Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog
-Original Message- From: ql-users-boun...@lists.q-v-d.com [mailto:ql-users- boun...@lists.q-v-d.com] On Behalf Of Lee Privett Sent: 09 March 2011 19:10 To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog Funnily enough I have never Google'd myself I think there is a name for that, anyway so much for anonymity. Congrats to you Dave your other(better?) half btw, hope you have a long and happy one Does anyone know anything about the Medic interface boards for the QL, I have just acquired one but do not know if its working or not, haven't connected it up yet but it seems to have interface connections for HD and FD. I assume it Medic although I haven't found any distinguishing marks? The medic board had a very distinct shape - so it would be easy to tell from a photo. I ended up with two of these.The first one I got by visiting Basingstoke when Medic were still in operation but not delivering.It did not have the full RAM (512KB) that it was supposed to have so they still owed me something (but I could add those myself). I did get the twin floppy drives so I had most of what I ordered. The second one I got as a creditor after they were declared insolvent and were we allowed to help ourselves to whatever bits they had left (as we were unlikely to see any cash). I grabbed a caseless medic board as it looked intact. On getting it home I found it was fully functional except for the voltage regulator which needed replacing. I guess that means I must be one of the few people wjo ended up getting more from Medic than I had paid for :) The Medic board came with 4 slots for ROM's and I remember hardwiring the address decoding slightly so that I could add 4 x 64KB EPROM's instead of the 4 x 16KB they had allowed for. This meant I could load all my commonest toolkits and programs to be instantly accessible which made the QL much more friendly. I do not know if I still have the details of the mods I made to use 64KB EPROMS - I will have to look - but they were not hard to do if I remember correctly. Dave Lee - Back to the QL- - Original Message - From: Dave Park To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 4:33 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 6:13 AM, Tony Firshman t...@firshman.co.uk wrote: Tony Firshman wrote, on 9/Mar/11 11:18 | Mar9: Dilwyn Jones wrote, on 9/Mar/11 11:03 | Mar9: A new blog for the QL: http://backtotheql.blogspot.com/ If you have a Google account, for example, you can comment on the owner's postings. Who is the owner? Clue: not me. Signature: |||LEE||| Lee Privett? His Blog profile says Southend on Sea and Googling finds: Lee Privett. Academy Manager Campus Manager at SouthEssex College. Location: Southend on Sea, United Kingdom ... so I rest my case (8-)# Hehe, a fun find. Well, I got married yesterday, so now I'll be back to my usual posting level... Let's see if we can give Lee something to write about. I completely share his experience of having a very meagre time with the QL back in the 80s - I did have a loaner SQB, monitor and Epson MT-80 from work, and it broke my heart when they closed and I had to return it. Dave ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog
Dave Walker wrote, on 10/Mar/11 08:22 | Mar10: -Original Message- From: ql-users-boun...@lists.q-v-d.com [mailto:ql-users- boun...@lists.q-v-d.com] On Behalf Of Lee Privett Sent: 09 March 2011 19:10 To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog Funnily enough I have never Google'd myself I think there is a name for that, anyway so much for anonymity. Congrats to you Dave your other(better?) half btw, hope you have a long and happy one Does anyone know anything about the Medic interface boards for the QL, I have just acquired one but do not know if its working or not, haven't connected it up yet but it seems to have interface connections for HD and FD. I assume it Medic although I haven't found any distinguishing marks? The medic board had a very distinct shape - so it would be easy to tell from a photo. I ended up with two of these.The first one I got by visiting Basingstoke when Medic were still in operation but not delivering.It did not have the full RAM (512KB) that it was supposed to have so they still owed me something (but I could add those myself). I did get the twin floppy drives so I had most of what I ordered. The second one I got as a creditor after they were declared insolvent and were we allowed to help ourselves to whatever bits they had left (as we were unlikely to see any cash). I grabbed a caseless medic board as it looked intact. On getting it home I found it was fully functional except for the voltage regulator which needed replacing. I guess that means I must be one of the few people wjo ended up getting more from Medic than I had paid for :) I think a fully populated board took too much power to run off the QL 9V line. Mine used the floppy power supply via 4 lines on the ribbon cable. The Medic board came with 4 slots for ROM's and I remember hardwiring the address decoding slightly so that I could add 4 x 64KB EPROM's instead of the 4 x 16KB they had allowed for. This meant I could load all my commonest toolkits and programs to be instantly accessible which made the QL much more friendly. I do not know if I still have the details of the mods I made to use 64KB EPROMS - I will have to look - but they were not hard to do if I remember correctly. Dave I too modified mine, I suspect to add ROM. Did you get at least one case? That was the most impressive thing about the whole board. The overall design seemed over the top, and clearly power hungry. Did my previous email arrive? I have a circuit diagram. I will scan it and send to Dilwyn (if it is not already on his site!). Tony -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:257/67) +44(0)1442-828255 t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog
Dave Walker wrote, on 10/Mar/11 08:22 | Mar10: -Original Message- From: ql-users-boun...@lists.q-v-d.com [mailto:ql-users- boun...@lists.q-v-d.com] On Behalf Of Lee Privett Sent: 09 March 2011 19:10 To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog Funnily enough I have never Google'd myself I think there is a name for that, anyway so much for anonymity. Congrats to you Dave your other(better?) half btw, hope you have a long and happy one Does anyone know anything about the Medic interface boards for the QL, I have just acquired one but do not know if its working or not, haven't connected it up yet but it seems to have interface connections for HD and FD. I assume it Medic although I haven't found any distinguishing marks? The medic board had a very distinct shape - so it would be easy to tell from a photo. It is QL slot width from the QL connector (of course) but then widens out to match the QL depth. The case has Medic on it and matches the QL, but you clearly do not have that. At the back of the LH side of the board are two connectors - LH is floppy and RH is parallel printer port. I don't know if the parallel port is bi-directional. It has the capability of powering off the QL if a regulator is fitted. Beware though - a fully populated Medic board draws too much power, or so they decided. Tony -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:257/67) +44(0)1442-828255 t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Blog
I too modified mine, I suspect to add ROM. Did you get at least one case? That was the most impressive thing about the whole board. The overall design seemed over the top, and clearly power hungry. Did my previous email arrive? I have a circuit diagram. I will scan it and send to Dilwyn (if it is not already on his site!). Tony Yes -= I got a case with the one I picked up directly from Basingstoke. The one I got later was a bare board. I always wonder if they had not tried to produce the hard disk and stuck to the basic interface if they might have survived. I was very happy with my Medic for the time that I used it. It was not as though the thing was completely vapourware in that the board was actually designed and produced - even if not delivered to many customers. Dave -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:257/67) +44(0)1442-828255 t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Medic board
The one I have has 256K ram on it and I might fire it up to see if it working at the weekend, Tony I would appreciate a circuit diagram especially if it doesn't work. It has a power lead off the board with a rather decoupling capacitor across the supply, no sign of a voltage regulator though. Lee - Back to the QL- ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Does anyone have a manual for a Medic I/F to scan in and send to Dilwyn? An EPROM dump for examining would also a be good idea...;-) Cheers...Ralf ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Ralf Reköndt wrote: Does anyone have a manual for a Medic I/F to scan in and send to Dilwyn? An EPROM dump for examining would also a be good idea...;-) Cheers...Ralf This would be very useful,as Medic bards do turn up second hand from time to time. I have never seen a Medic manual. I think Tony Tebby did a version of his QFLP ROM upgrades for Medic boards at one point, so boards which turn up might have an original Medic or a QJump QFLP EPROM in them. Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Absolutely, I will do an EPROM dump and release it here on a combination of conditions, 1 If I can get the board working, 2 Or if I can get the EPROM(?) out of their sockets and into something else that will allow me to 'dump' in, 3 If I knew how to 'dump it' in the first place, I believe I read on here sometime ago its a matter of saving bytes from a specific location. I will ask for assistance when I get to that point. Yes an manual would be nice assuming one was ever written, based on Medics history, I have my doubts. Lee - Back to the QL- - Original Message - From: Dilwyn Jones To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 8:14 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board Ralf Reköndt wrote: Does anyone have a manual for a Medic I/F to scan in and send to Dilwyn? An EPROM dump for examining would also a be good idea...;-) Cheers...Ralf This would be very useful,as Medic bards do turn up second hand from time to time. I have never seen a Medic manual. I think Tony Tebby did a version of his QFLP ROM upgrades for Medic boards at one point, so boards which turn up might have an original Medic or a QJump QFLP EPROM in them. Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Lee Privett wrote: Absolutely, I will do an EPROM dump and release it here on a combination of conditions, 1 If I can get the board working, 2 Or if I can get the EPROM(?) out of their sockets and into something else that will allow me to 'dump' in, 3 If I knew how to 'dump it' in the first place, I believe I read on here sometime ago its a matter of saving bytes from a specific location. I will ask for assistance when I get to that point. Yes an manual would be nice assuming one was ever written, based on Medics history, I have my doubts. Maybe you know someone with a QEP III, to read the EPROM. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to know more about the handling of disk/par of the Medic I/F. As it is a very early item, I think there is some kind of manual. Who else should know about the handling...? It was quite before QFLP. Or we should ask TT. He keeps everything ;-). Cheers...Ralf ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Absolutely, I will do an EPROM dump and release it here on a combination of conditions, 1 If I can get the board working, 2 Or if I can get the EPROM(?) out of their sockets and into something else that will allow me to 'dump' in, 3 If I knew how to 'dump it' in the first place, I believe I read on here sometime ago its a matter of saving bytes from a specific location. I will ask for assistance when I get to that point. Dumping a ROM from SuperQBoard: The QL Technical manual says that an add-on ROM will have a header flag of hex 4AFB0001, so you can search for this. (Two long words decimal19196 and decimal1) - the memory map allows up to 512KB add-on RAM in an original system like Medic and SuperQBoard (doesn't apply to add-ons like Trump Card etc which use the ROM and add-on space for extra RAM). I don't know how many bytes of code the EPROM will hold - presumably you can tell from the Eprom type - 27128, 27256 etc etc Page 56 of Technical manual, memory map, may help to locate the SuperQBoard or Medic ROM: $C (decimal 786432) upward to decimal 917503 - Add on peripherals, 8 slots up to 16KB each $E to $F (decimal 917504 to 1.048575E6) - Add-on ROM, up to 128KB Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
On 10/03/2011 21:35, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Dumping a ROM from SuperQBoard: The QL Technical manual says that an add-on ROM will have a header flag of hex 4AFB0001, so you can search for this. (Two long words decimal19196 and decimal1) - the memory map allows up to 512KB add-on RAM in an original system like Medic and SuperQBoard (doesn't apply to add-ons like Trump Card etc which use the ROM and add-on space for extra RAM). I don't know how many bytes of code the EPROM will hold - presumably you can tell from the Eprom type - 27128, 27256 etc etc Page 56 of Technical manual, memory map, may help to locate the SuperQBoard or Medic ROM: $C (decimal 786432) upward to decimal 917503 - Add on peripherals, 8 slots up to 16KB each SuperDisk / SuperQBoard ROM is deffo at $c, the SuperDisk doesn't have TK2 and so it's rom is $c-$c3, SuperQBoard does I believe have TK2 and so it's rom is from $c-$c7, presumably the Medic interface would be similar. If there's a Schematic ROM dump available I may be able to add support for it to Mess, I'm presuming that the Medic board also used the WD177x (or compatible) chips, they seemed to be pretty standard for the QL at the time. Cheers. Phill. -- Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric ! You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge -- Rush. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
On 10 Mar 2011, at 18:37, Ralf Reköndt ralf.rekoe...@t-online.de wrote: Does anyone have a manual for a Medic I/F to scan in and send to Dilwyn? An EPROM dump for examining would also a be good idea...;-) Cheers...Ralf ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm As I have said many yeard ago, I don't think there ever was a manual. Tony -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:257/67) +44(1442)-828255 t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, Tring, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Of the three large chips, one is an EPROM 2764(middle), the one below is an 8059 or WD1770 and the largest chip is marked as a 4500A. The memory chips are M5K4164 and I suppose that filling the other 8 empty sockets with same would increase the memory to a maximum of 512K the standard for the original QL, that is if it works, still yet to try that, maybe at the weekend. Lee - Back to the QL- - Original Message - From: Phill Harvey-Smith To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 10:24 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board On 10/03/2011 21:35, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Dumping a ROM from SuperQBoard: The QL Technical manual says that an add-on ROM will have a header flag of hex 4AFB0001, so you can search for this. (Two long words decimal19196 and decimal1) - the memory map allows up to 512KB add-on RAM in an original system like Medic and SuperQBoard (doesn't apply to add-ons like Trump Card etc which use the ROM and add-on space for extra RAM). I don't know how many bytes of code the EPROM will hold - presumably you can tell from the Eprom type - 27128, 27256 etc etc Page 56 of Technical manual, memory map, may help to locate the SuperQBoard or Medic ROM: $C (decimal 786432) upward to decimal 917503 - Add on peripherals, 8 slots up to 16KB each SuperDisk / SuperQBoard ROM is deffo at $c, the SuperDisk doesn't have TK2 and so it's rom is $c-$c3, SuperQBoard does I believe have TK2 and so it's rom is from $c-$c7, presumably the Medic interface would be similar. If there's a Schematic ROM dump available I may be able to add support for it to Mess, I'm presuming that the Medic board also used the WD177x (or compatible) chips, they seemed to be pretty standard for the QL at the time. Cheers. Phill. -- Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric ! You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge -- Rush. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Lee Privett wrote, on 10/Mar/11 23:24 | Mar10: Of the three large chips, one is an EPROM 2764(middle), the one below is an 8059 or WD1770 and the largest chip is marked as a 4500A. The memory chips are M5K4164 and I suppose that filling the other 8 empty sockets with same would increase the memory to a maximum of 512K the standard for the original QL, that is if it works, still yet to try that, maybe at the weekend. I am pretty sure when expanded to 512k, the power cannot be taken from the QL. That is when Medic powered from the floppy drive. Tony -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:257/67) +44(0)1442-828255 t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
On 10/03/2011 23:24, Lee Privett wrote: Of the three large chips, one is an EPROM 2764(middle), the one below is an 8059 or WD1770 That'll be the disk controler, WD1770, I suspect the 8059 is a date code. Odd that it's only got a 2764 (8K) eprom, most of the QL innterfaces had either a 27128 (16K) or 27256 (32K). and the largest chip is marked as a 4500A. The Numm not heard of that one does it have any other markings ? memory chips are M5K4164 and I suppose that filling the other 8 empty How many memory chips are fitted currently ? 4164s are 64K x 1bit, so a group of 8 gives you 64Kbytes of ram. If there are only 16 RAM sockets and you filled them with 2764s that would give an extra 128K total. It may be of course that you can populate them with 41256 which are pinout compatible (apart from having an additional address line on pin 1), to give two banks of 256K for a total of 512k expansion, but that would depend on the other logic on the board. Cheers, Phill. -- Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric ! You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge -- Rush. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Numm not heard of that one does it have any other markings ? All the numbers on the biggest chip are 451VA4428 VL 4500 A-15PC TNS 4500 AN-15 KOREA How many memory chips are fitted currently 8 with 8 spare Lee - Back to the QL- - Original Message - From: Phill Harvey-Smith To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 11:34 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board On 10/03/2011 23:24, Lee Privett wrote: Of the three large chips, one is an EPROM 2764(middle), the one below is an 8059 or WD1770 That'll be the disk controler, WD1770, I suspect the 8059 is a date code. Odd that it's only got a 2764 (8K) eprom, most of the QL innterfaces had either a 27128 (16K) or 27256 (32K). and the largest chip is marked as a 4500A. The memory chips are M5K4164 and I suppose that filling the other 8 empty How many memory chips are fitted currently ? 4164s are 64K x 1bit, so a group of 8 gives you 64Kbytes of ram. If there are only 16 RAM sockets and you filled them with 2764s that would give an extra 128K total. It may be of course that you can populate them with 41256 which are pinout compatible (apart from having an additional address line on pin 1), to give two banks of 256K for a total of 512k expansion, but that would depend on the other logic on the board. Cheers, Phill. -- Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric ! You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge -- Rush. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Medic board
Lee Privett wrote: Numm not heard of that one does it have any other markings ? All the numbers on the biggest chip are 451VA4428 VL 4500 A-15PC TNS 4500 AN-15 KOREA Seems to be the chip for arranging the memory chips. Look at QL Wiki for standard SQB. Cheers...Ralf ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
