In Part 1 of this Back-to-School Guide, I helped you decide what graphing calculator to buy. Perhaps you got a Casio Prizm, a TI-84 Plus Silver Edition, a TI-89, or even a TI-Nspire CX. Like any good student, now you want some educational programs to put on your calculator for math or science. Or if we're really being honest, you probably want some games to play during your commute and your breaks. In this article, I will teach you the simple steps to putting programs and games on your graphing calculator.

This article covers putting games, text editors, science and math programs, shells, levels, and any other calculator program you might find out on the internet on your TI-83, TI-83 Plus (or Silver Edition), TI-84 Plus (or Silver Edition), TI-89, TI-Nspire, or Casio Prizm. I'll tell you what cables you need, what software you need on your computer, and how to get files onto your calculator.

How Do I Put Games and Programs on my TI-83 Plus, TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, TI-84 Plus, or TI-84 Plus Silver Edition?
Also known as the TI-83+, TI-83+SE, TI-84+, and TI-84+SE, these calculators are unquestionably the most popular of Texas Instruments' graphing calculators, and millions of them are found in backpacks and classrooms across the world. For a TI-83 or TI-83 Plus, a SilverLink cable. You cannot use a simple mini-USB cable. You can buy the SilverLink cable at many office supply stores, or online. For a TI-84 Plus, you need only a standard USB to mini-USB cable. You also need transfer software on your computer. You can either use Texas Instruments' official TI-Connect Software or the community-made TILP II. Both work on Windows and Mac OS; if you have Linux, you must use TILP II. Finally, you also need some programs to put on your calculator!

:: For many games and program, you will need a shell. We recommend Doors CS 7, written by Cemetech's Kerm Martian. Just download it and send DoorsCS7.8xk to your calculator. Doors CS replaces the older, buggier MirageOS.
:: The best place to get programs and games is ticalc.org's TI-83+/84+ archives. They have thousands upon thousands of math and science programs, utilities, and games. We also have plenty of programs and games in Cemetech's TI-83+/84+ program archives

When you've downloaded all the necessary software and have your cable at the ready, here's the steps to put programs on your calculator:

1) Install TI-Connect or TILP on your computer before you plug in your cable. If you use TILP, you may also need to install the filter drivers that come with TILP.
2) Plug your cable into your computer, your calculator into your cable, then open either TI DeviceExplorer or TILP II. If the program does not find the calculator automatically, select which type of cable you're using and which calculator you have and try again.
3) Drag .8xp, .8xk, and other files to your calculator. Be sure to copy DoorsCS7.8xk first, then all of the .8x* or .83* files for the other games and programs you downloaded.

When your transfers complete, disconnect your calculator, and if applicable, run Doors CS 7 first to install its hooks and features. You will then be able to run your games and programs by clicking them in Doors CS or simply running them from the [PRGM] menu. Feel free to post in the attached topic if you receive any error messages you can't resolve or get stuck.

How Do I Put Games and Programs on my Casio Prizm?
The Casio Prizm, also known as the fx-CG10 or fx-CG20, makes life easy for users. Plug it in with a mini-USB cable, and it simply shows up like a USB Flash Drive. You need no special cable, and no special software at all on your computer. Casio Prizm programs and games come in two flavors: BASIC programs and Add-Ins. You copy Add-Ins to the root (main) directory of your Prizm; Add-Ins always end with the extension ".g3a". BASIC programs, which end in ".g3m", need to go to the @MainMem/PROGRAM folder of the calculator. When you finish copying programs and games to your Prizm, just eject it and disconnect the mini-USB cable. You can get all the currently-available Prizm programs and games in the Cemetech Archives:
:: Casio Prizm (fx-CG10/fx-CG20) games and programs

How Do I Put Games and Programs on my TI-89, TI-Nspire, or TI-Nspire CX?
For the TI-89, you follow almost exactly the same steps as for the TI-83+/84+. You must use the SilverLink cable, and you can connect with either TI-Connect or TILP. As I mentioned in last year's article, Cemetech sadly has few TI-89 programmers, and over the years, the 68k community (those who program for the TI-89, TI-92, and Voyage 200 calculators) has declined faster than the z80 (TI-83, TI-83+/SE, TI-84+/SE) community. Nevertheless, there is a huge body of high-quality programs still available in the ticalc.org TI-89 archives, and the occasional new release does indeed still filter through.

The TI-Nspire is a bit of a wildcard. When it was first released, Texas Instruments didn't want it to be programmable, and they have only recently allowed Lua programs. There are not yet many Lua programs written for the Nspire, but you can get the ones that do exist in ticalc.org's TI-Nspire Lua archives. You will need the TI-Nspire Student Software from Texas Instruments, but it is a 30-day trial, after which you must pay for it. A free alternative is TILP, mentioned in the TI-83+/84+ section above. As with the TI-84+ series, you install the requisite software, download the programs/games you want, and plug the TI-Nspire into a mini-USB cable and thence into your computer. Simply drag the programs from your computer into the transfer software to copy them to your calculator. Note that you can not run TI-83+/84+ programs on your TI-Nspire.

I hope this guide helped you load programs and games onto your calculator! If you don't have a calculator yet, read Part 1 of our Back-to-School guide, which walks you through selecting a calculator. Look for our next guide coming soon, which will discuss learning to program, and learning to program calculators!

About the Nspire, you didn't mention TI-Nspire Computer Link. It doesn't need any license and is a lot faster than the Teacher/Student Software. But as its name says, it is only for linking, there are no tools to try or write programs on PC with this software.

That's because I was unfamiliar with that software, and unfortunately no one on #cemetech/SAX yesterday knew about alternatives to the Student Software and TILP. I shall amend the article to mention that alternative. Thanks!

I also recommend zStart in combination with DCS7.
You should totally mention Ndless!!

What do you recommend about zStart with Doors CS 7? zStart has never really been publicized much over here at Cemetech, so I'm not really sure what it's for, other than protecting startup settings. Yes, Ndless is very impressive work, but I find it infeasible for general users, given that each new Nspire OS version blocks previous Ndless work.

As the author describes it, zStart is the Swiss Army knife for calculator. Yes, it does do startup settings, but it also does a lot more than that, including Homerun for any shell and lots of editing features, including editing archived programs safely (by maintaining a temporary copy), insta-jumping to a particular label, and copying and pasting lines. Plus, it also has molar mass and base conversion built in, the former of which really saved me time in Chemistry.
As for Ndless, I believe that it should be mentioned simply because it's the only way to run ASM programs on your calc.

While it isn't my article, I think describing something as haphazard as ndless is a bad idea, since it will create the illusion that students have access to native control when in reality they will probably lose this again soon, and eventually TI will completely squelch it.

I don't think I'd call it "haphazard", as the authors have put tons of work into it, but neither would I publicize it as a viable option for programmers. I feel that (1) it's frustrating for programmers to choose between new OSes and being able to program (and potentially buying a calculator that is too new to be Ndless'ed anyway) and (2) it's unfair to users to download a cool C program only to discover that they can't just run it outright on their device.

I'm sure there are teachers who love the nSpire, but I am not one of them. I have gone to workshops and sessions at conferences, and I even purchased the newest model (CAS with touchpad), but I don't get why it should replace the TI-89. It seems they are trying to provide a computer-like experience on a calculator, but to me, it only takes longer and is unsatisfying. The touchpad is tricky (and not as reliable as one on a laptop). If I want a computer-like experience, I'll use a computer! All of the important features (differentiate, integrate, functions, etc.) are several layers below, in menus, so everything takes more keystrokes. The graphics are good, but that alone is not enough to get me to bite.

Welcome to Cemetech, Sam01. I'm glad to hear that you agree with our views on the Nspire, although for slightly different reasons. Have you read my rather popular rant about the TI-Nspire, especially its poor value as an extracurricular STEM tool? Since you're not a big fan of the TI-Nspire, how do you feel about the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition coming out this spring? Also, I'll be speaking at the T3 conference in Philadelphia in March; will you be attending that?

I hav a TI 84 plus c silver edition and when ever i try to install doorscs it says not commpatible with the connected device. So what do i do now?

DoorsCS is not currently available for the 84+ CSE, which is why it is not compatible. I'm afraid that there is not much you can do yet. Also, this is quite an irrelevant place to post such a query.

Well, at least he found his way to writing a halfway-coherent post. Ranger515, there is very little software for the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition so far, as it's brand-new; this is all we have:

http://www.cemetech.net/programs/index.php?mode=folder&path=/84pcse/

Hopefully there will be more softwares being worked on when the calc hits stores.

I was told several times in the last few months that the calc is not even available in physical stores yet, so it will probably come out there when school starts. Of course, it has been available online since March, but parents tend to be relunctant about online purchases.

Tech Powered Math posted about it being available on Amazon recently (although I had thought it was there for a while), and my contacts around places tell me that retail stores will indeed have it on shelves within a month or so, as Back to School displays start ramping up. Hence it behooves us to hurry up on some awesome TI-84+CSE software!

How do you put games on the TI-89 Titanium WITHOUT connecting to the computer?? Is it possible??

The only other option would be to transfer programs and games from another TI-89 Titanium (or TI-89 or TI-92+ or Voyage 200) calculator.