ooNUfip — A Nut Firmware Interpreter Built On ooREXX/Win
- Abstract:
- ooNUfip copies the logics of a Nut CPU to interpret
the firmware of HP41 and Voyager calculator models.
It is the PC migration of my NutEm written in FORTRAN
running since decades on "real iron" under
VM/CMS.
Today ooNUfip may still serve on PC as a simple toy to test some simulation
without need to be compiled, just edit and run.
Reason for this update: 41's beeper makes some noise now.
Note: afore running this program read the QPL public license in
section 7.
TOC:
- A Brief Description
- Prerequisites, Install and Run it
- Connectivity
- Controls of This Program
- Features, Constraints, Known Bugs
- Manuals of The Role Models
- The Fine Print
A Brief Description
Once upon a time Hewlett-Packard sold pocket calculators based on a proprietary "Nut" CPU.
This CPU worked in famous
HP-41C/CV/CX
and the "Voyager" series
HP-10C,
-11C,
-12C,
-15C, and
-16C.
With the time the firmware of these machines leaked out what resulted in emulators,
simulations,
virtual remakes.
ooNUfip is a great grandchild of those, and in contrast to NutEm on the mainframe I
call it a firmware interpreter.
The HP41 series is extensible by many plug in ROMs and devices.
ROMs add more firmware or additional software or both and run at once in this program.
Devices add some special hardware which needs to be simulated to work in a remake.
Within ooNUfip only two devices are implemented currently, the Time Module (partly at least) and the
HP-82143A printer (w/o graphic).
Enough to play a bit.
Once triggered by a contribution in a
PPC Journal
(from a Grecian author IIRC, pieced in almost unintelligible English so the editor mocked about it,
describing – what I assumed to grasp – how to simulate a calculator by rebuilding the
limited set of CPU instructions instead of re-program the floods of functions from plug-in modules),
I programmed about two decades ago (in FORTRAN and on a
mainframe) a logical simulation of the Nut CPU.
Now I ported it to ooREXX under Windows.
The idea is to run the calculators' firmware in an facile to program interpreter that does not need
to be compiled only to test a little add-on.
So I hope it will be easier to simulate more devices.
Today the goal is not to be a better emulator than the well known
but to have a toy that serves as a simple aid for testing.
For some time now there exist other quite suitable simulations/emulators/virtual remakes
of those HP calculators prolonging their time of use.
Nonetheless I publish my ooNUfip firmware interpreter, may be someone else may find it practical too
to do something with it.
Prerequisites, Install and Run it
To run ooNUfip you need (in brackets what I used for the development):
To run under ooNUfip any of the a. m. calculators you do need copies of its firmware (ROM).
For your convenience I add following for a first try.
- Voyagers:
- 11C and 16C (virtual remakes of 12C and 15C are available from HP
in here)
- HP41
- version GFF
- HP41 add-on
- Time, 82143A printer, The HP-41 Advantage Advanced Solutions Pac, and PPC ROM.
Note: I do know this files contain software which could still be protected by copyright.
In the hope all authors may be proud to see their work still in use,
I enclose it with my firmware interpreter.
Please see also Acknowledgments in the Advantage manual and PPC ROM documentation.
Install it
There is no automated installation procedure.
Unzip ooNUfip.ZIP to a directory named at will, a directory of its own or not, it's up to you.
Note:
Keep the organization of subdirectories, 'HTML' at least, otherwise you have plenty to trim
in the CFG files.
If you move 'HTML' or its content you even have to modify the program or hit F1 will not help.
First Run and Subsequent Runs
Open ooNUfip.CFG first using a text-only editor of your choice and
if necessary adapt it to your installation.
For further explanations see comments therein.
In future do this step for modifications only.
To have a distinct CFG file for a different model I suggest to file it with a new name
you may use as option when starting ooNUfip.
ooNUfip is a console application which displays some information, warnings
and trace output only on the console window.
"Real" errors will be shown in a dialog in the middle of the screen.
If not interested in those informations of minor importance, you may prepare one or several
shortcut links which start ooNUfip to your flavor without console window.
Start ooNUfip.rx either by
- open a command window in the directory where you installed ooNUfip and
enter (without quotes) "ooNUfip" or "REXX ooNUfip.rx",
it depends on your choice of suffixes at installation of ooREXX,
- start the windows explorer, navigate to the directory where you installed ooNUfip and
double-klick ooNUfip.rx or right-click it and select open
(alas drag-n-drop of a CFG file to the REXX program does not work),
- single-click a shortcut link you prepared before.
ooNUfip optionally takes one argument and/or several options (one at a time).
More tailoring is done within an CFG file.
[REXX] ooNUfip[.rx] [CFG-fileID] [ #KEY]
- CFG-fileID
- a file-ID or name of a CFG file ('.CFG' will be appended if missing), default is 'ooNUfip.cfg'.
- KEY
- Separated by ' #' (blank and "Gartenzaun", garden fence) one single designation
representing a key that will be "held down at on time".
Meaningful for the Voyagers are one of ',./*-+'
(dot or comma to change the decimal separator, dash to get a reset, slash for a keyboard test,
the rest for single or endless self-testing).
'BA' (back arrow) should provoke a MEMORY LOST with an HP41, alas... in a future version.
For subsequent runs you don't need to edit CFG files unless you like to change something.
Connectivity
ooNUfip is currently not equipped neither to simulate HP-IL nor to link to Virtual IL.
So today there is no need to talk about connectivity.
Controls of this program
Keys: F1 - show this help file (if your PC affiliated suffix HTM with a browser),
F2 - displays the About information,
F10 - activate menu (HP41 only),
Shift+F10 - (also Shift+M) activate menu (Voyagers only),
Ctrl+C - copy display to clipboard,
Ctrl+X - copy X-register full precision clipboard,
Ctrl+V - use clipboard content as input (see note 3),
Backspace = Back Arrow,
Pause = Enter,
End = R/S,
Return - hit the selected button,
Esc - ends the program,
Underscores in the button's caption denote which key will press it (see note 1).
Buttons: Same as role model.
System Menu: Underscored letters indicate which key will launch an option
Quit w/o saving RAM - ends ooNUfip keeping RAM of previous session
Reset Nut cycles counter - zeroes CPU counter
Show program... - displays user program (see note 2)
Copy figure as displayed - copy display to clipboard
Copy complete X-register - copy X-register full precision clipboard
Paste number to X-register - use clipboard content as input (note 3)
More details... - same as F1
About... - guess what...
Notes:
- The buttons' caption change according the shift status and with it the acceleration keys.
On HP41 shift and alpha is relevant, on Voyagers it is f-shift, g-shift, user mode.
- This menu item is only available for Voyagers, to list programs on an HP41 use a printer.
- The number from clipboard is interpreted to detect thousand's separators, comma, sign and exponent.
What may not belong to the figure will be missed silently.
This fuzzy logic is not perfect, so use with caution.
An HP41 in alpha mode will put it as text to the alpha register, characters will be uppercased.
(A ZEN ROM may disturb this process.)
A Word About The ROMs
The used ROM format is "user readable", four digits address, next word three digits command,
both values in hex, with a single colon or blank serving as word separator.
If comments follow they must be separated by one or more blanks.
So ZEN ROM decoder print-out will do.
Those for HP41 are unchanged, the Voyager ROMs are patched for two reasons,
i) to fix a stack-lift bug in HP-11C, -15C, and -16C,
ii) ooNUfip.rx does not offer the hit key and hold feature.
Instead some functions display a result for 1.2 seconds only, not until the key is released.
This pause is done by the firmware interpreter, not by the original calculator.
Features, Constraints, Known Bugs
- Features worth to mention
- key captions changing with shift status,
fuzzy logic for pasting numbers,
HP41 with 82143A printer,
Voyager programs displayed as user readable listings,
41's beeper makes some noise someway imitating the role model only
but at least you are warned when typing the 24th character in alpha,
modification of setup with ease using the text editor of your choice.
- Constraints, missing, annoying
- hit key and hold is an important element of the user interface — currently missing,
no HP-IL for now — it is in the top 10 of my to do list,
the surface looks nasty — by design, to make it distinguishably different,
Time w/o SW and alarms — point 11 of my to do list,
no graphic on 82143A printer — use my
oo82162A IL2IR bridge, works best with
IL enabled V41,
ooNUfip is distinctly faster than the originals — albeit about 1600 times slower than
the PC versions from HP (find 12C and 15C with others in
this package).
- Bugs
- all known bugs are fixed, only two remain unknown: one inserted invalid code in a user program
what made the complete RAM file useless.
Another one filed RAM incomplete.
Up to now those two errors showed only once.
So you are warned, do not use this firmware interpreter for serious work, don't even think about it.
I programmed ooNUfip to get some insight and trace logs, nothing else.
Manuals of the role models
- HP41
- HP-41CV Owner's Handbook and Programming Guide,
HP-41CX Quick Reference Guide
- Voyager
- HP-10C,
HP-11C,
HP-12C,
HP-15C, and
HP-16C.
In case you like to know more there is a torrent about
almost all HP41 (> 7 GB).
The fine print
(i) Do not use this program.
(ii) Any damage you cause with this program, intentional or by chance, is a violation of clause (i). Thus all consequences are completely at your own risk.
(iii) If you manage to improve this program you have to inform me as stipulated in following THE Q PUBLIC LICENSE (QPL).
(iv) In addition applies the QPL below:
THE Q PUBLIC LICENSE version 1.0
Copyright (C) 1999 Trolltech AS, Norway.
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute this license document.
The intent of this license is to establish freedom to share and change the software regulated by this license under the open source model.
This license applies to any software containing a notice placed by the copyright holder saying that it may be distributed under the terms of the Q Public License version 1.0. Such software is herein referred to as the Software. This license covers modification and distribution of the Software, use of third-party application programs based on the Software, and development of free software which uses the Software.
Granted Rights
- You are granted the non-exclusive rights set forth in this license provided you agree to and comply with any and all conditions in this license. Whole or partial distribution of the Software, or software items that link with the Software, in any form signifies acceptance of this license.
- You may copy and distribute the Software in unmodified form provided that the entire package, including - but not restricted to - copyright, trademark notices and disclaimers, as released by the initial developer of the Software, is distributed.
- You may make modifications to the Software and distribute your modifications, in a form that is separate from the Software, such as patches. The following restrictions apply to modifications:
a. Modifications must not alter or remove any copyright notices in the Software.
b. When modifications to the Software are released under this license, a non-exclusive royalty-free right is granted to the initial developer of the Software to distribute your modification in future versions of the Software provided such versions remain available under these terms in addition to any other license(s) of the initial developer.
- You may distribute machine-executable forms of the Software or machine-executable forms of modified versions of the Software, provided that you meet these restrictions:
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c. You must ensure that all modifications included in the machine-executable forms are available under the terms of this license.
- You may use the original or modified versions of the Software to compile, link and run application programs legally developed by you or by others.
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Limitations of Liability
In no event shall the initial developers or copyright holders be liable for any damages whatsoever, including - but not restricted to - lost revenue or profits or other direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, even if they have been advised of the possibility of such damages, except to the extent invariable law, if any, provides otherwise.
No Warranty
The Software and this license document are provided AS IS with NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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This license is governed by the Laws of England (if not yet part of Spanish East Indies)