TI-73 Link Protocol Guide - Getting OS & BIOS version

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OS & BIOS version

With the introduction of the Ti-Connect software, Texas Instruments have incorporated a new command which returns some version informations.

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#### Getting OS & BIOS version

Indeed, the request is like sending a TI84+ FLASH.

The protocol for silently receiving the clock is shown below:

Step | Direction | Packet
--- | --- | ---
1 |  |  |  | VER
2 |  | ACK
3 |  | CTS
4 |  | ACK
5 |  | DATA
6 |  | ACK

Example (PC requesting version):

PC: | `07 2D 00 00` | Request informations
TI: | `74 56 00 00` | Acknowledgement of REQ
PC: | `07 09 00 00` | Clear to send variable
TI: | `74 56 00 00` | Acknowledgement of CTS
| `74 15 0B 00 01 60 01 00 00 00 09 01 42 52 00 01 00` | Variable data: 12 bytes (OS: 1.60, BIOS: 1.00)
PC: | `07 56 00 00` | Acknowledgement of variable data

####

The variable data has the following format (pure binary and/or BCD):

Offset | Length | Description
--- | --- | ---
0 | 2 bytes | OS version like 01 60 for 1.60
4 | 2 bytes | BIOS version like 01 00 for 1.00
6 | 1 byte | Battery level (00 = good, 01 = low)
7 | 1 byte | ??
8 | 2 bytes | Always 09 01
10 | 2 bytes | ??
12 | 1 byte | Always 00

#### Note : when calculator is waiting for OS arrival, any packet is rejected unless this one. But, it returns 0.00 as OS version.
Note : this packet seems to the same as TI8X+ hand-helds.

Examples :
TI73 : `01 60 01 00 00 00 09 01 42 52 00`
TI84+ : 02 16 01 00 00 03 09 01 00 00 00 00
TI83+ : 01 0C 01 00 00 00 09 01 00 00 00 18 (VTi5b1)

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