The Ultimate TI Calculator FAQ - Index

This FAQ is intended to provide information on running various programs on Texas Instruments calculators. It describes the TI-82, TI-83, TI-83 Plus, TI-84, TI-84 Silver Edition, TI-85, TI-86, TI-89, TI-89 Titanium Edition, TI-92, TI-92 II, TI-92 Plus, and Voyage 200 calculators. It focuses mainly on assembly programs (particularly games) but has some information about all types of programs. This document describes the specific things that are needed for each calculator, and gives solutions to most common problems encountered. It is not intended to explain obvious details or things which are easily found in the calculator's manual. For the most part the TI-NSpire is not covered here.

• Introduction
  1. What kinds of programs can the calculator run?
  2. What are "basic" and "asm" programs? What is the difference between them?
  3. Where are calculator programs available?
  4. Which calculator do you recommend? How do the various calculators compare?
  5. Where else can I get help?
  6. How do I use a ZIP file?
  7. I don't have the manual to my calculator. Where can I get one?
• Transferring files
  1. How do I send programs to the calculator?
  2. Where can I obtain a Graph-Link and the software for it?
  3. I don't have a Graph-Link but still want to send some programs. Give me the games in text format! Now!
  4. The Graph-Link software won't let me open ASM programs! What can I do?
  5. How fast does the link port send data?
  6. Where do I connect the Graph-Link to my computer?
  7. What files can I send to the calculator?
  8. I can't send .ASM, .Z80, etc. files to my calculator! What can I do about this?
  9. I have a USB cable (or no cable at all) so I can't use TI Graph-Link software! How can I view/edit programs on the computer?
• General information on assembly programs
  1. What are the best games?
  2. Do I need to worry about programs crashing? Can a program permanently destroy my calculator?
  3. Do I need to worry about viruses or other malicious programs?
  4. Why is it impractical or impossible to type in assembly programs?
  5. Why are additional programs sometimes needed to run assembly programs?
  6. What should I do if a program doesn't seem to work?
  7. How do I report a bug in a program?
  8. What is grayscale?
• TI-82
  1. Which shell should I use? How do I use it?
  2. How do I found out my ROM version? Which ROM versions can I run asm programs on?
  3. What should I do if I have ROM version 19.006 (or some other unsupported version)?
• TI-83 and TI-84 (regular, Plus, and Silver Edition)
  1. How do I run assembly programs on the TI-83?
  2. How do I run assembly programs on the TI-83 Plus and TI-83 Plus Silver Edition?
  3. How do I run programs on the TI-84 (in its various editions)?
  4. What about programs that don't use any shell?
  5. What about flash applications?
  6. Can I run TI-82 programs on the TI-83+?
  7. TI's manual for the TI-83+ mentions an AsmComp command, does this mean I can compile assembly on the calculator?
  8. Why is it very difficult to convert certain TI-83 programs to run on the TI-83+? What is the 8K limit on the TI-83+?
  9. How well do TI-83 Plus programs run on the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition?
  10. Where can I get assembly programs that take advantange of the extra speed of the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition?
  11. Why does the TI-83+ Graph-Link software accept only *.8xk files?
  12. Should I send files to RAM or archive of the TI-83 Plus?
  13. Why do I get a syntax error whenever I try to run an assembly program?
  14. What is garbage collecting? Do I need to worry about it wearing out my flash memory?
  15. I tried to send the A program to another calculator, but it doesn't work. How can I send Ion between calculators?
  16. I installed Ion, but nothing happens when I run it! What is the problem?
  17. Why does my program appear in the PRGM (program) list instead of the APPS list?
• TI-85
  1. Which shell should be used? How do I use it?
  2. What about all of the other shells? Why is Usgard the preferred shell?
  3. Why are TI-85 asm programs stored as strings? Why do these strings appear full of garbage when I try to view them?fs
• TI-86
  1. How do I run assembly programs on the TI-86?
  2. What are the benefits of using a shell?
  3. Can I run TI-82, TI-83, and TI-85 programs on the TI-86?
  4. Can I protect the contents of my TI-86's memory?
  5. How can I develop assembly programs on the calculator?
  6. Can I store more than 96K of variables on my TI-86?
• TI-89, TI-89 Titanium, TI-92 Plus, and Voyage 200
  1. Summary - for people who don't care about details
  2. What is the difference between a "nostub" and a kernel-using ("doors") program?
  3. How do I run a program?
  4. What should I do if I get an error message that says "ASAP or exec string too long"?
  5. How do I determine my HW (hardware) and AMS versions? What is AMS anyway?
  6. What are the differences among the various versions?
  7. What are kernels and shells? What is the difference between a shell and a kernel?
  8. Which kernel should I use? How do I use it?
  9. Why is PreOs the best choice? Why not use DoorsOS (or some other obsolete kernel)?
  10. Where can I get a shell?
  11. What are libraries and how do I work with them?
  12. When are HW2Patch and HW3Patch? when and how should they be used?
  13. Where can I obtain older AMS versions?
  14. Is it possible for programmers to write complete replacements for the AMS software?
  15. Is it possible to change the HW version of my calculator?
  16. I get an error message saying "Invalid Relocation Data in ASM Program"! What can be done about this?
  17. My calculator sometimes turns off suddenly. Is this a bug in some program? What should I do about it?
  18. My calculator crashed or froze with a black bar across the top of the screen. What does this mean and how do I fix it?
  19. How can I protect my data from being erased if the calculator crashes?
  20. What are these "Source Guru"-converted programs? Should I use them?
  21. How can I develop assembly programs on the calculator?
  22. How can I get grayscale to stop flickering on my HW2 calculator?
  23. I need programs in .89k (or .9xk) format, but I can only find them as .89z (or .9xz). What should I do about this?
  24. Should I store files in RAM or archive?
  25. What are .89y and .9xy files? What are the files that show up as type "ppg" on the calculator?
  26. What programs can be run on a Voyage 200 calculator?
  27. How can I get assembly programs for the TI-89 to run on the TI-89 Titanium?
  28. Which programs don't work on the TI-89 Titanium? Why?
• TI-92 and TI-92 II
  1. What shell/kernel should I use?
  2. Can Fargo II run programs for the older version of Fargo?
  3. What are these "Source Guru"-converted programs? Should I use them?
  4. My calculator crashed or froze with a black bar across the top of the screen. What does this mean and how do I fix it?
• Programming
  1. How can I program in the calculator's built-in Basic language?
  2. How do I develop assembly programs?
  3. What programs do I need to build assembly programs?
  4. What command line (DOS/Windows) programs can I use to build assembly programs?
  5. What Windows programs can I use to build assembly programs?
  6. What Linux programs can I use to build calculator assembly programs?
  7. What Macintosh programs can I use to build calculator assembly programs?
  8. What is the best way to learn to program the calculators in assembly language?
  9. Where can I find good documentation and tutorials on calculator assembly programming?
  10. How can I program the calculator in C?
  11. What about languages not mentioned above?
• Math, Science, and Educational Uses
  1. How can I learn to use the math features of my calculator?
  2. The only root key I see is a square root. How can I calculate a cube (or other) root?
  3. Where can I get math and science programs for my calculator?
  4. Can you help me use my calculator to cheat on tests?