Video

That calculator is not allowed when taking the SAT because it’s not on the College Board’s list of approved calculators. Furthermore, some people who have used that calculator and the HP Prime tend to prefer the prime as shown in this discussion: www.reddit.com/r/calculators/comments/bkoxsj/currently_debating_between_casio_cp400_and_hp/

Vcore input and output aka voltage in VRM usually 12volt and (CPU 800mv to 1.55v (usually the maximum on older AMD sockets)

Because my two HP Prime calculators are in the possession of my children who now live away from home, I cannot verify anything by touching the actual calculator. But from memory I can say this... The HP Prime is set to Algebraic mode by default. You mentioned use of RPN. That tells me you have already pressed Shift-Home to open the Settings and then changed "Entry" from "Textbook" to "RPN." If so, we can proceed to the next step. To get STO to work, you enter something you wish to store in a variable. Let's say 5. So type a 5 and press Enter. That will appear on the stack. Now press Shift and then press Vars (to get Chars). Choose an apostrophe character then type out your variable name, then end it in an apostrophe. Example: 'AAA' Then choose OK. Now press Shift and then press EEX (for STO). The 'AAA' vanishes, which is the calculator's way of telling you that 5 has been stored in variable name AAA. The 5 will remain on the stack, however. To RECALL your variable, you just double-press the ALPHA key to initiate character lock and type the name of your variable. In my example, that means you must press the Vars key 3 times to type out AAA. Then press ENTER and your variable will appear on the stack. (In my example, that would be 5.) So that is how to use STO to store a variable and how to RECALL it. Going further, I will say that you can then press the Vars key, then tap on User, then choose User Variables to see a complete list of variables you have saved. In the case of my example, AAA should appear. If you require further assistance that the HP Prime documentation cannot answer (the documentation describes what I just mentioned to you above), I recommend you post your questions in the HP Prime forum here: www.hpmuseum.org/forum/forum-5.html

-Thanks for the detailed explanation. I haven't had a chance to open the HP Prime user guide yet (I will eventually), but your detailed explanation above shows that storing and recalling numbers on the Prime involves many keystrokes. Without the dedicated STO and RCL buttons found on previous generations of HP RPN calculators, the HP Prime lost the keystroke efficiency that HP RPN calculators were known for.

68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/building-an-internal-grayscale-card-for-the-se-30.39910/

Just got my kit earlier today. Exactly like yours. I am so impressed. Very high quality. Very pleasant to use. A solid product that works and will last forever. Too, Probe Master sent with the kit a pamphlet that was the US Constitution. Very thoughtful and I really appreciated the gesture. I called them to thank them for such a great product and for the patriotic gift. As you probably know, their products are all made and assembled in El Cajon, California. It’s impressive to find that a U.S. based company has the best quality product.

It's packed with meaty stuff, so be sure to expand the text description and grab the ZIP archive I mention in the video. Even if you don't have a ROM-inator, the content will be helpful when you use Mini vMac. And don't miss the Stuffit Deluxe 16 download either! Have fun!

Select the most magical 1.3 seconds out of that first 90 seconds and you're golden.

@@JDW- I guess that will have to do....

Yes, this video took me more than a month of intense work to create. A bit part of the process is TESTING. Testing, testing, and more testing. Consulting Steve C. and Rob B., and then doing more testing. Some things I thought were insurmountable problems, I ultimately was able to solve, and the solution is what I show in my video. Besides all that, I spent many hours putting together the software in the ZIP archive, which included writing instructions and also making sure every little thing works flawlessly, so no one using my ZIP archive will run into problems. And then of course, I had to write a script, film and edit. Making CZcams videos is easy when you don't really care, but it's down right hard where you're meticulous. And you have come to learn that on your own channel. And on that note, I wish to commend you for your efforts, Mark! I look forward to seeing more of your own great content soon!

@@JDW- That was a TON of effort you put into that video-and we REALLY APPRECIATE IT James! That’s really time consuming too! Yes, decent videos DO take time! Thank you for the kind words re: my channel! I’ve been doing Lisa research and will be shooting my A Brief History of the Apple Lisa episode very soon!

Be sure to reliving that memory by expanding the text description and grabbing my Zip Archive. Sound Master v1.5 works great when booted into System 4.1 and Finder 5.3, which is a must for a Mac 512K. A Mac Plus can run System 6, so you can run newer versions of SoundMaster, but the operation is pretty much the same as v.1.5. The downside to v1.5 is that you need to create RAW audio files for it, akin to what the ROM-inator needs, and then you need to adjust the Type and Creator so SoundMaster will spot the files on your disk. Newer versions of SoundMaster can accept a wider variety of audio file formats. And of course, as mentioned in my video, System 6.0.4 and later will allow you to use Finder sounds, denoted by an "ƒ" character in the SoundMaster control panel.

Thanks. I know you're a man of details like me, so I consider that high praise. Be sure to check out the text description too. I tried to links to most of what I talked about in the video. I even threw in a link to my T-shirt. Thank you Javier Rivera of 8-bit Tees! 🙂

Thanks. IIsi, you say? Well, my other ROM SIMM video is perfect for you, because those "ROM-inator II" type SIMMs are compatible with your IIsi: czcams.com/video/8eeXd0hVBMk/video.html

Thanks!

It warms my heart to hear that, Frank. Thank you. Nostalgia is a big part of why I’m in this hobby and so enthusiastic about it.

Thank you very much for the tip! I was completely unaware of the "experimental" support for the T48. The last I had checked, there was zero support. So this is good news. I hope to give that a try later this evening. And for those of you reading this, the URL to the software being discussed here is this: gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/minipro/

Okay, I installed MiniPro, and here's my take on it. It's too difficult for the average user to use in the macOS Terminal. Even if someone is comfortable in the Terminal, you're reading and writing chips here, so I think it would make such work error prone. Besides, using the Terminal to get work done is hardly different from DOS in the 1980s. It's the command line. So I would not recommend my fellow Mac users to use MiniPro in the Terminal. Instead... I recommend everyone install the GUI interface, which is just a nicer face slapped onto MiniPro, which you still need to install via the Terminal. Download the GUI app here: github.com/DLXXV-Kelvin/MiniPro-GUI/blob/main/MiniPro%20GUI.zip This video takes you through setup of the GUI interface: czcams.com/video/LeMdDJGHK2Y/video.htmlsi=viujadKETbnUrAu9 There are scary "T48 support is experimental" warnings everywhere, which is a bother, but it can't be helped. I attached my T48 via USB to my late 2015 5K iMac at the office and was able to verify the programmer and chip operation. I didn't spend too much time with it, but everything I tried worked as expected. With that said, the official Windoze (proper spelling) app supported by the T48 manufacturer in China is easier overall to use than the GUI app on the Mac. But the upside is that we Mac users at least have a good option, especially when a household lacks a PC to use. So thank you for bringing the T48 compatibility to my attention. MiniPro can be a lifesaver for some!

I tried minipro on both macOS and Linux and could never get it to work properly. A lot of CLI tools make gross assumptions you know all of what’s to be known and their help isn’t much help. If there’s a guide [even notes] on proper use of minipro….lets make that into a guide somewhere…so we don’t have to resort to having a windoze PC around for our chip burning needs.

@@cool_tr6 Be sure to expand out my previous post and click the CZcams link I provided. That fellow shows how to setup the GUI. I followed what he did and was able to get it to work. But even before that, I use a few commands in the Terminal to see if communication worked, and my T48 responded. The GUI app is just a more friend face on the command line. It's not as fully fleshed out as the dedicated Windoze (proper spelling) app is, but for Mac-only homes, it can come in handy. With that said, I only spent a half hour or so on it last night. I did not flash any chips either. Just confirmed communication was working, and I did a blank check on an ancient UV-erasable PIC I had in my drawer since the 1990s. The chip responded without issue.

Thank you for making time to let me know your 12c Gold battery life. Twelve years is excellent! 👍

I cannot understand if you had success or failure with that card in your iMac. But what I can say is that the 6970M, when flashed with iMac compatible firmware (not just an out-of-box card for Windows PCs), the card will function properly in a late 2009 Core 2 Duo iMac. But as was true in the case of my late 2009 Intel i7 iMac 27", so cutting of plastic is required to make the card physically fit. Heat and power consumption were not an issue for my model, but I am unsure about the Core 2 Duo. Regardless, using something like MacsFanControl is prudent to ensure fans run faster than normal to keep your machine cooler, in light of the fact it will run hotter than before.

I absolutely have no idea. I can’t even tell you what thermal pads are required for the card that is at the heart of my video series. And that is precisely why I recommendK5 Pro, which is a thermal pad replacement paste. The benefits of that or that you don’t need to measure anything. You just put it on and then any excess will squeeze out the sides. It works no differently than a normal thermal pad, just better because no measuring and sizing is required.

@@JDW- ​ @JDW- Tnanks. I ended up going with the pads because of the import fee's associated with the K5/K4 Pro (it's not sold locally in South Africa). After some research I'v taken a chance and ordered 1.5mm pads. I'v also ordered a Quadro K1100M because it likely doesn't have the design flaw of the older ATI Radeon cards, despite having one or two issues with the OS.

@Ambience20 Global availability of K5 Pro is unfortunately hit and miss. Thank you for letting me know. Please feel free to report back with an update about how your 1.5mm thermal pads fit.

Thank you for sharing your old Mac adventure story. I’m happy to take the blame because recapping and upgrades are what the hobby is all about. I’m actually working on a script for a new video right now where I revisit the original ROM-inator (for the 128K, 512K and Plus), showing people how to make and flash longer boot chimes. It’s all part of the fun in making these machines do incredible things that wasn’t possible back in the day. Of course, only geeks like this sort of thing, but like you, a wear my geekiness as a badge of honor! Best wishes!

Maybe its better to ask about solid vs liquid capacitors. Can I switch to solid polymer or ceramic of the same voltage, capacitance, temp? I've found a couple solid polymers and 1 dipped ceramic (very expensive) but none of them are AEC-Q200 rated. Would it be better to get those or go with a liquid cap rated for AEC-Q200?

To eliminate need to swap them out again, you would need a solid electrolyte capacitor. “Hybrid Polymer” only better in terms of certain specifications relative to normal aluminum electrolytic capacitors. But the fact remains that Hybrids have a FLUID (not solid) electrolyte, and anything fluid will find its way out over time. Even if the fluid by some miracle never leaks, it can dry out. This is why the idea capacitor has a solid electrolyte which can never leak or dry out. And such a capacitor can be found on Mouser, matching your physical size criterion, as well as capacitance, voltage and high hour rating at 105°C: www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Chemi-Con/APSG250ELL221MHB5S?qs=nxZbHzLpdve2AQv2batcYQ%3D%3D Of course, my proposed replacement does not have AEC-Q200 certification. Many capacitors you look for in recapping applications don’t. Admittedly, you are the first person who has come along wanting to recap an automotive ECU. I have worked 30 years in the vehicle aftermarket, and I can say that for our aftermarket products, we almost never use capacitors with AEC-Q200 stress test certification to save cost, and we’ve never had a capacitor failure. However, we deal in vehicle security systems, not the ECU. The ECU is a critical vehicle component, so it is prudent to have the best capacitors possible. AEC-Q200 guarantees you a capacitor which has been tested in a way that comes close to matching the harsh environment of a vehicle. With that said, fluid-filled aluminum electrolytic capacitors are not great capacitors to begin with. Their ESR rises a surprising amount at 0°C and lower, and longevity centers on their fluid electrolyte not leaking or drying up. These are things that cannot be resolved by AEC-Q200 stress testing. In comparison, the solid electrolyte capacitor I linked for you above is superior in many ways to the stock capacitors in your ECU. They are simply not stress tested. Also, when considering hour-rating, you need to also consider that capacitor manufacturers don’t guarantee anything beyond 20 years or so, regardless of what the math calculates with respect to the hour-rating and the average temperature in your environment. For example, you can find some high-hour rating aluminum electrolytic capacitors rated at 125°C, and the math may suggest they have a 40-year life, but in reality, that fluid inside them limits their life, and as I said, the make of those parts doesn’t guarantee their operation beyond 20 years or so. My only concern about swapping out with a very low ESR type like the capacitor I linked for you is that I have no idea how they are used in your ECU. If there is a switching power supply on the ECU board and if those capacitors are critical components in that power supply, it could be the power supply requires a minimum ESR for the capacitors used. Probably not in the case of 200µF capacitors, but I cannot say for sure. What happens if the switching power supply controller requires capacitors with a minimum ESR but you use something lower than the minimum? Well, the output of that power supply would very likely become noisy at best, completely unstable at worst. But sans having a schematic, the only way to know would be to swap them out and test. But because an ECU is a critical car component, the best approach would be to put an oscilloscope on the voltage output to ensure it remains stable after recap. Meaning, you would need to see the noise on the output voltage before and after the recap to compare. And I’m guessing that you may not have a scope. This is the best advice I can give you, but I would strongly suggest you visit the EEVBlog forum and put your question to the engineers there because some will surely have automotive ECU design experience and can give you more experienced advice. Keep in mind though that recapping is not embraced by everyone. Some people think it’s a crazy idea. It is in some cases but not in others, so don’t be discouraged by people who claim you never need to recap anything. There are people like that. But it could be that posting in the EEVBlog forum will garner you more specific advice, especially in regard to AEC-Q200 certification for replacement capacitors you intend to use in an important vehicle component like an ECU.

@@JDW- Wow, thank you for taking so much time to help me! I am very interested in that polymer option you found, even though it doesn’t have the AEC-Q200 certification. I compared the stress test data from the datasheet with a liquid AEC-Q200 cap and they are fairly similar. The ECU I am working on is what I might call poorly designed for future maintenance. The circuit board isn’t even a circuit board, it’s like a giant flexible…ribbon cable? Which is adhered to a sheet of aluminum and bent over like a book. It was very hard to get open and has some minor damage just from that so I really don’t want to have to do it again. Most ECU’s are a typical metal box with a solid PCB screwed inside it. If it were a lot easier to open up I would be less concerned about putting liquid caps back in because I could just recap it every 15 years or so. Anyways. I am not very experienced with electronics, I’m your average diy. So I don’t know about the possibility of it having a switching power supply. (I also don’t have a scope or the knowledge of testing with one.) I wonder if I could get you a picture of the ECU where the 3 caps are located if you could tell me if it looks like it has what you were talking about or not? It may not be the best comparison, but there is a guy on youtube who replaced liquid caps with solid polymer in his ECU 4 years ago it seems he has had no problems. His was from a different make/year than mine though. If I do replace mine with the solid polymer I will be making some extra precautions for heat and humidity although I doubt there will be an issue. I couldn’t find a schematic of the ecu but I found a connector pinout which mentioned the voltage to the ecu is only 5v. I’m not sure if that tells us anything or not. I will likely check out the EEVblog as well. It will be a couple months before I do the recap but I’m getting my homework done ahead of time. Please let me know if a picture of the PCB would help decide if solid polymers will be a good idea or not Thanks again!

@wekeeptruckin it could be that only 5V enters your ECU but there may be a 5V to 3.3V step down converter on it. You could take a photo and post it to an online sharing service and try to post a link to that here, but it would need to be high enough resolution to see the part numbers on the chips to know if it’s a switching power supply. The entire point here is determine if there is indeed a switching power supply on the ECU and if so, what is the main controller chip part number, and then Google that part number so as to find a datasheet l to see what the input and output capacitor requirements are with regard to ESR (resistance of the capacitors). If there is no minimum ESR, then you have nothing to worry about when using very low ESR polymer capacitors.

@@JDW- Ok, I will look into the photo thing. I am a bit concerned about the humidity factor causing premature wear on the polymers. Do those need to breathe or could I coat them in silicone caulking or conformal coating to seal them off from humidity?

Thank you for your feedback. "Constantly trying to eject" is NOT normal behavior. As I mention at 12:44 though, mismatched ROMs and 400K drives will result only in a Sad Mac, not a constant eject problem. Most likely, one of the black plastic IR sensors is dirty or otherwise blocked. If you watch from 21:45, you will see me remove a plastic piece from the middle of one of those IR sensors (aka "optical sensors"). That moving plastic piece must be removed for inspection and cleaning. Also, that IR sensor near the front of the drive detects whether or not a disk is inserted. A different IR sensor pertains to the eject mechanism. I would suggest you inspect and clean all the IR sensors, then test again. If the problem is gone, you're done. If the problem is not solved, it could be anything from a jammed mechanical part that requires lubrication, to a fault on the circuit board. But when investigating problems like that, it's often helpful to have more than one vintage Mac in which to test, to ensure you can rule out issues possibly caused by the Mac itself. I don't think the Mac is causing the problem in your case. I am just trying to speculate "what ifs" right now, assuming your IR Sensor cleaning doesn't work. I suspect it will though as such has worked for me in the past.

@@JDW- Thanks for your reply, regarding the black Sensor, I cleaned the sensor and nothing is in the middle of it. The behavior is only when no disk is inserted. Any other Idea?

@@user-xp8yl5pk7w When you said there is "nothing in the middle of it," I assume you mean there is no dirt there, but if you mean there is no plastic piece there, it's a problem. Because as you can see in my video, there must be a moving piece of plastic in the middle part of that sensor. If you have no dirty and you also have the correct piece of plastic (which slides) in the middle of your sensor, and if you have indeed inspected and cleaned all the IR sensors, not just that one, then like I said in my previous reply, the problem could be related to something frozen up on the drive. Your opening post indicates you fully cleaned and lubed the drive, that would point to another problem. But those problems are rare. In the vast majority of cases, "constant ejection" problems pertain to the optical sensors. The other problems are problems indeed because they pertain to either the ejection motor or the circuit board itself. And that's why I said in my previous reply that having another Mac of the same type is useful, so you can try the drive in that other Mac to see if it has the same problem, and if it does, then you know the problem is absolutely on the drive, and the problem has nothing to do with the Mac at all.

@@JDW- Yes no dirt, sprint is working and the plastic arm is there moving perfectly. Maybe the Sensor is bad... The question will be if I can get a replacement, part. The one on the left must be the issue.

@@user-xp8yl5pk7w Your best option is to find a cheap or free junk 400K drive for the purpose of using its parts. Most likely, the junk drive is just mechanically frozen and has a good circuit board and sensors. In fact, if you had such a drive, you could swap the PCB to see if that made a change. If not, you could then resort to swapping only that one IR sensor. I do this sort of thing myself. I usually have working devices and then junk devices as spare parts. I know this isn’t the type of fast solution you are seeking, but I’m afraid that you’ve already tried cleaning the sensor and found that didn't work, and you’ve cleaned and lubed the drive itself, which is why the only explanation for the continued troubles must be either a bad sensor or something wrong on the circuit board.

Thank you for letting me know. I have updated the Mouser cart so there are no more backordered items. If your question about the RIFA pertains to the one on the Analog Board, that is contained in the Mouser Cart I provide in the text description under my Analog Board video here: czcams.com/video/Ng8F_QVgaTc/video.html

@JDW- fantastic thank you!! I want to replace as many parts that should be replaced as I can but very new to understanding the compatible modern vs old caps and other components. These lists are a life saver. If you have any other that you'd suggest that would be supper helpful! Thank you again JDW-!!

Thank you for your kind words. You asked if I have any other capacitor lists, and the answer is that I do, depending on the configuration of your machine. For example, there are electrolytic capacitors inside floppy drives, and I have recapping videos about that, whether it be 400K, 800K, or 1.44MB. Floppy Drive Maintenance czcams.com/play/PLNZ4qjMn-GHqrhYQMnoam-60tCEMctXGp.html

@JDW- oh great to know! I have the Sony drives. There are a little strange and not those thin ones. I will check on the exact number and serial name. Great to know!

I'd argue it's the best calculator ever made, even for technical people who can't program. Alas, most people have a Brain Cloud that prevents them from learning RPN. And yet, RPN is what great HP calculators are all about. Therein lies greatness!

It maybe true, but it has a very terrible screen that's extremely hard to read under most lighting conditions.

We are discussing the HP 50g here, so if you are referring to that, I must say you are the first person I’ve heard who has remarked that the LCD is “terrible.” Younger folks who are primarily comparing older display technology to state-of-the-art iPhone display tech would of course share your sentiments. But when I personally use my 50g in a room with lighting that’s adequate for me to read a piece of paper without straining my eyes, I find the 50g to be completely adequate and most certainly not “terrible.“ But if I were a younger person demanding a very high resolution backlit color screen, and if I were to use a 50g, I would of course find it lacking “in comparison.“ So it really does depend on you, and what you’re comparing it to.

@@JDW- As much as I'd like to believe I'm still a member of the "Younger folks," I'm over 60. My first calculator in college was the HP-41c. Then I moved on to the HP-42s. The HP-42s had a worse display than the HP-41c, but it was still very decent. I also own an HP-12c, HP-17BII, HP-19BII, HP-30b, HP-33s, HP-34s, HP-50g, and an HP Prime that I bought two weeks ago. The HP-34c has a great high-contrast display with a large viewing angle. The HP-50g has BY FAR the worst display of them all, and I'm NOT comparing the HP-50g's display to bright cell phone displays. The display of the HP-50g has a very limited viewing angle and is only usable during the day with bright background lighting. It's exceedingly hard to read at night when it's illuminated with desk lamps.

@@stevew3978 Thank you for clarifying. It must simply be a difference between our eyes then. Because the way my eyes see my HP calculator displays is pretty much the way my 4K camera shows the LCDs in my video. For example, let's compare my older 48GX LCD to the newer 50g. See 22:40 for the 48GX LCD. See 24:06 for the 50g display, which when compared to what you just saw on the 48GX display is clearer to my eyes, especially because the background color on the 50g is lighter and more white than the 48GX. I also adjust the LCD "Contrast" by way of pressing-and-holding the ON button and then pressing "+" or "-" to increase or decrease the contrast (i.e., adjust for your viewing angle). With that said, I can only describe my personal use case and show what my camera sees in my video. That doesn't put me in your shoes, of course. So everyone will have their own take on what their own eyes see, with or without glasses. I'm still a youngster at the age of 53, but I am looking at my calculator without glasses. Looking through corrective lenses may obscure the screen, perhaps.

Lamentablemente, HP no se ha mostrado entusiasmado con sus productos de calculadora desde hace mucho tiempo. Y, hasta donde yo sé, ningún proveedor externo se ha ofrecido nunca a ofrecer este tipo de piezas de repuesto.

Thank you for your kind words. MLCC caps (aka ceramic capacitors) are not polarized. They work properly in either orientation.

@@JDW- Thanks for the quick response and helpful information! I really appreciate it!

Sometimes, but not all the time. It could be that your backlight simply is not working, and to confirm that you need to power on the machine and then shine a flashlight into the screen. If you see something, the backlight is the problem. If you see nothing, it’s the graphics card.

@@JDW- do i need to also renew the thermal paste or not, when baking the GC?

@@Mikey_Official Absolutely positively REMOVE all the existing thermal paste BEFORE your bake! Then after the bake and after your card cools, you will need to apply new thermal paste. I recommend K5 Pro on the memory chips because it is a thermal pad replacement paste that can be used without need to measure anything. I recommend Arctic MX-4 paste on the GPU chip, not only because it has good thermal transfer, but because it has 8-year durability. Use 99% or 100% IPA to clean off the old paste. Yes, 70% will work, but it has a lot of water in it. 100% IPA has no water and is a more powerful cleaner, and it won't harm your PCB either.

@@JDW- how much does all of this gonna cost me, and can i just use a regular thermal paste on the chip and the gpu instead?

If the replacements are properly chosen, in terms of the capacitors, the answer to your question is yes. But it could be that another component within your CRT TV might fail in the next 30 years. Specifically, the flyback transformer is often a point of failure.