Panasonic HHC info?

[David Betz]

Thanks in advance!

On Jul 13, 2005, at 4:20 PM, Computer Collector Newsletter wrote:

> I have the main HHC instruction manual.  Will scan it once I find  
> it (which
> could take a few days!).
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk- 
> bounces at classiccmp.org]
> On Behalf Of David Betz
> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 4:00 PM
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> Subject: Panasonic HHC info?
>
> Well, I have my HHC working pretty much. I replaced the batteries  
> but that
> didn't really help the "insufficient memory" errors. I'm wondering  
> if it is
> necessary to expand the memory to use the Basic ROM.
>
> Does anyone have a copy of the HHC documentation or any information on
> programming it either in Basic or SNAP?
>
> Thanks,
> David
>
> On Jul 12, 2005, at 1:46 PM, Roger Merchberger wrote:
>
>
>> Rumor has it that David Betz may have mentioned these words:
>>
>>
>>> I finally received my HHC Basic ROMs yesterday and they seem to  
>>> work.
>>> (Thanks Roger!)
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I *think* (and with the minimal remaining number of functional
>> neutrons in my head, that's a toughie! :-O ) I have everyone  
>> caught up
>> on the HHC Basics. To those people who were severely delayed on
>> receiving their chips, I publicly apologize -- It was never my
>> intention to let this project go "lax" like it did.
>>
>> If I did forget you, please raise your hands! Then lower them again,
>> and type out an email to me, and I'll get you taken care of.
>> I currently have a couple of days of "minimal insanity" with which I
>> can clean up any last loose ends.
>>
>>
>>
>>> I do have a problem where it claims I have insufficient memory to
>>> save even the smallest program. I seem to remember hearing someone
>>> else complain of that problem as well but I never saw anyone post a
>>> solution.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> That would've been me; I may have an idea to the cause, but I've not
>> had a chance to try it. See below.
>>
>>
>>
>>>  Has anyone been able to save programs? Is there some trick  
>>> involved?
>>> This is the first time I've used the machine and I suppose there
>>> could be left over stuff in RAM that needs to be deleted.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I found that I could get 1 program entered and running, by manually
>> deleting everything I could find in the 'filesystem' and immediately
>> going to the Basic and setting it to program input mode.  [[ This is
>> the first time I'd used the machine as well... ]]
>>
>> However, there was other 'flakeyness' with my HHC as well, and so I
>> don't think it's a 'Basic-only' problem.
>>
>>
>>
>>>  I would think it would have disappeared long ago though since the
>>> batteries were dead when I bought the machine and I am only able to
>>> run it off of the power supply. Has anyone had success saving
>>> programs?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I *think* (and knowing near nothing about this machine, I really,
>> really stress *think*) that the batteries _need_ to be functional.
>> A lot of portable machines of this era used the batteries as an
>> oversized 'smoothing capacitor' for lack of a better term and would
>> not operate correctly without a working battery pack.  (I have a  
>> Tandy
>> 600 which exhibited similar memory wackyness when running it from AC
>> only with no battery pack installed.)
>>
>> I have not had time to test this theory, however, so I might be 'full
>> of condensed milk' as my father-in-law used to say.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Also, my machine has a menu entry offering to run SNAP programs  
>>> but I
>>> have been unable to find a description of the SNAP language. I
>>> believe it is a Forth derivative. Can someone point me to a
>>> description of the SNAP language?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Wish I could; SNAP sounded kewl. What I can tell you is the machine
>> uses a CMOS 6502, so if anyone can find a way to read the internal
>> ROMS or figure out the BASIC enough to program a ROM dump utility,
>> should be pretty easy for one who's good with 6502 disassemblers to
>> maybe glean some knowledge about it. (M'self, I'm more a 6809 kinda
>> guy...)
>>
>> As I have some really good soldering/desoldering tools now, I could
>> take a stab at desoldering the ROM chip[s] and reading 'em  
>> directly...
>> tho:
>>
>> 1) I wouldn't know where in memory it resides without manually  
>> tracing
>> address lines & whatnot (which I don't have time for) ...
>> or ...
>>
>> 2) I wouldn't have time to do this for at least a couple of months.
>> But hey, we've been waiting almost 10 years now for Basic, right???
>> ;^P
>>
>> HTH,
>> Roger "Merch" Merchberger
>>
>> --
>> Roger "Merch" Merchberger   | "Profile, don't speculate."
>> SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers |     Daniel J. Bernstein
>> zmerch at 30below.com          |
>>
>>
>>
>
>