The Sinclair QL Forum

Hi,

Sorry for the typying error, I meant to say TAP files stored on the Oqtadrive.

However, thinking about it, TAP files will appear as files to the Spectrum emulator load screen.

Derek_Stewart wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:12 pm However, thinking about it, TAP files will appear as files to the Spectrum emulator load screen.

When you load a TAP file into OqtaDrive, it gets converted to an MDR on the fly using Tom's tool (a ported version integrated into OqtaDrive).

OqtaDrive 0.5.0 has been released. Changes:

- support for directly loading QDOS Zip archives
- support for renaming & quick formatting of cartridges, available in web UI, command line, and client control (rename only)
- manual page on control cartridges; this gets added when a control cartridge is formatted
- cartridge type now also shown in drive list in client control
- more detailed drive list, improved design, indicate control cartridges, status change optimizations
- improved design for search result list
- indicate progress of repo re-index & software upgrades, prevent concurrent invocations
- drop down menu for choosing upgrade source
- wait dialog for ZXDB search
- misc. fixes & doc updates

I have an issue with my oqtadrive, external version pcb 1.2b.

The assembly is conform specs, with motor, i swapped the electrolytic capacitor with a ceramic one: could not source an 0.1 uf electrolytic capacitor.

I cannot connect from the Pi to the Arduino nano (tried an original one + aftermarket ones (flashed the bootloader of those). "PORT=/dev/ttyS0 make service_on" gives the sync issue when flashing the firmware, so I installed it manually on the Arduino.

If I connect it with my QL, the led flashes red/green fast. The gui resets itself frequently, so I cannot select other tabs and add an image. I used the manual installation with 32 bits pi os lite. I changed the settings according to the setup instructions. The only remarkable issue was that there were 2 [all] sections in /boot/config.txt. I entered enable_uart=1 in both of them.

What am I doing wrong/missing?

langph wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 3:37 pm What am I doing wrong/missing?

Without seeing any logs that's hard to say. Have you run 'make patch_avrdude' once?

Any reason why you're not using the automated installation?

Thanks for your response. The ready-made image did not work for me at first: it did not come live so I could not see what went wrong. I bought another genuine arduino nano: it appeared that I bought an arduino nano every and that did not work. My clone nano's did not work either.

Eventually I got it working with the original nano, and the ready-made image.

I think the problem with the clones is that they often come with an old boot loader. Default in OqtaDrive installation is the new boot loader, but old one can be enabled in the config (see install docs).

Hi,
I'm trying to make a microdrive emulator for the Sinclair QL using a raspberry pico. I have already built an oqtadrive but actually I prefer something simpler.
I'm using the pico, an SD card reader and a 74LS125 quad buffer that I use to interface with the track lines. For the rest of the lines I use diodes in conjunction with the pico pull up resistors.
I have managed to get the drive selection and then I start sending data to the QL. I have used as a base the code released by gertk on this forum in the post Microdrive data line format (viewtopic.php?t=584). However, although I have checked with an oscilloscope the signal levels and timings, the gaps and also compared them with the oqtadrive output I have no success. The sectors are sent to the QL and the QL just waits for ever listening - no error message or anything helpful. If I pause the sector play then I get an error from the QL. The oqtadrive works perfectly on the same machine and so do the hardware drives.
Today I plan to try and read data from the QL by giving a format command to compare the data I will get with what I send.
Could anyone point me in the right direction with this? For the past 6 months I have tried many approaches on this but I can’t find what the problem is.

Thanks

Antony

Hi Anthony!

I very interesting project for sure!

Having analysed many MDV signal traces over time, I might be able to provide some thoughts if I could gain visibility of the traces you're seeing on your scope - especially the timings.

Could you share a short video capturing the oscilloscope traces (you'd probably need to zip it up to be able to attach it here...)

Warm regards,
Martyn Hill.

Hi Anthony!

A very interesting project for sure!

Having analysed many MDV signal traces over time, I might be able to provide some thoughts if I could gain visibility of the traces you're seeing on your scope - especially the timings.

Could you share a short video capturing the oscilloscope traces (you'd probably need to zip it up to be able to attach it here...)

Warm regards,
Martyn Hill.