This virtual device emulates either an HP82161A cassette drive, an HP9114B disk drive (without the SS/80 command set), or a virtual HDRIVE1 device to access files on an LIF image file.
The directory listing of the current LIF image file is displayed on the tab. The listing is updated if the drive has been idle for 3 seconds. The column headers can be checked to get a sorted list of the directory.
The virtual devices have the following HP-IL configuration and their supported LIF image file layouts. A layout describes internal characteristics of a LIF image files and thus also the total capacity.
| Device Type | Accessory ID | Default Address | Device ID | LIF Image file layout | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Capacity | ||||
| HP82161A | 0x10 | 0x02 | cass | 131.072 Bytes | |
| HP9114B | 0x10 | 0x02 | HP9114B | Disk | 630.784 Bytes |
| HDRIVE1 | 0x10 | 0x02 | HDRIVE1 | HDRIVE1 | 655.360 Bytes |
| cass | 131.072 Bytes | ||||
| Disk | 655.360 Bytes | ||||
| HDRIVE2 | 2 MB | ||||
| HDRIVE4 | 4 MB | ||||
| HDRIVE8 | 8 MB | ||||
| HDRIVE16 | 16 MB | ||||
The drive type is selected from the checkbox group. If another drive type is enabled, the currently used LIF image file is unmounted.
Please run a RESTORE IO command so that the controller is aware of the change in drive type.
In most cases you should apply the HDRIVE1 drive type, since it supports the most LIF image file sizes. Apply the HP9114B drive type if you use software that requires compatibility with that device. Use the HP82161A drive type if the controller is an HP-41.
pyILPER requires a valid LIF header when mounting existing LIF image files. The LIF header specifies the layout of the LIF image file. A valid LIF header includes:
If the LIF file header is missing or incomplete, the mount of the file will be rejected. Invalid LIF headers result from the file having been created either with the HP-41 or with faulty versions of the HP-71 IL module. In this case, you should create a backup file and repair the header using the Fix Header of LIF Image Files function in the Utilities menu.
For each drive type, only LIF image files with the layouts listed in the table above can be mounted.
Note: the HP-41 can only access the first 130K bytes of larger disk media. The documentation of the HP9114B disk drive includes a FOCAL program that allows you to access content larger than 130K bytes.
It is generally recommended that you let pyILPER create empty LIF image files with the Initialize LIF Image Files function of the Utilities menu. This allows you to generate all LIF image file layouts listed in the table above.
If you want to initialize a LIF image file using an HP-IL controller, the resulting LIF image file is initialized with the standard layout of the current device type (shown in bold in the table above).
The process is as follows (HP-71): select the desired drive type, enter a non-existing file name as the LIF image file, and do a RESTORE IO and initialize the medium from the controller.
pyILPER takes care that incorrectly generated LIF image file headers are corrected automatically.
The drive tab has the following controls:
are a convenient way to edit LIF image files and the files stored within them. The features are only enabled if both a compatible version of the LIFUTILS (at least Version 2.0.0 is required) are installed and the drive is not active. A drive is inactive if either the loop has stopped or the Device enabled checkbox is unchecked. This ensures that HP-IL commands and file management functions are not executed simultaneously.
To use the LIF image file management functions, it is recommended that you know the basics about LIF image files, LIF files, and the LIFUTILS. Reading the LIFUTILS tutorial is a good starting point.
For the Import function there are a number of preprocessing options to prepare a wide variety of file types for import into a LIF image file:
Use the file context menu (right mouse button click on selected file in the directory listing) to execute the following functions:
For the Export there are the following post-processing options depending on the file type:
The LIF image file management functions only support file names that contain letters and digits. Unfortunately, the HP-41 IL-module is less strict, and file names may contain other characters. You can rename these files to proper LIF file names.