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berserkerbernhard · 12-12-2017, 06:40 PM

Greetings programs.

I'm considering buying a Prime, but I'm curious/concerned about the Prime's capability to connect to the outside world. As far as I can tell, the Prime only has a USB port.

Would it be possible to use a Raspberry Pi or an arduino to create some sort of interface?

Has HP or anyone else made an interface?

I was somewhat sorry to learn that wifi was not possible.

Any thoughts about connectivity?

Kind regards
Bernhard from Denmark.

zeno333 · 12-12-2017, 07:15 PM

(12-12-2017 06:40 PM)berserkerbernhard Wrote: Greetings programs.

I'm considering buying a Prime, but I'm curious/concerned about the Prime's capability to connect to the outside world. As far as I can tell, the Prime only has a USB port.

Would it be possible to use a Raspberry Pi or an arduino to create some sort of interface?

Has HP or anyone else made an interface?

I was somewhat sorry to learn that wifi was not possible.

Any thoughts about connectivity?

Kind regards
Bernhard from Denmark.

The Connectivity kit software connects a computer to the Prime via the USB port...

berserkerbernhard · 12-12-2017, 07:20 PM

I'm thinking about connecting the Prime to sensors through some sort of adaptor/converter. But I think requires the Prime to be USB master.

/Bernhard

salvomic · 12-12-2017, 08:07 PM

(12-12-2017 06:40 PM)berserkerbernhard Wrote: I was somewhat sorry to learn that wifi was not possible.

It is not true that wifi is not possible, because it exists a wifi dongle: see here.
The problem is that it isn't sold as singular item, only in a set, so it costs too much and a person cannot buy the whole set to use only one item...

I would like to be one dongle, but still I haven't found one seller that sell it separately...

webmasterpdx · 12-13-2017, 01:48 AM

If you knew the wifi chipset used in the dongle then any wifi dongle with that chipset would most likely work. However, you'd have to use the USB interface as defined (it is out there....look at the prime wiki to get the link).....but the prime can only do limited things with wifi.....but I think it would take too much reverse engineering to figure it out.

That being said, you could interface a program from a laptop to the prime and interface a pi or arduino to the laptop and relay the info that way, or alternatively, use the pi as a usb master and do it that way. A lot of work. I'm sure if someone were to do it, others would take advantage of it.

It always amazes me that companies don't design their products to do this, as a calculator is the perfect engine to play with sensor data.....

my 2cents worth.

Tim Wessman · 12-13-2017, 02:08 AM

It is not a wifi dongle. It is the same chip used in wireless mice that have little usb dongles you connect. Bandwidth is very limited, but setup is basically non-existent as there are not any pairing activitiy, passwords, etc.

Frido Bohn · 12-15-2017, 09:33 AM

(12-12-2017 06:40 PM)berserkerbernhard Wrote: [...]
As far as I can tell, the Prime only has a USB port.
Would it be possible to use a Raspberry Pi or an arduino to create some sort of interface?
Has HP or anyone else made an interface?

I am wondering that nobody mentioned StreamSmart 410, so I will do. With the aid of this interface HP offers many sensors and cables. However, this stuff is bound for the educational market and results to be pretty costly. There may be workarounds to re-create the interface and its probes with DIY projects...

webmasterpdx · 12-15-2017, 12:15 PM

I've never seen anything for sale anywhere for streamsmart.
It also seems to be a closed system.
BTW, they claim the dongles are WIFI....so Tim, if it's not wifi, what kind of RF protocols and frequencies are they using? You mentioned wireless mouse....any specific model? I'm curious what kind of RF they are using....Thx

larthurl · 12-15-2017, 03:34 PM

(12-13-2017 01:48 AM)webmasterpdx Wrote: (it is out there....look at the prime wiki to get the link).....
my 2cents worth.

link to Prime Wiki please?

.....Art

webmasterpdx · 12-16-2017, 01:10 AM

http://www.wiki4hp.com/doku.php?id=prime:start

toml_12953 · 12-16-2017, 03:15 AM

(12-12-2017 07:20 PM)berserkerbernhard Wrote: I'm thinking about connecting the Prime to sensors through some sort of adaptor/converter. But I think requires the Prime to be USB master.

/Bernhard

I have a StreamSmart 410 hooked to my Prime. I can measure distance, temperature, pressure, and other variables. Almost all Fourier probes can be connected. Up to four sensors can be connected at a time.

StreamSmart 410

Joe Horn · (This post was last modified: 12-17-2017 05:29 AM by Joe Horn.)

(12-16-2017 03:15 AM)toml_12953 Wrote: I have a StreamSmart 410 hooked to my Prime. I can measure distance, temperature, pressure, and other variables. Almost all Fourier probes can be connected. Up to four sensors can be connected at a time.

StreamSmart 410

That link gives me the heebie-jeebies, because all the photos are of the StreamSmart 400 (with the old HP 50g style serial connector, not a USB plug) which is incompatible with the HP Prime. But they claim it's a StreamSmart 410. Are they using obsolete photos (which is bad), or are they in fact selling the obsolete StreamSmart 400 (which is worse)? Sad

Giancarlo · 12-17-2017, 01:40 PM

Hello,
Interesting thread. Being a student tool it would be interesting to understand if for
Students connectivity is a real plus or not.
I remember Ti created the innovator, i may be wrong but i don’t a lot of interest on it.

Am i wrong? Does the connectivity would increase selling for the Prime or just a bunch of enthusiasts?

Thanks

Giancarlo

salvomic · 12-17-2017, 01:43 PM

(12-17-2017 01:40 PM)Giancarlo Wrote: ...
Am i wrong? Does the connectivity would increase selling for the Prime or just a bunch of enthusiasts?

Giancarlo

I don't know, but I do hope to have a simple tool to connect Prime wifi, like the Android or iOS do. Maybe I'm only part of the bunch of enthusiasts, however...

toml_12953 · 12-18-2017, 03:56 AM

(12-17-2017 05:28 AM)Joe Horn Wrote:
(12-16-2017 03:15 AM)toml_12953 Wrote: I have a StreamSmart 410 hooked to my Prime. I can measure distance, temperature, pressure, and other variables. Almost all Fourier probes can be connected. Up to four sensors can be connected at a time.

StreamSmart 410

That link gives me the heebie-jeebies, because all the photos are of the StreamSmart 400 (with the old HP 50g style serial connector, not a USB plug) which is incompatible with the HP Prime. But they claim it's a StreamSmart 410. Are they using obsolete photos (which is bad), or are they in fact selling the obsolete StreamSmart 400 (which is worse)?

They're old photos. Except for the number printed on it, the 400 and 410 look identical. Maybe they just didn't want to spend the money on a reshoot. Or maybe they didn't think people's eyesight was as good as it is! Smile

matthiaspaul · 12-18-2017, 03:50 PM

(12-12-2017 06:40 PM)berserkerbernhard Wrote: Any thoughts about connectivity?

Here's some more information about the protocol used:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-475...l#pid42556
http://ried.cl/en/franqueando-los-secret...a-inversa/

Greetings,

Matthias

Tim Wessman · 12-18-2017, 07:45 PM

There actually never were "new" pictures taken. Basically, since the only difference was to remove the attached old connector wire to the 39/40 and change the text, we decided to save a few thousand by not doing any fancy pictures and reworking all the stuff...

One of the primary reasons there isn't more general support is that the underlying OS on prime has very limited USB driver support. It doesn't implement specific driver classes and load things that way, but rather looks for specific identifiers exclusively. Basically, at a low level (which HP doesn't have any control of) it is hard coded for specific devices.