Ndless 4.4 release

critor

A bit less than a year ago, on 19th February 2016, Ndless 4.2 was released. This version added compatbility with the then-latest TI-Nspire CX OS version, OS 4.2.


Ndless is the TI-Nspire's "jailbreak", which makes it possible to run programs much more powerful than those allowed by TI's approved tools (Basic, Lua), by taking advantage of native code (C/C++/ASM/etc.).



Unfortunately, on August 18th, 2016, Texas Instruments released the OS 4.3 version, which blocked the ability to install Ndless 4.2 and additionally forbade going back to OS 4.2.
That was a very unwelcome gift for users who accepted the update without being aware of the consequences, as well as a growing proportion of users since then, given that brand-new TI-Nspire CX calculators started coming preloaded with OS 4.3 months ago.

In fact, it's the usual scandal, going in dramatic ways against users' interests, because it forbids programming with Python for their school needs (multiple French high school classes / projects, etc.), or protecting their private data contained in their calculators from some exam watchers illegally allowing upon themselves to go through the calculators' contents, making snapshots and adding them as proof in their fraud reports, as reported over the past few years.

Three days ago, the OS 4.4 version was released, still based on the same philosophy of forbidding valid and legal usages :(
This version created a hearbreaking dilemma, as for once in a while, the new version brought multiple new, really useful features ! :'(




However, clearly, a vulnerability was found, and it took the Ndless team only 3 days to release the retaliation to Texas Instruments, the new Ndless 4.4 version !  :thumbsup:


As indicated by its version number, the install program targets OS 4.4, with this time, lots of humor and references aimed at poking fun at and taunting Texas Instruments :P

nSonic2MS, the program making it possible to prevent exam watchers browsing the machine to find stuff, was also updated for OS 4.4 compatibility.  :thumbsup:

For those fortunate enough to own TI-Nspire CX calculators with hardware revision V or older (assembled until October 2015), the ControlX boot manager was also upgraded for compatibility with OS 4.4 et Ndless 4.4. It's executed at Boot1 level, i.e. long before Ndless, and offers

• in theory, full control over the calculator - everything is imaginable  :love:
• in pratice:
  
  • automated reinstall of Ndless 4.4 upon every calculator reboot  :love:
  • the ability to reinstall an older OS version, and therefore fix the calculator, even if you updated by mistake the calculator to a future OS version preventing Ndless 4.4 from working and getting back to OS 4.4.0.532  :love:
  • many other things - ControlX 4.4 is a major version bringing new abilities, too many and too rich to list in this article - they will be detailed later in a news item dedicated to ControlX 4.4  ;)
    

Don't miss your chance - if you have a TI-Nspire CX, take advantage of the fact Ndless 4.4 can, at the time of this writing, be installed on all TI-Nspire CX calculators worldwide, to install ControlX, and nSonic2MS while you're at it (don't make a gamble on exam watchers not doing illegal stuff) !

In 2017, for the last French exam session where the unfair exam testing mode won't be used, you'll be able to take advantage of Ndless like your older peers - on the condition of not accepting a possible future OS update, should Texas Instruments produce one in the meantime.  :thumbsup:



Downloads & Tutorials :

• Ndless 4.4 + tutorial
  (can also be installed on 4.2, 4.0.3, 3.9 and 3.6)
• ControlX 4.4 + tutorial
• nSonic2MS 2.09 + tutorial
  

Official website: http://ndless.me
Source code and Ndless SDK: https://github.com/ndless-nspire/Ndless (SDK tutorial here)

Crossported from : https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19514&p=212162#p212162

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Merci pour vos efforts !

艾哈迪利

Молодец ！