Power consumption

Apparently Punix consumes almost as much power when it's powered off as TI-AMS does when it's powered on and idle. :(

Punix draws about 6 milliamps when it's powered off, compared to the 90 microamps that TI-AMS draws (this means that Punix lasts about a week on a set of fresh batteries, while TI-AMS lasts for months). Punix also draws about twice as much current while powered on and idle: 16 milliamps versus 8 milliamps. The "busy" current draw is the same for both: about 32 milliamps.

Clearly something is drawing about 6 milliamps more in Punix than in TI-AMS (I suspect the LCD screen draws about 2 milliamps when it is on: 6+8+2=16). Tracing through both systems in TiEmu showed that both execute almost the same code while powered down. Both systems wake up once per second (to update the system clock) and execute about 500-600 CPU clock cycles before putting the processor back to sleep. As the CPU is active for only 0.005% of the time, I doubt it is responsible for the (relatively) high power consumption.

I need to see how much current PedroM draws in each case, and if it's low like TI-AMS, I'll have to see what it does during idle periods that Punix doesn't (or vice versa).

Update: PedroM draws almost the same amount of current as TI-AMS in all cases. I modified the cpupoweroff() function in Punix to look more like PedroM's Trap #5 handler (which is used for turning off the calculator), and now Punix draws nearly 120 microamps while powered off. This is still about 33% higher than either PedroM or TI-AMS, but it's much better than before. The current draw while Punix is powered on and idle is still about 16 milliamps. I need to change more stuff to reduce that figure; perhaps my Int 1 handler is too heavyweight.

Gopher site

I have a new Gopher site with TI calculator stuff!

If you have a Gopher client or a browser that supports Gopher, visit gopher://christop.mooo.com/ now!

If you have a lame browser (such as IE) that doesn't support Gopher, visit http://christop.mooo.com:70/ now!

If you want to add Gopher support to your browser, install the Overbite plugin for Firefox/Seamonkey or Chrome, then you can browse Gopher sites directly, without Web gateways.

Why do I have a Gopher site?

I use Gopher because it's simple and easy to publish hierarchically-organized content (primarily text files) and link to other sites—Web sites, other Gopher sites, or even FTP sites.

It's simple like FTP but better. It's organized like an organized Web site but simpler, because I don't have to mess around with graphics and style sheets and all that fancy, superficial stuff. I can just write a text file and an optional description for it, and it shows up on my site where I put it.

Lately I've been using the site for publishing Punix and other calculator-related project design documents. I've quite a few documents that I've not published anywhere else, so if you want to see some Punix designs happen before they happen anywhere else (if they ever do), you know where to go!

Beta 5 is released!

More than a year after the last release, I'm happy to announce the release of Punix beta 5!

All files: http://sourceforge.net/projects/punix/files/betas/

TI-89: punix-89-beta5.89u
TI-92+: punix-9x-beta5.9xu
Source: punix-beta5.tgz

New section in the README file:

What is new in Beta 5?

This is the first beta to run on real hardware! I am currently running Punix on my TI-92+. It's still highly incomplete, but the hardware drivers have been proven to work correctly on the Real Thing. As a real calculator has limited power (batteries), this release now supports power-off with the key combinations 2nd-ON or Diamond-ON.

This beta also includes a short clip from The Blue Danube Waltz (to demonstrate the audio capabilities) as well as preliminary grayscale support. The console font has been anti-aliased to take advantage of this new grayscale support.

For those who are interested in running this release on their own calculator, here are some quick installation instructions. First make sure that you have a GraphLink cable (or a homemade variant) and TiLP installed on your computer. TI-Connect might work as an alternative to TiLP, but I've never used it so I can't say whether it works.

1. Start TiLP and navigate to the directory that contains the .9xu/.89u file.
2. Pull out one of the calculator's batteries.
3. Reinsert the battery while holding the APPS key until the bootloader screen appears (It will say "Press I to install product code...").
4. Press "I". The bootloader should say "Waiting to receive..."
5. In TiLP, drag the appropriate .xxu file from the computer side to the calculator side. If you have a TI-92+, drag the .9xu file. If you have a TI-89, drag the .89u file. (Sorry, only these calculators are supported currently.)
6. Wait for the transfer to complete. This should take a couple minutes.
7. Punix will automatically boot after installation.

If the transfer fails, you may have to repeat step 5, or possibly steps 2 through 5.

Please be aware that Punix does not have an "Auto Power Down" (APD) feature yet, so you will have to power down the calculator with 2nd-ON when it is not in use.

How to install Punix on a calculator

I've gotten some interest and questions lately about installing Punix on a real calculator. Note that I have not yet uploaded a new version of Punix that will run properly on a real calculator. I will try to get the latest fixes and a new build uploaded sometime this week. Also note that Punix is experimental and incomplete. I cannot be held responsible for any damge it might cause to your calculator, no matter how unlikely that is. It hasn't damaged my calculator, and I haven't gotten any reports that it's damaged anyone else's calculator, but you have been warned.

Here's a short FAQ for those who want to try Punix on their calculator:

Q. Does Punix wipe the factory default OS?
A. Yes, Punix replaces the existing OS and all user files. However, you can download a new version of the TI-OS from http://education.ti.com if you decide to go back to the original OS.

Q. Which calculators does Punix run on?
A. Punix currently has the best support for the TI-92+, since that is the only TI-68k calculator that I own, but I will upload versions of Punix for the TI-92+, TI-89, TI-89 Titanium, and Voyage 200.

Q. Will Punix run on the TI-Nspire?
A. Nope. The TI-Nspire has completely different hardware than the TI-68k series. I don't have much interest in developing for the TI-Nspire anyway, so somebody else will have to port Punix, or maybe even a port of Linux, as the hardware seems to be capable of running Linux.

Q. How do I install Punix on a calculator?
A. You will first need to have a GraphLink cable (or a homemade variant) and TiLP installed on your computer. TI-Connect might work as an alternative to TiLP, but I've never used it so I can't say whether it works. Pull out one of the calculator's batteries and, while holding the APPS key, reinsert the battery. Keep pressing the APPS button until the bootloader screen appears so that it says Press I to install code... (it shouldn't take more than a couple seconds for the bootloader to appear). Press "I", and then in TiLP drag the appropriate .xxu file to the calculator. For example, drag the .89u if you have a TI-89 or the .9xu if you have a TI-92+. It will take about a minute or two to transfer and install Punix. Once it is installed, it will automatically boot into Punix. Be aware that Punix does not have "Auto Power Down" (APD) yet, so you will have to power down the calculator manually with 2nd-ON.

First time real calc!

I've been hesitant, until now, to install Punix on a real calculator, but I have finally done so. Here is a photo of my first test on a real TI-92+:

I was pleasantly surprised that it booted and functioned very much as it does in TiEmu. The grayscale is very slightly flickery, but it's tolerable. However, there are a few differences or glitches:

• Address error exceptions do not work. This exception works flawlessly in the emulator. All other exceptions work fine (eg, illegal instruction, division by zero, etc), so I have to figure out what's wrong with this one exception.
• LCD does not shut off with ctrl- or alt-ON. A single dark blue or black row of pixels stays on the screen, every time in a different row. The screen also fades back in weird when I turn the calc back on. I probably just didn't write to the LCD register(s) properly.
• Last, and perhaps the most worrisome difference, the clock speed is way off. A short timing indicates the calculator is about 33% too slow. The interrupt that should fire once per second (int 3) fires about 2 times in a 3-second period. The supposed 256-Hz (int 1) and programmable timer (int 5) also run proportionally slower, ie about 170 Hz and 5461 Hz (this should be 8192 Hz for audio). My batteries are fresh, and I'm fairly sure that I have a HW2 92+; Punix crashed badly in HW1 mode in TiEmu, so it'd probably crash on my real 92+ if it were HW1. Grayscale also wouldn't work correctly either.

This is a good start, but now I have a good sense of what needs to be fixed.

Update 2012-03-09: I have fixed all issues but the address error exception. Turns out I incorrectly wrote to the screen's hardware registers to shut it off, and the register that controls the OSC2 rate was set incorrectly. Grayscale is also less flickery as a result of fixing the rate, and audio output sounds just as good as it does in TiEmu (that is, like garbage :)).

Floating point, grayscale, scheduler, audio, and PS/2 keyboard?

While I haven't posted any updates lately, I've been working on Punix and occasionally posting my progress on the Cemetech forums.
I have also had family issues for the past few months now that have taken much of my free time.
Here's a summary of what I've done since last time:

• M68881 FPU emulator is still under development, but a few instructions work well so far: fmove, fadd, fmul, fsub, fabs, and fneg. Execution speeds for fadd/fsub and fmul are faster than the equivalent operations in PedroM (which uses a slower BCD floating-point format to be compatible with TI-AMS).
• Four-level grayscale! Currently only HW2 is supported, but that's probably more common than HW1 anyway. Text glyphs are also anti-aliased to take advantage of grayscale.
• The scheduler has been tested quite thoroughly by now. I recently stress-tested it by running a few dozen busy processes at various "nice" levels, while also playing audio. Surprisingly, playing audio at the base nice level (zero) with 43 busy processes resulted in smooth, skip-free sound.
• I'm playing with the idea of adding a PS/2 driver which will allow a user to plug a regular keyboard into the link port (with an appropriate adapter) and start typing away on it. This is a low-priority feature, but I'm the most excited about it at the moment.