Re: [ql-users] CF Hot Removable adapters
On 15/04/02 at 05:40 Dexter wrote: Unless you two know something I don't (like how to locally change the Planck constant, speed of light, gravitational constant...) that's as fast as anything will currently go on native QL hardware, give or take a few 10s ok K/s... What?!?!? You don't know how to change the speed of light? I'm disappointed in you, Nasta! Sadly, I'm not Q. If I were, I'd wave-my-hand-ed myself to greener pastures already. (and let's not even start about what I'd do to Micro$oft) Seriously though, my point was that it isn't necessary to hook up a CF card to an IDE interface to use it - there are ways to hook it up directly to the buss. Through the ROM slot it would not be that different than it already is. That way, you can do direct reads and writes without having to wait and poll to check it's finished the previous operation. That would be quicker. OK, there is ambiguity here. There is no reason why Qubide should necessairly use polling (in the sense it uses interrupts), the reason it does what it does the way it does is because that was the only driver available at the time. Now that SMSQ/E source may become available, we might be able to convert the win driver already done by TT for Miracle, and expanded for QXL, QPC, Q40/60 to work on Qubide. Even the RomDisq driver could be converted to handle a CF hanging off an IDE interface, but it would have to be VERY considerably altered. Polling as a concept is unavoidable for anything on the ROM slot, and there is a reason why RomDisq is a ROM slot device, so that it can be easily removed and plugged in elsewhere. Reason: no interrupt line on ROM slot. This is also proof that CF on Qubide could work just as fast (strictly speaking, slower due to larger overhead of a task file, but this would be imperceptible). Setting up the task file and doing it's little protocol is only writing and reading a couple of bytes, nothing compared to transferring 8k or so of data after that. Remember, next to no 'access time' on CF media. No interrupt on Qubide, but no interrupt on RD either. A wait on write is also unavoidable for any type of Flash media due to characteristics of the media itself. Reading from the Flash takes nanoseconds, writing may extend to the order of a few milliseconds. Either way, the point that a version two of RomDisq could be based around CF instead of traditional flash, for price and size considerations, still stands ;) True. If you read the specs though, you will notice that the different CF modes really are not THAT different. Even in the 'memory' mode it's not just 'flat' memory, but bank-switch, and the polling on write becomes more explicit, similar to actual flash chips. The good thing about CF, even in IDE mode, is that it MUST implement byte-wide data bus (unlike hard drives which do not, and they VERY rarely do), although it's natively a 16-bit wide device. Interfacing it to the QL bus on it's own would be nearly trivial, as long as it's directly coupled to it (and that means NO cable to the front of a box like in the case of Qubide!!!). A RomDisq II (maybe 'superRomDisq') would be very similar to what it is now, except without the actual Flash chips of course, but with CF socket instead. Things would get a bit (but only a bit) more interesting if the CF card was hot-swap, the biggest challenge for that would actually be mechanical stability. Another challenge would be having the data organization such that data could be read on other CF capable systems! Nasta
Re: [ql-users] smsq.free.fr
Yes please! I'd even take a copy on CD of the whole lot if my cheek doesn't offend you! I have received QCDEZE from Duncan this weekend so can (privately) email this to you if you wish. -- Dilwyn Jones [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.soft.net.uk/dj/index.html -Original Message- From: Phoebus Dokos [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: QL Users Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 15 April 2002 19:20 Subject: [ql-users] smsq.free.fr Hi All, I remind anyone interested that I do have a saved copy of Thierry's smsq.free.fr website before free.fr destroyed it all... Unfortunately it doesn't include QCDEZE and a couple updates Thierry did to it after I snatched it. Anyone interested, please send me an email so I can send you its index file (in html format) Phoebus
[ql-users] QL Documentation CD
On Friday, just before the Quanta meeting in Manchester, Darren and I had the idea of producing a QL Documentation CD, containing as many information docs about the QL as possible. Despite the idea being inspired 8pm that evening, the following day we were selling it and it proved popular too. So popular it's well worth expanding on. Must be a bit of a record - a CD-ROM taken from concept to burned reality in about 3 hours! When I get time I'll put a list of its content on my website, possibly the docs too if space permits. Meanwhile if anyone has any informative material especially programming and hardware information I could include on it (the CD is freely copyable) in order to make it as comprehensive as possible and as useful to as many QLers as possible, please send me an email saying what documents you have. To save bandwidth, don't send the files themselves until I've checked if I already have them or not. Examples of material already on it (much of it already on my website, on my QL Docs page): GD2 docs QL manual plain text (means this CD can't go to USA sadly) Various magazine articles about SMSQ/E etc Miracle Systems manuals SuperHermes Lite manual (thanks Tony...didn't ask until the show ;-) ) Toolkit 2 docs Easyptr tutorial PE Idiot's guide Hotkeys articles HP PCL codes list ESC P2 codes list (Acrobat docs only) Config 1 and 2 info Printer dat file format info QMenu article (CDs sold had cover saying QMenu manual, sorry, blame Darren for that one, not true) SDUMP information Maths stack article Thing information and articles 68000 assembler programming info If Tim Swenson is listening, can I include your SuperBASIC Sourcebook etc? (This isn't an advert, simply an appeal to gather useful documentation for this project) -- Dilwyn Jones [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.soft.net.uk/dj/index.html
Re: [ql-users] CF Hot Removable adapters
Tony Firshmanwrites: I recall there is a way to use a file name explicitly in a TT toolkit command and avoid OPEN/CLOSE, but I can't find it in his 'manual'. copy_length = FLEN(\ dv$ file$) * loop Per
Re: [ql-users] smsq.free.fr
At 04:44 ìì 15/4/2002, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Yes please! I'd even take a copy on CD of the whole lot if my cheek doesn't offend you! I have received QCDEZE from Duncan this weekend so can (privately) email this to you if you wish. I will upload it (doing it now) on: www.dokos-gr.net/dj/ This is actually reserved to hold your mirror (until you decide to change the link in your website :-)) HINT HINT HINT Phoebus
Re: [ql-users] smsq.free.fr OOOPPPSSS
At 08:30 ìì 15/4/2002, Me, myself and I wrote: At 04:44 ìì 15/4/2002, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Yes please! I'd even take a copy on CD of the whole lot if my cheek doesn't offend you! I have received QCDEZE from Duncan this weekend so can (privately) email this to you if you wish. I will upload it (doing it now) on: www.dokos-gr.net/dj/ This is actually reserved to hold your mirror (until you decide to change the link in your website :-)) HINT HINT HINT The link is actually www.dokos-gr.net/~dj/ There :-) Phoebus... Still uploading...
Re: [ql-users] smsq.free.fr OOOPPPSSS
At 09:38 ìì 15/4/2002, Dilwyn Jones wrote: At 08:30 ìì 15/4/2002, Me, myself and I wrote: At 04:44 ìì 15/4/2002, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Yes please! I'd even take a copy on CD of the whole lot if my cheek doesn't offend you! I have received QCDEZE from Duncan this weekend so can (privately) email this to you if you wish. Well in any case you still want it I can send you a CD of it :-) As for QCDEZE, Duncan has sent me his software already to test it on the Aurora :-) Phoebus P.S. I do have an almost full complement of Aurora Mode 256 and Mode 16 commands/procedures ready - Currently compiled with Turbo and turned into extensions- which include: Aur_CLS (Well obvious ain't it?) Aur_SCRXLIM% and Aur_SCRYLIM% functions Aur_Mode (mode) - Accepts 4, 8, 16 and 256 Aur_Point (x,y,colour) - An absolute coordinates point command Aur_Line (x,y,x1,y1, colour,[thickness]) - An absolute coordinates line command with optional thickness (or antialiasing if passing -1 into thickness) Aur_Circle (x,y,radius) - Same as above with circles. Next will be Aur_Block, Aur_Arc, Aur_Ellipse, Aur_Rect, Aur_Triang, Aur_Poly and last Aur_Print (x,y,string$, colour, [mode] (Mode being 0 -the default- for x,y being the columns/rows and 1 for x and y being pixel coordinates) That's all for now, Phoebus
