The hp48 calculator is perhaps the most powerful handheld calculator for an engineer. This is a guide to provide that power to your Handheld PC free of charge and completely legal.
(Back in late 2000, hp decided to allow people to use thier ROM images without actually owning the calculator
(essentially giving it away
). Other companies, like Texas Intsturments, do not allow anyone to use a ROM without owning the calculator. hp went even as far as sponsoring an emmulator contest.
)
Step 1:
First, download these files for your device:
For Windows CE 2.0 and above on SH3:
Emu48CE on SH3
For Windows CE 2.0 and above on MIPS:
Emu48CE on MIPS
For Windows CE 2.0 and above on ARM:
Emu48CE on ARM (untested
)
For Windows CE .NET 4.0 and above:
Emu48CE on .NET (untested
)
Known to be working for:
NEC MobilePro 790
hp Jornada 680
hp Jornada 620LX
NEC Mobilepro 900C
(use CE.NET version
)
Step 2:
For those with Windows CE 2.0 and above on SH3 or MIPS: Once you have the emmulator, you'll need a ROM and a KML script.
First, the KML script, which can be found here:
HP48G/GX KML
Second, the ROM, which you have two options. The ARM and .NET packages already have the ROM included, so you could download either one of those, or rought-it and build one yourself.
If you wish to build one, then download
this file. You will also need to download the Emu48 package for the PC, found
here.
You will need a program in the PC version to convert the freely available ROM.
First, unzip the PC Emu48 package to a folder, lets call it EMU, on the desktop.
Unzip the ROM file and put in in the EMU folder. Assuming you're using Windows XP, go to Start->Run. Type "cmd"
(without the quotes
) and hit Enter. Now you have the command prompt. Type "cd desktop/emu"
(without quotes
) and hit enter. Now, type "convert gxrom-r rom.48g" without quotes and hit enter. Here's a screenshot of what should happen:
here. (This program actually converts the ASCII ROM dump into binary, which Emu48 understands.
)
Good, now we got the files. Take the executable from the emmulator zip, all the files from the KML zip, and our new ROM and place them in one folder. Now, go to the below step.
For those with Windows CE 2.0 and above on ARM: The readme inside the zip describes the install perfectly, so I won't go into much detail. Please go to the below step.
For those with Windows CE .NET 4.0 and above: All you need to do is extract the files into a folder of your choice. See the below step.
Step 3:
The folder containing all the files can be stored on the device or on a storage card. Either way, remember the path to the folder. Now, open the folder, and run Emu48CE. Type the directory where the files are stored in the "Emu48 Directory" box. Note: You have to include a / at the end! Click the downward arrow
(which looks like a V
). Our KML script should appear. It'll look something like this:
Tap Ok and the calculator should load up. The screen will flicker, and a question will a appear asking if it can recover the memory. Important! Either tap the menu No or the button below it.
We're almost done!
Step 4:
Now we are going to save the current state of the calculator so that everytime we run Emu48CE we don't reset it. Go to File->Save As. This "state" file can be saved anywhere, but I recomend the same folder you have Emu48CE located. Name it anything, and tap Ok.
Problems:
For whatever reason on my MP790, I always get this error when I load up Emu48:
I can't seem to get it to go away, but tapping ok runs the program as normal.
My Jornada 680 has a really bad time with the save state files. I might be missing something, but when I try to load a saved state with Emu48
(the last opened file is loaded at the next runtime
) it screams at me that the KML script isn't properly truncated. Deleting the state file and having the emmulator reset the calc everytime I load seems to be the only obvious "fix."
Technically, Emu48CE should run the hp49 ROM without any trouble, but that seems to be far from the case for me. Loading the ROM gives me the "safe mode" which I can only perform factory hardware tests, and attempting to start the calculator normally gives me a grayscale picture of some guy named Roy
(and no, I'm not kidding
). Emu48 doesn't like grayscale, and it shows it when it drags to a crawl the speed of a snail through salt. Maybe some more work sometime.
Finished!
Wow, that was a lot. Alright, assuming that all of the above went smoothly, you're now presented with the Handheld PC version of the hp48. The left side is the display screen, with six menu buttons below. The middle section contains several function buttons, as well as the cursor arrow keys. The right function contains the numbers and the four basic math functions. The white lettering on the keys refers to the keys primary function. Tapping the left purple arrow will gain access to the purple colored functions. Same goes for the green right arrow. The Home screen in front of you contains a Math menu below, and four numbers along the left. These numbers are part of the stack. Let me explain how it's used.
The hp48 is a RPN calculator, Reverse Polish Notation
(see
here). The jist of it is that you enter the numbers first, and then the function you want to perform on them.
For example: tap 48 and tap Enter. This will move 48 into the stack at position 1. Now, tap 12 and then tap the subtraction key. The answer is shown in position 1.
A more complicated example: calculate
(12*6
)/
(15-4
). This problem could be directly entered into any TI graphing calculator, and it would take 14 total keystrokes. With RPN, we can do the following: Tap 12, tap Enter. Tap 6, tap multiply. Tap 15, tap Enter. Tap 4, tap subtraction. Then tap divide. RPN with the stack takes 10 keystrokes, about a 30% reduction. A more detailed description of it can be found
here. One reason why I was trying to get the hp49 to work was because the 49 can switch between RPN and standard form to make it easier for some problems.
The hp48 is far too complicated to explain here
(graphing, derivatives, and integrals, oh my!
), so I suggest interested people search the web and view this website:
http://www.area48.com/
I hope you enjoy, and post any questions!
Credits:
First, I would like to thank Google, couldn't do any of this without ya man!
I'd also like to thank C:Amie for providing this totally awesome and wickedly cool website!
Also, I would like to link to every website from where I found the files above:
http://nt.marin.esc.edu.ar/jpla/emu48ce/emu48ce.html
http://www.transnull.com/hp48.html
http://privat.swol.de/ChristophGiesselink/emu48.htm
http://www.yetanotherhomepage.com/j7xx/j7xx.html?/j7xx/software/off...
http://www.threaded.com/Emu48ceH41.htm
