I'm currently running OS 1.14, and every time I plug in my link cable I get a message asking me to update to 1.19. I'd do this, except it requires I create a TI account. Is it worth going to that trouble, and if so, what do I get for updating?

Editor's Note: TI-83 != TI-83+

Yes, you should update.

Because 1.14 is horribly unstable and 1.19 is just better.

This precisely. If you don't wish to sign up for an education.ti.com account, which seems quite silly, you can download it directly from here:

http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_os_83plus.html

I was just wondering if it was worth taking the time to sign up. I guess I should also update any school calcs I fix too, huh?

It certainly can't hurt. It looked to me like that link I gave you obviates the need to sign up or sign in for anything though, no?

Yes. 1.13 was the first OS to support the 83+SE, and the next couple of updates were all buggy.

Are fresh batteries really necessary?

The reason it suggests fresh batteries are that if your batteries fall below the level required to erase flash pages during the OS upgrade process, you'll end up with a half-written OS, which as I'm sure you can understand would be a bad thing. I believe BrandonW has several fun tricks to rescue you from most of the dire cases, and I think the bootloader itself can recover from many of them, but it's still a bad idea, so at least make sure you're using decently fresh batteries.

Well the TI-connect program says they're good, but the battery-shaped icon in DCS is half-full... I guess I better replace them sooner rather than later anyway...

Screw it, I can't find any. Wish me luck.

Damnit, I forgot the other reason I was wary to updating: with 1 bit of bandwidth, file transfers take for freaking ever.

DCS battery indicator isn't even close to accurate, as far as I know.

Hey thanks calc84, always nice to get some trust and support from a fellow community member. On the 83+ it's quite accurate, since allowing it to cross-reference the contrast with the good/not-good bit permits a fair indicator of how close the batteries are to being dead. As you know, on the 83/83+ you need to turn down the contrast when you first insert new batteries, then you need to gradually turn it up, and I usually am up near 8 or so when I replace my batteries.

Heheh, true. I don't think you have to sign up, I think there is a button that says "continue as guest"

When I went to that page I linked, clicking the download button immediately popped up a file download, no bypassing logins or logging in required.

hmm? Thats strange, I get an option to continue as guest or login first

Weird. I'm definitely not logged in, and I can just click the "(down arrow) TI-83 Plus Operating System" link to immediately download the OS.

Same here, so far I could download most files fine. Maybe there are some that requires to login, though?

If this is just an error, then I have to wonder if it's not intentional... like if TI did not require people to register but still tried to make them register so later they can send e-mail advertisements to more people?

By the way, for the younger users here, there used to be a time where TI actually forced us to register to download anything, even OS upgrades. That was until 2005, I believe.

Strangely enough, I don't think I had to deal with that particular annoyance too much, because I think up until four or five years ago I didn't really worry too much about the OS versions on my calculators, other than knowing what would make my TI-83 cry and RAM Clear.