CiNotesSetup and usage guide
Ten short steps, about ten minutes, and you’re reading your notes on the calculator. Step 1 tells you whether you can skip Step 2.
Check your calculator’s OS version
Do this first. The number decides whether you need Step 2.
5.8.4. Press CLEAR to leave.
Nothing extra to do. Skip ahead to Step 3.
Do Step 2 once. It’s free and takes about two minutes.
One-time setup for newer calculators
Starting with OS 5.5, the calculator won’t run programs written in C, and CiNotes is one. A free tool called arTIfiCE gets around that. Some people call it “jailbreaking,” but it doesn’t modify your OS, and you can undo it by deleting one file.
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 cable and open TI Connect CE. (No TI Connect CE yet? Step 4 has the link.)
- Drag
arTIfiCE_v2.1.8xpinto the Calculator Explorer window to send it over. - On the calculator, press PRGM. If it asks, choose TI-Basic. Pick the first program in the list, named
A, and press ENTER. That putsprgmAon the home screen. Press ENTER again to run it. - arTIfiCE opens a small program launcher. CiNotes will show up in its list after you transfer it in Step 4. Press MODE to leave arTIfiCE for now.
From now on, you open CiNotes by running prgmA and picking it from that list.
What’s in your email
- One ZIP download with everything the calculator needs.
- Your notes.html, a copy you can read and edit on your computer. It shows the converted text and how your PDF came through. If something came out wrong, fix it there and request new calculator files.
- Your Reference Code. Keep this email. It’s what we’ll ask for if you ever need help.
Unzip the download. Don’t rename, delete, or pick through the files. Everything inside goes to the calculator in Step 4.
Typed your Calculator ID in when you ordered? The download is already set up for that calculator. Left it blank? That’s fine. Step 6 finishes the job for free.
Your notes.html stays on your computer. Only the files in the ZIP go on the calculator.
Send the files to your calculator
You need TI Connect CE, Texas Instruments’ free app for moving files onto the calculator.
- Download TI Connect CE from education.ti.com and open it.
- Connect the calculator to your computer with its USB 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.
The order doesn’t matter. What matters is that nothing gets left behind. One missing file is the most common reason CiNotes won’t open.
On a Chromebook? If CiNotes later says a library is missing, look for that exact message under Troubleshooting.
Open CiNotes
Press PRGM, pick the program named in your delivery email, and press ENTER twice.
Press PRGM, pick A, and press ENTER twice to start arTIfiCE. Then choose the program named in your delivery email.
If your order had both multiple-choice and free-response material, you’ll get two programs. They work the same way.
Newer orders get their own program names, starting with PM or PF. Older downloads use NOTESMC or NOTESFRQ. Your delivery email says exactly which to open.
More than one set of notes? New orders each get their own program name, so several can share a calculator. Older downloads (NOTESMC and NOTESFRQ) all use the same filenames, so only one of those fits at a time. Keep their ZIPs, and keep every filename exactly as it arrived.
Seeing an error instead of the CiNotes menu? Troubleshooting lists the exact messages and what each one means.
Finish first-time setup
Typed your Calculator ID in when you ordered? You’re already done with this step. Open CiNotes and your notes appear.
Left the Calculator ID blank? CiNotes shows you a screen like this one. Finish now, before you rely on it in class.
- Write down the Calculator ID on the screen. (Yours will be a different number.)
- Go to cinotes.com/setup and enter it, your Reference Code from your order email, and the email you ordered with.
- Your setup file downloads right away, free. We email you a copy too.
- Send that file to the calculator the same way you did in Step 4, then open CiNotes again.
You only do this once per calculator. You’re finished when CiNotes opens to its menu.
Got the calculator files from a friend? Same page: cinotes.com/setup. Adding your calculator is a separate small purchase.
Stuck? Email [email protected] with your Reference Code and Calculator ID and we’ll sort it out.
The main menu
Once your notes load, you land here. Want to practice first? The calculator on the home page is a working demo of these exact controls.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 | Search every note for a word |
| 2 | Browse the note titles. Arrows to pick one, ENTER to open it |
| 3 | Go back to exactly where you left off |
| 4 | Jump straight to a note by its number |
| CLEAR | Save your place and go back to the home screen |
3 only shows up after you’ve read a note at least once. It remembers the note, your search, and how far you’d scrolled.
Searching for a topic
Press 1 on the menu. You’ll see the search screen:
Typing letters on a calculator
The keys type numbers until you tell them otherwise. The green letter printed above each key is what it types in alpha mode.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ALPHA | Type one letter, then go back to numbers |
| 2ND ALPHA | Lock letters on, so every key types its letter until you press ALPHA again |
| 0 in alpha mode | Type a space |
| DEL | Backspace |
| ENTER | Search |
| CLEAR | Cancel and go back to the menu |
After ENTER, the matching notes open in the viewer with your word highlighted.
If nothing matches, CiNotes keeps what you typed. Press 1 to change it, 2 to browse titles, 3 to jump to a note number, or CLEAR for the menu.
Reading notes
The viewer shows one note at a time, with a scrollbar down the right side. If you searched, your word is highlighted.
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| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ▲ ▼ | Scroll the note a line at a time |
| ▶ | Next note |
| ◀ | Previous note |
| ENTER | Jump to the next place your word appears in this note (after a search) |
| CLEAR | Back to the menu. Your place is saved |
The line along the bottom tells you where you are:
- Match 1/3 is which appearance of your word you’re looking at in this note.
- Note 5/18 is which note you’re on out of everything that matched.
In a long note, press ENTER to hop between matches instead of scrolling for them.
Leaving CiNotes
| Key | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| CLEAR | On the menu | Saves your place and goes back to the home screen |
| Y= | Anywhere | Quits right away, saving your place first |
Next time, press 3 on the menu to pick up exactly where you stopped.
Your notes survive a RAM clear.
The program, your notes, the search index, the setup file, and your saved place are all in Archive memory, which a RAM clear doesn’t touch. Clear the RAM and your notes are right where you left them, down to the line you were reading.
Troubleshooting
Find the message your calculator actually shows. Each one has one cause and one fix.
“ERR:INVALID” when you try to run the program
The screen says ERR:INVALID with 1:Quit and 2:Goto, and CiNotes never opens.
Why: your OS is 5.5 or newer and the one-time setup hasn’t been done. The calculator is refusing to run any C program. Nothing’s wrong with your notes.
Fix: do Step 1 and Step 2, then open CiNotes from the arTIfiCE list instead of straight from PRGM.
“Need LibLoad”
The screen shows:
Need LibLoad http://tiny.cc/clibs
Why: 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. The tiny.cc address on the screen comes from the calculator libraries themselves and points to the same place.
“ERROR: Missing Library” or “Library Name: FILEIOC”
An error screen naming a specific library, like FILEIOC or KEYPADC.
Why: clibs.8xg was sent but only part of it arrived. This mostly happens on Chromebooks, 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 one by one.
“ERROR: MCQs not found!” or “ERROR: FRQs not found!”
CiNotes starts, shows Loading MCQs..., then:
ERROR: MCQs not found! Transfer MCDATA.8xv (and MCDAT1, MCDAT2, etc.) to calculator.
The free-response program says the same thing about FRQ0.8xv, FRQ1, FRQ2, and so on.
Why: the program made it over, but its .8xv data files didn’t, or only some did.
Fix: go back to Step 4 and send every file from the ZIP, including all the .8xv files. If you deleted some to free up memory, send them again. Archiving them on the calculator is fine. Deleting them isn’t.
“Bloom: missing” or “Bloom: mismatch” at the bottom of the menu
Why: the search index file (MCIDX.8xv or FRQIDX.8xv) is missing, or it came from a different order than the notes on the calculator.
What it means: everything still works. Search just has to read every note, so it’s slower.
Fix: send every file from that order’s ZIP again so the index and notes match. Newer orders can share a calculator; just keep each one’s filenames unchanged.
The program shows a Calculator ID instead of your notes
Why: the setup file for these notes and this calculator is missing or doesn’t match. Newer orders use a setup file whose name starts with L. Older downloads use CILIC.8xv.
Fix: send the setup file again, from this order’s ZIP or from the email it came in. Ordered without a Calculator ID, or got the files from a friend? Get your own file at cinotes.com/setup with the Reference Code from your email and the Calculator ID on the screen. Keep the downloaded filename unchanged.
It worked before, and now it asks for setup again
Why: the setup file for these notes was deleted or replaced. A RAM clear doesn’t cause this, since the file lives in Archive memory. Deleting it by hand to free up space does.
Fix: send the setup file again, from this order’s ZIP or from the email it came in. Lost both? Get it again free at cinotes.com/setup with this order’s Reference Code. You won’t be charged twice.
Still stuck
Email [email protected] with your OS version (Step 1), the exact message on the screen, and your Reference Code and Calculator ID if you can see them. That’s usually everything we need to answer in one reply.
Every control on one page
Main menu
| 1 | Search |
| 2 | Browse titles and open a note |
| 3 | Resume where you left off |
| 4 | Jump to a note number |
| CLEAR | Save and leave |
Typing
| ALPHA | One letter |
| 2ND ALPHA | Lock letters on or off |
| DEL | Backspace |
| ◀ ▶ | Move the cursor |
| ENTER | Go |
| CLEAR | Cancel |
Reading
| ▲ ▼ | Scroll |
| ◀ ▶ | Previous or next note |
| ENTER | Next match |
| CLEAR | Back to the menu |
Anywhere
| Y= | Quit right away, place saved |
| 2ND + 1 | About: shows your OS version |
| PRGM | Program list (CiNotes, and arTIfiCE’s A) |