The Sinclair QL Forum

For any of you who would like to tinker with the source (it is working reasonably well, sometimes the drives get mixed up alas) I will post it here: Feel free to try it on the mbed LPC11U24 // =================================================== // QL microdrive emulator // by Gert van der Knokke (c)...

The fact that every QL has the external MD connector is also the reason why I like my device to be external giving all possibilities to re-arrange the drive numbering by a suitable driver. Only thing needed would be a command to load the driver from microdrive 3 when the internal drives are still pr...

Ok, lots of 'food for thought'
I will look into it...
Thanks

Tinkering with another topic... The QL network connector. So far I found out that the data rate it is not 100 kbit/sec but 90 kbit/sec and it uses quite UART friendly 8-N-1 serial protocol. With some sniffer code on the mbed I have already deduced some of the information but since the bog-standard Q...

Playing with Eagle resulted in this design: md_emu_brd.png This board is to be put directly onto the MD connector and the microsd card will sit vertically at the righthand side underneath the edge of the QL. There are some things to add like JTAG or such, but firmware updates should be doable by uSD...

I am looking for a MDV image of the Metacomco Assembler for the QL

It was the only MD tape I carefully kept for years but it has died (tape damaged, pad gone).

Also is there some Linux/Dos/Win tool to generate MDV images from a bunch of files ?

A small video displaying the MD emulator: QL starts, loads and runs the boot program for Quill from mdv7 and reads in a text document from mdv3 http://youtu.be/_8jUSX15Wbk I have added a reset function for the sector counter so it always starts at zero as soon as the emulated device is selected. It ...

Dave wrote:Are you saying no, or are you saying, yes, IF you plug a bridge into the mdv sockets on the motherboard?

Indeed: if you unplug the internal microdrives and bridge the COMMS_IN/OUT of both of them, all device numbers are available externally.

Unfortunately not... mdv1 and mdv2 are internal unless the COMMS_IN and COMMS_OUT are internally bridged twice. When the internal devices are selected the outputs of their ULA's are active and trying to overrride them might/will result in 'short circuit'.. (That is why I have put two resistors in se...

Did some serious ARM assembler coding tonight ;) Translated the cumbersome get_bit routine to ARM assembler and it now works on the LPC11U24 (the 'light' mbed), reading and writing and now even with multiple microdrive images. Mounted my test MDV1.MDV image on mdv3, ABACUS on mdv4, ARCHIVE on mdv5, ...