One more question, which has probably been answered before but I can't find the answer to: is there a utility to convert a .ROM to a .MOD?

MODMakeWin.zip by Warren Furlow at TOS

[Ángel Martin]

(04-19-2016 09:07 PM)Mark Power Wrote:  One more question, which has probably been answered before but I can't find the answer to: is there a utility to convert a .ROM to a .MOD?

I use the MLDL2k Manager software for all my MOD needs. It's very flexible in the options and settings - even lets you prepare bank-switched modules. Despite its name it does not require the MLDL2k.

http://hp41.kuiprs.nl/m2km_user_manual_v1.70.pdf

[Mark Power]

For your inspection and comment, the tweaked version of my MCODE Debugger is now available.