This is a beta release that hasn't given us any problems and we wanted you to be able to try it before is is made official.
DM42 version 3.18 beta 1
- Free42 updated to v3.0.1
- Register allocation patch
- All required directories are now created immediately after a FAT format
- Stability improvements
All the improvements concerning the new "big stack" features of Free42 are now baked into the DM42.
Register allocation patch
This patch, which helps optimise memory allocation and which will appear in Free42 v3.0.2, is already folded into the DM42.
Directory creation
Some of the directories used by the DM42 application were not created immediately after a format of the FAT drive. This is no longer the case, they are now all there.
DMCP stability improvements
Another memory management function that needed tightening up with Free42 now managing a dynamic stack has been, well... tightened up.
Note that the new setting in SETUP > Settings > Dynamic Stack Extension gives you the ability to enable the feature and includes the relevant functions on the last page of the "MODES" menu. It does not actually activate the dynamic stack, you have to do that explicitly with "NSTK".
In testing we were able to see the stack grow to well in excess of 1000 real numbers before the machine started falling over due to lack of memory. "Your mileage may vary," as they say, depending on what other data is already stored in your DM42. Even though this is almost certainly dramatically fewer that you could get with Free42 running on a smartphone or a desktop machine, both of which have far, far more RAM in them than the DM42, it is more than likely more than you'll ever need (I know, "Nobody will ever need more than 640KB of RAM in their PC") to solve a problem for which a pocket calculator is actually the right tool to use.
As usual, you can find the update procedure in the manual and the firmware itself is available here: https://technical.swissmicros.com/dm42/firmware/
SHA1 Checksums
Code: Select all
115b2d95641c44469566aec165e90c387794fac4 *DMCP_flash_3.21_DM42-3.18b1.bin
9660995a5e8c47fb73b4a94b7fbdee90f11f19b7 *DM42-3.18b1.pgm
a078e65cdbc58fb9bbdde07d742854c927ffb379 *DMCP_flash_3.21.bin