HPGComm is
the software for communicating
between the HP38/39/40G calculators and a computer using a cable. This
is a port of the
HPGComm
software from Windows so that it can be run on Unix/Linuxes and Mac OS
X.
This program, like the original, is licensed under the
GNU General Public License
version 2. This means that the source code is freely available and
modifiable. The source code for the Windows version on which this is
based is available at
this
web site.
At this stage it is quite limited, but usable, there is no user
interface, but its better than
what there was before.
NEW! Screen captures can
be taken with version 1.1 or later.
NEW!
User interface CommUI released, can be used with version 1.2 or later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Requirements
HPGComm for Unix/Mac OS X requires a Unix-compatible system with a C++
compiler installed. Most Linuxes should be suitable, as are recent
versions of Mac OS X.
Currently, HPGComm for Unix/Mac OS X has been tested on Mac OS X 10.3.1
Panther and Knoppix 3.3.
Mac OS X users will require a USB-Serial adaptor in addition to the
standard connectivity cable. Your adaptor
must have a Mac OS X driver (note:
not classic mode). IOGear and Keyspan both market such cables, among
others, and offer a suitable driver. (I'm using a Targus cable (model
PA088) with the Magic Technology driver).
The user interface runs under Java 1.4 and is compatible with version
1.2 or later of HPGComm for Unix/Mac OS X and HPGComm for Windows (if
run on Windows).
Download
Mac OS X users should download the combo version below.
Download HPGUnixComm now!
(Version 1.20, updated 23 December 2003)
Other versions available:
Version 1.20 adds support for
CommUI, better handling of command line parameters, an improved man
page, and fixing of a bug in XMODEM.
Version 1.11 improves the ./configure
script, adds the
license which was missing on a couple of the files and makes hpgcomm print its version
number each time it is run.
Version 1.1 adds screen capture
support (to Windows .BMP format) and better information about Kermit
transfers to the basic version 1.0 released yesterday (16/12/2003).
Running HPGUnixComm
HPGUnixComm requires compilation and/or
installation before being
run on your computer. Please follow the instructions below:
Linux users:
- Open a console window and navigate to the directory
containing hpgcomm-1.0.tar.gz
- Type tar zxvf
hpgcomm-1.0.tar.gz and press Enter.
- Type cd hpgcomm-1.0
and press Enter.
- Type ./configure
and press Enter. If there are any errors, let
me know.
- Type make install
and press Enter. Again, let me know if
there are errors. You may need to become the superuser in order to
install. The program is installed by default into /usr/local/bin.
- The program should be installed.
- Type hpgcomm
and press Enter. The following message will appear if the program is
installed correctly. If the command is not found, make sure /usr/local/bin is in your PATH variable.
- (Optional) Download and run the commui.jar file and run it
instead of using the command line with the command java -jar commui.jar
Mac OS X users:
If you downloaded the HPGComm and CommUI bundle:
- Double-click on the hpgcomm-1.2-commui-0.7.dmg.gz
file you downloaded. (This step may have been done for you.) If the
volume doesn't mount automatically, double-click it again.
- Open the volume that appears on your desktop.
- Drag the HPGComm application into your Applications folder.
- Double-click on HPGComm to run the program.
- The first time you run the program, you will be asked for
the settings. Press Find File... and click Yes to locate HPGComm, and
enter the correct path to your serial port in the bottom field. Then
press OK.
- Follow the instructions onscreen to communicate with the
calculator. Let me know if you have
problems.
If you downloaded the source
code.
- Double-click on the hpgcomm-1.0.tar.gz
file you downloaded. (This step may have been done for you.) This will
open Stuffit Expander to extract the file.
- Open the Terminal application from the Utilities folder of
Applications.
- Change to the folder you extracted the file from (eg, if
you downloaded it to your Desktop, type cd ~/Desktop and press Enter.
- Type cd hpgcomm-1.0
and press Enter.
- Type ./configure
and press Enter. Let me know if you get
any errors.
- Type make install
and press Enter. You will have to be an Administrator for this to be
successful.
- Type hpgcomm
and press Enter. If the message does not appear, try typing /usr/local/bin/hpgcomm instead.
- Close Terminal by pressing Command-Q.
The message that should appear
is:
HPGComm
modified for Unix
Copyright
2003 Joshua King,
Derived
from HPGComm for Windows,
Copyright
January 2001 HP and Jean-Pierre Bergamin.
This
program is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2.
For
more information, see the COPYING file distributed with this program.
Usage:
/usr/local/bin/hpgcomm
<path to serial port>
Please
run this program from the directory containing your calculator files.
Press
Control+C or Control+/ to stop the program.
To run HPGUnixComm, you need to know the device name for your serial
port. For Linux users, this is likely to be
/dev/ttyS0 or
/dev/ttyS1, and on Mac OS X,
something along the lines of
/dev/tty.USB
Serial or
/dev/tty.usbserial.
Then run
hpgcomm portname and press Enter
(from a console window). You will now be able to transmit files as
normal. Press Control+C on your keyboard to stop communication.
For further information please consult the README file included in the
archive you downloaded.
Compatibility:
There shouldn't be many compatibility issues with this software. If
your serial port works, and you can compile programs for Linux, it
should work. You can always
contact me if
you have problems.
Bugs and Crashes:
At this early stage of development, there are bound to be bugs and
crashes. To help me fix these and deliver a quality final product,
please
e-mail me with any
logs, the files in use at the time of the crash, and your system
configuration.