I don't like my HP49
Steve Smith
1. The keyboard (as reported elsewhere) is not very good. I don't see
how I can do anything about this.
2. Garbage collection (I think).
The calculator seems to do garbage collection quite frequently. Very
often I try to simply add two numbers and have to wait several seconds
for GC to be over before getting my answer. Is there anything that can
be done to improve this?
Thanks very much,
Steve Smith, who REALLY misses his 48GX
Steen Schmidt
> how I can do anything about this.
I got used to the keyboard on the '49 pretty quickly, and now have no
difficulty in using it. You may get used to it too? The layout is very
good - at least as good as the layout on the '48G series. The keys should
loosen up a bit over time, so if your '49 is brand new, the keys could get a
little better.
> 2. Garbage collection (I think).
> The calculator seems to do garbage collection quite frequently. Very
> often I try to simply add two numbers and have to wait several seconds
> for GC to be over before getting my answer. Is there anything that can
> be done to improve this?
You can update your ROM. I can't remember in which ROM the changes were
made, but the GC problem got smaller in the newer ROMs. Update to ROM
v1.19.6, which is very stable and safe even though it's a beta. It's more
stable than the official v1.18.
Regards
Steen
Walter Smits
> how I can do anything about this.
setting keytime to a lower value (with ->keytime, ie 300 or even 100) might
help quite a lot. As Steen already mentioned, it probably takes some time to
get used to it. I like it.
Best wishes,
Walter.
Steve Smith
100. My main problem with the keyboard is that it is quite stiff. After
six months of continuous use, I don't expect it to improve further.
I hope to try updating my rom today.
Thanks,
Steve
Stephen
lighter keyboards than my older HP49. As one of them had to be returned (it
wouldn't reliably turn on) I've looked at 3 current HP49's and there was a
surprising variation in keyboard feel and external finish.
Stephen N.
"Steve Smith" <ste...@kotamicro.com> wrote in message
news:3D2C6428...@kotamicro.com...
santosl...@cotse.net
> 2. Garbage collection (I think).
> The calculator seems to do garbage collection quite frequently. Very
> often I try to simply add two numbers and have to wait several
> seconds for GC to be over before getting my answer. Is there
> anything that can be done to improve this?
Turn the clock display off if you have it on! This gave me the biggest
bang for the buck but I had to compromise between having a clock
display or not!
> Steve Smith, who REALLY misses his 48GX
Your HP48SX misses you too! I understand, Steve.
Steve Smith
Steve
Steve Smith
I've successfully completed the upgrade to 19.6, and the apparent
garbage collection problem I've been having looks much improved. I won't
know for sure until I use it for a couple of weeks, as I don't have a
good way to benchmark the problem.
Thanks,
Steve Smith
Stephen
Garbage Collection pauses reappear. Clearing the stack then gets rid of any
noticable pause. It may not be the size of stack causing the re-appearance
of the pauses, it may be something else but since clearing the stack fixes
it I haven't looked further.
"Steve Smith" <ste...@kotamicro.com> wrote in message
news:3D2D9AE1...@kotamicro.com...
Veli-Pekka Nousiainen
VPN
"Stephen" <ssnash#nospam#@bigpond.com.au> wrote in message
news:10264377...@pluto.global.net.au...
John H Meyers
> The calculator seems to do garbage collection quite frequently.
> Very often I try to simply add two numbers
> and have to wait several seconds
> Is there anything that can be done to improve this?
Actually the GCs will be much less noticeable (shorter, that is)
if they are caused to occur *more* frequently, akin to how
each cleanup of a household is quite a bit less of a task
if it is performed more often, rather than waiting
until there's a huge amount of reorganizing to do,
which could then keep you busy for an entire weekend,
instead of just a quick tidy-up before going partying.
To cause GC's to be more frequent but much shorter,
choose a smaller amount of memory to leave free in the calc,
e.g. 30000 FMEM -- now the calc behaves like a good old HP48G (32K),
which never kept anybody waiting very long :)
Whenever you want your free memory expanded again,
to store or download more or bigger stuff,
1E7 FMEM will expand it to its maximum
(i.e. all the free mem that's left).
Of course you can keep re-using FMEM to adjust the free memory
upwards or downwards, whenever you want, up to a maximum of all
the user memory (for variables + port 0) that's available.
You can also use it to find out how much free memory is needed
to run various applications, by lowering free memory until
the application complains of Insufficient Memory.
The input to FMEM is how much memory you want to leave free;
the output is how much memory is actually left free.
FMEM for HP49:
(do HOME 256 ATTACH before downloading or typing the program,
because MAKESTR needs built-in library 256 to compile properly)
\<< :0:GCJUNK DUP PURGE MEM ROT -
IF DUP 0. > THEN MAKESTR SWAP STO
ELSE DROP2 END MEM \>>
FMEM for HP48 (try it if you've got 128K or merged 256K):
\<< :0:GCJUNK DUP PURGE MEM ROT -
IF DUP 0. > THEN "" SWAP 2. *
:COERCE: #18CEAh SYSEVAL :EXPAND: #61C1Ch SYSEVAL
SWAP STO ELSE DROP2 END MEM \>>
The standard precaution applies:
Backup your memory before trying any new program!
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Steve Smith
1.19-6, which made a large difference in the slowdowns I was experiencing.
I will save your letter, in case it comes back!
Steve Smith