Omnimaga
Calculator Community => TI Calculators => General Calculator Help => Topic started by: Darl181 on January 24, 2011, 06:54:39 pm
-
I have an 84+ that only accepts a limited number of apps. Before, the limit was 10. Now, it won't send any past SIX.
I tried to update axe, tilp deleted it, and won't send any apps whatsoever.
I've tried re-sending the OS (which, by the way, doesn't work now), garbage collecting, defragging, pretty much everything and it just doesn't work.
:banghead:
OS, 2.43
Base, 2.43
Boot, 1.02
hardware stuff: S-0305B
I've been having this problem for months, and now it's even worse.
-
Okay, let's see. Can you get calcsys on there? If so, run it, then press Next > Vat > Applications. See if it only shows 6, or if it thinks there are other apps there. You might also be able to see this in memory.
-
If calcsys is a 1-page app, I should be able to msd8x it.
Just a minute...
-
If calcsys is a 1-page app, I should be able to msd8x it.
Just a minute...
Oh, you can msd8x apps. Sweet. I've never actually done that.
-
Didn't work...it showed the main menu, I pressed "more" and it crashed
I can't copy it to the calc (it freezes on "transferring") and running it from msd8x crashes.
What's "console", and why is it making strange characters?
It's making these weird symbols which scroll up the screen...and it's still going...
Okay, I got calcsys on. It only shows the apps I (legitimately) have.
btw I was only able to get calcsys on after I deleted mirageos, so the 6-app limit isn't broken
-
I'm just speculating here, but...
It might have something to do with the position of the temporary swap sector.
Try filling all your FlashROM with user programs, manually delete all the programs, garbage collect, then repeat these steps twice. The important part is to fill your FlashROM with stuff.
EDIT: What I believe this is supposed to do is to move the temp swap sector back to a lower address, thus removing this "limit" that you have. This is assuming I have all the information right.
-
What is the temp swap sector?
-
The swap sector is used during garbage collection and defragmentation to store data temporarily. If the above procedure doesn't work, you can try resetting All Memory from the Memory>Reset menu. (Just resetting the Archive will not erase the swap sector. I know this because I once wrote a program that marked every sector as a swap sector.) This should temporarily give you 64 K of extra archive memory because no swap sector will exist. I believe you need to force a garbage collect---you can do this from the Catalog---to get it to recreate the swap sector. If you fill up memory before creating a swap sector, you won't be able to garbage collect or defragment.
I had a similar problem, too, previously. I can't recall exactly how I fixed it, but I did fix it.
-
It garbage collects fine...
And there's plenty of mem free. 76k.
-
But have you tried either of the above procedures? My warning about garbage collect issues only applies <i>after</i> you Reset All Memory.
-
I would really prefer not resetting the whole memory...if this gets really desperate I'll do that...but I'm not there just yet :P
And calcsys is on my calc right now, I just don't want to screw around with it and make things worse.
Calcsys → 6:More → 1:VAT → 3:Applications
69:CalcUtil
68:Krolypto
67:USBDRV8X
66:MSD8X
65:Omnicalc
[next page]
64:Calcsys
I'll try at the temp swap sector thing...repeat twice you say?
I'll have to fill up my msd8x drive.
okay...1.3mb worth of stuff...wish me luck
-
It garbage collects fine...
And there's plenty of mem free. 76k.
That's really not very much, especially when you're talking about flash sectors. That could be the whole problem right there. Apps cannot be in the same 64k sector as other variables, I'm pretty sure.
-
Okay, I'm doing something right, after doing what Iambian suggested (and programs like desolate and gemini are great for that ;D), I'm up to 12 apps, and can probably add more.
Yes, I kind of understand how the archive is structured...at least now...
A question about msd8x. Can it run multi-page apps safely? Because i might have to resort to doing that...axe I mean... Nvm, "This application is too large to run." Dang...
Just noticed something. I have 12 apps, but..."ARC FREE: 0". I delete one (1-page) app and it jumps to 55419, not 16384, free. Is this normal?
Another edit...I found the dumpcert thing on the flash drive, and was wondering if anything can be diagnosed from it.
↓↓↓
-
Have you tried taking out all the batteries, including the backup, for at least 6 hours? That resets a lot of things, including Flash memory (more than a reset does)
And no, that's not normal :P
-
I hope parts of the the Flash chip is not defective.
-
Pulling the batteries out has no effect on flash. It is the same as forcing a RAM clear by holding DEL in while you insert a battery.
Darl, I believe that your problem is that you are simply out of memory. The reason that this is not apparent though is that you have 76k left. But that 76k is not continuous. Flash is made up of sectors, and each sector is made up of 4 pages that each contain 16,384 bytes. When you archive something, it is fine if it crosses a page boundary, but it cannnot cross a sector boundary. So that 76k that you see is free is actually just the little bits and pieces left at the end of your sectors.
The reason that you managed to up your limit to 12 is that during all your memory shifting, you managed to get the programs to fit better in your sectors. Imagine trying to fill several large boxes with smaller boxes, obviously, if you do it haphazardly, you will not get as many to fit as you could if you tried some sort of strategy.
Now to make the most of what you have left. If you really want to squeeze all the space out of the calculator that you can, here is what you can do:
1. Send all you programs to your computer (apps don't matter)
2. Make sure your variable archive is clean (a reset Vars wouldn't hurt)
3. Sort them by size.
4. Send them back biggest to smallest
Hopefully, doing this will make the programs fit into the sectors in the most efficient way and you will be able to maybe fit 16 apps on. But don't forget, you only unlock an extra sector for apps when you manage to not use another 65,536 byte sector because apps and programs cannot exist in the same sector.
-
Have you tried taking out all the batteries, including the backup, for at least 6 hours? That resets a lot of things, including Flash memory (more than a reset does)
That is wrong. Flash is non-volatile memory, meaning that it does not require a power source to retain its information. If you've gotten flash messed up enough that the unit cannot boot, the only way to clear it is via the boot self test.
Edit: Ninja'd
-
Have you tried contacting Ti-cares?
They might help. :P
-
I understand that flash is divided...but thanks anyways.
Now I have Axe 0.4.8 on the calc ;D but the OS still won't send.
You know how in tilp, if you get an error a window pops up with the sign on the left, and the explanation on the right? Well, I get that when I try to send the OS, but without an explanation. Just the red sign.
I tried the del thing, so the calc says, "install operating system now", and I tried to send the OS then. Whoever speaks tilp can interpret this: "Msg: using basic mode while being in boot mode." ???
-
You can resend the OS without using the DEL trick (unless the OS was already too corrupted to start up normally)
-
Tilp refuses to send the OS where it worked before.
-
What happens if you try to compile an app with Axe? Does that allow you over 6 apps?
-
Acually, I haven't tried that recently, but when I was working on TWHG it would throw some random error when I tried to compile and it would make >10 apps.
-
This is weird. I really hope it's not a broken flash chip or something. On my calc I got weird issues too, but not this bad. Compiling apps on my 83+ freezes the calc or puts junk in the Y= menu and doesn't create the APP.