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View Full Version : Emulating Texas Instruments’ calculators under Windows Mobile


Menneisyys
06-01-2007, 10:39 AM
Many of you may have already heard of Texas Instruments’ excellent calculators; most importantly, the (currently) top-of-the line TI-89/92 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-89) and, for high school students, the most recommended TI-84 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti-84) series.

These calculators can be much more powerful than native Windows Mobile calculators
They are free (as opposed to some commercial Windows Mobile calculators), assuming, of course, you have the original device
while there are some excellent unit conversion apps for Windows Mobile (for example, Burr Oak Software's Conversions In Hand, Fann Software's ConverterCE Pro or TranCreative's MxConverter Comprehensive Edition for Pocket PC), the built-in unit conversion capabilities of these calculators are excellent (example screenshot HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/TI89unitconversion1.png) (accessible after pressing 2nd + 3 on a TI-89) and HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/TI89unitconversion2.png))
may already be well-known to you if you’ve actively been using them in real life (no need to learn the interface of a new calculator software – you can just go on with your already well-known one)
have GREAT third-party software add-on support (as far as the newer models, manufactured in the last 14-15 years, are concerned)

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/ti89PocketEmulatorMain.bmp.png

This means it might be far more advantageous to check them out instead of trying to find a native Windows Mobile implementation. In this review, I scrutinize all the available solutions, going back in time. That is, at first, I review the most up-to-date emulators and, then, go back in time to discuss emulators of other (less powerful / capable) calculators. This means the first part of the review will be of interest to anyone wanting to get some decent calculator software or just doesn’t want to keep her or his calculator around when the Windows Mobile handheld is capable of doing (almost) the same. Latter chapters of this roundup will mostly please people like me – that is, classic for example LED calculators, which have long been dwarfed with more recent models.

Please also consult the linked-in Wiki pages on the original calculators themselves. Here, I will only elaborate on stuff directly connected to Windows Mobile-based emulation and the like – that is, stuff completely missing from the original Wiki articles. You may also want to follow ticalc.org’s calculator pages (http://www.ticalc.org/basics/calculators/index.html).

Before embarking on listing the available (with special emphasis on current) models, let me point out that higher model / series number doesn’t correspond to being newer. That is, for example, the TI-84 series, while considerably newer than the TI-89 series, have a lower number. Also worth mentioning is the fact that TI has several (graphing) models, all targeted to different market segment. For example, a high school student doesn’t necessarily need derivation / integration capabilities (dunno if high schools in the States do teach these subjects for regular high school students – here in Europe, these are only taught in specialized high schools) – it’d be an overkill for her or him to pay extra for a calculator that offers these advanced capabilities. That is, instead of the most advanced (and expensive) TI-89/92/V200 series, a high school student will most probably want to get a cheaper TI-84 Plus (SE) (or, if she or he is cost conscious, their direct, compatible predecessor, the TI-83 (Plus)).

Let me also mention that this tutorial is

the first in the row of my forthcoming series on Windows Mobile calculators. In the following installment, I’ll discuss the emulators existing for HP’s calculators and, then, the native calculator programs
as usual, widely needed. The official manual of the best desktop Windows emulator, VTI, is very hard for a beginner to understand, and the same stands for the official TI-89 manual. In addition, the Windows Mobile version has absolutely no documentation / tips / descriptions of in what way it’s different from the desktop version. That is, this tutorial is undoubtedly the best tutorial available for TI-89 newbies wanting to get up to speed as soon as possible without having to read hundreds of TI-89 manual pages.

So, the current (and future) TI calculator models are as follows. (Note that the Comparison & Feature Chart (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/table.html) also has a quick summary of these devices, along with a lot of information.) Also note that, in general, TI uses the “Plus” to refer to the second edition of a given model (except for the TI-84 Plus, which doesn’t have a non-Plus device). “Silver Edition” (abbreviated as SE; not to be mistaken for “Second Edition”!) and “Titanium” generally refers to the third (and, therefore, most advanced) model in a given series. That is, always try to get a SE / Titanium model if possible.

1.1 TI-Nspire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-Nspire)

This model hasn’t been released yet; therefore, no emulators exist (let alone Windows Mobile ones).

1.2 TI-84 Plus (Silver Edition) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-84_Plus_series)

These two, pretty new (released in 2004) and, according to the poll HERE (http://calcg.org/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?t=7266), most popular TI series high school calculator (in the poll, the TI-89 was placed second; don't forget, though, that the TI-84 series is aimed at high school students, while the TI-89's are aimed at more serious university students or graduated folks) models (the enhanced versions of the TI-83 Plus (Silver Edition)) are still not emulated under WM (or, for that matter, the desktop Windows) either. Not that it’d be a problem – after all, these models don’t have any advanced functionality compared to their predecessor (the TI-83 Plus), “only” a faster CP and more RAM / ROM.

1.3 Voyage 200 (also V200 and Voyage 200 PLT) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-92_series)

No emulators exist for WM.

1.4 TI-89 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-89) and TI-92 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-92_series) series

These are, after the TI-84 series, the most widely sold TI calculators. Again, don't forget that this series is the way to go (and NOT the more widely sold TI-84 series!) if you want something above the high school level. Do read the related Wiki / ticalc pages.

1.5 TI-86 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-86)

This calculator (released in 1997) is partially compatible with the TI-85 (which it replaced) and is also supported by VirtualTI-89Pocket.

1.6 TI-83, Plus and Plus Silver Edition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-83_series#TI-83_Plus_Silver_Edition)

Two of these calculators, the TI-83 and the TI-83 Plus (released in 1996 and 1999, respectively) are supported under WM; the latest (2001) model, Plus Silver Edition (which has nine times the available Flash ROM and over twice the processing speed of the Plus), isn’t.

The changes between TI-83 and the TI-83 Plus were pretty big; for example, the latter already allowed for ROM updates.

1.8 TI-85 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-85) (and THIS (http://www.ticalc.org/basics/calculators/ti-85.html))

This model has been replaced by TI-86.

2.1 Getting calculator ROM’s

Both the desktop and the Windows Mobile-based emulators require the original ROM of your calculator(s) to be present. It’s easily extractable using the desktop-based ROM extraction tools (it’s also built-in into VTI, the most important desktop-based emulator). However, if you DO have the original device, you may want to choose downloading the original ROM’s right from the homepage of TI itself.

You will most probably need the TI-89 ROM download (http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_os_89.html) (currently, it’s “TI-89 Operating System v2.09”; click the Download icon on the center right). It’s also linked from HERE (http://www.ticalc.org/programming/emulators/romdump.html#8). Just put the resulting os.89u file in the home directory of your desktop / Windows Mobile version. That is, with the desktop version, just copy it into the directory you’ve uncompressed the emulator to; with the Windows Mobile version, you’ll need to copy it to <storage card name>\Program Files\VTI Pocket Emulator.

You can access the majority of the other, compatible ROM’s on TI’s other pages (see the related row in the Comparison Chart (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/table.html)) if you really need compliance with those older and/or less capable models (if not, just stick with the 89 – it’s the best, still supported model). If you need one of the TI-82, 83 and 86 ROM’s, you can also get them from other pages; for example TheOldComputer.com’s ROM download page (http://www.theoldcomputer.com/Libarary's/Emulation/BIOS_Roms/BIOS_roms_summary.htm). Note that you will NOT want to use the TI-85 ROM in there – it won’t work (not that it would be a problem: the TI-85 is superseded by the supported & compatible TI-86). M.E.S.S. (http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/misc/mess.html), another desktop emulator for (along with several other models) the TI-81, 85 and 86 isn’t able to use this ROM either. Also note that the TI-99 also listed in the TI section is NOT a calculator ROM but that of a very old home computer, the TI-99/4A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-99/4A).

All ROM files must be copied to the home directory of the emulator; with both the desktop-based and the mobile one. With the TheOldComputer.com package, you’ll, naturally, need to decompress them first.

Note that you won’t need for example the TI-84 Plus ROM (http://education.ti.com/us/product/apps/84pos.html) (also linked from the ticalc.org TI-84 Plus page (http://www.ticalc.org/basics/calculators/ti-84plus.html)) because not even the desktop VTI support the new 84 (Plus). The same stands for the latest 89-series model, the TI-89 Titanium (http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_os_89titanium.html): its ROM doesn’t work under any emulators either (it’s identified as TI-92+ by both the desktop and the WM emulator and is refused to be loaded). Finally, other current models aren’t supported either.

2.2 Emulation on Desktop Windows

You MUST learn how the emulator must be used under the desktop Windows operating system if you will ever want to import any third-party application into your Windows Mobile-based emulator or want to export your own programs typed (tapped) directly into the emulator in easily maintainable, direct exports.

The best emulator available for the desktop is Rusty Wagner (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/authors/0/28.html)’s free Virtual TI v2.5 beta 5 (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/win/vti.zip) (linked from the main page HERE (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/84/8442.html); alternate download HERE (http://emupage.pocketgamer.org/Downloads/Taschenrechner/TI-82_83_83Plus_85_86_89/VirtualTI-89Pocket/VirtualTIPocket2.5.rar)), which is compatible with TI-82, 83, 83 Plus, 85, 86 and 89.

(Note that you won’t want to download the Virtual TI-89/92(+) Emulator v1.01 Beta (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/win/vti68k.zip) (it doesn't find the ROM image in the same directory) or the Virtual TI v3.0 Alpha (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/win/pre_base_vti83.zip), unless you want a TI-73 / TI-83 Plus emulator only.)

Just download the ZIP file and, after copying one (or more) ROM files in the same directory (if you don’t want to use the app to extract a ROM image from your connected calculator), start vti.exe.

A calculator image will come up (showing the face of a TI emulator, depending on the available ROM images in the home directory). If it’s the wrong emulator (you’d like to emulate another calculator by changing the ROM image) either press F12 or right-click the image and select Set calculator / ROM version as can be seen in this screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/DesktopVTIROMChange1.png).

A dialog box will be shown, showing what ROM versions are available. Just select the one you’d like to use (for example, in this screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/DesktopVTIROMChange2.png), I’ve selected the TI-89) and click OK.

After changing the ROM, the skin will immediately change and the calculator boot in as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/DesktopVTIBoot1.png). You will want to raise the (virtual) contrast by repeatedly clicking the http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/GreenButton.png ("diamond") button and, then, clicking the + button. To make this faster, use the Ctrl key (it’s a shortcut for the diamond key) on your desktop keyboard while depressing + (or -, if you want to decrease the contrast) on your keyboard. BTW, the diamond key will always result in invoking the functionality printed in green on top of most buttons. The yellow 2nd button, http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/2ndButton.png, (also in the top left) will do the same, but with the yellow labels (second functionality) printed on top of most buttons (note that the desktop PC keyboard uses the Alt shortcut for the 2nd button).

Now, you can start to do some serious work. If you already know how to operate a TI-89 (from now on, I only show how it can be operated; other models are, fortunately, pretty similar in operation), then, you will only need information on how files / programs can be transferred between the operating system and the emulator itself. If you’re a newbie, on the other hand, you may want to download the official TI-89/92 manual / guidebook from HERE (http://education.ti.com/guidebooks/graphing/8992p/8992bookeng.pdf). It’s certainly a good read, but may be a little too much for a newbie, particularly because it discusses two series at once. Therefore, for basic tasks like program transfer and starting, you may want to prefer my tutorial below, particularly because, of course, it doesn’t discuss emulation-related questions at all. (Needless to say, the documentation coming with VTI is pretty useless for a newbie. The Windows Mobile port is even worse: it has absolutely no Windows Mobile-related documentation. That is, you won’t be able to learn anywhere – except for my current article – how you can import third-party / external programs to it.)

First, let’s see how file transfer is done from the desktop PC to the emulator.

2.2.1 Desktop PC -> emulator file transfer

First, let’s get some for example games so that we can indeed try to operate the emulator! (Note that getting and deploying productivity apps – for example, math functions – is done exactly the same way. In here, I’ve chosen games to show you how excellent gaming platform these calculators are with the right coding.)

For example, download Earth Mission HERE (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/398/39801.html). It’s a really nice, very fast action platformer game. After downloading, decompress earth89.zip. It’ll contain two files of interest, earth.89y and earth.89z (in addition to the French language readme file, lisez-moi.txt). Highlight them in either Windows Explorer or, for example, Total Commander and drag-and-drop them on the calculator image (make sure the virtual TI-89 is switched on - you can't transfer anything to switched-off emulator images).

During this, you shouldn’t be presented a Transfer error dialog box; if you are (most importantly because you’re run out of the, when nothing is installed in the RAM, 192 kbytes of RAM), just click Cancel and read on to find out how you can check the free RAM memory of your emulated calculator and how it can be increased.

Now, press 2nd (again, on the PC keyboard, the Alt shortcut key) and - buttons (that is, invoke VAR-LINK). You’ll see the following:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlink1.png

Now, let’s create a so-called “folder” (they’re just like a directory in the file system) in order to separate the game from other apps / games you’ll later upload to avoid name clashes / much better separation.

2.2.2 Creating / using folders

Using folders is particularly useful because most third-party apps, particularly games, contain several executable and/or data files, which makes browsing them REALLY hard. When correctly separated into folders, managing / browsing them becomes far easier – as with directories in a file system. (Note that only top-level directories are allowed – not nested ones! That is, you can’t, for example, create a Games main folder and, for example, an Asteroids subfolder inside it.)

To do this, still in this, VAR-LINK mode, click the F1 button (or, of course, on the keyboard) and select 5: Create Folder.

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder.png

Enter some meaningful name for the new folder; for example, earthmis:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder2.png

Press (click – it’s at the bottom right) Enter two times. The new folder will be created as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder3.png).

Now, select the new files you want to move to the new folder. To do this, press (click at the top, under the screen or press the hardware key on your keyboard) F5 (All) to bring up the selection menu (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder4.png). Here, just select 1:Select all. All the files will be marked in the non-collapsed folders. The results will be the following:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder5.png

Now, press F1 (Manage) and select Move. You’ll need to decide which folder to move the selected files to; as you have only one folder (in addition to MAIN), you can just choose the default (earthmis). (If you will have more than one potential target folders, you’ll be able to select them right here.)

Now, you’ll be taken back to the file list view:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder7.png

As can be seen, the two files have been copied to the new folder.

When copied into separate folders, you must use the folder name as the prefix when starting a given program in these folders as in foldername\appname(). This will be auto-generated for you when, after doing the above tests (but NOT making the new folder the default one – this will be explained later), you press Enter on the executable file of the two (earth.ASM):

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder8.png

In this screenshot, as can be seen, the name of the executable program (earth) has been prefixed by earthmis, using the backslash character to separate the two names. To try to run the game, you can just supply the closing parenthesis and pressing Enter. Then, you’ll be presented the “earthpgm not found” error message as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder9.png).

This is because the main executable, earth, is trying to find the related resource files in the MAIN folder (in here, there is the executable ASM file (earth.89z – note the z at the end! Z, in most cases, states for assembly programs) and one data file (earth.89y – note the y, which, mostly, states for data files). This will be a problem with ALL third-party applications / games depending on other resource files.

To combat the problem, you will need to use the setFold (folderName) command (cd (Change Directory) under MS-DOS / Windows), where folderName, as you may have already guessed, will be earthmis in our case:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder10.png

Press Enter two times; the result of this will be changing to the new folder:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder11.png

Now, you can reissue the earthmis\earth() command above (you can even leave the foldername and just use earth()) and the game will now start (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/varlinkCrFolder12.png). (Note that you’ll need to start the game and control jumping with the 2nd button in the game; not, say, Enter. This is pretty understandable if you take into account that this button is pretty much in the same line as the D-pad, unlike Enter.).

There is another very important thing you MUST master: copying the files off the RAM to the flash ROM.

2.2.3 Using the built-in flash ROM to store programs / data

As with all mobile platforms, dynamic memory (RAM) is very scarce and really precious. There is only 192 kbytes of RAM in the TI-89, which fills in REALLY fast, particularly if you (try to) run games. (If you encounter problems when you try to run something, it will most likely be caused by the shortage of RAM). Therefore, you MUST master backing up your files to the built-in flash ROM of your device. There is much more flash ROM than RAM.

To do this, go back to the already-known VAR-LINK mode, select the files in RAM to be moved to flash (in the F5: All menu), press F1:Manage and select 8:Archive variable:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVITArchiveVriable1.png

The filenames will, now, be prefixed with the http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVITArchiveVriable3.png icon, which means the files are no longer in RAM:

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVITArchiveVriable2.png

You can easily check whether the transfer to the flash ROM has indeed succeeded. To do this, you’ll need to use the memory applet – another very important applet you need to master with all programmable calculators so that you can see how much dynamic (program) / static (flash ROM storage) memory you still have.

2.2.4 Checking the available RAM / flash ROM size

To do this, just press 2nd + 6 (MEM). In there, look for the two numbers at the bottom right (the cursor is just below them):

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVTImemsize.png

The “RAM free 195852” means you have the full (factory) available RAM at your disposal; the “Flash ROM free 631482” means some 20k of files are already in the flash ROM of the device (that is, in this case, the emulator).

Finally, let me elaborate on how you can export files from the desktop emulator to the file system of your desktop computer. If you, for example, write a program in the emulator (see Chapter 17: Programming in the official manual (http://education.ti.com/guidebooks/graphing/8992p/8992bookeng.pdf) on how programs need to be entered in the emulator) and save it as, say, omaapp2 (as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVTISaveProgs1.png)), you’ll need to select F3:Link and, then, 1: Send (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVTISaveProgs2.png). The desktop Windows OS will present a file save dialog, where you can rename the file before saving and also select its target directory):

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/desktopVTISaveProgs3.png

(Note the ‘p’ in the .89p extension. As opposed to assembly programs, which end up in z, BASIC programs created using the built-in program editor end in p. Also note that the different file extensions are also listed HERE (http://www.ticalc.org/basics/linking/downloading.html) and HERE (http://filext.com/alphalist.php?extstart=%5E%5B0-9%5D).)

2.2.5 Other apps / games to try

As far as games are concerned, you can also give a try to Aspirin v3.0 (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/games/aspirin.zip) (a small but pretty nice and indeed addictive game), CalcRogue (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/games/crogue.zip) (an interesting RPG; remember to transfer ONLY the contents of the binTI89 to the calculator, without the contents of the Titanium subdirectory), Calcwars (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/games/calcwars.zip) (also see Advance Wars for the Game Boy Advance; must be started with ttstart("cwdata")) etc. There are TONS of other games in the Games subcategories of the TI-89 archive of ticalc.org (for example, here (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/games/)’re the assembly language (meaning fast) ones and here (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/basic/games/)’re the BASIC ones (slower).

The same stands for applications / math libraries. There’re virtually thousands of such apps for example here (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/math/) (assembly math) and here (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/basic/math/) (BASIC math). If you have the time, I REALLY recommend looking around in all the subfolders of the ticalc.org TI-89 library (http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/) - it’s really worth it! There’re even (simple) Java Virtual Machines (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/news/articles/5/50/50789.html) for the calculators - let alone goodies like Telnet apps or (Lynx-like) Web browsers.

In addition, you’ll want to take a look at CalcG.org (http://calcg.org/). Much as, in general, it has fewer titles, it has some really interesting goodies (and an online forum – ticalc.org’s mail list archives are currently down); for example, this StarCraft article (http://calcg.org/cgi-bin/files.cgi?id=48) (unfortunately, without any downloads).

Finally, there are some (very few) official Flash programs on TI’s pages themselves (http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_ti89.html?bid=7).

Now that you know how to use the desktop version, let’s move on to the mobile port.

2.3 The Windows Mobile port

2.3.1 Getting and installing the mobile version

The mobile version, VTI Pocket Emulator v2.4, which, more or less, is a direct port of Rusty Wagner’s original on the desktop, is ported by Daniel Galano (see his personal page HERE (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/authors/78/7854.html)) to Windows Mobile and is accessible HERE (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/309/30978.html).

Installing it is pretty straightforward: decompress the ZIP archive and start the only EXE file inside. It’ll install the emulator through ActiveSync. As with the desktop version, you’ll need to copy the ROM(s) of the calculator(s) you’d like to use to the home directory of the emulator.

Having a dedicated installer, you can start the emulator right from the Programs, by clicking the VTI Pocket Emulator icon.

http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/TI89PocketMain.bmp.png

Note that you won’t want to use it in Landscape (there wouldn’t be much point in doing so as, for example, you can’t use slide-out / clamshell key/thumboards anyway) because of the major GUI bitmap problems (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/TI89PocketLandscape.bmp.png) (tested on ALL my test device, VGA and QVGA, old and new - behaved the same).

Swapping ROM’s can be done in File / Select ROM as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/TI89PocketROMChange.bmp.png). Upon swapping a ROM, the corresponding skin will also be auto-loaded as can be seen in here (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/TI89PocketROMChange2.bmp.png). (Note that skins except for that of the TI-89 are all pretty blurred.)

2.3.2 Differences between the desktop and the mobile version; problems with the latter; tips

There are some major differences between the original and the ported version. They are as follows:

The mobile version can’t load external files and can’t save programs you enter yourself / variables you’d like to be saved. This means the only way to transfer programs / data in either direction is using the <romname>.sav files (for example, with the official TI-89 upgrade ROM, os.sav) it automatically saves its state to upon exiting and restoring the state upon restarting / reloading a given ROM BIOS. That is, you WILL need to use the desktop version to transfer external apps to state saves.
Because the aspect ratio of the original calculator might be around 10:3 as opposed to the 4:3 aspect ratio of (most) Windows Mobile devices, the original button layout isn’t preserved – the uppermost three row buttons are relocated to the right of the screen, which can be pretty annoying if you’re got used to the original button layout.
It’s FAR slower than the desktop emulator, even on very fast WM devices. That is, it’s completely useless for gaming. For “traditional” uses, however, it may be OK (albeit, for example, graphing functions are REALLY slow – even the most simple ones. Just try entering graph sin(x) on a mobile device and see how slow graphing is – it’s decidedly faster on desktop devices).
Unfortunately, Windows Mobile hardware buttons can’t be used to speed up input (see the way the Alt / Ctrl keys are used on the desktop emulator to dramatically speed up invoking second/third functionality). However, built-in keyboards / the D-pad work on most devices. An exception is the HTC Universal, where attempts to use external / internal keyboards resulted in an almost immediate address error (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/ti89AddressErrorUniversal.bmp.png) / privilege violation (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/ti89AddressErrorUniversal2.bmp.png) error. With the HTC Wizard (which also has a built-in thumbboard), I’ve encountered no similar problems. As far as the D-pad support is concerned, it’s only with the Dell Axim x51v (A12 ROM) that the D-pad didn’t work and trying to use it resulted in an immediate crash. With most (all?) of my other test devices, D-pad worked OK.

In addition to the problems outlined above, you MUST refrain from entering any data at a fast pace on the native GUI of the emulator, especially on (comparatively) slower devices. If you enter data too fast, the last entered button will be endlessly repeated upon subsequent key presses as if the last key were stuck. This (and the fact that you will need to slow down the pace you enter your data) can be pretty annoying.

2.3.3 Transferring files from / to the desktop version

As has already been pointed out, unlike on the desktop, it’s not possible to directly import an external program (data file) into the emulator, and you can’t export anything either. For example, if you select F3 / 1:Send in VAR-LINK (the way of directly exporting files / data to the file system in the target desktop), the mobile version just hangs. However, this isn’t really a problem if you do have the desktop version of the emulator on your desktop computer.

Then, all you need to do is making sure you do save the internal state of the calculator when exiting (that is, after right-clicking the skin, select the Exit and save internal state (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/DesktopExitAndSaveState.png) when exiting the emulator) and, then, just copy the newly created .sav state file to the Windows Mobile handheld. It’ll make use of it without any problems.

The same states for file transfers in the opposite direction. While the WM version doesn’t support selecting between exiting with and without state saving, when you exit the program, it does save the state. That is, if you need to export a program you’ve written / dataset you’ve created on your WM-based emulator, just copy over the .sav state file from the home directory of the emulator to your desktop emulator, and use the latter to export the file / data to the local file system as a non-sav, self-standing file.

All in all, if you need to import any kind of file into the mobile version, you must do this in the dekstop version and just pass on the state save (os.sav with the official TI-89 ROM) file to the mobile version.

2.4 The feature / comparison chart

As usual, I’ve created a feature / comparison chart so that you’ll have an easier time checking whether a given model is emulated under the desktop / mobile Windows, what hardware features (most importantly, screen and RAM/ROM size) it has, whether it supports CAS, where its ROM BIOS can be downloaded from etc. It’s available HERE (http://www.winmobiletech.com/062007TICalculators/table.html). Don’t forget to check it out!

Note that the chart doesn’t include discontinued / superseded models: the TI-92 (1995; replaced by the TI-92 Plus (and later the Voyage 200), TI-80 (1995; replaced the much superior TI-73 and is, due to its proprietary CPU, is NOT emulated by any emulators), TI-85 (1992; replaced the superior and backwards compatible (!) TI-86), TI-81 (1990; replaced by all newer models; few additional apps because the programs needed to be entered by hand – this calculator had no linking capabilities).

Also note that TI’s official comparison chart (http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/nonProductSingle/graphing_course_comparision.html) only lists the four most current models (TI-83 Plus, TI-84 Plus, TI-84 Plus Silver Edition, TI-89 Titanium), unlike my chart.

3. What other TI emulators are available?

Not many: only the old TI-59 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-59) is emulated, which will be only of interest to retro freaks. Yeah, I loved the TI-59 back in the early 1980’s (before getting the Sharp PC-1500 (http://www.pc1500.com/), which did blow out everything out of water) but, now, it’s really-really worse than any of the current TI graphing calculators.

The Windows Mobile emulator is available HERE (http://www.zanchetta.net/pocketPC/TI59ce.htm). It, as with Daniel Galano / Rusty Wagner’s TI-8x emulator, uses a desktop installer. Note that the installer puts the direct link to the executable (when installed to the main storage, \Program Files\alainza\ TI59ce\ TI59ce.exe) to the Games folder of the traditional Programs.

Note that, much as Michu’s excellent Emupage (http://emupage.pocketgamer.org/Calculators.html) lists MBA-Calc (http://www.odysseyinc.com/subpages/Software/MBA-Calc/Q_A.htm) by Odyssey Computing, Inc. (http://www.odysseyinc.com/) as a TI BAII PLUS (http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_baii_plus.html) emulator, it isn’t one. Odyssey Computing has two business (non-graphing) calculator titles for the desktop and handheld Windows; the newer and much more recommended BizCalc (http://www.odysseyinc.com/subpages/Software/BizCalc/index.htm) and the older MBA-Calc. These are NOT emulators.

Finally, still speaking of Michu’s Emupage, it lists another Windows Mobile version, “PocketPC v2.5 (with SkinEditor)”. It’s nothing else than the desktop VTI – that is, don’t run to download it.

4. Other links of interest

Long VTI Pocket Emulator v2.4-related comments thread at ticalc.org (http://www.ticalc.org/archives/news/articles/9/96/96475.html)

FreewarePPC’s (http://www.freewareppc.com/calculator/virtualtipocketemulator.shtml) and PocketPCFreewares’ (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en/index.php?soft=927) comments. Note that you will want to take PocketPCFreewares’ original comments with a HUGE pile of salt as they refer to a very old version, v2.4Beta, released early 2004. Also, some of the user comments at FreewarePPC are pretty misleading – do NOT necessarily believe what you read there!


TI-89, TI-89 Titanium, TI-92+ and Voyage 200 FAQ (http://calcg.org/cgi-bin/faq.cgi?g=30#43) ("Can I run this game on my calculator even though it was written for a different calculator? What is AMS (Advanced Mathematical Software)? Can I play TI-89 games on my TI-89 Titanium?")

Poll: Favorite Calculator (http://calcg.org/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?t=7266) (1st: TI-84+ (SE); 2nd: TI-89 (Ti))

All the desktop emulator software (http://www.ticalc.org/programming/emulators/software.html)