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Add license and README.md files
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23 changes: 23 additions & 0 deletions LICENSE
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Copyright 2017, Håkan Thörngren.
All Rights Reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

- Redistribution of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

- Redistribution in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR THE CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE
USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
123 changes: 123 additions & 0 deletions README.md
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HP-41CL Update module using HP-IL
=================================

This module for the HP-41CL contains some instructions that allow reading
and writing 16-bit images to and from HP-IL mass storage devices.

In addition there is an RPN program that is used to control the process which
is better documented in the [hp-41cl_update](https://github.com/isene/hp-41cl_update/)
project.


Background
----------

Traditionally, a ROM page in the HP-41 is 4K large. As it uses 10-bit
memory, there is a choice of compressing it when storing it to a byte oriented
file system. However, the `.rom` file format is an uncompressed memory page,
and uses 2 bytes for each memory location. Thus, it will normally have the
6 upper bits set to 0.

In the HP-41CL, the physical memory system is actually 16-bit wide, though it
only exposes 10-bit to the Nut CPU (logical memory). These previosuly unused
bits now have a meaning as they are used to control the speed of the faster
NEWT CPU to pace it in timing loops. Additionally, some special HP-41CL
modules make use of the extra bits for data purposes.

As a result, there is now a need to pass 16-bit ROM images to the HP-41CL.
The read and write instructions provided in this module makes it possible
to transfer such (uncompressed) 16-bit ROM images between the physical
memory of the HP-41CL and HP-IL mass storage.


Read and write instructions
---------------------------

The `RDROM16` instruction reads a physical memory page from HP-IL mass
storage to HP-41CL RAM memory.

The `WRROM16` instruction writes a physical memory page to HP-IL mass storage.

Both instructions expects a filename in the Alpha register and the physical
address page in X.

The physical address page is a 3-digit binary number, it can be specified
either as a BCD number or as a binary number (non normalized number, NNN).

To specify page `801` (hex), you can enter it as an ordinary number `801`.

If the address page contains hex digits above 9, for example `80E`, you
need to specify it as an NNN. This can be done in two ways, either enter the
address in Alpha register and use the traditional `CODE` instruction, or
load the Ladybug module, enable hex mode and type in the hex number in X.

Some examples:

To save page 810 (hex), enter filename in Alpha register and type:

810 in X
XEQ WRROM16

To load page 800 (hex), enter filename in alpha register and type:

800 in X
XEQ RDROM16


Details on the page numbers
---------------------------

In case you wonder about the X register input, recall how a floating
point number is represented in the HP-41

S MMMMMMMMMM SXX

where `S` is the sign, `MMMMMMMMMM` is the mantissa and `SXX` is the
exponent with its sign.

If the mantissa is non-zero, the address is obtained by taking the first
3 digits of `MMMMMMMMMM` and treating that as a binary page address.
As these are BCD encoded digits, it means that if you enter `800`, it will
get treated the hex number `800`, in fact you can actually just type `8` as
it will appear at the first position and the rest of `MMMMMMMMMM` will be 0.
If you enter `800003`, it will still take the first 3 digits and treat that
as `800`.

If the mantissa is 0, `RDROM16` and `WRROM16` expects that `SXX` contains
a binary page address (12 bits).

To enter a binary page address you need to use `CODE`, which is a common
instruction from the good old days of the HP-41. It allows converting a hex
number in the Alpha register to a binary (non-normalized) number in X.

If you are using the PPC ROM, you can do as follows:

ALPHA 8AF ALPHA ; type in the page number
XEQ HN ; hex to NNN (works the same as `CODE`)
ALPHA filename ALPHA
XEQ RDROM16 ; read from file


An alternative way is to use the Ladybug module which uses binary integers
as its native numbers. This means that you can just enter the 3 digit hex
number in X from the keyboard:

WSIZE 56 ; set word size to 56 bits
; (any word size 12 or wider will work)
ALPHA filename ALPHA
8AF_ H ; type the page number as `8AF`
XEQ RDROM16 ; read from file


Error messages
--------------

There is a wide range of error messages that can result from using these instructions,
some are explained below.

- **NONEXISTENT** is given if there is no HP-IL module attached

- **DATA ERROR** is given if the address is outside allowed range
(the allowed range is `807` to `87F` inclusive)

- **SIZE ERR** is given by `RDROM16` if the file size is not 8K bytes.

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