Author Topic: A new Casio PRIZM calculator: The fx-CG50 (Read 2835 times)

gbl08ma · « **Reply #30 on:** March 28, 2017, 07:37:09 pm »

The big question remains, which is whether add-ins for the older model will work on the new one.

At this rate, the only way they wouldn't be compatible, was if Casio purposefully did something to block them.

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #31 on:** March 28, 2017, 08:18:43 pm »

Yeah I am guessing it will be trial and error. Hopefully there is no way for old add-ins and vice-versa to damage the new or old calc, though. I'M also still curious about what the price will be in Canada. The fx-CG10 price has remained frozen at $130 over here ever since it came out, no matter the US<>CAD currency exchange rate. The non-CE TI models also did the same from 2011 to 2015, approximately, and the fact the CE price was adjusted based on exchange rate and the fact that the older Casio models did the same makes me think the same thing will happen with the fx-CG50, which means that if the MSRP is $130 USD and not $100 USD, it will probably retail for $175 over here.

critor · « **Reply #32 on:** March 29, 2017, 12:06:24 am »

Quote from: gbl08ma on March 28, 2017, 07:37:09 pm

The big question remains, which is whether add-ins for the older model will work on the new one.

According to the new fx-CG50 Manager 3.00 emulator which has just been released, it works :
https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=19783&p=214806#p214806

Or at least, the add-ins which used to work with the old fx-CG10/20 Manager 2.xx still work with the new fx-CG50 Manager 3.00, among them Eigenmath and CGDoom :

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #33 on:** March 29, 2017, 06:22:13 am »

Have you tested the compatibility of this new emulator? I remember that some add-ins had speed issues in the old fx-CG manager (I think something about timers behaving the other way around, such as short timer delays lasting much longer while long timer delays last much shorter, but I could be wrong since it has been half a decade since I read about it) and IIRC some also had key input problems.

gbl08ma · « **Reply #34 on:** March 29, 2017, 08:59:01 am »

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 29, 2017, 06:22:13 am

Have you tested the compatibility of this new emulator? I remember that some add-ins had speed issues in the old fx-CG manager (I think something about timers behaving the other way around, such as short timer delays lasting much longer while long timer delays last much shorter, but I could be wrong since it has been half a decade since I read about it) and IIRC some also had key input problems.

The emulator appears to be based on the exact same technology as the one for the previous model, so it's unlikely any of that has changed.
The OS and official add-ins don't need simultaneous key presses to work, so they don't need to emulate that.
The CPU clocks and timing appear to be as poorly emulated as on the previous model.

The fx-CG 50 really is just a fx-CG 20 with a different shell, higher CPU clock, French model and exam diode, and a OS that has a different UI theme. Plus a few new add-ins, which as we are finding out, work on the previous models as well.

Utilities seems to work fine: https://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=258204#258204

The only really incompatible thing so far is the looks of the main menu icons. Probably that can only be solved by providing two g3a, for each model, that while otherwise identical, have different icons. Everything else can be solved using model/OS detection inside the add-ins.

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #35 on:** March 29, 2017, 04:08:40 pm »

It would be interesting to see a comparison of the 2010-13 fx-CG10/20 PCB's, the 2014-17 one and the fx-CG50 side by side.

critor · « **Reply #36 on:** April 18, 2017, 08:57:49 pm »

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 29, 2017, 04:08:40 pm

It would be interesting to see a comparison of the 2010-13 fx-CG10/20 PCB's, the 2014-17 one and the fx-CG50 side by side.

Here you are :

fx-CG20 V04

Graph 90+E

(for the fx-CG50, just remove the exam LED beside the mini-USB port in the bottom right-hand corner, and switch the position of one port Q resistor at the right of the ASIC)

gbl08ma · « **Reply #37 on:** April 18, 2017, 09:01:25 pm »

Only one big capacitor used... my Prizm which has undergone repair came back with none... the earlier Prizm models had two. Interesting.

Also, RAM that's not an epoxy blob. This might make unbricking a bit easier, given the right tools...

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #38 on:** April 18, 2017, 11:20:14 pm »

Interesting. In any case, I hope those new calcs won't have defect problems like the old Prizm calcs. Seriously, my calc was overclocked before and I bet that if I start using it again, it could die at any moment.

critor · « **Reply #39 on:** April 19, 2017, 07:40:05 pm »

@gbl08ma Do you have the possibility to check the eigenmath app, please ?

I'm using the http://tny.im/dl/casioprizm/eigenmath.g3a download link.

It seems to be working but I'm still running into minor problems on the Graph 90+E, when I use the SHIFT+MENU menu.

The display doesn't get cleaned correctly in several situations :

And in the list-menus, the last selected item gets erased in black instead of white, making it invisible :

Wide fractions aren't drawn correctly :

And display cleaning problems too, when the history scrolls up :

No such problems with the same file sent to my fx-CG20.

Thank you very much for reading.

gbl08ma · « **Reply #40 on:** April 21, 2017, 05:35:21 pm »

@critor, I can't reproduce the problem on Casio's fx-CG 50 emulator.

It seems the drawRectangle function stopped working properly on real hardware:
https://github.com/gbl08ma/eigenmath/blob/master/src/graphicsProvider.cpp#L289

I guess it's probably due to the hardcoded VRAM address. But since it works correctly on the emulator, they must have changed it only on real hardware or it might be specific to the French version.
This means that not all fx-CG10/20 add-ins will be fully compatible with the Graph 90+E and maybe the fx-CG50. Add-ins will only be fully compatible if they are checking the VRAM address through the proper syscall, GetVRAMAddress. Utilities does not exhibit this problem, because it uses this syscall. See the following issue and associated commit:
https://github.com/gbl08ma/utilities/issues/28

Eigenmath has the VRAM address hardcoded, so it is not fully compatible.

Unfortunately, even though the solution is simple, I don't have the means to fix this now and I don't foresee having them any time soon. I no longer have a development environment set up. With a bit of luck, and if you nag me about this by then, I'll have some days in mid-summer I can allocate to this.
My add-ins are only supported on the fx-CG 10/20 platform until further notice.

Since I don't have much time right now, I hope someone spreads the news about the possible VRAM address incompatibility in other forums.

critor · « **Reply #41 on:** April 22, 2017, 08:05:24 am »

Thanks for your quick reply anyway.

Yes, we know about the VRAM incompatibilities and have started communicating about it and fixing things :
https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=19815
http://www.casiopeia.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1783#p14816
https://codewalr.us/index.php?topic=2015.0

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #42 on:** April 22, 2017, 05:30:52 pm »

Good luck gbl08ma and critor

p2 · « **Reply #43 on:** May 15, 2017, 12:10:00 pm »

the two capacitors look like they're connecte in parallel.
what's the difference between using one or two except saving a tiny amount of money in manufacturing...?