Cannot Update Emulator's Firmware and Connectivity Kit

[smtwmim]

I installed the latest version of the Prime emulator on my Windows 10 machine (HP_Prime_Virtual_Calculator_2016_12_08.exe, downloaded from HP's FTP site), but when I go to Calculator -> Check for update, I receive the following message:

"Could not connect to the update server (http://ftp.hp.com). Please check your Internet connection. Click the Check Online button below to manually check for an update in a web browser."

When I click "Check Online", I'm taken to the FTP site, where I see the file Prime/HP_Prime_Calculator_Firmware_20170710.zip, which indicates there is a firmware update available. I downloaded the zip file but I'm not sure how to actually update the emulator's firmware manually using the zip file. The About section shows "Build: 2016 12 8. Rev:11226".

I also installed the latest version of the Connectivity Kit (HP_Prime_Connectivity_Kit_20161208.exe, downloaded from HP's FTP site), and went to Help -> Check for update. The updated firmware was apparently downloaded to my machine. I then went to Help -> Update Calculator, and clicked "Update". However, the "Update" button just grayed out and nothing seemed to happen. Further attempts to "Check for update" show "No updates are available", and further attempts to "Update Calculator" behave as mentioned above. The About section shows "Build: 2016 12 8. Rev:11226".

Any assistance on updating the emulator's firmware and connectivity kit would be greatly appreciated.

[Tim Wessman]

Hello,

The emulator is really a native build of the calculator application and doesn't have a "firmware". Rather, you just install the new msi package. The firmware file is only for a hardware calculator. It just gets called an "emulator" out of historical practice mostly.

I'm guessing what is happening is your FTP connection is being terminated early? There is a 1-2 minute timeout from memory. Here is a direct http link to the emulator. Run that manually on download finish and you should be good.

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/calculators/Prime/..._12_08.exe

[smtwmim]

Thanks for the explanation. Just to clarify, the latest firmware dated 07/10/2017 is only available for the physical calculator, whereas the latest "firmware" available for the emulator is the one included in the exe file dated 12/08/2016? I suppose the emulator is therefore currently somewhat behind the physical calculator in functionality and/or bug fixes?

And you're correct, my FTP connection does seem to terminate instantly right after I check for update. Any ideas on what might be causing this?

[Tim Wessman]

Correct. Basically the apps/software was a bit later then the hardware calc, but there were something like 2-3 very minor corrections in actual calculator code between them. All the other changes were around application ui stuff (android,ios, etc) but the "Core" as we call it was basically identical.

If it terminated immediately, I'm not sure at all. The longer timeout is due to something they did on the HP ftp server. However, we've now moved away from using FTP with the new connkit/emulator update mechanism and it uses HTTP and haven't seen any issues with it "stopping". Maybe a firewall thing?

[brickviking]

Me too, it would seem. I have 32-bit Vista, I'd downloaded 20161208, installed it, and decided to try upgrading the firmware, but I found the same problems as the OP. Clicking on "Check for updates" in the emulator gave me immediate "Can't connect ....", presumably because of ftp issues. Firing up CK at least got me latest firmware, for all the good that was going to do. In addition, I noted that my Virtual Prime didn't turn up in the "Calculators" window in the Update window. I had a feeling this could have been part of the issue, as I don't have a physical Prime. Hey, I've got a 50G, what do I need a Prime for?

So, if I wanted "whatever's in the latest firmware" installed in my 20161208 emulator, I'm out of luck?

(Post 70)

[smtwmim]

@Tim:

Thanks for your clarifications and assistance. I tried different things over the past two weeks to pinpoint the update issue, to no avail. I do have a firewall installed, but I've allowed the emulator full access to the network. I tried blocking the emulator through the firewall, and when I then checked for an update, it did take a minute or so to time out, so it seems this is a problem that arises after the update mechanism has gained access to the network, not because it's being blocked. I also tried installing the emulator on a Windows 10 virtual machine with no firewall installed, and the same problem occurred (instant "could not connect..." message). Since another user has since reported a similar issue, it might be worth looking further into this. Perhaps you can check for an update as well to see whether you can replicate this on your end.

On an unrelated note, I think I might have encountered a bug in the emulator. When I click on the Toolbox button, and then select the App menu, whenever I click on "Trig Explorer" or "Data Streamer" I get a yellow exclamation mark.

@brickviking:

As Tim clarified, there is no "firmware" in the emulator, so as long as you download the latest exe file available from HP's FTP site and install it on your computer, you have the latest "firmware". As of today, the latest version available is the 20161208 version, which is the one you have, so you're all set. The update issue will only be relevant when HP posts a new exe file on the FTP site in the future. If the update mechanism has connectivity issues, it might not detect the new exe file, so we would have to visit the FTP site periodically to check whether a new exe file is available for download.

In order to see the emulator in the Connectivity Kit, you have to run both the emulator and the Connectivity Kit simultaneously, and enable networking in both. To do this, go to Edit -> Preferences, and check "Enable Network" (do this for both the emulator and the Connectivity Kit). Note that you won't see any option to update the "firmware" of the emulator in the Connectivity Kit, because there is no "firmware" in the emulator, as explained above.

[smtwmim]

Just wanted to let you all know that today I tried to update the emulator and received a message that no updates are available, so it looks like the issue was on the server side and it was finally fixed.

Tim, in case this is relevant to you, I believe there is a bug in the latest Windows version of the emulator (20161208), as I mentioned in my last post. When I click on the Toolbox button, and then select the App menu, whenever I click on "Trig Explorer" or "Data Streamer" I get a yellow exclamation mark.

[Tim Wessman]

Hello,

Not a bug, rather just a bad UI there. There are no application functions for those applications and hence nothing to open/do. It is much more clear currently as they now appear greyed out with no > indicating a sub menu by default. Of course if you add in some functions in the app program file they then do appear as expected since there are now some app functions.

[smtwmim]

Got it, thanks!