Setup & usage guide

Do these steps in order and you'll be reading your notes on your calculator in about ten minutes. Step 1 tells you whether you can skip Step 2.

Step 1

Check your calculator's OS version

Do this first. It takes about 15 seconds and it decides whether you need the one-time setup in Step 2.

On the calculator, press 2ND then + to open the MEMORY menu, then press 1 for 1: About.
The OS version is the number just under the calculator's name — something like 5.8.4. Press CLEAR to leave.

Your OS version	What you need to do
5.4.x or lower	Nothing extra. Skip Step 2 and go to Step 3.
5.5.0 or newer	Do Step 2 once. It's free and takes about two minutes.

Step 2

One-time compatibility setup (only if Step 1 said so)

On OS 5.5 or newer, your calculator needs a free tool called arTIfiCE before it can open CiNotes. People sometimes call this “jailbreaking,” but it doesn't modify your OS. Delete arTIfiCE whenever you want to remove it.

Do this once

On your computer, open yvantt.github.io/arTIfiCE and download the current version. The file looks like arTIfiCE_v2.1.8xp.
Plug the calculator into your computer with its USB charging cable and open TI Connect CE (see Step 4 if you don't have it yet).
Drag arTIfiCE_v2.1.8xp into the Calculator Explorer window to send it over.
On the calculator, press PRGM. If it asks, choose TI-Basic. Select the first program in the list — it's named A — and press ENTER. That puts prgmA on the home screen; press ENTER again to run it.
arTIfiCE opens a small program launcher. Your CiNotes program will appear in that list once you've transferred it in Step 4. Press MODE to quit arTIfiCE.

From now on, open prgmA and choose CiNotes whenever you want to read your notes.

Step 3

What you received

Your delivery email contains:

One ZIP download with everything your calculator needs
Your Reference Code — keep this email in case you need help later

Unzip the download. Do not rename, remove, or pick through the files. You will send everything inside to the calculator in Step 4.

If you entered your Calculator ID while ordering, the download is already prepared for that calculator. If you left it blank, that is fine—Step 6 finishes setup for free.

Step 4

Transfer to your calculator

You need TI Connect CE, TI's free software for moving files between a computer and the calculator.

Download TI Connect CE from education.ti.com and open it.
Connect the calculator to your computer with its USB charging cable.
Click the Calculator Explorer tab (the icon with the stacked squares).
Select every file from your unzipped download.
Drag them all into the calculator window and wait for the transfer to finish.

Transfer order doesn't matter. What matters is that nothing gets left behind — a single missing file is the most common reason the program won't open.

On a Chromebook? If CiNotes later says a required file is missing, see that exact message under Troubleshooting.

Step 5

Launch the program

If you skipped Step 2 (OS 5.4.x or lower):

Press PRGM, scroll to NOTESMC or NOTESFRQ, and press ENTER twice.

If you did Step 2 (OS 5.5.0 or newer):

Press PRGM, select the first program A, press ENTER twice to start arTIfiCE, then choose NOTESMC or NOTESFRQ from the list it shows.

If your order includes both multiple-choice and free-response content, they're split into two separate programs. They work identically.

Nothing happening, or an error instead of the CiNotes screen? Jump to Troubleshooting — it lists the exact messages and what each one means.

Step 6

Finish first-time setup

If you entered your Calculator ID while ordering: you are already done with this step. Open CiNotes and your notes should appear.

If you left the Calculator ID blank: CiNotes shows the number you need. Finish setup now—before you rely on it in class:

Write down the Calculator ID on the screen.
Go to cinotes.com/setup and enter it, your Reference Code (in your order email), and the email you ordered with.
Your final setup file downloads immediately for free. We email you a copy too.
Send that file to your calculator exactly the way you sent the rest in Step 4, then open the program again.

You only do this once per calculator. You are finished when CiNotes opens to the notes menu.

Got the calculator files from a friend? Same page: cinotes.com/setup. Adding your calculator is a separate purchase.

Stuck? Email [email protected] with your Reference Code and Calculator ID and we'll sort it out.

Step 7

Main menu

After your notes load, you'll see the main menu:

Key	What it does
`1`	Search for a keyword across all notes
`2`	Browse all notes from the beginning
`3`	Pick up exactly where you left off last time
`CLEAR`	Save your spot and exit to the calculator home screen

3 Resume only appears after you've viewed notes at least once. It remembers your exact position, search query, and scroll offset.

Step 8

Searching for a topic

Press 1 from the main menu to search. You'll see the text input screen:

How to type on a calculator

The calculator keys normally type numbers. To type letters:

Key	What it does
`ALPHA`	Type one letter (the green label above each key), then back to numbers
`2ND` + `ALPHA`	Lock alpha mode — every key types its letter until you press `ALPHA` again
`0` (in alpha mode)	Type a space
`DEL`	Backspace
`ENTER`	Submit your search
`CLEAR`	Cancel and go back to the menu

Recommended: Press 2ND then ALPHA first to lock alpha mode, type your search term, then press ENTER.

After pressing ENTER, matching notes appear in the viewer with your search term highlighted.

Step 9

Reading notes

The note viewer shows one note at a time with a scrollbar on the right. If you searched for a keyword, it'll be highlighted automatically.

Top of matching note — Top of a matching note. Status bar shows you're on Match 1 of 3.

Scrolled to highlighted keyword — Scrolled down to the exact keyword match.

Key	What it does
`UP` / `DOWN`	Scroll through the current note line by line
`RIGHT`	Jump to the next note
`LEFT`	Go back to the previous note
`ENTER`	Jump to the next keyword match within this note (search mode only)
`CLEAR`	Return to the main menu (your position is saved)

The status bar at the bottom tells you:

Match 1/3 — which keyword match you're on within this note
Note 5/18 — which note out of the total search results

If a note is long, use ENTER to hop between keyword matches instead of scrolling manually. It jumps directly to each highlighted occurrence.

Step 10

Exiting safely

There are two ways to leave the program:

Key	Where	What happens
`CLEAR`	Main menu	Saves your position and exits to the TI-OS home screen
`Y=`	Anywhere	Instant exit from any screen — saves your position first

Next time you open the program, press 3 on the main menu to resume exactly where you stopped.

Archive memory

Your complete CiNotes library survives a normal RAM clear.

The NOTES program, note data, search index, calculator pairing, and saved reading/search position are all archived. Clearing RAM does not delete them. On OS 5.5 or newer, if the separate arTIfiCE launcher was removed, restore that launcher and your existing CiNotes files will be waiting exactly where you left them.

Troubleshooting

Find the message your calculator actually shows. Each one has exactly one cause.

“ERR:INVALID” when you try to run the program

The screen shows ERR:INVALID with the options 1:Quit and 2:Goto, and CiNotes never opens.

Cause: your OS is 5.5 or newer and the compatibility setup hasn't been done. This is the calculator refusing to run any C program — it isn't a problem with your notes.

Fix: do Step 1 and Step 2, then launch CiNotes from the arTIfiCE list instead of straight from the PRGM menu.

“Need LibLoad”

The screen shows:

Need LibLoad
http://tiny.cc/clibs

Cause: clibs.8xg never made it onto the calculator.

Fix: send clibs.8xg from your zip with TI Connect CE (Step 4). If it isn't in your zip, get it from github.com/CE-Programming/libraries/releases/latest. That tiny.cc address on the screen is printed by the calculator libraries themselves and points to the same place.

“ERROR: Missing Library” / “Library Name: FILEIOC”

An error screen naming a specific library, such as FILEIOC or KEYPADC.

Cause: clibs.8xg was sent but only part of it landed — most often on ChromeOS, where TI Connect CE doesn't always unpack group files.

Fix: download clibs_separately_in_zip.zip from the CE libraries releases page, unzip it, and send every file inside it individually.

“ERROR: MCQs not found!” or “ERROR: FRQs not found!”

CiNotes starts, prints Loading MCQs..., and then shows:

ERROR: MCQs not found!
Transfer MCDATA.8xv
(and MCDAT1, MCDAT2, etc.)
to calculator.

The free-response program shows the same thing for FRQ0.8xv, FRQ1, FRQ2, and so on.

Cause: the program transferred but its .8xv data files didn't — or only some of them did.

Fix: go back to Step 4 and send every file from the zip, including all the .8xv files. If you deleted files to free up memory, re-send them. Archiving them on the calculator is fine; deleting them is not.

“Bloom: missing” or “Bloom: mismatch” at the bottom of the menu

Cause: the search index file (MCIDX.8xv / FRQIDX.8xv) is missing, or it belongs to a different order than the notes on the calculator.

Effect: everything still works — search just has to scan every note, so it's slower.

Fix: re-send the whole zip so the index and the notes come from the same order. Don't mix files from two different orders on one calculator.

The program shows a Calculator ID instead of your notes

Cause: it can't find an activation file for this calculator. Either CILIC.8xv never got transferred, or the one on the calculator was made for a different Calculator ID — activation files are tied to exactly one calculator.

Fix: if CILIC.8xv was in your zip, re-send it in Step 4. If you ordered without a Calculator ID, or the files came from a friend, get your own file at cinotes.com/setup using the Reference Code from your email and the Calculator ID on the screen.

It worked before and now it asks to be activated again

Cause: CILIC.8xv was deleted. A RAM clear on its own shouldn't do this — the file lives in archive memory — but deleting it by hand to free space will.

Fix: re-send the CILIC.8xv from your zip or your activation email. Lost both? Re-send it free at cinotes.com/setup — it's the same file, and you won't be charged again. If a RAM clear also removed arTIfiCE, re-send arTIfiCE_v2.1.8xp and run prgmA again.

Still stuck

Email [email protected] with your OS version (Step 1), the exact message on the screen, and the Reference Code and Calculator ID if you can see them. That's everything we need to answer in one reply.

Quick reference

All controls at a glance.

Main menu

`1`	Search
`2`	View all notes
`3`	Resume previous session
`CLEAR`	Save & exit

Text input

`ALPHA`	Type one letter
`2ND` + `ALPHA`	Toggle alpha lock (continuous letters)
`DEL`	Backspace
`LEFT` / `RIGHT`	Move cursor
`ENTER`	Submit
`CLEAR`	Cancel

Note viewer

`UP` / `DOWN`	Scroll within note
`LEFT` / `RIGHT`	Previous / next note
`ENTER`	Jump to next keyword match
`CLEAR`	Back to menu

Anywhere

`Y=`	Instant exit (saves position)

Useful screens

`2ND` `+` `1`	About — shows your OS version
`PRGM`	Program list (CiNotes, and arTIfiCE's `A`)