UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

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.
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grsbanks
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Location: Preston, Lancs, UK
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UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by grsbanks »

A few of you saw this update before I had a chance to make the official announcement.... Here goes anyway.

Edit: There's also an update for the on-board help file available from https://technical.swissmicros.com/dm42/fat/HELP/

There are a couple of bugfixes in the help file and a submission by forum user minimuck that enumerates the HP-41C commands renamed for the HP-42S.

This update mainly brings new features to the DM42 through the recent extensions to Free42.

DM42 version 3.18
  • Free42 updated to v3.0.2
  • PGMMENU patch not yet in the official build of Free42
  • All required directories are now created immediately after a FAT format
DMCP version 3.21
  • Stability improvements
Free42 v3.0.2

All the improvements concerning the new "big stack" features of Free42 are now baked into the DM42.

PGMMENU patch

This patch, which prevents the top row of the PGMMENU being cleared incorrectly and which will appear in Free42 later on, 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

5f72d2cb8e97bbfc4fdfa9748baeb08d8b132b73  DMCP_flash_3.21_DM42-3.18.bin
316c74ca2f32208038aedd12216a7cdaf17683d7  DM42-3.18.pgm
a078e65cdbc58fb9bbdde07d742854c927ffb379  DMCP_flash_3.21.bin
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who do not.
bernouilli
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:01 am
Location: France

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by bernouilli »

Thanks a lot.

There is a little mistake in the help file for the DEC function in the "hp41 functions" section.
DM15L - DM42 - DM41x
kylxbn
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:09 pm

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by kylxbn »

Awesome, thank you!

Tried the dynamic stack feature and this calculator just became perfect for me!
(Don't get me wrong, I don't hate nor dislike the original RPN stack, I can live with it, but the RPL style just feels more intuitive and natural for me so I kinda prefer it...)
gopper
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 11:18 am

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by gopper »

Yep, simply awesome!

Now I can work with DM42 in the same way that I had used to work in my old (and broken) HP48.

Thanks Thomas and SwissMicros Team.
Gop.
ratwolf
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:00 am

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by ratwolf »

Would be really appreciated if an update for the DM42 firmware including free42 3.0.3 could be provided to enable the use of the new comparison functions e.g. x<? (introduced since Free42 v. 3.0.1) without running into a memory leak.
These functions are really helpful!
An update of the DM42 programming tool regarding the new functions would be appreciated as well :-)
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akaTB
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Location: Milan, Italy

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by akaTB »

ratwolf wrote:
Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:43 am
Would be really appreciated if an update for the DM42 firmware including free42 3.0.3 could be provided to enable the use of the new comparison functions e.g. x<? (introduced since Free42 v. 3.0.1) without running into a memory leak.
These functions are really helpful!
An update of the DM42 programming tool regarding the new functions would be appreciated as well :-)
Writing this in three threads won't speed it up.
As it has always been, everything will be incorporated in DM42, if architecturally possible, in due course.
Godwin already informed us that he will update the online programming tool once he'll have some time available.
Greetings,
    Massimo
ajcaton
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ratwolf
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:00 am

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by ratwolf »

Yes o.k.
In this case, however, these functions are already included in the current version, but using them will cause the DM42 to crash, which requires a reset, which is not so nice.
ctrclckws
Posts: 173
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2019 4:30 pm

Re: UPDATE: DMCP-3.21 / DM42-3.18

Post by ctrclckws »

akaTB wrote:
Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:01 pm

Writing this in three threads won't speed it up.
As it has always been, everything will be incorporated in DM42, if architecturally possible, in due course.
Godwin already informed us that he will update the online programming tool once he'll have some time available.
Thanks for reminding us that it takes time for things to trickle through the process. There are always conflicting priorities to deal with. Life happens.

To those in a hurry:
Be patient, it's a small but dedicated group of people, I thank them for their efforts.

If you are in such a hurry, I think all that is required to build you own version is available. At least one person has done that. See the Third Party firmware section.
DM10, DM10L: 00031 / DM11, DM11L: 00112 / DM12, DM12L: 02074
DM15, DM15L: 11069 / DM16. DM16L: 02001 / DM41, DM41L: 00859
DM41X: 00036ß / 00181 DM42: 3108 / 6084 WP43: 0032
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