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Cahute 0.6

Cahute is a library and set of command-line utilities to handle serial and USB communication protocols and file formats related to CASIO calculators, dating from the 1990s to today. It provides the following features[1]:

File transfer between storages

With p7, transfer files from and to storages on fx-9860G compatible calculators, over USB and serial links!

Program backup

With CaS, extract programs from all CASIO calculators since 1992, over USB and serial links!

Text conversions

With cahute_convert_text(), convert text between standard and CASIO-specific text encodings!

Screenstreaming

With p7screen, display screen captures and streaming from your calculator on your host system!

ROM flashing

With p7os, flash fx-9860G and compatible calculators!

Installing or building Cahute is officially supported on the following systems:

Archlinux and derivatives

Install Cahute…

• From the AUR

• From the AUR (MinGW-w64)

• Using GiteaPC

• Using GiteaPC (gint)

Build Cahute from source…

• Natively

macOS, OS X

Install Cahute…

• Using Homebrew

Build Cahute from source…

• Natively

Note

Support and distribution of other systems is in progress or is awaiting volunteers:

Microsoft Windows

Install Cahute…

• As a dependency on Visual Studio

• On Windows 2000+

• On Windows 1.0+

Build Cahute from source…

• For Vista+ using Visual Studio

• For XP using Visual Studio

• For XP+ using Visual Studio and MinGW-w64

• Using MinGW-w64 from Archlinux

• For Win 1.x+ using OpenWatcom from Archlinux

Debian and derivatives

Install Cahute…

• Using APT

• Using GiteaPC

• Using GiteaPC (gint)

Build Cahute from source…

• Natively

RHEL and derivatives

Install Cahute…

• Using RPM

• Using GiteaPC

• Using GiteaPC (gint)

Build Cahute from source…

• Natively

Void Linux

Install Cahute…

• Using XBPS

• Using GiteaPC

• Using GiteaPC (gint)

Build Cahute from source…

• Natively

AmigaOS and derivatives

Install Cahute…

• From Aminet

Build Cahute from source…

• From Linux

FreeBSD

Install Cahute…

No installation guide available for this system.

Build Cahute from source…

No build guide available for this system.

NetBSD

Install Cahute…

No installation guide available for this system.

Build Cahute from source…

No build guide available for this system.

MS-DOS

Install Cahute…

No installation guide available for this system.

Build Cahute from source…

No build guide available for this system.

OS/2

Install Cahute…

No installation guide available for this system.

Build Cahute from source…

No build guide available for this system.

The project is being worked on on Gitlab. It is maintained by Thomas Touhey. See Forums and other communities for the topics describing the projects in other communities.

The project’s code and documentation contents are licensed under CeCILL version 2.1 as distributed by the CEA, CNRS and Inria on cecill.info.

This documentation is organized using Diátaxis’ structure.

How-to guides

These sections provide guides, i.e. recipes, targeted towards various actors. They guide you through the steps involved in addressing key problems and use-cases.

• Installation guides
  • Installing Cahute on Linux distributions
    • Installing Cahute on Archlinux and derivatives for local use and development, using the AUR
    • Installing Cahute on Archlinux and derivatives for MinGW development, using the AUR
    • Installing Cahute on Debian and derivatives for local use and development, using APT
    • Installing Cahute on RHEL and derivatives for local use and development, using RPM
    • Installing Cahute on Voidlinux and derivatives for local use and development, using XBPS
    • Installing Cahute on any Linux distribution for local use and development, using GiteaPC
    • Installing Cahute on any Linux distribution for gint development, using GiteaPC
    • Installing Cahute on other distributions
  • Installing Cahute on macOS / OS X
    • Installing Cahute on macOS / OS X for local use and development, using Homebrew
  • Installing Cahute on FreeBSD
  • Installing Cahute on NetBSD
  • Installing Cahute on Microsoft Windows
    • Installing Cahute as a dependency to Visual Studio projects, using vcpkg
    • Installing Cahute on Microsoft Windows 10 1809 and above for local use, using WinGet
    • Installing Cahute on Microsoft Windows 2000 and above for local use, using the installer
    • Installing Cahute on Microsoft Windows 1.0 and above for local use, using the installer
  • Installing Cahute on MS-DOS
  • Installing Cahute on OS/2
  • Installing Cahute on AmigaOS
    • Installing Cahute on AmigaOS from Aminet, for local use
• Build from source guides
  • Building Cahute for Linux distributions
    • Building Cahute natively for Linux
  • Building Cahute for macOS / OS X
    • Building Cahute natively for macOS / OS X
  • Building Cahute for FreeBSD
  • Building Cahute for NetBSD
  • Building Cahute for Microsoft Windows
    • Building Cahute for Microsoft Windows Vista and above, using Visual Studio
    • Building Cahute for Microsoft Windows XP, using Visual Studio
    • Building Cahute for Microsoft Windows 2000 and above, using Visual Studio and MinGW-w64
    • Building Cahute for Microsoft Windows 2000 and above, using MinGW-w64 on Archlinux
    • Building Cahute for Microsoft Windows 2000 and above, using Open Watcom on Archlinux
    • Building Microsoft Cahute for Windows 1.x and above, using Open Watcom on Archlinux
  • Building Cahute for MS-DOS
  • Building Cahute for OS/2
  • Building Cahute for AmigaOS
    • Building Cahute for AmigaOS 3.2 and above, using Linux
• Contribution guides
  • Contributing to Cahute
    • Using Cahute and providing feedback
    • Testing Cahute in more exotic configurations
    • Testing the Cahute documentation
    • Localizing and advertising Cahute out of its channels
    • Packaging Cahute for your system
    • Contributing code and documentation directly
  • Reporting a bug or vulnerability
    • Writing a bug or vulnerability report
    • Sending your bug or vulnerability report
  • Requesting a feature
  • Packaging Cahute
    • Preparing the installer or distribution
    • Testing your package
    • Getting informed when a new version is released
  • Creating a merge request
    • Setting up the environment
    • Creating your branch
    • Making your modifications
    • Creating your merge request
    • Passing the review process
• Command line user guides
  • Getting information regarding a calculator
    • If you are using USB
    • If you are using serial
  • Sending a file to a calculator’s storage memory
    • If you are using USB
    • If you are using serial
  • Getting a file from the calculator’s storage memory
    • If you are using USB
    • If you are using serial
  • Displaying the screen from a calculator
• Developer guides
  • Building with the Cahute library
    • Using CMake
    • Using pkg-config
  • Using device detection
    • Listing calculators connected by USB
    • Listing available serial ports
  • Using links
    • Opening a link to a calculator connected by USB
    • Opening a generic link to a calculator connected by serial
  • Reading and writing files
    • Guessing the type of a file
  • Using text conversion utilities
    • Converting text from an encoding to another
• Miscellaneous guides
  • Getting started with Cahute in Visual Studio
    • Cloning the Cahute repository in Visual Studio
    • Building Cahute
  • Capturing USB communications for CASIO calculators on Windows using Wireshark

Discussion topics

These sections discuss key topics and concepts at a fairly high level, and provide useful background information and explanation.

• Communication
  • Purposes for the communication protocols
    • Data or screen reception
    • Data or screen sending
    • Device control
  • Communication ports
    • 3-pin port
    • PXH-A16 port
    • USB Mini-B port
    • USB Type-C port
  • Communication cables
    • USB Type-A to 3-pin cables
    • USB Type-A to PXH-A16 cables
    • USB Type-A to Mini-B cables
    • USB Type-A to Type-C cables
    • 3-pin to 3-pin cables
    • RS-232 (DB-9) to 3-pin cables
    • RS-232 (DB-9) to PXH-A16 cables
    • RS-232 (DB-25) to 3-pin cables
    • Other cables
  • Communication transports and protocols
    • Serial transport
    • USB transports
  • USB detection for CASIO calculators
  • CAS40 protocol – Serial protocol used by pre-1996 calculators
    • CAS40 packet format
    • CAS40 data types
    • CAS40 flows
  • CAS50 protocol – Serial protocol used by calculators from 1996 to 2004
    • CAS50 packet format
    • CAS50 data types
    • CAS50 flows
  • CAS100 protocol – Serial protocol used by AFX / Graph 100
    • CAS100 packet format
    • CAS100 data types
    • CAS100 flows
  • CAS300 – Serial and USB protocol used by Classpad 300 / 330 (+)
    • CAS300 packet format
    • CAS300 commands
    • CAS300 flows
  • Protocol 7.00 – Serial and USB protocol used by post fx-9860G calculators
    • Specific formats for Protocol 7.00
    • Protocol 7.00 packet format
    • Protocol 7.00 communication flows
    • Known Protocol 7.00 commands by CASIO
    • Known Protocol 7.00 command extensions in fxRemote
    • Protocol 7.00 use cases
    • Known hardware identifiers for Protocol 7.00
  • Protocol 7.00 Screenstreaming – fx-9860G and fx-CG screenstreaming
    • Protocol 7.00 Screenstreaming packet format
    • Protocol 7.00 Screenstreaming communication flows
  • USB Mass Storage (UMS)
• File formats
  • Known file extensions
  • CASIO container format
  • fx-CG add-ins
  • fx-9860G add-ins
  • Calculator Text Format (CTF)
  • CASIOLINK archives
    • CAS40 main memory file format
    • CAS50 main memory file format
  • casrc configuration file
    • Well-known locations
    • File format
    • Available settings and properties
  • Catalog files (CAT)
  • e-Activity files
  • eAct Maker file
  • fx-CG f-key files
  • fx-9860G f-key files
  • FX Program (FXP)
  • GraphCard file format
  • fx-CG language files
  • fx-9860G language files
  • Main memory archives
  • fx-CG picture
  • fx-CP picture
• Other data formats
  • Number formats
    • CASIOLINK-style BCD
    • fx-9860G-style BCD
    • fx-9860G-style fraction
  • Picture formats
    • 1bpp monochrome picture format
    • 1bpp monochrome picture format with CAS50 order
    • Dual 1bpp gray picture format
    • Multiple 1bpp picture format with CAS50 order and palette prefix
    • 4bpp packed RGB picture format
    • R5G6B5 picture format
    • 32bpp ARGB picture format using host endianness
  • Text encodings
    • Variable width encoding
    • Fixed-width encoding
    • CAT data encoding
    • CTF data encoding
    • UTF-32 encoding
    • UTF-8 encoding
• Cahute features
  • System compatibility
    • Linux distributions
    • macOS, OS X
    • FreeBSD
    • NetBSD
    • Microsoft Windows
    • MS-DOS
    • OS/2
    • AmigaOS and derivatives
  • Contexts
  • Links
    • USB device names
    • Generic links
  • Files
    • File reading
    • Raw file creation
  • Main memory data
    • Programs
  • Logging facilities
• Cahute internals
  • Internal compatibility utilities
    • Macro definitions
    • Type definitions
    • Function declarations
  • Context internals
    • Context pointers
  • Link internals
    • Transports / system interface
    • Protocols
    • Opening behaviours
  • File internals
    • Mediums / system interface
    • File metadata retrieval
  • Characters, encodings and conversions
    • Character reference
    • Compiled character reference
    • Conversion logic
  • Platform-specific utilities
    • AmigaOS specific implementation details
    • libusb specific implementation details
    • POSIX specific implementation details
    • Win16 specific implementation details
    • Win32 specific implementation details
• Project management
  • Project governance
  • Git and release versioning
    • Releases
    • Git repository structure
    • Documentation
  • Contribution style
    • Commit naming
    • Coding style
    • Documentation
  • Coding style
    • Formatting
    • Namespace
    • Compatibility
    • Memory
  • Code of conduct
  • Community feedback
    • Repository issues
    • Forums and other communities
    • Tracking

References

These sections provide technical reference for APIs and other aspects of Cahute’s machinery. They go into detail, and therefore, assume you have a basic understanding of key concepts.

• Command line reference
  • CaS command-line reference
  • p7 command line reference
    • list-devices subcommand reference
    • info subcommand reference
    • idle subcommand reference
    • send subcommand reference
    • get subcommand reference
    • copy subcommand reference
    • delete subcommand reference
    • list subcommand reference
    • reset subcommand reference
    • optimize subcommand reference
  • p7os command line reference
    • prepare-only subcommand reference
    • flash subcommand reference
    • get subcommand reference
  • p7screen command line reference
  • xfer9860 command line reference
• Header reference
  • <cahute.h> – Main header for Cahute
    • <cahute/cdefs.h> – Basic definitions for Cahute
    • <cahute/config.h> – Cahute configuration details
    • <cahute/context.h> – Context management for Cahute
    • <cahute/data.h> – Calculator data resource and methods for Cahute
    • <cahute/detection.h> – Device detection for Cahute
    • <cahute/error.h> – Error definitions for Cahute
    • <cahute/file.h> – File related utilities for Cahute
    • <cahute/info.h> – Cahute library information
    • <cahute/link.h> – Calculator link resource and methods for Cahute
    • <cahute/logging.h> – Logging control for Cahute
    • <cahute/path.h> – Path related utilities for Cahute
    • <cahute/picture.h> – Picture format related utilities for Cahute
    • <cahute/text.h> – Text encoding related utilities for Cahute
• CMake setting reference
  • CMake built-in settings
  • Cahute-specific general settings
  • Cahute-specific command-line utility switches
  • Cahute-specific experimental command-line utility switches

Glossary

The following are definitions for words and expressions used in this documentation.

3-pin

Serial connector available on all CASIO calculators from 1991 to today, used for both PC-to-calculator and calculator-to-calculator communications.

See 3-pin port for more information.

Add-in

Additional application for calculators.

While the system applications are embedded in the calculator’s system, some calculators allow for additional applications to be placed in the storage memory, and can be executed from the main menu; these are named “add-ins”.

Addin

See Add-in.

CAS40

Communication protocol used by pre-1996 CASIO calculators.

See CAS40 protocol – Serial protocol used by pre-1996 calculators for more information.

CAS50

Communication protocol used by CASIO calculators from 1996 to 2004.

See CAS50 protocol – Serial protocol used by calculators from 1996 to 2004 for more information.

CAS100

Communication protocol used by CASIO AFX / Graph 100(+) calculators.

See CAS100 protocol – Serial protocol used by AFX / Graph 100 for more information.

CAS300

Communication protocol used by CASIO ClassPad 300/330(+) calculators.

See CAS300 – Serial and USB protocol used by Classpad 300 / 330 (+) for more information.

Connector

Physical connector present on a host or a calculator, on which a corresponding cable can be plugged.

Context

Collection of system and library resources used to accomplish tasks using Cahute.

See Contexts for more information.

Generic link

Link with no protocol, providing access to the underlying transport for sending and receiving data using a custom protocol.

See Generic links for more information.

Link

Link established with a calculator or host using a protocol over a transport, within a context.

See Links for more information.

Main memory

Small filesystem present on all calculators used to store most files used by various system applications, such as programs. Usually 64 KiB or less, and stored in RAM.

See Main memory data for more information.

Main memory data

Data represented as a file on the main memory, bearing a type and type-specific data.

See Main memory data for more information.

OHP

Overhead projector; see Screenstreaming.

PXH-A16

Calculator-side connector available on the Classpad 300.

See PXH-A16 port for more information.

Port

See Connector.

Program

main memory data representing a CASIO BASIC program which can be created, edited, deleted, and executed by a system application on any CASIO calculator, usually PRGM.

See Programs for more information.

Protocol

Communication protocol used over a transport to fulfill one or more purposes, in the context of a link.

See Purposes for the communication protocols for more information.

Protocol 7.00

Communication protocol used over both serial and USB starting from the fx-9860G (2004) calculators.

See Protocol 7.00 – Serial and USB protocol used by post fx-9860G calculators for more information.

SB-62

Official 3-pin to 3-pin cable by CASIO, used for calculator to calculator communication.

See SB-62 cable for more information.

SB-87

Official serial (DB-9) to 3-pin cable by CASIO.

See SB-87 / SB-125 / SB-150 / SB-155 cable for more information.

SB-88

Official USB Type-A to 3-pin cable by CASIO.

See SB-88 cable for more information.

SB-88(A)

Official variation of the SB-88 cable by CASIO.

See SB-88 cable for more information.

SB-300

Official USB Type-A to PXH-A16 cable by CASIO.

See SB-300 cable for more information.

SB-305

Official serial (DB-99) to 3-pin cable by CASIO.

See SB-305 cable for more information.

Screenstreaming

Communications use case where the calculator shares the contents of its screen to a host over serial or USB.

This can be used to project the screen contents onto a bigger screen or wall using a projector, or record the screen contents on the host.

Storage memory

Filesystem larger than the main memory, than can contain main memory archives, add-ins and more.

Used for larger files with fewer changes during the calculator’s lifetime. Pricier calculators use a multi-MiB section on the flash memory to provide a storage memory, and some calculators have a secondary storage memory in the form of an SD card slot.

Transport

Transport underlying a link, composed of a physical transport (connector and cable set) as well as the system or hardware interface (system interface, driver) used to access it.

UMS

See USB Mass Storage.

USB Mass Storage

Used in this documentation to refer to both UMS as transport and UMS as protocol.

Acknowledgements

There have been many projects over the years about reversing and reimplementing CASIO’s shenannigans for using their calculators from alternative OSes, or simply for fun or out of curiosity. Cahute couldn’t have been made without their research, implementations and in some cases, documentation. This page is a little tribute to these works.

• Thanks to Tom Wheeley and Tom Lynn for their work on CaS and Caspro and the Casio Graphical Calculator Encyclopaedia.

• Thanks to the (now defunct) Graph100.com wiki, saved here for historical purposes.

• Thanks to the team behind Casetta for their documentation on legacy protocols and file formats, which helped me navigate the subtleties more easily.

• Thanks to Simon Lothar and Andreas Bertheussen for their work on Protocol 7.00 and derivatives through fxReverse and xfer9860, and to Teamfx for their additions.

• Thanks to the Cemetech community for their Prizm Wiki, especially gbl08ma, BrandonWilson and amazonka.

• Thanks to Nessotrin for their work on UsbConnector, which prompted me to work on a better version in the first place.

• Thanks to Massena for their work on the Cahute cover image, on the top of every page.

There are obviously plenty more people working on other connected aspects (hardware, low-level system stuff), administering or moderating forums and websites, maintaining communication with CASIO and other partners. Quoting you all would take a substantial time, and I’d likely miss quite a lot of you, but thank you all for your efforts!

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Icons used here are from the Mutant Standard, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International. Copyright © 2017 - 2024 Caius Nocturne.