NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16

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Text File | 1992-07-23 | 11.9 KB | 414 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops Path: sparky!uunet!darwin.sura.net!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!The-Star.honeywell.com!umn.edu!unet.umn.edu!fin From: fin@unet.umn.edu (Craig A. Finseth) Subject: Re: Draft 0.1 of HP 95LX FAQ... Message-ID: <1992Jul23.162548.22449@news2.cis.umn.edu> Sender: news@news2.cis.umn.edu (Usenet News Administration) Nntp-Posting-Host: norge.unet.umn.edu Organization: University of Minnesota, Networking Services. References: <1992Jul23.041350.13386@unixg.ubc.ca> Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 16:25:48 GMT Lines: 401 In article <1992Jul23.041350.13386@unixg.ubc.ca>, george@unixg.ubc.ca (George chow) writes: |> Draft 0.1 of comp.sys.palmtops's unofficial HP-95LX FAQ list: ... Here is my HP95LX entry from the HPDATAbase. You will probably find much of interest. Note that the entry keeps growing over time. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> hp95 ============================================================ Model: 95LX General: Name: Lotus Expandable Palmtop Portable Code-Name: Jaguar Information Management Calculator Personal Information Computer Family: - Logic: - Features: 8086-compatible, MS/DOS, IBMPC, 19BII Firsts: palmtop; second Lotus, painted key legends Introduction: Date: 1991-4-23 Price: $699 ($695?) Discontinuation: Date: in production Price: $599 as of Mar 1992 Production-Run: 400,000 as of March 1992 Display: Type: LCD bitmap Size: 16 lines x 40 chars, 128 x 240 pixels Number-Formats: - Annunciators: ^ shift arrow, lower right of main display Data: User-Visible: Smallest: - Largest: - Signif.-Digits: - Internal: Smallest: - Largest: - Signif.-Digits: - Data-Types-and-Sizes: byte Memory: Named-Registers: - Flags: - Register-Usage: - Numbered-Registers: - Program-Steps: - Program-Editing: - Program-Display: - User-RAM-Bytes: 512K Total-RAM-Bytes: 512K ROM-Bytes: 1M Machine-State: memory File-Types: MSDOS Physical: Technology-Used: CMOS? Processor: NEC V20H 5.37 MHz Chip-Count: 5 (CPU, 2 ROM, 1 RAM, Hopper) Power-Source: 2 AA cells, 1 CR2032, DC in Continuous-Memory: yes Expansion-Ports: 1 PCMCIA 1.0 / JEIDA 4.0 slot (sofware and bus addressing support two cards, but there is only one connector; software supports cards up to 2 MegaBytes) I/O-Ports: 1 4-pin serial, I/R Clock: yes, auto power off Length: open 16 cm closed 8.64 cm Width: 16 cm Height: open 16 cm closed 2.54 cm Weight: 312 g Temperature-Range: Operating: 0 to 45 deg C Charging: - Storage: -20 to 60 deg C Data-Retention: 0 to 45 deg C Keyboard: Switches: none Shift-Keys: ^, yellow, above CTRL, ALT, and CHAR are also shift keys User-Defined-Keys: CHAR-F1 to CHAR-F10 Key-Arrangement:: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ********** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Key-Labels-Base-Keyboard:: ESC >| F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 ^ ON FILER COMM APPT PHONE MEMO LOTUS HPCALC ( ) <- DEL < v > Q W E R T Y U I O P 7 8 9 / A S D F G H J K L 4 5 6 * CTRL Z X C V B N M ENTER 1 2 3 - ^ ALT CHAR SPACE , @ MENU ^ 0 . = + Key-Labels-^-yellow-above:: PRTSC |< PGUP SETUP ` ~ ! # $ & | \ INS HOME PGDN END [ ] { } ; : ' " < > ? ^ CAPS SCRL _ % Programmable-Operations:: none Non-Programmable-Operations:: Self-test: Close all applications and turn machine off. Turn it on with ESC + ON. From the topcard (all applications closed), do Alt-LOTUS twice. This shows all of the people who worked on the 95LX. Early versions only. Menus:: none Bugs/ROM-Versions:: There appear to have been four versions so far. You can find out which version by looking at C:*.WK1. Dates are: 3-20-91 4-1-91 1.01A? 6-5-91 1.02A? 9-24-91 1.03A These have been fixed in the 1.03A ROMs: - Copy /v bug (trashes target). - The FILER only turns serial port power when Remote or System are invoked. - The default timeout was changed from 5 to 3 minutes. - Saving large APPT or PHONE files is now faster. - The time to search for non-existant appointments is shorter. Still unfixed bugs: - Putting a leading double tab in a phone book entry will case loss of data. - There is some sort of bug in the MEMO application. Edit a moderate sized file, say 40K. Several times (>3), cut text from the file and change to another file via the <menu> <file> <open> and so on keystrokes in order to paste. Save the original file before changing to the other file each time. After 4 or 5 cuts, you will be unable to save the original file. The application will report an out of disk space error. Trying to save to another name will cause the same thing to happen. - There is a bug in the APPT application. If the default lead time is set for a value greater than 5 minutes and the user sets the lead time for a specific alarm for exactly 5 minutes, the alarm for that specific appointment will be ignored. The Fixup Bug: There is a field called "relocation entries" in the header of .EXE and .EXM files. This field is a count of the number of places in the code area that have to be relocated (or "fixed up") when the program is loaded. (There is also a table of the locations.) There is a bug in the 95's ROM (all versions), such that it will on occasion use the wrong count. This occasion is: - the current program (i.e., the one that is being loaded) has a non-zero count, AND - the current program's count is less than the previous program's count (previous = the one you are switching from). Stated another way, the loader uses the larger of the current and previous counts, but only if the current count is non-zero. Of course, if the wrong count is used, the loader will try to relocate places that shouldn't be. Depending on the values found in the table, the wrong values may or may not cause problems, but in any event can point anywhere in memory. There is no known fix for the problem. The workaround is to write programs that have zero fixups. Note that .COM files have no header, and hence always have zero fixups. ------ The machine is manufactured in two versions, US and international. The US version is designated by a serial number that starts with ABA. Both versions have a hidden _SYS directory. - The US version has a number of extra files, including a copy of DEBUG and a Hearts and Bones game. - The international version has the menus in a second language. - There are 11 international versions made (possibly 10 + English). A serial number prefix indicates the version: ABA US English ABB Euro-English ABD German ABE Spanish ABF French ABZ Italian + 4-5 more Notes:: Other key labels: For Lotus: HELP EDIT NAME ABS GOTO F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 WINDOW QUERY TABLE CALC GRAPH F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 No shift required to get off: OFF ON Ctrl-shifted: BREAK <- Used by HP CALC, labelled below: L +/- Z X C V B N M \v/x 1/x x<>y Rv LAST STO RCL Used where MENU key is not operative, labelled below: MENU / This is the first calculator product to use painted key legends in lieu of double injection molding. The reason, of course, is that this device was produced in multiple keyboard layouts for international markets. International versions have messages in both English and one other language. The US version has messages in English only: the extra memory space contains an undocumented game and DEBUG. This is the second HP product to include Lotus (the Portable was the first). The calculator is based on the 19BII. Here is a summary of the differences betweeen the 19BII and the HP calculator application in the 95LX. The question is: "is the calculator a *real* 19BII?" The answer is "yes, mostly." Simple differences in the menu organization, and obvious physical differences (keyboard, display, etc.) will not be mentioned. (However, the algebraic mode uses precedence while the 19BII does not.) This list concetrates on functionality. 19BII menu 95LX notes DISP FIX ALL Menu Options Format, adds Sci and Eng . , SETUP application MODES D/R Menu Options BEEP SETUP application PRNTR SETUP application, only serial printers are supported INTL SETUP application DEMO --not available-- ALG RPN Menu Options PRINTER DISPL Menu Print Stack LIST 1-2-3 application REGS Menu Print Data, Menu Print Registers TIME --not available-- DBL --not available-- TRACE --not available-- MATH SINH COSH TANH --not available-- ASINH ACOSH ATANH --not available-- FIN TVM AMRT TABLE through 1-2-3 application CFLO 1-2-3 application BOND 1-2-3 application DEPRC 1-2-3 application BUS CURRX different implementation UNITS different implementation, missing temperature units SUM 1 unnamed list, otherwise through 1-2-3 application TIME CALC --not available--[*] APPT APPT application ADJST SETUP application SET SETUP application SOLVE (again, you get 1 unnamed sum list, otherwise through 1-2-3 application) SINH COSH TANH --not available-- ASINH ACOSH ATANH --not available-- FLOW SIZEC #T --not available-- TEXT MEMO and PHONE applications [*] The TIME CALC functions can be written using the solver as: {0=DDAYS(DATE1,DATE2,if(s(DAYS),1,if(s(x360D),3,2)))-if(s(DAYS),DAYS, if(s(x360D),x360D,x365D))+0*TODAY*l(TODAY,CDATE)} Limits on use: (1) when solving for DATE1 or DATE2, the actual calendar is always used and (2) you have to solve for something once before TODAY is initialized. In conclusion, the material differences are: cash flows bond depreciation hyperbolics (yes, I wondered too: wondered, that is, why the -19B and 19BII had these in the first place...) The 1MB version uses code identical to the 512KB version. In fact, the only differences between the two are: - 512K: two, 512 KByte ROM chips and a 512 KByte RAM chip 1MB: one, 1MB ROM chip and two, 512 KByte RAM chips - the 1MB version has "1MB" printed on the bezel. What happened to the rest of the DOS commands? The following story appears likely: - HP looked at how much ROM space was available and made a list of what they wanted to include. - They took this list to Microsoft and licensed the code. - Now, when users say "what about the rest of DOS?" HP found that the rest wasn't included in the license. - So HP's and Microsoft's lawyers must get together and talk... The #1 customer like is its small size. Also, the #1 customer dislike is the small size. In the 95's hinge, there is a clutch on the right and the left hinge is just loose. This is good for cradle users, as you tend to push on the right hinge to free the 95 from the cradle. While getting production going on the cradles, a production engineer thought that the cradle was too narrow. It turns out that new 95s were 3/10000" (or maybe 3/1000") bigger that spec. Cradle was fixed. The cradle reduces the I/R range to 3-4 inches if using one cradle, 1 inch if using two cradles. Units that have been upgraded to 1MB have a "2" pressed into the case after the serial number. ============================================================ Model: 95LX1MB, differences from 95LX General: Introduction: Date: 1992-3-2 Price: $799 Discontinuation: Date: in production Price: ? Production-Run: ? Memory: User-RAM-Bytes: 1024K Craig A. Finseth fin@unet.umn.edu [CAF13] Networking Services +1 612 624 3375 desk Computer and Information Services +1 612 625 0006 problems University of Minnesota +1 612 626 1002 fax 130 Lind Hall, 207 Church St SE Minneapolis MN 55455-0134, USA