Omnimaga

Calculator Community => Other Calc-Related Projects and Ideas => TI Z80 => Topic started by: E37 on May 09, 2016, 07:01:43 pm

Title: Danger zone
Post by: E37 on May 09, 2016, 07:01:43 pm

I am thinking about starting to learn asm (using mimas).
Can I brick the calc If I write bad code? I tend to learn by experimentation.

What is the worst that could happen?

Title: Danger zone
Post by: Sorunome on May 10, 2016, 05:07:11 pm

It is next to impossible for you to brick your calc without unlocking flash and some other advanced stuff.
The worst that can happen is a RAM clear.

Title: Re: Danger zone
Post by: E37 on May 10, 2016, 05:37:08 pm

By unlocking flash do you mean by allowing execution past the OS's limit?
That's the only hack I can think of... but that is in ram...

Thanks! (I didn't want to brick my calc as I do ALL my programming on it)

Title: Re: Danger zone
Post by: Xeda112358 on May 10, 2016, 07:25:18 pm

Under normal use, the flash (archive) cannot be edited. While the OS has access to the functions and privileges to write to flash, it requires some very specific exploits to unlock it for user use. The possibility of accidentally unlocking flash is astronomically low.

So in other words, you may erase RAM frequently, Flash+RAM (very infrequently, even when I was putting in semi-random stuff I never had the problem), and I think that unless you somehow unlock flash, it's impossible to brick your calc with code.

Title: Re: Danger zone
Post by: E37 on May 10, 2016, 08:36:33 pm

If I don't use archive at all, will it be safe from wipes? (I back up my calc way less often than I should)

Title: Re: Danger zone
Post by: Sorunome on May 11, 2016, 01:38:29 am

well, everything in ramsould be gone on a RAM clear, so nope.

Title: Re: Danger zone
Post by: E37 on May 11, 2016, 09:09:43 am

Sorry, I meant everything in archive to be safe from clears. I am very used to ram clears due to my sloppy Axe coding.

Title: Re: Danger zone
Post by: Geekboy1011 on May 11, 2016, 04:01:15 pm

You would have to be , as mentioned, extremely unlucky to experience anything other then ram clears/freezing. Which is nothing a battery pull wont fix. Once you start messing with changing execution permissions you may have some issues due to changing them requires execution from a privileged page which required unlocking flash to get the ability to write whats needed, and if the routine you were using handled that bad you could see issues. Shy of that, if your not playing with flash unlocks you could break your screen with test mode?!? Other then that yeah only thing that could be lost is the contents of ram. Your archive would remain safe.