I am starting a project in which I will be making a new/editing the standard TI 84 Plus Calculator OS. I am planning on only changing a few things that slow it down and are not neccesarry for me. (EX: Asymptote checking while graphing, "PrettyPrint" or "MathPrint" options) I would also like to add a simple password protection screen for whenever I have turned off my Calculator to prevent data theft.

I am familiar with "Basic Programming". I am very skilled in TI Basic (Calculator Programming) and have a bit of programming experience in Java and ASM, although the only assembly code I have used is on TI 84 Plus Graphing Calculators... I am looking for some more info as well as the way I should go about making this new OS.

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Useful Links:

[TI Calc.org]"http://www.ticalc.org/"

[TI Calc OS Programs]"http://www.ticalc.org/pub/83plus/os/"

[TI Basic Dev]"http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/"

More TI Calc stuff from another cool site:(Manual link) "http://www.teshack.com/tag/ti calculators"

[SmileyOS]"http://www.ticalc.org/pub/83plus/os/smileyos.zip" - This is one simple custom OS I have seen before, so I do know it is possible to do something similar to what I am describing.

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I am looking for someone who knows a bit more about this topic to give me some tips, and guide me in the right direction. I do want to be able to do some work on my own, so I am not asking anyone to do the work for me, simply help me out along the way giving advice.

Thanks so much to any who can help me!

-Jake

Yes, I intend to use it solely for personal use, but I have one friend who knows about it that I might let use it also. If any of you want to see the code that I used or the method I used to edit the OS, I will leave that info here so you can use it (assuming I can figure this out )

As I have realized there will most likely be many issues involving compatibility between my modified sections of the OS and the main normal, unchanged parts of it. I just need someone to point me in the right direction on how I should get started on this. I can do the programming just fine, just need a little booster-start lol.

Thanks to any who can help me

I'll make sure to keep you all updated on my progress.

EDIT: I will take a look at KnightOS, that tutorial and some of the other OS's that you mention that have been developed here. Thanks for that info, looks like I'm in the right place for this stuff!

You might also want to ask eeems and/or sircmpwn (NOTE: sircmpwn is banned but you might be able to get his e-mail off somewhere)

1-Does anyone have the original OS code for the most recent default TI OS? (I have the newest version but it has a lot of extra software on it I don't feel like purging)

It's hardly open source lol

I don't remember if it's illegal to reverse-engineer (disassemble) it, or just against the Terms of Service.

2-What is the best/simplest way to compile my code into the TI Connect Operating System format.

Use Spasm to compile to a BIN, then use Rabbitsign (for *nix or Windows to sign it with the factored key.

3-For now I am using TI Connect along with my compiler/OS files I am creating separately. Is there a way to upload and download stuff from my calculator using one of these other third party applications that I will be using to compile/code?

Pretty much the only alternative to TI Connect is TiLP.

You'll almost definitely want to do your testing on an emulator (like WabbitEmu), unless you want the hassle of dealing with real bricked calculators and stuff

4-I know how to back up my files and everything I need is saved. Do you know how I can do a "Full Snapshot Save" of my calculator so that my OS and ROM I have at the moment can be in ONE file so that it is easy to restore my calculator to how it was previously? Any recommendations for that?

You can dump your ROM (full flash image including OS and archive) with rom8x.

5-Any other links to tutorials/step-by-step guides to creating a TI-8X OS? (For saving bandwidth/memory/time for others try not to include links previously posted)[/url]SirCmpwn's Tutorial for Starting to Write an Operating System?

1-Does anyone have the original OS code for the most recent default TI OS? (I have the newest version but it has a lot of extra software on it I don't feel like purging)

AFAIK, if you install an OS on a clean calc only the OS is loaded on the calc.

-correct me if I'm wrong-

oh, here's a locking system for your calc:
http://www.cemetech.net/programs/index.php?mode=file&path=/83plus/basic/programs/CalcLock2byM.A.zip

Lol, I downloaded it and saw you were using Start-up
I suggest you to use zStart instead. Here are its features, in the spoiler, for the same amount of memory than Start-up.

Other than that, great work on this program ^^

I replied there too, but are you using the newest version? The one on ticalc is really old.

If the bug's still there, you can post a bug report in thepenguin77's topic.