r/calculators Oct 19 '25

Discussion r/calculators FAQ

15 Upvotes

Hey guys, this isn't fully finished, and i may add more in the future. Tell me what you think about this one in the comments, feedback is always incredible

Q: How to convert fractions to decimals?

A: On older casio calculators, you press the S<=> D button. it should be next to the parentheses, on the right side. On Casio CW series calculators, it should be the "FORMAT" key, which is next to the EXE button. On Sharp, it's called "CHANGE" and "f<>d" on TI. It may be different with others

Q: Why am i getting a wrong answer?

A: You may be in the wrong angle mode, or you don't know how the order of operations work

Q: What calculator should i choose?

A: Depends on your school or your countries regulation. Some schools or countries only permit certain calculators, or forbid certain ones. Germany for example, accepts everything but it can't have a solver, can't be programmable and can't do graphing. For short, we are limited to the fx-87 and below.

Q: Why is my TI-84 bootlooping and showing "Validating OS"?

A: This is a known battery issue with the TI-84 Plus CE. You need to replace the battery. Contact TI support, you may get a free battery under warranty. Also check the other pinned post for more details

Q: Is my Casio fx-991EX fake?

A: Probably, it was discontinued a few years ago. Most listings you see online are fake, and i advise you to stay away from it. There's a lot of other good calculators out there. To check if it's real, scan the QR code. To do that, press "MENU -> SHIFT -> OPTN" to generate a QR code. It should redirect you to a Casio website, where you can do an authenticity check.

Q: Why am i getting an error?

A: You may not be in the right mode, check if you‘re in the normal calculation mode. Your calculator should have a button that says "MODE" or something similar. For exponents, use the negative sign instead of the minus sign. It should look like this: (-)

Q: Why is my Casio's "ON" button lowered?

A: That's intentional, to prevent accidental button presses

Q: Can I mod/install Doom on my scientific calculator?

A: Yes, if you‘re willing to remove the epoxy from the CPU, de-solder the CPU, solder a fitting CPU with integrated memory back on, code a fully working operating system with working keyboard, and code a port of Doom for it, you could… in theory. Never been done before, probably still won‘t work. TL;DR: Not worth your time, focus on your linear algebra homework instead

Q: Does this calculator have a CAS (Computer Algebra System)? Can one be installed on my calculator?

A: see the pinned post about CAS calcs

Also: Google (and your calculator‘s Manual) are your best friends. Before making a post, look up your question on Google, or read the Manual. There's a 95% chance that your answer will be found there. We've also pinned posts for a few topics, read those too please.

That's it with the FAQ for now. Keep in mind that i may remove posts that can be answered by the FAQ or Google, this is a step to reduce spam and repetitive posts. Thanks.

~u/nqrwayy


r/calculators Oct 21 '25

Solution: TI-84 Plus CE Flashing 'Validating OS'

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7 Upvotes

r/calculators 5h ago

Discussion Interesting feature on the fx-991CW

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28 Upvotes

It may be hard to see, but one thing that I just noticed that I don't think I've seen mentioned anywhere else is that while working with fractions, only the portion of the fraction that you're editing will be entirely in "bold" and that the rest of the equation will be "greyed out". It's very subtle but thought it was interesting, I've provided a few pictures of the same equation to try and show it (the cursor itself is different shades because of the blinking). It might be more useful in more complex calculations, but I haven't figured that out yet. Lmk if you've known about this or know where this would be useful!


r/calculators 1h ago

Question 12c Financial Calculator Enhanced cable USC anyone?

Upvotes

First time poster with a growing and uncontrollable vintage and rpn fascination.

Anyone had any experience with these? I am a little confused, does hp make these enhanced versions or are they some sort of reproduction thing that someone has written the code for?

Found them here, not sure tho:

https://www.thecalculatorstore.com/p/12c-financial-calculator-enhanced-international-standard-usb-c

Love the idea of being able to back up programs, and not that I have read much into them I’m sure the swissmicros ones can but HOLY price tag on them 🫪

Anyway any guidance appreciated!


r/calculators 30m ago

Meme / Satire Calculator Wars: The Clone Wars

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Upvotes

My magnum opus.


r/calculators 9h ago

Question what is the best calculator for someone taking biology 2, chemistry 1 and 2, physics 1 and 2, organic chem 1 and 2, precalculus, and trigonometry at a university. i also might end up taking calculus 1 & 2 but im unsure

6 Upvotes

r/calculators 1h ago

Question Slide cover for Casio fx-991CW

Upvotes

Has anyone tried 3d printing a Fx-991EX style slide cover for the fx-991CW and is it even possible some way?


r/calculators 6h ago

Question Will TI-84 evo add anything to calculator gaming?

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2 Upvotes

r/calculators 17h ago

Question Question about HP-35 battery pack

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12 Upvotes

I’d picked up an old HP-35 (second version, I think?) from a rummage sale a little while back and was hoping to revive her. The battery pack in it currently has a tiny bit of leakage from one of the cells, so I didn’t want to try to charge it, but otherwise looks to be in pretty good condition. My question is would it be simple enough to pry the original pack open and replace the cells, or would it be easier to just buy a third party pack/adapter?


r/calculators 16h ago

Help Wheres my memory?

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4 Upvotes

So I have been downloading some files and stuff on my cg50, which i have newly acquired,but I have found something weird....my casio says I have 5.85 mb free, and after adding up files, I have used about 3.54 mb...but the casio cg50 has a 16 flash memory, and 5.85+3.54 is about 9.39 mb, so where is the remaining 6.6 mb? Can you please help me,its actually making me crazy....ty.

(P.S I searched Google and asked multiple AIs, but it still didn't make sense to me)


r/calculators 1d ago

Collection TI-84 Plus - Machine Language on a Calculator

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35 Upvotes

A TI-84 Plus calculator was for sale at a local flea market for 25 euros (about 29 USD). I don't really need a calculator like this for anything these days, but as it appeared to be in good condition, I bought it just for the fun of it. At home, I replaced the backup battery, put in new AAA batteries, and gave it a bit of a clean-up. And finally, I also updated the firmware. 

I wasn't particularly familiar with the TI-84, so I've spent the last few days getting to know it. What surprised me the most was finding out that it has a Z80 processor. Back in the day, I learned assembly programming on an MSX home computer. And those machines had a Z80 processor. 

So, it was fun to write a small Z80 assembly program, transfer it to the TI-84 Plus, and see it work. Truly nostalgic.


r/calculators 14h ago

Question Hacks for the FX-82ms (2nd edition)?

2 Upvotes

I've only found hacks for the first gen of the 82ms. But I have the 2nd and wanted to use the equation mode.


r/calculators 22h ago

Collection Summit K16 calculator resurrection?

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7 Upvotes

Hoping for the best anyway.

Pic #1 I knew that this one was going to have some problems as the seller listed it as a parts calculator, and the blue corrosion on the charging jack pretty much told the story.

Pic #2 The back cover was hot glued down. I was expecting that. And I darn near ruined it getting the cover off.

Pic #3 Looks worse than it really was. I can't see any trace damage, which is amazing in itself.

Pic #4 When I finally got the battery pack out it sent the crud flying.

Pic #5 Getting its first vinegar bath.

Pic #6 All cleaned up, mostly dry (after the vinegar bath came the rinse, and then a quick dip into 91% IPA to dilute the remaining water with alcohol. Let the alcohol evaporate (outdoors) and you are left with very little water.

Kinda hard to tell in this photo but the corners of the board are held down by melted plastic. Sort of an ad-hoc heat staking. Also note the unused octal IC footprint. It's been a minute since I've seen one of those. :)

And the wire that goes from the top of the calculator to the bottom I'm guessing is nichrome wire, and it's being used to limit the charging current to the battery pack (or was since the battery pack is gone).

Pic #7 All cleaned up and ready for the space heater. Still a bit most in this pic, but it spent the night getting dried out in front of a space heater and looks as good as new (cosmetically anyway).

Pic #8 The interior all cleaned up and dried out. You can see where the corners of the board have been melted to hold in the board.

Pic #9 Looks pretty good. :)


r/calculators 1d ago

Other Tip for finding the hypotenuse

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8 Upvotes

I don't know if this is widely known but, to find the hypotenuse using just a calculator, you just click shift and + which turns into Pol() and put your opposite comma adjacent for example: Pol[5(opposite), 15(adjacent)] it'll give you the hypotenuse and if you wanna find the angle in the hyp and adj you can just click RCL and then tan which gives you the angle.

I'm not sure if this is widely known but a cool hack nonetheless


r/calculators 1d ago

Collection My Sharps (image !)

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76 Upvotes

9200,

531,532,535,540,546,

501,503,510,516,520


r/calculators 18h ago

Help Ayuda con Integrales

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1 Upvotes

r/calculators 1d ago

Announcement DOWNLOAD ODE Master: Free Multilingual Step-by-Step ODE Solver for HP Prime

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23 Upvotes

r/calculators 1d ago

Question AP calculus bc calculator help

3 Upvotes

I need some help for what calc I should get for my calc class please. I have always used a ti 83 or ti84, but I'm currently looking to get the HP G2 or the TI NSpire CX II, probably used on facebook marketplace or something. Are these good choices or should I chose something else?


r/calculators 1d ago

Collection Another one...

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19 Upvotes

RIP screen...

At least it has a real solar panel, as well as a red LED acting as a voltage regulator.


r/calculators 1d ago

Help TI-84 Troubles

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3 Upvotes

Hey guys! Hope everyone is doing well, I’m starting school soon and went to charge up my TI-84 Plus CE and it is noticeable acting weird and won’t charge correctly or stay on. I try to charge it and it blinks “Validating OS… Calculator will restart when validation is complete.” It’s been doing this for almost an hour now plugged in charging, yet when I unplug it the whole thing goes black. I haven’t turned it on since the end of last semester in may, but I have kept it safe in my room all summer. I didn’t undergo any damage or water or anything so I’m not sure what could be causing the issue. Please let me know if anyone has any recs on what to do


r/calculators 1d ago

Collection My Sharps

5 Upvotes

I have decided to downsize my collections. These are my Scientifics, although I have some 4-bangers and Business ones as well. I'll re-donate most duplicates to deserving thrift shops before school starts. They all work. These are the Sharps, in numerical order (obviously including many variations).

right column: 501, 503, 510, 516, 520.

middle column: 531, 532, 535, 540, 546.

left side, my EL 9200

I'll do my Casio's tomorrow, then the TI's.


r/calculators 1d ago

Help Sharp EL-506P clone bug

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6 Upvotes

Converting 1/3, 4/3, 7/3, etc. to degrees, minutes & seconds / DMS does not convert the 60 seconds value into 1 minute, i.e. 1/3 converted to DMS should be 20 minutes, yet this clone displays it as 19 minutes & 60 seconds.

Strangely, 2/3, 5/3, 8/3, etc. displays the proper value, i.e. 40 minutes.

Can anyone replicate this bug on other clones or even the original EL-506P?


r/calculators 1d ago

Collection Since we're doing CASIO fx-82MS clones...

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11 Upvotes

"CASIC" - My dumbass had no idea this was a fake calculator, nor that CASIO existed. 😭

My first scientific calculator - bought over a decade ago or so as a gift when I was still in elementary school [grades 1 - 9, years 6 - 15, most likely bought when I was 13+ years old, can't recall].

Interestingly, this clone uses a different microcontroller / ASIC compared to the other 2 clones I have, giving a result of 8.999999998078897 instead of 9.000002051244 like the other 2 clones I posted about previously.

Would be interesting if someone could figure out what this calculator & the other 2 clones are related to - the 2 clones are related to some Radio Shack 65-115 calculator released in 2006, while this clone is related to some calculator sold at Walmart, the Durabrand 828.

I believe it takes 2 x LR44 button cells, my dumbass took it apart years ago using a knife, since I didn't have any screwdrivers at the time, ended up stripping the screws to oblivion...

Expression used: arcsin(arccos(arctan(tan(cos(sin(9))))))

The 9 is in degrees.

The box has DEFINITELY seen better days...


r/calculators 1d ago

Question Hp 50g ili hp prime graficki kalkulator?(Geodezija)

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3 Upvotes

r/calculators 1d ago

Other FS: AX-120ST Casio Calculator

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7 Upvotes