USB connection really flaky

Discussion around the SwissMicros DM41X calculator
rprosperi
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Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by rprosperi »

HPMike wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:52 pm
Today it disconnected again and I lost all my OFFIMG screens. When I looked for them on my pc, they had been erased there as well. Please tell me again where I can find all the FAT disk contents for the DM41X. Thanks.
The DM41X cannot delete files on your PC, it simply can't do that, so it must have been some kind of operational error.

My suggestion is to make a working/temp folder somewhere (desktop, or somewhere convenient) where you put copies of the various Folders\files you plan to copy to the 41X and when copying files from the 41X, also copy them to this folder (or folders inside), so that if something goes wrong during the various file transfer operations, you are clobbering you master copies of files.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
HPMike
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Location: DFW, Texas

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by HPMike »

salvomic wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:57 pm
HPMike wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:52 pm
Today it disconnected again and I lost all my OFFIMG screens. When I looked for them on my pc, they had been erased there as well. Please tell me again where I can find all the FAT disk contents for the DM41X. Thanks.
try here:https://technical.swissmicros.com/dm41x/fat/

When it disconnected here also I lost this folder...

Salvo
Thanks, Salvo. This occurred after I further modified my cable to be 100% certain it was fully inserted. My pc suddenly disconnected it, and then issued a message that it had done so because it did not recognize my device. When I copied the OFFIMG files back to the FAT disk, it said that one file was already there, so I skipped copying it. This was the SwissMicros.bmp file, that reappeared, so I guess the directory on the FAT disk had gotten corrupted. It doesn't seem like this is simply a case of a bad connection, and in three years of ownership, I've never this problem with my DM42.

BTW, it looks like there have been some minor changes to the 41X.htm HELP file (newer date stamp, larger size).

Oh, and one more thing I noticed that after the hard RESET to recover control of the calculator after it got disconnected, my clock had returned to the default 24 hour mode from the 12 hour (AM/PM) mode that I use. I don't recall my DM42 doing this, although it's been a long time since I have needed to hard RESET my DM42.
DM15L, S/N 00548. DM42, SN: 00159. DM41X, SN: 00973. DM32, SN 00054.
rprosperi
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Location: New York

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by rprosperi »

HPMike wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:34 pm
[snip]

Oh, and one more thing I noticed that after the hard RESET to recover control of the calculator after it got disconnected, my clock had returned to the default 24 hour mode from the 12 hour (AM/PM) mode that I use. I don't recall my DM42 doing this, although it's been a long time since I have needed to hard RESET my DM42.
The clock 12/24 setting is not saved in the State file (since it was not saved via Flag setting in the 41OS) however it is saved in the UConf (User Configuration) settings which are persistent, and will survive a reset; see section 3.4 in the User Manual. You can easily verify this (I just did) by setting it to either setting and simply doing a reset via the hole in the back, and you'll see the CLK12/CLK24 setting in the header has not changed.

Note: I recommend you do a Full Backup before doing this, then you can recover everything in about 10 seconds after the reset - see section 6.4.5 about how to do a Full Backup.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
HPMike
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Location: DFW, Texas

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by HPMike »

rprosperi wrote:
Sat Oct 17, 2020 5:27 am
HPMike wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:34 pm
[snip]

Oh, and one more thing I noticed that after the hard RESET to recover control of the calculator after it got disconnected, my clock had returned to the default 24 hour mode from the 12 hour (AM/PM) mode that I use. I don't recall my DM42 doing this, although it's been a long time since I have needed to hard RESET my DM42.
The clock 12/24 setting is not saved in the State file (since it was not saved via Flag setting in the 41OS) however it is saved in the UConf (User Configuration) settings which are persistent, and will survive a reset; see section 3.4 in the User Manual. You can easily verify this (I just did) by setting it to either setting and simply doing a reset via the hole in the back, and you'll see the CLK12/CLK24 setting in the header has not changed.

Note: I recommend you do a Full Backup before doing this, then you can recover everything in about 10 seconds after the reset - see section 6.4.5 about how to do a Full Backup.
So, I don’t understand, what caused it to return to the default setting ? Could there be a defect in the flash memory ?
DM15L, S/N 00548. DM42, SN: 00159. DM41X, SN: 00973. DM32, SN 00054.
rprosperi
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Location: New York

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by rprosperi »

I'm not sure what you mean by 'hard reset', did that include re-flashing back to the 2.0 f/w?

Since these parameters started being saved to UConf, a fair amount of testing has shown that the settings are not lost, so I can't really speculate what led to the change. There is no reason to suspect the Flash has failed as you would be experiencing much wider problems.

Have you tried what I suggested? Do a Full Backup, set it to CLK12 mode and then do a pin reset - and I'm confident the setting will survive. If not, then it's worth pursuing further, otherwise I'd ignore it.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
HPMike
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Location: DFW, Texas

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by HPMike »

rprosperi wrote:
Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:05 pm
I'm not sure what you mean by 'hard reset', did that include re-flashing back to the 2.0 f/w?

Since these parameters started being saved to UConf, a fair amount of testing has shown that the settings are not lost, so I can't really speculate what led to the change. There is no reason to suspect the Flash has failed as you would be experiencing much wider problems.

Have you tried what I suggested? Do a Full Backup, set it to CLK12 mode and then do a pin reset - and I'm confident the setting will survive. If not, then it's worth pursuing further, otherwise I'd ignore it.
By hard reset I mean using the physical reset button on the back of the calculator. The last time I did this was because of the calculator freezing when the FAT disk abruptly disconnected from the PC, and I did not re-flash the firmware at that time. I have already made a Full Backup, several actually, so I did what you said, and can confirm that the clock did indeed revert to the default 24H setting on my unit.
DM15L, S/N 00548. DM42, SN: 00159. DM41X, SN: 00973. DM32, SN 00054.
rprosperi
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Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:48 pm
Location: New York

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by rprosperi »

Turns out you're totally right, this is indeed a bug, but not where it seems to be.

When testing, I focused on the RESET, which does not change the setting (easily verified) however using the Restore full backup does lose the setting, which is saved in Flash along with the other UConf settings, so something is amiss and we'll look into it next week.

Thanks for you're persistence and additional testing.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
HPMike
Posts: 439
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Location: DFW, Texas

Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by HPMike »

rprosperi wrote:
Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:45 pm
Turns out you're totally right, this is indeed a bug, but not where it seems to be.

When testing, I focused on the RESET, which does not change the setting (easily verified) however using the Restore full backup does lose the setting, which is saved in Flash along with the other UConf settings, so something is amiss and we'll look into it next week.

Thanks for you're persistence and additional testing.
Have you found the problem, or is it still under investigation ?
DM15L, S/N 00548. DM42, SN: 00159. DM41X, SN: 00973. DM32, SN 00054.
grsbanks
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Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by grsbanks »

HPMike wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 5:25 pm
Have you found the problem, or is it still under investigation ?
There's a fix being tested that will be in the next firmware release.
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who do not.
Leviset
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Re: USB connection really flaky

Post by Leviset »

I’ve got the same situation. I used my HP Prime cable, copied 2 MOD files and 1 RAW file from Windows laptop to correct directories on DM41X and then the calculator froze and I had to do a reset. Now it starts up but complains there is no State file. I can get to calculator menu but clicking on 1. Load DM41 state file gives “Cannot access /STATE. Neither can the calculator access /PROG.
DISK INFO gives Disk State NOT READY, Storage OK, Required action Run Disk Format, Disk Block Count:1536, Bad Block Count 0, 1st Good Block 0. Also getting Cannot Access Ram.
On a MacBook I get the USB drive needs to be initialised but strangely I can see all of my MOD folder, so some Folders seem OK?
I believe all of this was caused by the flaky USB Connection at the Calculator end, the cable and its connection female are slightly out of line so the cable never quite goes fully in - the slightest movement then crashes before you have time to safely eject.
Dave - how did you recover from this, I’m guessing I’m looking at having to Format and reinstall? Only problem(s) with that is the www.SwissMicros.com/DM41X/fat where you’re told to download a full FAT zíp file doesn’t work (404). I did manage to find the ZIP File eventually but it only contains 3 files - No STATE or PROG folders.

ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated!
Dennis T (Leviset)
I’m undead not unreasonable - Count Dracula
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