TILP: beta-test...

[Lionel Debroux]

On the tilibs repository ( https://github.com/debrouxl/tilibs ), there's some ongoing activity. Not the best thing I'm doing for my own sake (getting a rest and being productive)...
* the usual code review, consolidation, fixing and hardening work (multiple commits), quite a number of hours of work. Dozens of bugs (usually in error paths, but still) were pointed by static analysis tools, fixes in progress;
* improved 84+CSE support, by integrating a bunch of older patches by Benjamin Moody;
* initial support for '2015 models: 83PCE / 84+CE(-T) (no FlashApp support yet, experimental send OS code), 82A (as a crippled 84+; send OS code not tested, FlashApps not available). The probing code was improved;
* experimental support for enumerating > 1 level of folders on the Nspire. The corresponding UI (TILP) changes haven't been performed yet.
(some of those changes are available only on the "experimental" branch for now)

No updated public Windows build yet.

[Lionel Debroux]

Since the previous post, I have added FlashApp send & recv support for the 83PCE & 84+CE, and updated the Windows beta build.

The send OS code is untested against a 84+CE, I need someone to perform the testing for me. TIA

The usual links:
* Windows installer download: http://tiplanet.org/beta/setup.exe .
* Source code: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilibs + https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gfm .
* install script for anything non-Windows which is handled by TILP: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gf ... ll_tilp.sh .

EDIT in 2021: updated the link to the *nix install script.

[Lionel Debroux]

Noteworthy changes since the previous post:
* the send OS code was tested against a 84+CE by Adriweb, thanks;
* two fixes for the libusb 1.0 context teardown, the main one from Ben "TC01" Rosser and the smaller, but related one by myself;
* Benjamin Moody fixed remote variable deletion of archived variables on 84+ family DUSB and 89T. The error message made it sound like the feature was not supported, which probably explains why we didn't get more complaints, but that wasn't true ;
* I integrated the GrayLink fix from the patched libticables provided by TI-Edit. Peter Engels says that enabling DTR, for power supply purposes, fixes the operation of a third-party GrayLink, and that the fix makes the behaviour of libticables match the behaviour of the old TI-GraphLink software. IOW, the old behaviour of libticables was incorrect.
* as usual, I performed scattered fixes and cleanups, pretty much invisible to the end user, unless you're e.g. an user of FreeBSD or OpenBSD which compiles pre-release versions of libti*;
* I added more functions in the libraries, for symmetry and abstraction of the libraries' implementation, and for moving code originating from tilp and titools where it belongs. Those are invisible to the end user as well.

geekboy, biohax17 and whoever else made third-party GrayLink-compatible cables: I need your help for testing your cables against this version of libticables
Although the new libticables behaviour is here to stay, for the reasons stated above, it would be unfriendly to break operation of your cables (though I doubt it's going to happen) in an official TILP release without prior notice.

An updated glimpse into the libti*/gfm/tilp todo/wish/bug list file, which is over 35 KB large, partially due to verbatim excerpts of e-mails:
* current development cycle:
- moving several more functions from clients to libti*;
- TILP UI changes for > 1 level of folders on the Nspire, I suppose;
- new functions for parsing data in TI certificate format, used on all TI graphing calculator series;
- Jonimus' driver-less support for BlackLink / $4 cable on Windows, based on bit-banging;
- other fixes and improvements, most of which invisible to end users.

* later development cycles:
- more code motion from clients to libti*, including a new "libtiopers" library;
- TCP client and TCP server cables;
- reworked, much improved packet logging and dissection;
- further improvement to USB calculator probing;
- portable, generic Nspire OS dumping (functionality known from BrandonW's Fron);
- add a TILP menu entry for exiting the PTT mode (greyed out if not connected to a Nspire);

The usual links:
* Windows installer download: http://tiplanet.org/beta/setup.exe .
* Source code: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilibs (experimental branch) + https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gfm (experimental branch).
* install script for anything non-Windows which is handled by TILP: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gf ... ll_tilp.sh .

EDIT in 2021: updated the link to the *nix install script.

[Lionel Debroux]

Since the previous public build, there have been various improvements and bugfixes, as usual
For instance:

• libticonv, libtifiles, libticables, libticalcs: added ~18 free()-type functions to the API, for symmetry with the functions which allocate something - not that the libti* implementations can get rid of glib, but clients will experience less of a need to use glib functions directly due to asymmetry in the libti* APIs;
• libtifiles: added 4 new certificate parsing functions, mentioned earlier;
• libticalcs: improved thread safety by getting rid of local static variables scattered into multiple files;
• libtifiles: cleanups and code consolidation in file I/O and types code;
• libticonv, libtifiles, libticalcs: 6 new functions moved and improved from titools and TILP;
• libticonv, libtifiles, libticables, libticalcs: updated the AUTHORS files, as suggested by Fabian "Vogtinator" Vogt and Adrien "Adriweb" Bertrand;
• scattered bugfixes (memory errors, etc.).

Items are getting resolved, but the todo/wish/bug list file keeps growing...

The usual links:

• Windows installer download: http://tiplanet.org/beta/setup.exe .
• Source code: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilibs (experimental branch) + https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gfm (experimental branch).
• install script for anything non-Windows which is handled by TILP: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gf ... ll_tilp.sh .

EDIT in 2021: updated the link to the *nix install script.

[Adriweb]

En attendant que l'install_tilp.sh soit mis à jour, sur ticalc.org, une version updatée est aussi dispo sur GitHub :

While we wait for the ticalc.org-hosted install_tilp.sh to be updated, an updated version can also be found on GitHub:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/debro ... ll_tilp.sh

[Lionel Debroux]

Since the previous public build, there have been, guess what... improvements and bugfixes
Excerpt of the changelog:

• internal: added per-handle pre / post receive and pre / post send hooks functionality. It's the foundation for more interesting stuff which shall be implemented later.
• added DUSB packet dissection to libticalcs and CLI front-end to it. It makes it possible to input packets straight of, say, Wireshark, and have them analyzed in a human-readable way:
  

  Code: Select all

  Enter calc model (usually 13, 14, 18-21): 14
Enter raw DUSB packet as hex string of up to 4 * max raw packet size (non-hex characters ignored; CTRL+D to end):
00:00:00:2E:04:00:00:00:28:00:07:00:13:00:0A:00:08:00:02:00:03:00:04:00:06:00:07:00:09:00:0B:00:0C:00:0D:00:0E:00:0F:00:10:00:11:00:1E:00:1F:00:2D:00:4B

0000002E (04)                                                   | PC>TI: Virtual Packet Data Final
        00000028 {0007}                                         | CMD: Parameter Request
                00 13 00 0A 00 08 00 02 00 03 00 04 00 06 00 07
                00 09 00 0B 00 0C 00 0D 00 0E 00 0F 00 10 00 11
                00 1E 00 1F 00 2D 00 4B
Requested 19 (13) parameter IDs:
        000A (OS mode)
        0008 (Device type)
        0002 (Product name)
        0003 (Main part ID)
        0004 (Hardware version)
        0006 (Language ID)
        0007 (Sub-language ID)
        0009 (Boot version)
        000B (OS version)
        000C (Physical RAM)
        000D (User RAM)
        000E (Free RAM)
        000F (Physical Flash)
        0010 (User Flash)
        0011 (Free Flash)
        001E (LCD width)
        001F (LCD height)
        002D (Battery level)
        004B (Exact math engine)

• added automatic detection of 83PCE vs. 84+CE. When USB scan at startup is enabled (it has been by default for years), TILP will now correctly detect 84+CE calculators, which used to be detected as 83PCE calculators. This item was implemented thanks to the previous feature;
• added 7 new functions related to screenshots: one receives and converts the result to RGB888, five convert raw screenshot data from the calculator to RGB888 (four of them used to be part of TILP, but they belong to libticalcs), and the last one is a helper for freeing screen data returned by ticalcs_calc_recv_screen() and ticalcs_calc_recv_screen_rgb888() (part of the ongoing software engineering work to abstract the memory allocator behind libti*, so that clients have fewer hard-coded g_free() calls).

The usual links:

• Windows installer download: http://tiplanet.org/beta/setup.exe .
• Source code: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilibs (experimental branch) + https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gfm (experimental branch). The master branch was forwarded by a couple dozen commits since the previous post.
• install script for anything non-Windows which is handled by TILP: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gf ... ll_tilp.sh .

EDIT in 2021: updated the link to the *nix install script.

[Lionel Debroux]

Noteworthy changes since the previous build:

• addition of a 83PCE/84+CE ROM dumper. While the USB controller and software are still undocumented, which prevents from making a ROM dumper using the custom libticalcs dumping protocol, one of the possible workarounds is to copy data to a file, and transfer the file to the computer, repeatedly. It's slow, but it works. The calculator-side dumper was made by jacobly, the computer side by me.
• receiving files of peculiar sizes from the TI-eZ80 series fixed, reported by jacobly;
• split most of the code of dbus_recv() to dbus_recv_header() + dbus_recv_data(). Indirectly suggested by a discussion with SirCmpwn.
• small improvements and bugfixes, as usual

Known bugs:

• the colors in screenshots from color calculators look funny. Probably a byproduct of "libticalcs: add bitmap (screen) conversion functions, add ticalcs_calc_recv_screen_rgb888() and ticalcs_free_screen(), add torture tests, replace a number of Glib function calls by indirect equivalent calls." and the corresponding change on the TILP side, I'll need to investigate.

The usual links:

• Windows installer download: http://tiplanet.org/beta/setup.exe .
• Source code: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilibs (experimental branch) + https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gfm (experimental branch). The master branch was forwarded by a couple dozen commits since the previous post.
• Install script for anything non-Windows which is handled by TILP: https://github.com/debrouxl/tilp_and_gf ... ll_tilp.sh .

EDIT in 2021: updated the link to the *nix install script.

[Hayleia]

Noteworthy changes since the previous build:

• addition of a 83PCE/84+CE ROM dumper. While the USB controller and software are still undocumented, which prevents from making a ROM dumper using the custom libticalcs dumping protocol, one of the possible workarounds is to copy data to a file, and transfer the file to the computer, repeatedly. It's slow, but it works. The calculator-side dumper was made by jacobly, the computer side by me.

Was this the last wall on the path of getting a CE emulator ? If so, then congrats and thanks. If not, still congrats and thanks

[Lionel Debroux]

Was this the last wall on the path of getting a CE emulator ?

I don't think so, because there are other ways, e.g. a rom8x-type program, to dump the relevant parts of a TI-eZ80 calculator. But those interfere with the state of the Flash memory.
If Windows weren't so much of a pain with drivers, the rom8x-type offline dumping approach wouldn't be as interesting.

[GalacticPirate]

Petite update, un peu @Lionel Debroux : J'ai commencé la tradution des tutoriels que personne n'a voulu faire !
Pour les rédacs, le lien est disponible ici : https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=15828&p=194237#p194237