Comms: 39gs, 40gs & 39g+

Help Index

The hp 39g+, hp 39gs and hp 40gs all use the same software to communicate between the calculator and a PC. This page assumes that you already have a cable (see the Hardware page) and that you have downloaded and installed the programs Connectivity Kit and the ADK39. If not then go back to the Software page and take care of that first.

The information which follows is organized as shown below. New users should start with the first topic and follow the links on each page to the next one.

bulletTesting the connection
bulletUploading to the PC (notes, programs etc.)
bulletDownloading material you've uploaded
bulletWhat are Aplets & e-lessons?
bulletFinding Aplets
bulletDownloading Aplets & Games

New user?

Before storing information from your HP to your PC for the first time here is some information you will find helpful.

bullet Any object which is contained in a view which has a SEND or RECV key can be transmitted using the HPGComm program. This includes the Aplet Library view, and the List, Matrix and Note Catalogs and means that you can store or retrieve aplets, programs, lists, matrices and Notes.  Sketches can only be transferred by sending or receiving the aplet which contains them. The SEND key will only be present if the view is not empty but the RECV key will always be there. 
bulletIf you download an aplet or program from the web then it will probably consist of a set of files compressed into a ZIP file.  You must be sure to expand the ZIP file into an empty directory so that there is no chance of overwriting the special files of another set of objects with those belonging to the new aplet or program.
bulletThe filenames used on the PC will not be the same as the name which appears on the calculator.  For example, a Note called "Phys. 2/a" would appear on the PC as PHYS2A00.000. Names can have a maximum of 8 characters with no spaces or punctuation. The names are given by the calculator and must not be changed by you.
bulletEach directory used to store calculator objects (aplets, Notes etc) will also contain two special files called HP39DIR.000 and HP39DIR.CUR.

DO NOT edit, alter or delete these two special files. 
If you damage them in any way then the information in the directory will no longer be accessible to the calculator.


When the calculator first stores objects to a directory it creates these two special files and you will see the message shown right.  Press 'YES '.  This message should only occur the first time you use a directory.  If it appears again when working with a directory you have already initialized then the the two special files have probably been corrupted.
 
These files contain a record of the names of all the files you have sent to the folder. If you alter them they will become unreadable to the calculator. If this happens you won't be able to retrieve them back to the calculator even though they are still on the computer. It is possible to repair them if they are deleted or damaged - see my FAQ page for information on how to do this.

 
Last modified: 19 Dec 2007                                             Sitemap        Home        Contact Me