UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

This is where announcements of official firmware updates provided by SwissMicros for the DM42 calculator will be made.

Please do not post bug reports here. The Usage tips, tricks and problem reports forum is there for that.

Please do not post notices of third party firmware builds here, they will be deleted. Instead, please use the Third Party firmware builds forum for this purpose.
toml_12953
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by toml_12953 »

Rmollov wrote:
Fri Oct 05, 2018 11:39 pm
BTW do anyone still use those archaic thermal paper printers? I've got one and a week ago had to chuck out several boxes of rolls of thermal paper being around for over 25 years. Usage of these printers is a pain, printouts do not last long, for short - they are useless these days. So what is the point of having printing capabilities at all unless the above functionality is available?

Regards,
I use my thermal printer every day! All the rolls of paper I've used have worked fine. This little printer is very handy for tracing and general debugging. I don't need or expect archival printouts from thermal paper but if I ever do need to save a printout indefinitely, all I have to do is put the printout on my copier and make a copy that will last as long as I need it to. Thermal printouts photocopy beautifully.
Tom L

Some people call me inept but I'm as ept as anybody!
DM10L SN: 059/100
DM41X SN: 00023 (Beta)
DM41X SN: 00506 (Shipping)
DM42 SN: 00025 (Beta)
DM42 SN: 00221 (Shipping)
WP43 SN: 00025 (Prototype)
Rmollov
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by Rmollov »

Thomas Okken wrote:
Sat Oct 06, 2018 5:25 am
Well, just because you don't find paper print-outs useful, doesn't mean that no one else does.
Regarding showing print-outs on the screen: you may not believe that it's hard to do that, and I'm sure that it's possible to implement that on the DM42, but I assure you it's not as easy as you think. You could try asking SwissMicros nicely. :)
What I find not useful is carrying around "portable" printer. Do you carry one with you all the time? I doubt it. But If you do so, how do you enjoy waiting forever and all that noice it makes?
I never said it was an easy task, but it's done and I'm sure it's possible. SwissMicro proved to be the right people and they can do it, I'm sure the hardware is good enough to allow it. As Trevor mentioned, something like the help-reader already in there should do the trick.
What's more, I find that feature quite fruitful, it may change the way we use programs. Rather than waiting, reading and writing down program output we can just look at the printout (programs should be slightly modified to do so - print inputs & outputs). I've done that on the Byron Foster's emulator of your Free42 and it works beautifully.

Regards,
Rmollov
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by Rmollov »

toml_12953 wrote:
Sat Oct 06, 2018 8:23 am
I use my thermal printer every day! All the rolls of paper I've used have worked fine. This little printer is very handy for tracing and general debugging. I don't need or expect archival printouts from thermal paper but if I ever do need to save a printout indefinitely, all I have to do is put the printout on my copier and make a copy that will last as long as I need it to. Thermal printouts photocopy beautifully.
I should have sent you my unused paper rolls rather than putting them in the rubbish bin. Wait, I have also genuine leather pouch for my printer, in case you don't have one, would you like to buy it from me? ;) It's for sale as well as the printer itself, all in perfect cosmetic and working condition. Plus the huge AC adapter. Last time I used it for work was back in 1993. Did excellent job in the field.
Please look at my answer to Thomas.

Regards,
Rmollov
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by Rmollov »

Trevor wrote:
Sat Oct 06, 2018 6:54 am
Of course what you are asking would be possible, as impressive as the ability load programs (think about what a huge step forward from the HP42s that is), just not as widely used,, I expect. Possible-to-do and should-do can be very different. It might require a huge amount of work, or could be as simple as viewing the txt files through the help file viewer.
If Swissmicros are reading this, I'd also like the ability to review printouts on the device (from a similar menu to the load program view, for example).
Exactly my point!
Txt files will last forever.
Nothing lasts forever.
Being able to review the whole program execution with all prompts, inputs and outputs on that beautiful big screen would be the next huge step ahead for the already absolute leader among calculators today - the DM42!

Regards,
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Mark Hardman
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by Mark Hardman »

I believe the compiler optimizations are still causing problems. After upgrading one of my beta DM42s (00043) and my production DM42 (00357), my first thought was to compare them to the remaining beta unit (00065) to verify the predicted 5% speed improvement. I ran 1000 BENCH side-by-side with a 3.9.1 and a 3.10 unit. To my surprise the 3.9.1 unit completed first. To my utter consternation, I then noticed that BENCH had hung on the 3.10 unit. I can consistently duplicate this on both of the upgraded DM42s.

Can anyone confirm this behavior?

ETA: DM42 3.9.1 running on DMCP 3.10 appears to be stable. Multiple runs of 10,000 BENCH were successful in this configuration.
DM42: β00043, β00065, 00357 / DM41X: β00054, 00445 / DM32: β00278
DM10L: 017/100, DM11L: 00121, DM12L: 02005, DM15L: 00523, DM16L: 00008, DM41L: 00111
budmur
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by budmur »

grsbanks wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:29 am
akaTB wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:36 am
What's strange is that it all began with:
DMCP v3.9 : 2018/08/01
Small number of boards exhibited excessive power-off current - fixed
Mine seems to be the only board with the reverse attitude... :cry:
We've actually got a handful of machines like this now. David has them and is looking for a software solution.

Now that he has them physically in his hands, he can diagnose the problem.
Is David close to a fix? In the meantime, is there a straightforward way to downgrade the firmware? I didn't see that in the manual.
DM42 S/N 00039
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akaTB
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by akaTB »

budmur wrote:
Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:49 pm
grsbanks wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:29 am
akaTB wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:36 am
What's strange is that it all began with:

Mine seems to be the only board with the reverse attitude... :cry:
We've actually got a handful of machines like this now. David has them and is looking for a software solution.

Now that he has them physically in his hands, he can diagnose the problem.
Is David close to a fix? In the meantime, is there a straightforward way to downgrade the firmware? I didn't see that in the manual.
You can flash DMCP_flash_3.8.bin + DM42-3.9.1.pgm by the usual method. This is stable, at least on my unit.
Greetings,
    Massimo
ajcaton
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grsbanks
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by grsbanks »

Am I to understand that people other than Mark are finding V3.10 to be unstable? I'm not talking about the excessive power consumption when off, I mean the device crashing.
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who do not.
Thomas Okken
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by Thomas Okken »

I upgraded my DM42 to 3.10, but I haven't really done anything with it since. What test case should I run to check whether my unit is affected or not?
grsbanks
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Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.10 / DM42-3.10

Post by grsbanks »

See this message above (viewtopic.php?p=9071#p9049)

However, there are multiple benchmarks available so we need to get clarification from Mark regarding which benchmark it is that he used.
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who do not.
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