Target for major new QL hardware

[Derek_Stewart]

2) It is very simple to share .WIN files among the QPC, Q-Emulator and Mister. The Q68, again, is a bit of an outsider, because of the way it handles .WIN files.

I am not sure what you mean here, the WIN files or QWA container file is the same QWA file I use on QPC2 and SMSQmulator.

In fact I use SMSQmulator to mount the Q68 QWA file on the SD Card update the WIN1 applications data and WIN8 to update the SMSQ/E operating system.

There is a third option: I signed up for a Spectrum Next. Therefore a Spectrum Next QL core with all the bells and whistles would be close to a damn near perfect retro experience for me, given that the Spectrum Next keyboard is close to what an enhanced QL keyboard should be like.

Regards,

Daniel

The Spectrum Next will only have Minerva based QL resolution QL core, unless someone ports SMSQ/E to it. Which might make it a better machine to have.

[daniel_baum]

2) It is very simple to share .WIN files among the QPC, Q-Emulator and Mister. The Q68, again, is a bit of an outsider, because of the way it handles .WIN files.

I am not sure what you mean here, the WIN files or QWA container file is the same QWA file I use on QPC2 and SMSQmulator.

Hi Derek,

What I meant was that you can't just take an SD card containing a .WIN file from QPC or the Mister, and mount the file on the Q68. In the other direction (mounting a Q68 file on the other platform) this is possible, but it is still a limitation.

D.

[daniel_baum]

The Spectrum Next will only have Minerva based QL resolution QL core, unless someone ports SMSQ/E to it. Which might make it a better machine to have.

Assuming this is even possible, this might be a worthy development project for the future hardware QL.

D.

[mk79]

The Spectrum Next will only have Minerva based QL resolution QL core, unless someone ports SMSQ/E to it. Which might make it a better machine to have.

Assuming this is even possible, this might be a worthy development project for the future hardware QL.

The Spectrum Next will eventually have at least the same Gold-Card like SMSQ/E support as the MiSTer.

[daniel_baum]

The Spectrum Next will only have Minerva based QL resolution QL core, unless someone ports SMSQ/E to it. Which might make it a better machine to have.

Assuming this is even possible, this might be a worthy development project for the future hardware QL.

The Spectrum Next will eventually have at least the same Gold-Card like SMSQ/E support as the MiSTer.

Looking forward to it. I'll apparently be getting mine in August 2021...

D.

[Peter]

It is trivial to connect and disconnect my HDMI Monitor (with HDMI switcher) and USB hub from my PC laptop, Mister, Raspberry Pi (which I use for running RiscOS) and even my genuine Spectrum+ (with ZX-HD), but the Q68 cannot be part of this.

Getting HDMI from the Q68 is roughly a €10 investment, there are tons of converters on Amazon and eBay! If ZX-HD is okay for you, I can't see why the Q68 is not.

For me personally, HDMI is a disadvantage for retro computing. I prefer my monitors 4:3 according to the time the system was designed. Those usually only have VGA. I bought a rare 4:3 HDMI monitor for my Qzero (which suports HDMI) but it is poor quality. So if a QL style hardware uses HDMI, I need to convert back to VGA.

There is a third option: I signed up for a Spectrum Next. Therefore a Spectrum Next QL core with all the bells and whistles would be close to a damn near perfect retro experience for me, given that the Spectrum Next keyboard is close to what an enhanced QL keyboard should be like.

The people I talked to found the keyboard layout rather strange and hard to use for QL purposes. As for "bells and whistles" I wouldn't expect too much with 2 MB RAM and the other hardware limits.

[Peter]

A friend installed an Aurora, SGC, Minerva MK2 with I2C and Qubide Hard drive in a QL case and used the Aurora to QL Matrix circuit to use the QL Keyboard.

I posted pictures in the Aurora Somewhere thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1133&start=30#p24759

So maybe this has already been done.

Oh my goodness... I have no idea how many work hours went into that. And the QL case was heavily chopped. I can hardly imagine anybody wants to do that again.

[Derek_Stewart]

2) It is very simple to share .WIN files among the QPC, Q-Emulator and Mister. The Q68, again, is a bit of an outsider, because of the way it handles .WIN files.

I am not sure what you mean here, the WIN files or QWA container file is the same QWA file I use on QPC2 and SMSQmulator.

Hi Derek,

What I meant was that you can't just take an SD card containing a .WIN file from QPC or the Mister, and mount the file on the Q68. In the other direction (mounting a Q68 file on the other platform) this is possible, but it is still a limitation.

D.

Sorry, but I still do net see the problem.

The Q68 WIN files are located on a FAT32 partition, as far as I can see QPC2 can read FAT32, but Mister only uses FAT16 partitions. Which I find strange as it seems to be running Linux filesystems, which should handle anything.

Anyway, maybe time to buy a DE-10...

[Peter]

What I meant was that you can't just take an SD card containing a .WIN file from QPC or the Mister, and mount the file on the Q68. In the other direction (mounting a Q68 file on the other platform) this is possible, but it is still a limitation.

D.

Sorry, but I still do net see the problem.

Because there is no problem. The exact same container file can be used on Q68, QPC and Qemulator.

Maybe Daniel is referring to fragmented container files. But generating an unfragmented one is really trivial and well documented.

[tofro]

2) It is very simple to share .WIN files among the QPC, Q-Emulator and Mister. The Q68, again, is a bit of an outsider, because of the way it handles .WIN files.

I am not sure what you mean here, the WIN files or QWA container file is the same QWA file I use on QPC2 and SMSQmulator.

Hi Derek,

What I meant was that you can't just take an SD card containing a .WIN file from QPC or the Mister, and mount the file on the Q68. In the other direction (mounting a Q68 file on the other platform) this is possible, but it is still a limitation.

D.

Now, that's not a fair claim to make. Exchange "Mister" and "Q68", and you get the same limitation. QPC2 and Q-Emulator can mount all possible FAT file system types (because their host OS can), MISTer can use FAT16 (does anyone still use that?), Q68 FAT32. Whether something works or not is up to you - You're formatting the SD card.