Comparison between HP 50g ROM versions 2.10-7 & 2.15
Joel Koltner
If I upgrade my HP 50g from ROM version 2.10-7 to 2.15, is there anything I'll
be *missing*? That is, my understanding is that 2.15 was built off of one of
the unrelease 2.10 version sources, but not a source as new as 2.10-7, so
there were presumably a few bug fixes/improvements in 2.10-7 that are missing
from 2.15?
Thanks,
---Joel
Katie
Nope. It should have bug fixes the same, but the spreadsheet and
geometry stuff couldn't be included. You will be 'missing' the
streamsmart application, but I doubt you have one. :-)
TW
Joel Koltner
news:51486bfc-a822-45d2...@l5g2000pra.googlegroups.com...
"Nope. It should have bug fixes the same, but the spreadsheet and
geometry stuff couldn't be included. You will be 'missing' the
streamsmart application, but I doubt you have one. :-)"
I sure don't. Does anyone? :-) I don't see them available on, e.g.,
Amazon.Com...
John H Meyers
> If I upgrade my HP 50g from ROM version 2.10-7 to 2.15,
> is there anything I'll be *missing*?
> That is, my understanding is that 2.15 was built off of one of
> the unreleased 2.10 version sources, but not a source as new as 2.10-7
Which "2.10-7" ?
What are the original modification dates of the actual ROM update files,
and where did they come from? The November 2006 version was only
a version doctored by BP, later than the few bug fixes since 2.09,
for demonstrating something to math teachers in France,
and as far as I am aware, nothing else was "new" in it.
In addition, it has a certain problem, involving a set of wrong "flashptrs,"
which can cause any independent applications depending on those
suddenly "non-supported" flashptrs (relocated or renumbered) to fail:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.hp48/msg/d91a769333ac39bb
The above problem was discovered when a USAG library by "Gaak"
was found not to work, only with that particular Geometry/Spreadsheet ROM,
and leaves open the possibility that other software,
relying only upon "supported" flashptrs, might also not work with that ROM.
My understanding, from reading the thread below,
is that 2.15 gives you the completely fixed,
final 2.10 that HP could have tested and released in 2006,
but chose not to bother, without BP's unofficial (and unfinished) extra
Geometry/Spreadsheet, and without the above set of non-supported flashptrs,
adding only one thing (one command, STRM, for starting "StreamSmart,"
useless unless you have the hardware accessory for it)
to the original "pure" 2.10, but Katie, Tim, and Joe
should know precisely about all that, from first-hand experience:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.hp48/browse_thread/thread/a28877fc26d74114
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.hp48/msg/491e81ee34edbbc8 [post by JKH]
> so there were presumably a few bug fixes/improvements in 2.10-7
> that are missing from 2.15?
None whatsoever, it would appear; 2.15, in fact,
should restore and thus "fix" any BP-shifted flashptrs, omitting only
BP's unofficial, unapproved, and unfinished "Geometry/Spreadsheet" apps,
which would not have been in any "2.10" which HP had in hand, in 2006,
"on a silver platter," but decided not to bother bringing out of the kitchen :)
In other words, 2.15 finally brings you the "2.10" which HP had, but threw out.
The complete set of fixes since 2.09 is very few,
identified as "(C210)" in the release notes (in the PDF file),
but to those who needed them, it might be helpful.
There may be an undocumented improvement as well,
which would be that more pieces of code
which can be "accelerated" by the internal emulator
might have been found and replaced by emulator "hooks,"
which may slightly (or sometimes greatly) improve execution time.
For example, see whether "Loop" at #5149h has been so "hooked" --
it is part of the very frequently executed GETPTRLOOP at #5143h,
which was _not_ "accelerated" in 2.09, IIRC.
ROM 2.15: http://www.hpcalc.org/details.php?id=7097
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/pc/rom/hp4950v215.zip
[r->] [OFF]
Joel Koltner
"John H Meyers" <jhme...@nomail.invalid> wrote in message
news:op.uwiry...@miu.edu...
"Which "2.10-7" ?"
Bernard Parisse's. Thanks for all the background information.
"My understanding, from reading the thread below,
is that 2.15 gives you the completely fixed,
final 2.10 that HP could have tested and released in 2006,
but chose not to bother, without BP's unofficial (and unfinished) extra
Geometry/Spreadsheet, and without the above set of non-supported flashptrs,
adding only one thing (one command, STRM, for starting "StreamSmart,"
useless unless you have the hardware accessory for it)"
I'm curious where the funding for developing StreamSmart came from... it
doesn't seem to have been much of a success, and based on HP's performance in
the past few years I can't imagine they developed it on their own dime. The
fact that it's a completely self-contained application -- there's no
documented way for user applications to access the hardware (heck, it's
difficults to even PURCHASE the hardware!) -- also suggests that it was done
specifically as part of a narrowly-defined development contract rather than as
a general-purpose calculator enhancement.
"None whatsoever, it would appear; 2.15, in fact,
should restore and thus "fix" any BP-shifted flashptrs, omitting only
BP's unofficial, unapproved, and unfinished "Geometry/Spreadsheet" apps,"
Well, it may have been unofficial and unapproved, but the guy is certainly
talented. MetaKernel was unofficial and unapproved at one time as well, after
all.
"In other words, 2.15 finally brings you the "2.10" which HP had, but threw
out."
Thanks, I'll be upgrading my ROMs shortly!
---Joel
John H Meyers
>> 2.15, in fact, should restore and thus "fix" any BP-shifted flashptrs,
>> omitting only BP's unofficial, unapproved, and unfinished
>> "Geometry/Spreadsheet" apps...
> Well, it may have been unofficial and unapproved, but the guy is certainly
> talented. MetaKernel was unofficial and unapproved at one time as well,
> after all.
BP may have had more to do with CAS, while JYA & Cyrille (w/ Mika)
may have had more to do with MK, but they are certainly all talented,
or maybe it's something in the French water -- or wine :)
-[ ]-