The Tungsten PDA

Scientific calculators from Hewlett-Packard is a great ally for when we have to pegarnos with some complex calculations. But since we have a Palm, would not it be better to keep a machine instead of two? Well, it is possible, as there is an emulator of the HP scientific calculators 48SX, 48GX and 49g (49g in the concrete, is mostly used in my university, and I've seen her do real wonders).

This is the HP 49g

Power48 is the emulator that allows us to have any of these advanced calculators on the Palm. It is free and open software, based on an earlier project called Emu48, which ran under Windows and PocketPC. To be able to run it, we need a high-resolution Palm, with Palm OS 5, color display 16-bit ARM processor and 16MB of internal memory.

It is better to have a display of 320x480 pixels

To use this program, as always in these cases need the emulator and ROMs of these calculators. For reasons of copyright are not included and with the same program, but HP has been kind enough to allow us to have the ROMs as long as we possess the original calculator, and whether it be for a non-profit. Therefore the facility has no problem:

• The first step is to download the emulator and unpack it in a directory on your hard disk. For example in "C: \ Power48."
• Download the ROM of the calculator that we want to emulate. They are freely available on the homepage of HPCalc, and I have gathered links to simplify your search:
  • ROM of the HP 48SX: http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/pc/emulators/sxrom-j.zip
  • ROM of the HP 48GX: http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/pc/emulators/gxrom-r.zip
  • ROM of the HP 49g: http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/pc/rom/beta1196.zip
  There's a lot of information about calculators and their emulators on this, this and this page.
• Decompress the ROMS in the directory where we had put the Power48 (in our case "C: \ Power48"). Now we open a command window of Windows ( "Start Menu-> Accessories-> Symbol System") and do the following:
  • We entered into that directory. For example "cd C: \ Power48" if that is where we unpacked everything.

  • Became the ROMS that we have here decompressed, to a format that understands Power48. To do this we use the utility p48rc that accompanies the emulator. The syntax is "p48rc file-source destination." Fate can be "CARD" (that is necessary in CAPS) if we keep the ROMS in our SD card (recommended), or "INTERNAL", if they are to be stored in the memory of the Palm. For example, to convert the three ROMs, and then copy them to the SD card, it would make the following orders:

    p48rc.exe sxrom j-CARD
    p48rc.exe gxrom r-CARD
    p48rc.exe rom.49g CARD
    

  • In that directory will appear three files ending in. P48rom. They are the ones that interest us. The copy with some method of already commented, in the directory of the SD card \ PALM \ programs \ Power48. Also during the hotsync can be transferred to the card, if we have executed before the Power48 in Palm.
  • Finally, we installed the Power48 as we would with any other program.

You are now ready for use. A few quick tips: If you have copied the ROMs in internal memory and SD card, is the first preference, so best to copy them in one place to avoid misunderstandings. To change the calculator model to emulate, one need only to tap into the HP logo. On page http://www.hpcalc.org/ can find endless information about these calculators, such as the instruction manual. In the Power48 explains how to use the emulator.

Now your PDA also serves as a high-end graphics calculator.

Published: to be able to emulate the 49g in a T | X, it is necessary to install this program.

Published: there appears to be an optimized version for TX. This is the direct download. Thanks Jaime.

By: Mark Gonzalez Troyes in Palm Analysis
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Labeling: calculator, emulator, hp, HP48, palm, pda

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