Re: [Ql-Users] Austrian pictures
A bit over 300 are on http://tfs.firshman.co.uk/ql/photos.htm Tony Yikes! Give me a few days to go through them all :-/ I'll, umm, get back to you soon on this one. -- Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Quanta Subgroups - Survival
Manchester is the largest of the subgroups and you have to touch your forelock when you meet them because they are also the Quanta toffs. (Quanta is shortly to be renamed the External Affairs Branch of the North East Manchester QL User Group). For a large group they are surprisingly silent about what they get up to, probably because of years of covert plotting to take over Quanta. I once tried to goad them into telling us something of what they do by suggesting on this list that they were not really QL-ers, but a secret Elvis appreciation society, but it did not work. ;-)) Does that make John Gilpin or Keith Dunbar Elvis reincarnated? I will wait to see what the QL Today editorial team can discover :o) Manchester do not have a dedicated website in spite of the fact that the Quanta toffs are always moaning about how little interest the lesser mortals on other subgroups show in having a dedicated page on the Quanta website. All very hypocritical when you consider Quanta's specialist web staff hale from Manchester, Best wishes, Geoff PS Dilwyn, please feel free to reproduce this in its entirety in the Quanta Magazine, but somehow I don't think you will want to. Ummm, I'll take the excuse that I am not Editor and that this doesn't come within my News Editor remit :-/ And as I (to the best of my knowledge) have never been within range of a subgroup (nearest was Cheshire) I don't feel qualified to comment too much on that unless the few QLers west of Chester would like to form one? Also, I was rather disappointed with the response I got to my international groups requests. Despite trying to contact several individuals I knew of from former groups, I never got replies from most of them. So I took that as far as I could then gave up in disappointment. I was very glad to see individuals taking the initiative with the recent shows in Switzerland and Austria, of course. No user group in those countries didn't mean nothing happening of course. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] The QL Future
I must say Rich is doing a great job selling my shed-rescued stock. Derek Stewart completely filled his car with it! As I found out from Urs, I had some historic old pcbs in the collection. Unfortunately I believe most pcbs have now been scrapped. They were a great source of spare parts, which could be heat-gun desoldered. I suspect a lot were actually working, but I never got around to fully checking. These were from a vast quantity of QL parts I bought from a trader living in East London, near Ilford I think. I have forgotten his name - can anyone remember? He died I believe in the early 90s. Tony Care Electronics...Ed Bruley perhaps? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] The QL Future
This mailing list is probably the most frequently populated part of QL-Dom - and even here goes deathly quiet at times. Now look what you've done, it's more active today! My Articles in QL Toady are a mystery to me. Not that I don't know what I'm writing (well, most of the time I do!) but the lack of feedback from almost everyone in the entire world - I sometimes feel that I'm writing for three people - Me, George and a chap called Hugh Rooms who called me to task some time back and made a contribution to the Assembly series. Every time I ask for feedback, the silence is deafening. Either nobody is reading the articles, or (more likely) you are getting it so right that nobody needs to comment (apart from the odd letter from George of course!) I read the articles (and fail to understand some of them of course) :-( So what's that so far...5 readers? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] The QL Future
These were from a vast quantity of QL parts I bought from a trader living in East London, near Ilford I think. I have forgotten his name - can anyone remember? He died I believe in the early 90s. Tony Care Electronics...Ed Bruley perhaps? No. He was working on his own. He bought a vast number of components and QLs direct from Thorn-EMI after the Sinclair collapse. He used to sell components at ZX Microfairs. I think he lived in Gants Hill, but not sure. He was the primary source for the vast majority of QLs and parts. Bill Richardson based his business on his stock I believe. Joe Atkinson? (must confess I don't know if he's still alive or not, so apologies if the suggestion causes offence). Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] The QL Future
Marcel Kilgus wrote: gdgqler wrote: Marcel's and Jochen's comments made me think twice about considering adding information about my TurboPTR on Rich's site. Oh god, I wasn't trying to discourage anybody from contributing to the wiki! TurboPTR not being commercial it's a different situation anyway, in my opinion at least. Marcel Absolutely. Getting swamped with commercial adverts would be one thing (and QL traders are not likely to do that anyway, it might be different in the big world outside), but putting information about handy free utiltities on there is hardly going to upset people. I would tend to think the opposite in fact that for programs like TurboPtr, which may be new to some people, the more free information out there the better. I occasionally send news of my free programs to this list, but I wouldn't send anything commercial, of course, unless it was to answer a specific query. I don't think George has anything to worry about at all. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Website makeover
Urs Koenig (QL) wrote: After a lot of prompting from my son, Iwan, I have finally got around to giving my website a bit of a makeover. I realise I'm risking a little after the problems I had with it in the last week (the message form works now!), but I do hope this will be worth it. I've tried to give the site a more modern and fresh look, without affecting the content too much. Good job! Thank you :-) Thanks to the CSS work you've done last year it was not that hard, wasn't it? Urs No. The style sheet changes let me change a lot of things very quickly. Meaning I can spend more time on the QL contents, less on the maintenance of appearance etc. The only niggling bit is that Firefox browsers seem to ignore the font setting (sans-serif fonts specified but it always uses Times New Roman). I made a conscious decision to keep the HTML as simple as I could, apart from a small bit of php for the message form, plus mostly small pictures to try to make sure pages are quick loading. The grey strips etc are just table backings, for example (amazing what you can achieve in HTML layouts with just simple tables!). Like I said before, it was pressure from my son which made me do this. He helped me a lot with the design to try to update the boring old fashioned look, as he put it. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
probably has something to do with Windows 7: The Microsoft guys have removed native support for 720k formatting from all Windows 7 stuff (If you try to format a floppy with the built-in tools, it will only offer 1440k, not 720k like XP/Vista did). My windows 7 box can't do that either (be it from inside QPC or outside), while it works perfectly on XP and Vista. I help myself with a pack of pre-formatted disks I created on an XP box. Regards Tobias Seems the most obvious explanation under Windows 7! Looks like Rich has been micro-shafted by M$. Some time ago I reviewed a USB floppy drive for Quanta and it worked brilliantly (albeit under XP) at first. Then mysteriously it started being awkward with DD disks, sometimes it would format correctly, sometimes it wouldn't. (whether using *D or *H) I tried formatting the disks on the Aurora and QL, then reformatting them on the USB drive to see what happened. Reliability improved, but was not perfect, sometimes it would format the disk as a HD even though the disk was DD, probably down to what Rich suggested with the drive sensor (or lack of). The same disks would usually format perfectly on the built in floppy drive on this PC (also XP)! If you manage to find a solution, can you post it here? Would be useful information as more and more people use QL emulators on Windows 7 machines. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Lear PCB Design
PCB DESIGN UPDATE NEWS Yet another update of this free PCB Design program from Malcolm Lear can now be downloaded from my website. Here's a brief list of changes in this latest version. I guess the main change is the new facility to exportPDF files. v7.16 Block elements are all increased in size by 1 mil to ensure overlap when creating export files. Export readme files now include the statement: 'All Files Viewed from Top' PDF export now supported. A3 size paper now supported for postscript and PDF export. Download it from: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/graphics/index.html Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
the committee not twisted his arm and co-opted him back to the committee for one more year while we try to find a treasurer, Quanta would have been in difficulty now and face the very real possibility of winding up the organisation. It would be great to hear from people explaining why they DON'T want to go on committee. Surely it can't all be down to lack of time? We don't have to travel much to committee meetings, modern technology means we can do most work by email or telephone or conferencing and just meet up once or twice a year as necessary to sort out the major issues. This may all seem a bit harsh but, like a jolt to the heart in teh case case of cardiac arrest, sometimes you need a defibrilator to restore a pulse. The paddles are in your hands - don't wait for the flat line. -- Roy Wood Absolutely - at the moment, Quanta and QL Today have a hard core of contributors. Neither has paid contributors. With the possible exception of Rich and Jochen, nobody is making money from the QL, so it relies on volunteer effort. The few volunteers who are active are doing a good job (writers like George Gwilt, Norman Dunbar, Steve Poole and so on) writing articles but you can't rely on that small number of people. For some time now I have been trying to write and email program and a paint program for QL systems. Nowhere near working yet (well, the email program does receive email but hasn't got an editor to write one yet - the emailing is the easy part!). Time is the issue - I have so many commitments I just can't get the time in long enough bursts to be able to write. It's many weeks since I last had the chance to look at the editor part of the email program, I doubt I'll ever finish it at this rate. The graphics program is stalled by the lack of screen dump software for GD2 screens, a long time bug-bear of mine. I'll continue pouring out mediocre programs and supporting the QL, but although I didn't always agree with Geoff's sometimes negative viewpoints in QL Today, it's hard to see the QL having a lifetime of more than 3 to 5 years the way it's going (in other words, I often agree with him more than I think). OK, it'll always be handy to be able to write quick s*basic programs for my own use while I still have a working QL emulator (and the PC is the only computer in regular use here at the moment - the QL and Aurora are only brought out for the specific use fo testing programs or, sorry Rich, formatting DD disks for the very occasional Quanta library request. Even if readers have negative contributions to make (by that I mean criticising the lack of innovation, stagnancy and so on) to magazines, it's still worth stoking the flames every now and then and writing something just to let people know there are QLers ourt there, not just the same old names filling the mags all the time. A simple example. John Sadler started this particular QL future thread and having heard other contributions on this, I'd like to hear from John again now on how he reacts to all this and what his views are! OK, that's my rant over! Keep prodding, Roy, the QL community could do with a good kick up the rear end sometimes. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
the QL and Aurora are only brought out for the specific use fo testing programs or, sorry Rich, formatting DD disks for the very occasional Quanta library request. It seems as if I am the only person actually able to format blank DD disks using QPC2 and Windows XP. Perhaps its because I have a Packard Bell floppy reader. Perhaps those wanting DDs formatted should send them to me! George I can format DD on Windows XP with the built in floppy drive, but the USB floppy drive doesn't usually want to know. Probably as someone suggested it doesn't have the sensor for disk type. In the case of these modern USB floppy drives, I think the issue is more likely to be the drives themselves on Windows XP systems. Of course, the issue is probably completely different with Rich's Windows 7 as DD floppy disk support has been removed from Windows by Windows 7. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
Sounds like the same experience I had. Totally unpredictable results on that particular USB floppy drive (well, might be predictable to someone like Marcel who knows the underlying code). SNIP Doesen't work here on XP with an USB drive (which is recognized as flp1_) Writing and reading is ok, but formatting just makes the drive accessing and stoping on and on, whithout any results. Cheers...Ralf Time to summon Marcel and Jochen to see if they can shed any light on this, I guess! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
It would be great to hear from people explaining why they DON'T want to go on committee. Surely it can't all be down to lack of time? We don't have to travel much to committee meetings, modern technology means we can do most work by email or telephone or conferencing and just meet up once or twice a year as necessary to sort out the major issues. Oh I know why people don't want to go on a committee. Firstly they would have to do something and secondly they can no longer carp and criticise from the sidelines. Simple. I am Diving Officer for the Dive Club so that puts me just under teh Chairman on the committee. I know how that works. OK, I guess that explains that ;-) Actually, my partner Ann is on the committee of a craft association - I guess she'd probably say exactly the same thing. I would never say you wrote mediocre programs. You and Geoff wrote some really innovative stuff. Nice of you to say that - I feel better now! Actually, don't tell Geoff, but I use some of his programs quite a lot ;-) ...even if they have mis-spelled my name twice in two issues :o) I may not raise my head above th e parapet too much. I am in the throes for finishing my Album - those who are interested can get a taste at www.myspace.com/thatlegendarywoodenlion And running a series of training sessions for the Dive Club. OK, will take a look later on. Do QLers get a discount on the album? ;-) BTW one other reason that Rich has a long mailing list is probably that he sells on EBAY. Maybe a Quanta shop there would generate some interest. Actually, Rich has sold quite a lot of gear Quanta has acquired - John Gilpin will confirm that. You will also find a lot of people who just want to buy a part to go with the QL in teh glass case that they house their 'retro computers' in - along wit their collection of 'dust through the ages'. Nobody denies that - I get a lot of contact from retro users via my website. The other type of contact I get is ex-QL users dusting off their QLs once more and realising that emulators etc open up a new world of nostalgia for them. I do try to steer them in the direction of QL Today and Quanta, but never really know how successful I am about pointing people in various directions. My pages about returning to the QL, PC/QL file transfer, zip/unzip and serial links get respectable numbers of hits, so there's obviously people looking at all this info, but I just don't know where it all leads in the end. What you need is not people who look back but those who are willing to turn around and look in the other direction - and face what they see. Agreed. Still I will continue to (sporadically) read the list. (feel free to print all/some/none of my comments in Quanta. I may even splutter into incoherance angain. ;-) Good to hear from you again - keep spluttering into incoherence! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
I could offer free space on my server, and, if you have a wooden lion domain name, you could use that without advertising the host. That was meant to be private but but I forgot to edit the address- so reply to me personally please, Roy. Tony Since it accidentally got onto this list, I'll just comment that I do buy space for my website off Tony and NONE of the few glitches with my website have been down to him or his servers... highly recommended. /end of free advert for TF Services... Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] PDF files
Does anyone know if Ghostscript on the QL is able to read PDF files and if so, up to how recent? I've never used Ghostscript - the description on my own web page claims it can but I can't remember where I got the info from originally! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks
I may not raise my head above th e parapet too much. I am in the throes for finishing my Album - those who are interested can get a taste at www.myspace.com/thatlegendarywoodenlion Seems a mite borken (whoops - but because that was a superb accidental mistype I will leave it). I am getting Sorry. messages and the CD link does nothing. I did manage to listen to it, or rather I did the second time when I realised my speakers weren't switched on the first time...doh, beware ex broadcast techie at work :o( Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
Damn, I missed all the fun as Orange havent delivered the mail for over a week ;o( Not even the message to tell me that I need to agree to their new conditions before I can use my mail account (via an email client or even their webmail interface). How dumb and unhelpful is that! On Orange broadband here and no end of annoying little problems even though no major outages. My big gripe is their tech helplines - foreign and totally incapable of appreciating (language permitting) that there can be any sort of problem, let alone what it is. They seem to have a we are Orange, we are perfect, therefore you must be wrong approach. You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent beyond any whisker of doubt. Service slows right down in the afternoons when local kids come home from school - yet it's only a small village, god knows what it's be like in a big town. Or maybe that's the reason? Regarding floppies, No, you cant format DD disks in Vista or W7 as the native drivers dont support it. No problem reading them, though, and no problem formating HD disks from W7 or from within QPC - at least there shouldnt be. Solution: Copy your old stuff to HDDs and go on living! I suspect Rich might have been copying stuff for a customer onto DD disks when this thread started. Likewise, I get the occasional request for stuff on DD disks. Apart from archived old QL disks, I never use floppy disks for my own QLing any more. As for the QL future, I guess there aint any, at least not at the present (if that makes sense). Modern computers have evolved far beyond what was envisaged when the QL was young. Surely we dont need yet another way of doing the same old tired things any fool can now do with Linux, Windoze or Macs. The current trend appears to be towards Cloud computing, where data storage and even processing power is an off-site, on-line service. Thats a major paradigm shift - back to square one, some three or four generations ago. Using online applications is a bugbear here. Type something and then the whole thing stops while it's sent and handled. Part of the thrill of living in an area where dial-up is modern high tech I guess. There is still the possibility that some of the seminal concepts from the QL era will come round again in a new form in the future, so its worthwhile hanging on in there and keeping it alive as best we can. And if not, weve still had our moneys worth! Definitely. I think the one thing that came out of this discussion is that the QL has meant a lot to many of us and it still has its uses in knocking up a quick basic program to do a specific task. It's more than a quarter of a century old, discontinued a quarter of a century ago and people have said here they felt it never really knew its role in life. People still use ZX81s and Spectrums and other 1980s computers - I guess some of them are retro games machine whereas the QL has been more of a home programming machine in some ways. Either way, it's had a good innings even if it slowly passes away. It still has its uses for me but I can also see the day sometime in not too many years when it won't. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Quanta Subgroups - Survival - continued
Malcolm knows very well that I am still alive, so perhaps he ought not to be quite so definite about the alleged demise of the Surrey group. Yes, we are reduced in numbers but we do still meet about once a month on a Wednesday evening. We are coy about where since it depends on the generosity of a non-computer related club - should anyone want to come they would need to contact us via Ken Bain (see relevant Quanta page). Christopher Cave In other words, contact details correct for the Surrey group as they stand? Roy - I take it you want the Sussex group entry removed, then? I'm grateful to Malcolm for bringing this up. Can anyone else whose subgroup is listed wrongly please contact me and (despite my experiences with the international groups) I'll try to make sure the list is brought up to date in Quanta mag. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
Anyway, I haven't heard any specifications, as yet for a QL21 - a QL inheritance device for the 21st Century . -- Malcolm Cadman I think it'd be great to have an online QL running in a browser - perhaps Java based or whatever. I seem to remember someone mentioning a ZX81 or Spectrum which would run in a browser. That way, you'd be free of the nuances of any particular QL emulator or QL compatible - wherever you are, fire up your browser and access the QL over an internet connection. Synchronised online storage space (there's plenty of free space providers) would ensure your files would be up to date no matter whether you were running it at home or away from home. Ah well, I can dream I suppose ... Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
But an Ipad - no, what do you do with a hi tech dinner plate when not using it, too big to go in your pocket, even the most confirmed medallion man would think twice. Hi-tech dinner plate... I like it. I could just imagine Bill on the farm sat in his tractor cab playing with his hi-tech dinner plate sorting out his farm accounts and reading his emails, with an app controlling his tractor, another controlling his muck-spreader, another feeding the animals... ...and Bill fuming when it all went wrong! ;o)) Up North here perhaps we could fit one onto a flat cap, Norman could of course disguise one as a sporran, although there was that hooha about radiation with phones, might need lead undergarments. A Scot with an iPad up his kilt? ooer missus, I hate to think! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
A Scot with an iPad up his kilt? ooer missus, I hate to think! Now Dilwyn, we wear the sporran on the outside of the kilt. It's a glorified handbag/purse. There are no pockets on a kilt, so you have to put your wallet, chewing gum, loose change etc somewhere! Drat, foiled again. Anyway, Sporrans ain't big enough to hold iPads are they, surely??? Never mind a QL (there, back on topic) And wasn't there a QL adventure game called McSporran's Lament? (There, even more tenuously back on topic) Mine is a dead horse. That's what it is made from. And sterling silver of course! My wife, Alison, complained (jokingly) at the price I paid for it when I bought it as she's never paid that much for a handbag! You mean you've never spent that much on her, don't you??? :o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Reading OPD microdrives on a QL
I suspect you are thing of my OPD/QL Interchange software? If so it can be downloaded from my web site at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/itimpi/djwdown.htm#OPD. I have not even looked at it for a decade or two, but there is no reason it should have stopped working :) Dave Walker Thanks Dave - that was just the ticket - Dilwyn - any chance you can add this to your Sinclair QL Homepage? -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services OK, I'll try. Many years ago, I used to sell a few copie sof this for Dave and I can't even remember if it was a QL program or an OPD program - all I remember is that it was on MDV! IIRC it sought to add a OPD microdrive driver to the QL to allow it to read OPD cartridges, but I'd better get onto Dave's site quick to check the facts! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Reading OPD microdrives on a QL
Thanks Dave - that was just the ticket - Dilwyn - any chance you can add this to your Sinclair QL Homepage? -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services Done - if you'd care to give it a try at http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/filetran/index.html As Dave has a lot more details on his page than the brief descriptions I have on my pages, I've linked there too, hopefully that's OK with Dave. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
Rich Mellor wrote: I would also like a java based Sinclair QL emulator and perhaps that would be a project which Quanta could help fund the development of - it would attract a much wider audience and enable demos of programs to be played online to show what the QL is capable of. There are already Java based emulators for the Amiga - perhaps someone could use this core, or even see if they can get the QL emulator to run on the Java based Amiga emulator. I think the idea of using a platform independent system to run an emulator to be a good idea, though it does add another layer of indirection and a performance penalty. After all, it's a virtual processor/machine running within another virtual processor/machine. My original suggestion for the QL In A Browser was intended more as a portable option - where I could use my QL from abrowser wherever I happened to be at the time (no comments please!). I accept what you say about the speed overheads, but it was really only intended as a facility to use a QL in a browser, nothing more than that. For those who like hardware, maybe building upon the work done in the Linux world would be an interesting way forward, e.g. writing a bare-metal M68K virtual machine on top of an ARM (I know, it's an Acorn derivative ;-)) machine which is already available. I seem to remember that Urs mentioned something on 11th June discussed at the Austrian QL meeting called a QCF card (QLCompact Flash), a bare bones Linux computer on a flash card for the ROM port. I'm not sure if this was meant to be running a QL emulator and so become a super-QL-on-a-QL (he mentioned the QXL.WIN etc) or simply a plug-in Linux computer for the QL. Either way, it sounded interesting and certainly one way to go forward. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] How can I purchase old Ergon Development software titles?
Having tried to email Ergon Deveolpment and not gotten a response yet, I wondered if anyone here knows how I can purchase a copy of their ZM/ht Spectrum compiler/emulator? (snip) I should have a copy of their software about - I thought it was downloadable from their website - http://www.oocities.com/dsantachiara/qlpage.htm -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services IIRC the ZM/ht Spectrum emulator off Davide's website is a PD demo version with some restrictions. I can't be 100% sure, perhaps Davide will clarify if he's reading this, I don't think that there ever was a full free release of the ZM/ht system. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] The QL Future
Tony Firshman wrote, on 10/Jun/10 10:20 | Jun10: Dilwyn Jones wrote, on 10/Jun/10 10:17 | Jun10: These were from a vast quantity of QL parts I bought from a trader living in East London, near Ilford I think. I have forgotten his name - can anyone remember? He died I believe in the early 90s. Tony Care Electronics...Ed Bruley perhaps? No. He was working on his own. He bought a vast number of components and QLs direct from Thorn-EMI after the Sinclair collapse. He used to sell components at ZX Microfairs. I think he lived in Gants Hill, but not sure. He was the primary source for the vast majority of QLs and parts. Bill Richardson based his business on his stock I believe. Joe Atkinson? (must confess I don't know if he's still alive or not, so apologies if the suggestion causes offence). Not him. Silly isn't it. I met him many times, and when I bought the stuff, I visited him. There were large boxes full of QL parts everywhere. It is what got me launched into QL hardware and repairs. Syd Day? Tony Ah yes, Syd Day was on Quanta committee in the early days, and always had all sorts of bits and pieces to offer. Mystery solved at last, maybe! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Meeting 2010 Austria - Video
Anton Preinsack wrote, on 1/Jul/10 12:53 | Jul1: Finally I found the time to look into the material I filmed on the QL show in Austria and made a little video. You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJPLZCKVpHI That *looks* good. I know he does not want to appear, but it is Wolfgang Lenerz but what a relief when the background music stopped, for a short time! Tony He he, it was quite interesting to see the rare hardware, especially the 25-year old QL with built in 68020 board! And Wolfgang tries to adopt the Ostrich Approach by hiding from the camera by covering his eyes with his hands! Interesting to hear Urs talking with Tony Tebby about the QCF card proposal, but the audio wasn't clear, I couldn't make out much of what he was saying, unfortunately. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Meeting 2010 Austria - Video
Interesting to hear Urs talking with Tony Tebby about the QCF card proposal, but the audio wasn't clear, I couldn't make out much of what he was saying, unfortunately. Yes, unfortunately the acoustic wasn´t very good in this room and I used inly the intern micro. Urs talked only about the basic idea: There are many collectors/retro-fans, who buy QLs from ebay and have the problem, that they can´t use QL-programs downloaded from the internet on their machines (at least not in an easy way). So this QLs were collected but not used. Urs hardware would be an easy way to transfer files from the internet to a real QL. I will upload a new version of the video and will try to make the sound in this scene louder. Would it be possible to add sub-titles if you do this? I really struggled to understand it with the rather pathetic speakers on my PC. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Ql-Users Digest, Vol 76, Issue 52
I wrote soem code a while back to detokenise a QSAVED program. This is in the same for at as the internal format. Dilwyn recently took my code and updated it to handle SBasic stuff like Binary, hex and (new?)Floating point values - or similar - so maybe it's on his website? If not, I'm sure he would be happy to let you have a copy. Actually, the attached file is indeed the code, hope it helps. Cheers, Norman. I sent Martyn the version I'd modified to handle the %integer and $hex constants of SBASIC. IIRC, the other SBASIC extensions were handled as normal proc/function extensions. Great little program though! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] was The QL Future, now QL In Java
Anyway, I haven't heard any specifications, as yet for a QL21 - a QL inheritance device for the 21st Century . -- Malcolm Cadman I think it'd be great to have an online QL running in a browser - perhaps Java based or whatever. I seem to remember someone mentioning a ZX81 or Spectrum which would run in a browser. That way, you'd be free of the nuances of any particular QL emulator or QL compatible - wherever you are, fire up your browser and access the QL over an internet connection. Synchronised online storage space (there's plenty of free space providers) would ensure your files would be up to date no matter whether you were running it at home or away from home. Ah well, I can dream I suppose ... Dilwyn Jones I just had a quick look via search engines - there are some 68000 emulators out there runnign in Java. Here's just one example: http://code.google.com/p/miggy/ This, as the miggy name implies is an Amiga emulator. Sources seem to be available. If anyone has the necessary knoweldge of Java and QL 68000 this might make a worthwhile project, putting a QL in a browser! I thought that emulating 68000 in Java would be slow, but if this can emulate an AMiga for example, a QL should be no problem Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL-Meeting 2010 - Updated Video
I made an update of my video with some corrections and a new scene (at 3:35) where you can see the menus of QEmulator for MacOSX. The sound in the scene with Urs is now louder (especially for Dilwyn) and the main-music is a little bit quieter (especially for Tony;-)). I didn´t made subtitles, but I can send a transcript of the Urs-scene if necessary. Easier to understand now, thank you Anton. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] GST written QL software is PD now!
Ouch. Dilwyn hosts his site on my server for £18 a year plus VAT. You would be very welcome to use my server if you wanted. I’m off for summer holidays now. Happy hols, Whoops - that was meant to be private. Sorry, Tony He he, good job I'm very happy with the service received from Tony's server! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Zoostorm Freedom XL 10-270 netbook
I've just had a chance to use this ultra-cheap 10 inch screen netbook from Zoostorm and I loved it! In the UK, it's on offer for just £199 from Argos (part number 508-3053) and seems to work just fine with QPC2 (albeit I've only used it for a day or so). While 10 inch screen netbooks like this can be bought cheaper, this one comes with Windows 7 starter (very, very basic Windows 7, but adequate for what I wanted), and a decent 250GB hard disk, the first I've seen at this price. SPECS: -- Windows 7 Home Starter 10.1 inch 1024x600 TFT screen, 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM (Windoze7 ran faster than I expected with just 1GB RAM), 250GB 250 GB hard disk, SD card reader 802.11b/g/n wireless, 10/100 wired LAN 0.3MP webcam, stereo speakers (work, but not great quality as you might expect) and sockets for external mic and speaker 3 hours battery life (disappointing - many netbooks do more than this now) 2 USB2.0 ports VGA out socket for external monitor Some fairly basic software - M$ Works9,M$Office trial version So far, it's been used mostly as a mobile QL using QPC2, I haven't yet tried the other QL emulators, and for internet access, for which it's pretty ideal. Makes a great little mobile QL - the 10 inch screen and almost full size keyboard makes it so much more of a pleasure to use than my beloved little old EeePC with it's little 7 inch screen. Apparently, the 250GB HD, 1GB RAM and 10 inch screen is the best manufacturers are allowed to supply with Win7 Home Starter. Seen a comment by Zoostorm that the RAM slot in theory is capable of taking a 2GB RAM, but as they aren't able to supply it with more than 1GB they haven't even tested that! Now for the negatives, and there aren't many: The wireless was a bit of a trial to begin with (read reviews on the web which says early models were actually shipped with wrong drivers for it, that they recommend you delete the supplied driver then let Windoze reinstall it), probably because of a peculiarity of the Orange Livebox wireless router we have here, loads of computers have problems pairing with it, but once I persuaded it to pair up after several tries, it's been fine since. Wireless reception is good - picks up more signals around our street than any of the other computers in this house. It has only 2 USB ports, though you can use a hub of course. Web reviews are mixed. People who like it praise it to the hilt, people who don't seem to be taking them back to Argos for refunds! Tech Support via Argos, not Zoostorm (though you can contact them via email via www.zoostorm.co.uk). Argos Tech Support was a bit less than helpful when I contacted them about the Wireless issues, considering the web is full of complaints both about the Argos Tech Support and the . Instructions are poor, one thin book only. No system restore disk - make a backup ASAP which ain't easy because you'll need an external USB CD or DVD writer or an external hard disk. No floppy drive either. Conclusion: For me, makes an ideal mobile QL with wireless for web/email access. Weighs less and needs less space than a conventional laptop, 10 inch screen and almost full size keyboard is perfectly adequate. Win7 might be Home Starter edition, but adequate for the sort of uses I have in mind. 3 hour battery life could be better nowadays, but again adequate. 250GB hard disk is great, and very handy having a couple of USB ports and SD card reader. At just £199 with a cut down Windoze7 it's a good mobile solution for where a larger laptop is overkill! Now all I have to do is persuade Ann to hand it back to me! ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Zoostorm Freedom XL 10-270 netbook
I've just had a chance to use this ultra-cheap 10 inch screen netbook from Zoostorm and I loved it! In the UK, it's on offer for just £199 from Argos (part number 508-3053) and seems to work just fine with QPC2 (albeit I've only used it for a day or so). While 10 inch screen netbooks like this can be bought cheaper, this one comes with Windows 7 starter (very, very basic Windows 7, but adequate for what I wanted), and a decent 250GB hard disk, the first I've seen at this price. SPECS: -- snip Indeed it *is* a pity about the battery life. Maybe with an SSD drive the life owuld be longer. The screens tough are power hungry. Nothing will persuade me not to use my Apple Macbook Pro with 7 hours plus, other than 12 hour life small netbook. The macbook does it partly by using LEDs for the screen rather than 110vAC strip lights. Maybe the Ipad when it becomes a *real* computer will do that, with Qemulator. You (or Ann maybe) will kick yourself. It is now £179.99 (8-)# *http://tinyurl.com/2uu6mnh* Dunno Tony...I'm not (and unlikely to be unless work takes me that way) a Mac or Linux user of any kind. Neither is Ann. No desire for an Ipod, Ipad, Iphone or anything much like that. Seen my son and his friends pose enough with his Ipod Touch and their iPhones :o)) Ipad with QemuLator for example might be attractive for some of us, personally I don't fancy wrist strain holding it with one hand while trying to type with the other ;-) Actually, speaking seriously for a moment, that might conceivably be the way the mobile QL scene goes at some point - the likes of me goes off in this kind of QPC/Windoze direction, while the others go for the Ipad/Mac/QemuLator type of route. Wonder if Daniele has any news for us on how development of QemuLator is going? BTW Argos always seems to have the same prices online as in store. However PC World very often have specially low online prices which are apply (but not advertised) if you reserve online for store pickup. Tony Fair enough - I didn't check - if anyone can find the Zoostorm cheaper, so much the better (and let us know here in case anyone else fancies one!). We have a big Argos and PC World around here, and I was happy paying £200 for this locally, where I can throw it back at them if it doesn't work. Actually, had I known what Argos PC tech support was like and that all support was supposed to be via Argos, that might have been enough to persuade me not to buy it from them. But I didn't (I do now sadly). Anybody want an EeePC Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Zoostorm Freedom XL 10-270 netbook
Maplins have got some offers going, on these small netbooks. One of which is as low as £129.99. PS - Tony, this short reply is when it is better to top-post ... :-) I specifically wanted one with this spec, including Windoze 7: my first experience of it, albeit Home Starter, which is adequate for what I want to do with the little netbook - a mobile QL (QPC) with web access, email and plenty of storage. I think it was IJTDirect who did a Windows CE netbook for £80 recently, though I can't remember if it was 7 or 10 inch screen. BTW, I bet Tony won't half be pleased we've screwed up his preferred bottom posting :o) Dilwyn Jones Hi Dilwyn, Get a ASUS eeePC, they are tha same price and better battery life. Derek On 18/07/2010 14:14, Dilwyn Jones wrote: I've just had a chance to use this ultra-cheap 10 inch screen netbook from Zoostorm and I loved it! In the UK, it's on offer for just £199 from Argos (part number 508-3053) and seems to work just fine with QPC2 (albeit I've only used it for a day or so). While 10 inch screen netbooks like this can be bought cheaper, this one comes with Windows 7 starter (very, very basic Windows 7, but adequate for what I wanted), and a decent 250GB hard disk, the first I've seen at this price. SPECS: -- snip Indeed it *is* a pity about the battery life. Maybe with an SSD drive the life owuld be longer. The screens tough are power hungry. Nothing will persuade me not to use my Apple Macbook Pro with 7 hours plus, other than 12 hour life small netbook. The macbook does it partly by using LEDs for the screen rather than 110vAC strip lights. Maybe the Ipad when it becomes a *real* computer will do that, with Qemulator. You (or Ann maybe) will kick yourself. It is now £179.99 (8-)# *http://tinyurl.com/2uu6mnh* Dunno Tony...I'm not (and unlikely to be unless work takes me that way) a Mac or Linux user of any kind. Neither is Ann. No desire for an Ipod, Ipad, Iphone or anything much like that. Seen my son and his friends pose enough with his Ipod Touch and their iPhones :o)) Ipad with QemuLator for example might be attractive for some of us, personally I don't fancy wrist strain holding it with one hand while trying to type with the other ;-) Actually, speaking seriously for a moment, that might conceivably be the way the mobile QL scene goes at some point - the likes of me goes off in this kind of QPC/Windoze direction, while the others go for the Ipad/Mac/QemuLator type of route. Wonder if Daniele has any news for us on how development of QemuLator is going? BTW Argos always seems to have the same prices online as in store. However PC World very often have specially low online prices which are apply (but not advertised) if you reserve online for store pickup. Tony Fair enough - I didn't check - if anyone can find the Zoostorm cheaper, so much the better (and let us know here in case anyone else fancies one!). We have a big Argos and PC World around here, and I was happy paying £200 for this locally, where I can throw it back at them if it doesn't work. Actually, had I known what Argos PC tech support was like and that all support was supposed to be via Argos, that might have been enough persuade me not to buy it from them. But I didn't (I do now sadly). Anybody want an EeePC Dilwyn Jones ___ 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 -- Malcolm Cadman ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.839 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3013 - Release Date: 07/18/10 07:35:00 ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Zoostorm Freedom XL 10-270 netbook
Maplins have got some offers going, on these small netbooks. One of which is as low as £129.99. PS - Tony, this short reply is when it is better to top-post ... :-) Not from where I stand! If anyone else replies then it all gets messed up. Tony Oops, sorry, replied to Malcolm's email before I saw this email. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Zoostorm Freedom XL 10-270 netbook
BTW, I bet Tony won't half be pleased we've screwed up his preferred bottom posting :o) Dilwyn Jones Clip Hi Dilwyn, Yes, we had better just get our email posting sorted out before the Tony Police get on to us ... :-) Your choice sounds very good. As you say it is fit for purpose. The lowest cost Maplin's notebook is a 7 screen. I think I remember seeing one last time I was ta a Maplins in Llandudno. They also have the MS Wind, on an offer, which is 10, with Windows 7. Similar price to the Zoostorm and similar spec? I seem to recall that Jochen described his wife's MSI Wind last year either in Quanta mag or QL Today. I am getting closer to being tempted by one of these . Have you been able to network it ? Up to a point: 1. Gets onto internet easily enough (had a minor problem pairing it to the Livebox Orange router, but it's not the first laptop to give that problem, so I think it was a wireless router issue, not a netbook issue) 2. The other PCs in this house will share quite well with it - my desktop, Ann's laptop and the little EeeePc all talk to it happily. Just remember that the default workgroup might be a different name in pre-Vista and Post-Vista Windoze versions (think they default to WORKGROUP in XP and something like HOME in Vista and Windoze7 3. Not tried Sernet. It doesn't have a serial port, and I have no idea if sernet would work through one of the little USB-RS232C adaptor leads you can get (vaguely same principle as Miracle QL serial-par interface). What does work is making QPC2 and QXL.WIN shareable and make shortcuts from all PCs to the one copy, you can then run the same QPC on any one of the machines at a time (not secure though, i think that needs a bit more work to make it available to certain users only?), i think you can run more than one copy but only one can be written to, the others read only (confirm that, Marcel?) 4. Printer sharing - depends on drivers I think. It can see my Stylus 880 and Ann's HP PSC1510 over the network, and both are set to share, but you get errors when trying to print. Actually, not just the netbook, none of the PCs will print to the others' printers - I know for mine the manufacturer website says the printer driver ain't up to it, not checked the other one. I think these 10 inch netbooks are really handy little things, much more useable than the older 7 inch screen ones like the original EeePC (those work well enough, but screen and keyboard just too small). Plenty of them around, research which ones you want at what price. If like me your needs are fairly basic in one of these compared to your main computer, they're quite adequate if all you want is a little mobile system to run QPC and access the web using Windows. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Long Lost Sinclair QL Software
Unusual software includes: Ariolasoft - QDoctor Bedsoft - Screen Editor / Gambler / Beat the Clock / Autodraw Blain Software - Merry Muncher / Fire Towers / Advance Invaders Brainstorm - Westmonster Palace Cenprime Software - QL Bank Account DA Bandoo - Assembler and Screen Editor Equate - Solar Invaders/Wall Breaker/Draughts/Mind your Path/Statistical Averages/Calendar Goose Software - Printing Format Utilities GST - Small C Not sure about 'Small C' - would that be the same one that Urs Koenig got released recently? GST-QC is on the programming languages page on my website. Intersoft - Executive Adventure - I think I have seen this as PD since? Lattice - C Cross Compiler for IBM PC - QL MicroAPL - APL Again, there's an APL on same page on my website, not sure if the same thing. Micrologic Consultants - QL Terminal Emulator Micro Processor Engineering Lts - QL Forth 83 New Horizon Software - Pacman/QBERT/Golf PCML - CPM/80 It was an add-on card which I don't think got released. It appeared in news pages in QL User/World and PCW. If it made it to market, don't think many sold. PCS - PCS Utilities Peak Electronics - QL Colour Quest Portfolio Software - Stockmarket Manager Posi-Tron - Hi-Res graphics screendump Q-Soft - Agenda QCode - 3 Games - Sprite shooting, Lander and Moon Landing QCode - 68000 Assembler / Editor Now I had a copy of this at one time (many moons ago), might have been on one of those cartridges I sent you a while back. Quantum mechanics - Qspell (I wonder if this was the version later released by Eidersoft) Quest CP/M 68L I know former QUanta treasurer Mike Jackson (he lives somewhere in Lancashire) updated some of Quest's QL software (in particular the accounts package) in the late 80s/early 90s. Don't know any more than that. RE Jackson - Forth 79 Check if same as any of the Forth packages on my website - there is a Forth79 package by a Mr Jackson there. Rodent Software - Adventure Writer /. QL Artist / 2 x 7 Games Cartridges Saltgrade Software - File Manager / File Editor Sigma Research - Sketchpad Snowsoft - Hungry Harry in the Haunted House Summit Software - Frogger / Dungeon Swansoft - Space Trek TDI Limited - UCSD Pascal / Fortran-77 / P-System / Prolog and Advanced Development Toolkit TR Computer Systems - QL Payroll All of this needs adding to the QL Wiki at some stage (any volunteers) - I wonder what happened to the software? I guess some of it may now be in the public domain? Check against the games page on my site, or on Games CD, there are some old commercial ones since made PD on there (too much on my plate at the moment!). You might get some info from the 'small ads' in early QL mags. I just wondered if this message ever made it to the list - as all I seem to be receiving of late is discussions about a windows based notebook :-) Sorry about that. It was meant to be in a QL context (makes me an ideal mobile QL!) but it sort of got out of control :o) (At least it proved the list was still working!) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Zoostorm Freedom XL 10-270 netbook
Hi Dilwyn, OK ... we seemed to have escaped the Tony Police ... :-) ... for now, with this posting. It is MSHOME in Win XP, I have made the subtle change to MCHOME on my system. How do you do the QPC2 shareable part ? Is that just making the executable a Share, as well the QXL.WIN a Share - the latter just being a large File ? I haven't tried setting QPC2, itself, as shareable. Obviously, Folders are easy to make as Shared, so that they appear to all machines on the network. Mine is a Peer to Peer PC network, not through a Server. As a temporary measure, all I did was copy my QPC2 folder into Shared Documents and each PC could run it from there. I don't think you need to flag the executable as Share - I just made sure the folder could be shared as it was within the Shared Documents. Probably not the best way of doing things, but was good enough to test it could all work. Then all I did was create a new shortcut icon on each PC to run it from there. If anyone can provide better ways of doing this I'm sure Malcolm and I would appreciate guidance, as I can't say I'm familiar with PC networking like this. Would be even better if someone could show how to restrict QPC2 to certain users only. Come to something hasn't it when we are discussing a QPC network over wireless or cable networks nowadays! Which has just given me an idea for something to try...although I can't get the other PCs to print to my printer (e.g. Word from Ann's laptop) because of the Windows driver issues despite being set to Share, I wonder if QPC printing to it would be any different? The Epson is a Stylus 880 Colour with Esc/P2 control codes. I don't know if this would behave any differently? Dilwyn Jones Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Ramdisk
Hi all, I'm looking for a QL Ramdisk with sourcecode available. Any recommendations? Has there ever been a Ramdisk written in C? Has there ever been a Ramdisk with directory support? Thanks, Peter There are some PD ramdisks on my website's toolkits page, but none have sources (although they are short extensions, it might be feasible to disassemble them). I wonder also if the sources of some emulators like QDOS classic or uQLx/Qemulator might have one you could look at? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Fooling 'Spooling' from QPC-2
Are you using QPC? I seem to recall that the buffering on some QL systems makes it look like printing's finished, but in fact it's still being output in the background. On some QL systems there are xxx_ABORT commands to abort printing. PAR_ABORT or PAR_CLEAR on QPC2 aborts parallel port printing (difference beign that one of them sends the text Aborted to the printer.) There is a SER_ABORT command too for serial ports, but I guess nobody uses serial printers any more on the emulators. Older QL systems also have a PRT_ABT command to throw away buffered output sent via the PRT device on Gold Card,etc but I think this is either not implemented or ignored on QPC. So, it probably depends WHERE on your PC the buffering is happening, which could be: 1. in the QDOS/SMSQ-E parts 2. in the Windows print buffering system 3. buffered in the printer's own memory if it has a buffer of any significant size. Dilwyn Jones - Original Message - From: QL-Mylink q...@mylink.adsl24.co.uk To: QL -Users ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 9:42 PM Subject: [Ql-Users] Fooling 'Spooling' from QPC-2 Evening all. Perhaps my posting of 28 06 2010 (copy below) became randomly corrupted or something. I am grateful for advice offered, I’m more than a bit puzzled by the responses, as the appear on my screen. Have a look at this: I wrote - “However, even as it merrily wasted ink, the O/S reported that there was no current print job - and thus the 'job' could not be removed from the spool queue in the usual way.” I should have been explicit that the list was unpopulated? Puzzlingly, Malcolm's retort was - “….It is usually a case of killing the print job in the printer queue….” and Derek’s, in a similar vein - “……, you can delete jobs from the printer queue on the machine that is the print server.” Further confirmed by Malcolm in - “Derek is right, for a home PC network the printer queue will be on the computer that you set up as the master machine, with the printer(s) attached to it.” I exercised Malcolm's “administrative privileges, to be able to kill off those corrupted print jobs or the malicious ones” on the master machine. That, of course, is how I tried to … “[remove] from the spool queue in the usual way.” But with an unpopulated queue ..? Anyone anything to add please?. Cheers, John in Wales == Hello everyone, Had a real teaser last evening. I was networking (LAN) a document to be printed on a 'remote' (not QPC approved) printer attached to a peer in the network. In other words it was all in (this) house! When the printer had initiated, it attempted to print stuff from its local machine, stuff which originated from that W/Xp's machine's copy of QPC-2! It had been (accidentally) spooled to the HD from ARCHIVE , some days ago, after the printer was last on-line. Incidentally, some was plain text, some was gobbledegook and many were new-page codes! The only way to stop it, I found ,was to force an error by denying paper to the muncher. Then I would reboot the local (to the printer) machine and the printer. It was still there. :( O.K. I (think) I understand all that behaviour. However, even as it merrily wasted ink, the O/S reported that there was no current print job - and thus the 'job' could not be removed from the spool queue in the usual way. Again, I (think) I understand. There now follows an appeal for help on behalf of the Save my Sanity, Ink and Paper party. Is there a 'magic' way of removing, what has, in effect, become a 'rouge' job, from QPC-2, on the O/S spooler, please, anyone? Be good all. Its not raining here. John in Wales. PS: QPC-2 in innocent! === ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3039 - Release Date: 07/30/10 14:13:00 ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Unusual QL Books
Is it just me or have I come across two QL books which do not seem to grace anyone's bookshelves? I have a photocopy of the two books, but that's all They are: *Maximize Your QL* by Susan Curran and Ray Curnow - see http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=Maximize%20Your%20QLlang=en Crude picture at http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/books/maxim.gif (Looks like it was scanned from a magazine originally from the poor quality) and *QL SUPERBASIC A Programmer's Guide* by John Wilson - see http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=QL%20SUPERBASIC%20A%20Programmer%27s%20Guidelang=en If anyone does have the actual books and could take a photo of the front cover to place on the QL Wiki, that would be a great help and this one at http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/books/superbpg.gif (this was sent to me by a relative of his IIRC some years ago) Sorry, these are tiny images, I don't think I have the original bigger versions I don't think - if I do manage to find them, I'll send them to you of course. If there's any other books needing images which already exist on my website's books page http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/books/books.html feel free to use them on the Wiki. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Connecting a QL to a VGA Monitor
A customer has passed an interesting little webpage (in Spanish) to me about connecting a QL to a VGA monitor - http://www.speccy.org/sinclairql/articulos/bricolaje/RGB_VGA.html see url:http://translate.google.com/translate?js=nprev=_thl=enie=UTF-8layout=2eotf=1sl=autotl=enu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speccy.org%2Fsinclairql%2Farticulos%2Fbricolaje%2FRGB_VGA.htmlact=url for the English translation Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether this would work - and could it be used to connect to a more modern SVGA? I don't think you'll find any modern monitor supporting 16KHz horizontal synch which I believe the QL supplies. Kjartan It's a real pity that this is not possible. It's one of the most commonly asked questions I receive through my website and Quanta helpline, concerning connecting SVGA monitors to a QL. If there was a way to build a conversion circuit I'm sure it would be very popular based on the number of times I've been asked. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Connecting a QL to a VGA Monitor
Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether this would work - and could it be used to connect to a more modern SVGA? I'm afraid it won't work at all. It's a real pity modern SVGA's don't do multisync as in the good old days :( On the other way, I've managed to work it out using a RGB-to-VGA converter, as used for connecting JAMMA boards to VGA monitors. I wrote a review (spanish, but with a lot of pictures, so even without translation you'll get an idea) about it here: http://www.zonadepruebas.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1225 An English translation (machine translation, but readable) can be seen at: http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zonadepruebas.com%2Fmodules%2Fsmartsection%2Fitem.php%3Fitemid%3D1225sl=estl=enhl=ie=UTF-8 Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Merge Sort
(This is a Quanta helpline query!) Does anyone have a handy little merge sort routine (in s*basic), to merge two sorted lists (plain text word lists), maintaining the sorted order in the output file. That is, merge file A and file B (both already sorted) and output as file C (also sorted, containing both files A and B merged). Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Merge Sort
Does anyone have a handy little merge sort routine (in s*basic), to merge two sorted lists (plain text word lists), maintaining the sorted order in the output file. That is, merge file A and file B (both already sorted) and output as file C (also sorted, containing both files A and B merged). It's a very common routine. This is not SuperBASIC, but it may help you: Thank you - it should be easy enough to write this in superbasic. I will pass this on to the person who asked the question. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Connecting a QL to a VGA Monitor
Thierry Godefroy wrote: There are devices available that will take a scart RGB signal and convert it so that it will work on a modern SVGA or LCD monitor. Here's one from Maplins. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=217685 Have you actually tried with a QL? My experience with similar converters: - Part of the 512x256 screen is cut off - Screen sometimes jumps vertically Not being able to connect the QL to a modern monitor is a major problem. Sometimes I even considered to build a QL video card to overcome this. None of the converters I could find on the market can display properly a QL screen (both 512x256 and 256x256) on a VGA screen... they either completly fail to sync the display, or they interpolate and sample each line in 640 pixels, which distorts unevenly both the QL pixels and colors, making any text unreadable. The definitive solution would be a programmable converter, able to rebuild the pixel clock from both the VSYNC signal and the actual number of pixels per line of the QL (counting blanking time pixels too), and then to sample the video signal from this rebuilt pixel clock. The samples would then have to be stored in a memory, and each frame would have to be centered in a 600x350 or 640x480 VGA picture. This would be doable by a engineer in electronics... Thierry. It would be interesting to have someone with knowledge of the hardware (for example, Peter) compare the cost and complexity of the two possible approaches: (1) adapt the existing QL video signal, taking into account the difficulties noted here, and (2) a different approach as Peter alluded to, the possibility of a new QL video system, examples of approaches I can think of include what Nasta did with Aurora video, and what Miracle proposed to do with the Masterpiece video update originally. As I have said before on this list, I have been asked * MANY * times how to connect an SVGA monitor to a QL! I don't really care whether it's done via a converter or reasonably simple to install video card, whoever can come up with a reasonably priced and fairly simple to install solution is on to a winner given that it's becoming harder and harder to find a dedicated QL monitor these days. I will retreat to a safe distance and await (fear?) the responses :-) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Qemulator (or another QL-Emulator) for IPhone, iPod and iPad?
Anton Preinsack wrote: I know this was already suggested by some members here, but now, as Apple relaxes its AppStore rules a little bit http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/18/as-apple-relaxes-app-store-rules-c64-emulator-for-ios-gets-basi/ it would make more sense. Now it is possible to make a QL-Emulator with integrated SuperBasic for iOS. Additional QEmulator for MacOSX is on its way and it should´t be that heavy to port this version to iOS. I would definitely pay such an emulator (bundled with QL-apps)! I will ask Daniele about this matter. O.k., I am very selfish, because I will buy an iPad the next few days, but I think there are other QLers with iPhones, who would also like an QL-Emulator for their device;-) Regards to all, Anton Sounds like good news. The more platforms we can get some form of QL system on, the better for the future of the QL. I'm not an iPhone/iPad user myself, but would watch progress in this area with interest. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Ethernet adapter for QL ?
- Original Message - From: Petri Pellinen p...@iki.fi To: ql-users ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 4:42 PM Subject: [Ql-Users] Ethernet adapter for QL ? Hello, hopefully everybody is having a great weekend. Might be a FAQ, but... has anyone developed an ethernet adapter for the original QL either as a commercial product or a hobby project? I am studying if it would be feasible to use the EPROM slot and create a module with something like Microchip ENC28J60 Ethernet controller and a microcontroller e.g. the ATmega168 to interface with a device driver on the QL side. I have essentially zero experience in building any kind of hardware interfaces but I think it would be a great hobby :) Best regards, Petri If using the EPROM slot, you need to bear in mind that this slot is read-only - it is designed just for EPROMs to plug in. That said, people like Miracle Systems (and others) have used it as a write interface by using a special technique like a double read - the first read is an address (to write to) and the second read puts data on the address line somehow. I don't pretend to even half understand it, but I'm sure there are others on this list with more knowledge of the QL hardware than me. Do bear in mind that some QL add-on interfaces like Trumpcard use pretty much all available addressing space to provide more than the original design limit of 640K RAM. I think Nasta (Zeljko Nastasic in Croatia) once proposed a QL ethernet interface, and I think Peter Graf once suggested the possibilities of such an interface for Q40/Q60. Dare I mention the dreaded word... drivers ? This is where so many proposed hardware add-ons have fallen down over the years. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Chas Dillon's Archive Book
I have been contacted by Alf Kendall who is looking for another copy of Chas Dillon's archive book - does anyone have a copy to sell / scan or know any contact details for Chas. Alf lent his copy to someone in Quanta, but can't remember whom it was! Wasn't this book published by IQLUG (as was) - and if so, surely it should be in the Quanta archives somewhere? -- Rich Mellor I do remember this book - it was dot matrix printed and same size as a Quanta mag but about a hundred pages long. It was entitled something like Notes On Psion QL Archive or something similar, and had Quanta's old name of 'IQLUG' (or maybe the full moniker) on the cover. I gave my copy away a few years ago at a Quanta workshop IIRC - if my copy turns up it had my name handwritten on the front cover :-) At one stage there was a cartridge with all the program listings in the book in the library, but I just had a quick look in the current Library Guide and they ain't in the Library any more. I think the reason might be that the book was based on version 1 Archive, as I seem to remember that it included some detail of the changes in version 2 when those cartridges went out in early 1985. If anyone has a copy of either the book or the program listings it might be worth adding to the Quanta archive of scanned old publications. I wonder if Urs König happens to have a copy in his archive of old Sinclair stuff? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Chas Dillon's Archive Book
Dilwyn Jones wrote: I wonder if Urs König happens to have a copy in his archive of old Sinclair stuff? Even I know many software and documentation Chas Dillon was involved with, I have never heard of this one. I searched my pile of QL files for *archiv*doc all I found are two documents archive1_doc (66 pages) and archive2_doc (110 pages). They are part of the QL-PD CD-R. I could not find an author listed in those documents, so it could be Chas work or not. Alf and Dilwyn could check the content and state if it's what was seeked for. No I'm afraid it's not. Those are the main Xchange Archive documents. Although they are quite useful in their own right! I'll see if I can get in touch with Simon, though. I don't think he's on this list. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Archive Documentation
I have in my overfull cupboard of QL magazines a booklet (103 A5 pages) entitled Notes on Psion's QL Archive by Charles Dillon, published by IQLUG, Milton Keynes. It imagine it was printed on using a dot-matrix printer and reduced to A5 in copying. The resulting character size is about 8 point(?) with not very distinct outlines. Of course it can be scanned; I am not sure an OCR programme will give a good result though and I think that is what may be needed for a worthwhile digital archive. Is this what others are seeking? I found this book an excellent reference when I was first setting up a large database with its own programme written in the Archive language. Peter Hi Peter, Yes, that is what Alf was seeking - ideally it needs to be scanned in - I doubt OCR will work on it unfortunately, but at least a PDF would be useful if only to add to the Quanta website for Quanta members! Otherwise, Alf would be willing to purchase it if it is for sale! -- Rich Mellor Yes, this is definitely the book sought. Even if it couldn't be OCRed it might still be useful to scan it graphically, or perhaps the text OCRed as best as possible and the listings scanned graphically until original copies of the program listings on disk can be found. Sadly, at 103 pages it's likely to be a huge job for whoever tries it. I don't know if Chas Dillon would be happy for us to resurrect this book either. Some more modern OCR programs will scan direct to a PDF or Word file, with the output being largely searchable text, with a suprising degree of accuracy. My program is pretty old (Abbey FineReader 5) and works well with conventional fonts like Times New Roman, Helvetica and COurier, but does badly with dot matrix printouts (and presumably with 1985 dot matrix reduced to A5 would be even worse). I suspect that as Rich implies we wouldn't get good results from OCR, it might actually be quicker to manually retype the text pages than correct OCR output even :-( Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Today today
No need for fancy publishing software, and a PDF can be created by clicking one button. And the generated PDF is all of the above as well - searchable, cut paste etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Geoff and Jochen *must* create a PDF, I'm simply saying that it should be possible and the created files will not need to be bitmapped pages and extremely large with poor quality. Cheers, Norman. Hi Norman, As you say, that is what the PDF is designed to do, to make documents portable, and keep to a relatively small file size; whilst giving good quality. Isn't the Writer version, though, quite expensive? The Reader is supplied for free - just copy from a CD/DVD with supplied with a computer magazine, or download from the web. In other words, not entirely without a cost. -- Malcolm Cadman There are some free and low cost PDF writers out there. The simplest are basically printer drivers for Windows programs - select the PDF driver as the current printer driver and print to it. Usually, it will swallow the printed output then pop up to ask you to enter a filename. Never tried using these from QPC - I wonder if the current Windows printer driver was set to the PDF output one, and QPC was set to use the default Windows driver, would printed output from QPC in effect generate a PDF instead of a printout? Something for someone with the time to try I guess! I use the Nitro PDF program I got from Computeractive site IIRC, I have used packages like PDF995 and RoboPDF before today also. There are plenty of free PDF handlers, although some of them are free versions which while they will create PDFs, they might put a logo as a watermark or footer or something (remember how Line Design demo version did that?) Equally, Windows has a Generic/Text Only driver. Say you need to extract text from a PDF file or Word DOC file, select the Generic/Text Only driver (you may have to go through the Add Drivers dialogue as it is not installed by default) then just Print from Adobe Reader or Word or whatever, result is a quick text file without the fomatting. Handy when you need to transfer text to a QPC program, and when text only is good enough. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Today Volume 15 Issue 1
Jim Hunkins wrote on 24.09.2010: Arrived in Canada today. Mine arrived here in Switzerland today. So for me it's QL Today, for many of you it's already QL yesterday. I will have a first read later on today. I don't raise the question of how can it be that it takes 11 days longer for Austrian/Swiss post to ship from Austria to Switzerland than it took from Austria to Canada. In those 11 days I could walk to where Jochen sent it of easily. Urs Well, there we have it. The ultimate cost-saver for Jochen. He would be able to walk all over Europe to drop off copies knowing that in most cases he'd get there quicker than the postal services could manage ;-)) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL Today Volume 15 Issue 1
- Original Message - From: Jochen Merz jm...@j-m-s.com To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 4:46 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] QL Today Volume 15 Issue 1 Hehee, yes, but the question is: who pays for the travelling? Cheers Jochen Who said anything about PAYING for the travelling? You're WALKING - a few good pair of shoes is all you need (and some friends at the border checkpoints maybe). (and perhaps a QL to pass the time while waiting at the checkpoints...) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Today...
Does anybody remember what was up Today 10 years ago? http://tinyurl.com/QL2000 Cheers, Urs Ah, the hive of activity at QL 2000 at the Horizon Centre IIRC. That really was a Quanta event to remember! At least it took my mind off Wales losing 4-1 at soccer to the Swiss the other night, Urs :-( Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QLiberator
On 27/10/2010 12:40, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Anyone know how to get QLiberator to move outside the top left 512x256 pixel part of the screen on a high-res display? The Move icon will float around the whole of the 1024x768 for example, but the QLiberator window stays firmly within 512x256. At first I thought it might be down to the basic windows, but even setting the basic primary channel to cover the full screen doesn't seem to help. Must admit, I've always used it at its default start position and probably never tried moving it around before! I'm using v3.36 of the compiler BTW. Dilwyn Jones This is probably something you cannot do as the limits for moving the front screen is probably hard coded in the original SuperBASIC unfortunately. -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services Thanks - I was afraid that might be the case. The nearest I came to being able to fix this was to use the extra parameters of the WTV and WMON commands on QPC2 to move the basic windows out of the way instead: WTV ,32,256 WMON ,0,256 One day, I might search for '512' and '256' in the binary of QLib and see if these can be patched if they are really hard coded... :-( Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QLiberator
-I'd been tinkering with a VERY fiddly program which behaved a bit differently and gave lots of errors when compiled compared to when it was runnng interpreted, so it needed multiple compilations to test and fix a whole host of compiling problems and I was never sure after using SBASIC if I'd killed the QLiberator job or just buried it under the BASIC windows. So I wanted to prevent the BASIC and compiler windows overlapping on the high res display I was using. WTV ,32,256 and WMON ,0,256 (can't remember which I used in the end) fixed it nicely by moving the BASIC windows out of the compiler's way. Dilwyn Jones Hi Dilwyn, There is a programme called Launchpad with QPACII, which allows easy access to see which Jobs are running, and remove a job if required. Now, who was the author? ... erm, name escapes me ... :-) I was more interested in keeping QLiberator running, thanks to the number of times I ended up having to compile that program! As for that particular program you mentioned, QPACII is great, don't know about the other suspect you mentioned though ;-) Anyway, what is this mystery epic that you are working on? Epic...EPIC?!? Actually, it's the Marquee program I added to my website a couple of days ago (it's on Misc programs page on a certain Welshman's website if you really want to try it). Something I wrote originally for my own use a while back and I decided to finish it off and inflict it on the QL world :-)) The problems arose because of some fiddly calculations peeking and poking around fonts. Where I ran into trouble was some problems with calculations, which were running fine interpreted or in an executed SBASIC job, but going wrong compiled because I'd made some mistakes trying to use as much integers as possible for speed... one integer too far! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] IQLR
However, there's always a positive side (at least I hope it was) as QL Today was born: Stuart Honeyball and I decided we had to do something immediately, and so we did :-) And that was an amazingly good step forward for which we must all be grateful. George Absolutely, it gave me a wonderful decade of working with Jochen too! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Minerva Mk2
And I think there was once a picture in IQLR of Tony (as editor Bob Dyl put it): Oops, Tony Firshman caught dangling his Minerva Mk2 in public! :- Which I think allows me to say Tony Firshman does it with his Minerva Mk2 And, I thought, Tony does it in 'sheds' or is that too obvious?! Yes, very good...how many sheds does he have by now ??? Seven. and I think my dangling Minerva in public is a fertile imagination on someone's part. I don't remember seeing that picture. I did scan it and try to send it, but the list must block pictures or attachments. It was in IQLR Vol 3 Issue 2 page 33, the pictures from the Miracle In Newport show report. I'll send the pic privately to Tony to jog his mind! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Minerva Mk2
and I think my dangling Minerva in public is a fertile imagination on someone's part. I don't remember seeing that picture. I did scan it and try to send it, but the list must block pictures or attachments. It was in IQLR Vol 3 Issue 2 page 33, the pictures from the Miracle In Newport show report. I'll send the pic privately to Tony to jog his mind! And if anyone else wants to see it, just have a look at http://dilwyn.me.uk/tfpic/minervamkiidangling_300dpi.jpg (I will now retreat into a secure cave somewhere in Snowdonia to hide from Tony!) ;-)) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Minerva Mk2
I'll send the pic privately to Tony to jog his mind! And if anyone else wants to see it, just have a look at http://dilwyn.me.uk/tfpic/minervamkiidangling_300dpi.jpg (I will now retreat into a secure cave somewhere in Snowdonia to hide from Tony!) ;-)) (8-)# That cannot have been me - that person has lots of *dark* hair. When was it? Umm, let's see (without going back to the attic to fetch it)... IQLR was launched in 1991, and that was Vol 3, so assuming 1 volume=1 year, that would be either 1993 or 1994 I guess. Some memories: . Getting chased by a waitress 50 yds down the street - Hey guys you forgot the tip. Guess dangling your Minerva Mk2 in public didn't work that time then ;-)) Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Tomorrow (X-1)
George wrote - On 5 Nov 2010, at 18:16, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Got a fixed dynamo myself - I was cycling near Stirling in 1939 after the war had started. The bike lights were operated by dynamo so they went out when I stopped. A policeman came up and told me (what I knew) that the lights were out. Do you have to have lights if you are stationary? = Well, you 'wrote it' Dilwyn. Ball's in your court...! ;-) a smug John in Wales (Who [thinks] he knows the correct answer) but Q-uality L-ighting helps. Actually, for once in my life, that wasn't me (I think it was George Gwilt???)! Although there is one particular incident from my past which proves you do need a light when stationary (or rather your car does). Several years ago I got a fixed penalty fine for parking facing the wrong way at night in Caernarfon. :o( How many know that's a driving offence here? OK, technically you're not driving at the time, but... So, John, your next task is to write a QL program to interface to a car and GPS etc (once Adrian finishes his USBWiz gizmo) to warn the driver of offences imminently about to be caused - there, back on topic :-) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] List of QLing 'Terms'
John Hitchcock wrote: Dilwyn said (15th October) :- Could someone (or you, even, John) put together a list of words which cause difficulty and I could try to put something together as an article sometime? - I said:- I'm on to it! Will report back. Reporting Back I've waited to see if there are any further contributions to this (renamed) thread. Just Norman. Thanks Norman. To my mind, potential 'rej-oiners' to the QL World need a catch-up-cache [cuc].Lurkers and others would also benefit. I know, I'm one of them! I've made a start on this by sending John in Wales (John Hitchcock) my Glossary_txt file with a request for him to add any other terms and between us we'll try to fill the gaps. Meanwhile, if anyone has suggestions of QL terminology to add to the list to let John know so he can add the terms to the list for me to write up when it's in a ready state. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] List of QLing 'Terms'
On 18 Nov 2010, at 11:01, Dilwyn Jones wrote: John Hitchcock wrote: Dilwyn said (15th October) :- Could someone (or you, even, John) put together a list of words which cause difficulty and I could try to put something together as an article sometime? - I said:- I'm on to it! Will report back. Reporting Back I've waited to see if there are any further contributions to this (renamed) thread. Just Norman. Thanks Norman. To my mind, potential 'rej-oiners' to the QL World need a catch-up-cache [cuc].Lurkers and others would also benefit. I know, I'm one of them! I've made a start on this by sending John in Wales (John Hitchcock) my Glossary_txt file with a request for him to add any other terms and between us we'll try to fill the gaps. Meanwhile, if anyone has suggestions of QL terminology to add to the list to let John know so he can add the terms to the list for me to write up when it's in a ready state. The Glossary looks good as it is. But might it be useful to include the names of the more commonly used programs, such as QD and TURBO? George I did suggest to John that he has a look at Rich Mellor's QL Wiki to see if there are terms on there we could add (both hardware and software). Certainly, mentioning these commonly used major programs would be useful both for beginners and people returning to the QL after years away from the QL scene. I'm a little wary of producing a glossary just by myself because I write about QL matters all the time, so it would be very helpful if less experienced QLers gave their input on the sorts of terms to include. In time, I'm sure Geoff and Jochen would willingly republish the expanded glossary in QL Today when it's had a good update (the glossary, not QL Today). In time, I'd like to build a beginners section (needs a bettername as it would be for returners too) on my website with articles like this and some of the more commonly asked questions (such as how to transfer files between QL and other computers, unzipping etc etc). There are such articles on there already, but a bit scattered and not easy enough to find. Another thing I want to do is get the existing Helpline articles from Quanta mag together onto a suitable page for members on the Quanta website, although the Quanta CMS, last I heard, was being updated with a few minor issues (don't know the details) preventing us updating the news pages, for example. Now, madam Chairman, have I mentioned the word Quanta often enough in public here to earn a nice cup of tea at the next committee meeting??? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] List of QLing 'Terms'
Dilwyn Jones wrote, on 18/Nov/10 11:27 | Nov18: snip In time, I'd like to build a beginners section (needs a bettername as it would be for returners too) on my website with articles like this and some of the more commonly asked questions (such as how to transfer files between QL and other computers, unzipping etc etc). There are such articles on there already, but a bit scattered and not easy enough to find. Basics? Tony Good idea! Covers all bases - beginners, less experienced users and returners. Thanks, Tony. Any more suggestions, anyone? And what sort of topics might such a section include - at the moment I'm thinking in terms of : File transfer Zip/Unzip expanding a basic QL contact points (e.g. Quanta, Rich Mellor, QL Today...) boot programs pointer environment operating systems - QDOS versions, Minerva, SMSQ/E... Essentials to start with... (adding disk systems, adding toolkit 2, etc) Emulators and real QLs compared - how to choose which is right for you and so on. A lot of this type of material is already there but needs pulling together a bit better into a Basics section. A new year resolution for me perhaps. Hopefully I'll be a bit less busy in the new year! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Zkull
- Original Message - From: Adrian Graham wit...@binarydinosaurs.co.uk To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11:37 AM Subject: [Ql-Users] Zkull Hi Folks, I've had an email from someone asking all about Zkull on the QL and how it sucked away a lot of his youth. I feel slightly left out since I've never heard of it and none of my QLs came with it (he says his did). Are there any online resources or memories about the game? Cheers! Adrian/Witchy @ BinaryDinosaurs Rich Mellor's QL Wiki has some information: http://www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki/index.php?title=Lost%20Kingdom%20of%20Zkul It was published originally by Talent, now handled by RWAP Software and according to the site there is a Windows version (well, QL version running on QL2K emulator) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] turbo
I'm trying to compile an old QL program with Turbo. I need to put in a don't compile this bit, it's only for interpreted use instruction (a procedure which saves the program), but can't remember how to do this in Turbo. In QLiberator I just use REMark $$on and $$off directives. Is there an equivalent in Turbo? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] turbo
Malcolm Lear wrote: Hi It's been a long time, but I seem to remember you can use IF NOT COMPILED. Cheers Malcolm Ah yes, that's it. Thanks! Oops! No it wasn't after all. What I meant was preventing the Turbo compiler from compiling it in the first place. The program has a procedure like this, which lets me quickly save it from interpreted basic: def proc Sa save win1_basic_filename_bas:qsave win1_basic_filename end def I want the compiler to ignore and not try to compile those three lines! So easy in QLib (using REM$$off etc. and it's so long since I used Turbo I can't remember how! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Snowfall
Thanks - apart from reminding of my days of typing in ZX81 programs from magazine listings and then trying to save space (defining variables from text values, I seem to recall was one method) you have inspired me to fire up my copy of QL2K and try your listing out. I had to use an editor to strip out the CR characters as you suggest and then QLAYT.EXE to link the file into my win1_ directory. It mostly works until density% becomes 5 at which point it fails at line 310 with bad parameter, presumably because it is trying to do a RND(1 to 0). Any suggestions? Well spotted! (snip) Should work with changing that line to 310 IF RND(1 TO 6-density%)=1 THEN which should make sure it gives a snow density of 1 to 5, whichis what I'd intended. Just tried it on QemuLator and that seems to work. I suppose next step is to make the snow get plotted with OVER -1 so that the XOR effect could work over a background picture. Just noticed as well how much QemuLator slows down while I'm typing this email - the snowfall has become, well, almost standstill snow! Dare I say that's snow good ;o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL on 2 monitors
Dilwyn, I have a Vista dual screen setup at my office and at least QPC2 works perfectly with it. And yes, you simply drag the QL window to the monitor of choice. This obviously doesn't work in full-screen mode, but full-screen doesn't work well on modern LCD screens anyhow because they don't scale well. I have that problem using the Aurora in some resolutions with an LCD screen. Looks worst with text, because individual horizontal lines get repeated and makes text look really bad. Guess it's even worse for Q40 users with the 2:1 1024x512 pixel modes. At least some Aurora modes look not too bad on a 14 inch non-widescreen monitor I use with the Aurora. You do have to choose the right modes to suit the monitor, though, or it looks awful. If I remember right, QPC2 uses the main monitor in full-screen mode. No idea how the other emulators cope, however - if they use a windowed mode, I see no reson why it shouldn't work as well. Tobias Thank you both (George and Tobias) for your replies. I knew QPC2 could, because when I had my eeePC notebook (which is now living in West Ireland last I heard of it!) I was able to use QPC2 on either screen with that, although I couldn't remember how to go about it. I was using it when my son and I made the 25th anniversary QL presentation for Quanta. Annoyingly, the Powerpoint viewer I used for running that demo would only run on the first screen, so I had to have QPC2 on the second monitor at the time. But I don't remember using QL2K or Q-emuLator like that. They can both run in windowed modes, so I guess SHOULD work (if anyone can confirm that?) And, no, I don't use it to hide my QPC windows ;-). Dual screen is just a charm to work with when you're doing several things in parallel, like preparing graphics using windows that you want to use on the QL side. Yes, of course - I must investigate whether my current laptop can handle 2 monitors, as I know the graphics card on this PC has only one video output. The eeePC could use its own screen as monitor one and an external monitor could be (1) in place of the internal screen (internal screen disabled), (2) duplicate the internal screen, or (3) be an external second screen which was not the same as what was displayed on the inbuilt monitor. Actually, (3) sort of worked in reverse for me on the eeePC, because it was possible to do more intricate work on the larger external monitor and leave things like Outlook running on the smaller screen, which was good enough to see when email arrived and so on. I remember the 14 inch monitor being stood behind the eeePC on top of a pile of books so I could see one display above the other without turning my head to see what I was typing! I seem to remember that some apps will let you drag and drop from programs running on one screen to programs running on another, which is great. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Um, a question from me this time... Anyone know if Q-emuLator can print to a printer on a USB port? As far as I can see it seems to be only possible to print to a parallel LPT port on the PC, or in some cases a serial port printer if using the emulation mode. (Am busy testing Quanta library submissions using Q-emuLator as a QDOS QL to test the programs, but can't seem to get anything to print). Actually, quite an exercise in itself running QPC and Q-emuLator at the same time...for example, when both are trying to access the same floppy disk! Guess Marcel and Daniele will be having kittens thinking of me butchering their respective emulators! :o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Hard directories
- Original Message - From: Tony Firshman t...@firshman.co.uk To: ql-users ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 3:44 PM Subject: [Ql-Users] Hard directories Is there any automated way to copy files *and* hard directories without manually using MAKE_DIR? Presumably WCOPY will only copy the files and not the directories. Can MAKE_DIR be used after copying? I am restoring my BBS from backup. Tony I'm assuming that the backups are not compressed or packed together into an archive of some form...that is, they are a straight copy of the original BBS files as they were on your hard disk. If so, try my The Copier program. If the backups are in the same sub-directory names as they came from, it might be able to do what you want. If it doesn't quite do what you want I can send you the sources to tweak it for yourself if you want (although I T-H-I-N-K the source BASIC is already in there). http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/files/copier.zip On the same page, there's an Adrian Ives package (called dirtools???) which might also be of help. I also have a simple program I think was published in QL Today for doing this in a very basic way, which might be eaier to rewrite. Let me know if you'd liek a copy of that too, I don't think it's on my website unless it's in one the ARTICLES pages, or possibly in the HD Utils package on the same page as the Copier. http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/files/hdutils.zip Dilwyn Jones -- 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 - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1170 / Virus Database: 426/3285 - Release Date: 11/28/10 ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QL on 2 monitors
Dilwyn Jones wrote, on 28/Nov/10 12:37 | Nov28: Does anyone know if any (or all!) of the QL emulators can work on the second screen of a two-monitor PC setup? My PC can only handle a single monitor, so although I have QPC, QemuLator and QL2K on this PC, I can't test them. I think that what you have to do is drag the application to the edge of the screen when 2 monitors/2 desktops/wide desktop are in use and they will 'snap' onto the second screen, though it's a long time since I used a 2 screen setup. It's a Quanta helpline request from a member who says this would influence his choice of which QL emulator he uses on his Windows PC. He said it'd be handy to leave all his PC applications running on one monitor and the QL by itself on the other, don't know why (unless he just doesn't want to get caught using a QL at work by being able to turn off monitor 2 if his boss approaches or something!!!) Qemulator works fine in second screen under XP in VMware on a Macbook. ... and it does not *snap* - it can overlap both windows, as do all other programs. I often use this feature to see very long lines of code in terminal windows which cannot line wrap. Tony Ah, thanks for that. I couldn't remember whether or not things 'snapped' from one ot the other or just moved continuously, overlapping both. It's so long since I last used 2 monitor systems! I'll pass the info on, thanks everyone. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Am 28.11.2010 16:44, schrieb Dilwyn Jones: Um, a question from me this time... Anyone know if Q-emuLator can print to a printer on a USB port? As far as I can see it seems to be only possible to print to a parallel LPT port on the PC, or in some cases a serial port printer if using the emulation mode. Dilwyn, if it doesn't, that's exactly what Marcel's QPCPrint was intended for - It's in no way tied to QPC and can, with some twiddling, create an LPT on PCs without one. Cheers, Tobias Yes, I am already able to print to the USB port from QPC2, luckily this is a Epson Stylus Color 880 which has a control code set so I don't even need QPCprint, on QPC2 luckily. I needed to run something on a QDOS system (i.e. QemuLator) which wouldn't run on SMSQ/E on QPC2. As I had never printed from this QemuLator (it's version 3 BTW) I don't know how to persuade it to print via a USB port to a printer which understands Epson control codes. This printer has both a parallel and USB connection. In the past I have had the USB port wired to the PC and the parallel port wired to the Super Gold Card PAR port at the same time so the same printer could be shared by my Aurora and PC at the same time. Well, not at the same time, total confusion reigned if both computers tried to print at the same time. As long as I was careful not to start printing on one before the other had finished it seemed to work. I don't think it'd be advisable to connect the printer to both ports on the PC at the same time though. Anyway, I'd have to crawl behind this desk, untie the cables and find a parallel port lead just for one use I guess (and I ain't built to crawl into tight spaces anyway!) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Hard directories
The 'cp' copy command that comes with c68 can copy everything including hard directories. I used to sue it regularily Why did you sue it? Did it go disastrously wrong or something? :o))) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
I needed to run something on a QDOS system (i.e. QemuLator) which wouldn't run on SMSQ/E on QPC2. As I had never printed from this QemuLator (it's version 3 BTW) I don't know how to persuade it to print via a USB port to a printer which understands Epson control codes. Dilwyn, get out from under your desk, I can't, I'm stuck in an endless tangle of zip-tied cables :-) keep that printer connected to USB, get yourself a comfy place somewhere and read the QPCPrint Manual, especialy the chapter Installing QPCPrint as a virtual printer. This talks about a technique how you can have hour USB printer emulate an LPT: printer. It installs a new LPTx: (i.e. without hardware), whatever you send there is then filtered through QPCPrint and sent to the USB printer. I think that's exactly what you're looking for. Cheers, Tobias Except (1) I never needed QPCprint with QPC, so (2) I never bought it, so (3) I don't have it! QPC printing works fine for me without QpcPrint. I want to see if QemuLator to do the same thing! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Great - thanks Rich. It never occurred to me that QPCprint could be used with anything other than QPC2! (Oops sorry Tony, just realised too late I've top-posted) Dilwyn Jones - Original Message - From: Rich Mellor r...@rwapservices.co.uk To: ql-us...@q-v-d.com Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 8:28 PM Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator QPC works because it allows you to set any PC port as the port seen by the PAR command on the QL emulator. So far as I know, there is no such option in q-emulator, although this is something I have never had to look for. QPCPrint can be used to capture the output from any QL emulator, or other program running on the PC - it does this by setting up a virtual printer driver which captures the LPT1 port and then uses the Windows printer processor to send the output to any connected printer. Printfil is something similar - both programs are detailed with links on www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/Printers2.html as an option for emulator users. The other option is to investigate other options for capturing the LPT1 port and redirecting output - a good guide appears at: http://geekswithblogs.net/dtotzke/articles/26204.aspx Read this in conjunction with the step by step guide on the QPCPrint site if you want more details - http://www.kilgus.net/qpcprint/printer.html There are others out there also - DOS2USB for example (I have never tried this) - but no free solutions unless you follow the examples listed above Rich www.rwapsoftware.co.uk ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
This should print HELLO to your PC printer (USB or otherwise) As you say, the other way is to use the parallel port. Daniele I had seen the bit about the serial port printing on page 19 and hadn't realised it would work for USB printers too. For some reason, I had assumed it would only work with parallel (LPT) printer ports: i.e. divert ser1 etc to parallel port as I hadn't noticed any mention of USB and not made the connection, so to speak. Nice simple solution for the users! Many thanks Daniele. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm I knew there must be a simple way of doing this - trouble is that I've been using q-emulator for so long and never had to print from it, I have forgotten most of what is in the manual! I can't remember if this was possible in earlier versions of the emulator, or if this is a new feature in version 3 just released. I seem to think that the SER1 - SER4 setup dialogue in older versions just let you assign PC COM ports to them, not printers. Version 3 of the emulator adds 'Printer' to the COM ports list. So after setting SER1 to 'Printer' rather than COM1, or whatever, all I had to do was something like SAVE SER1 to list a BASIC program, for example. It's transparent to the user when set up like this, anything sent to the QL serial port gets diverted out to the currently set Windows printer driver. Magic! Actually, as you said, I don't use QemuLator often enough to remember most of what's in the manual half the time, although I did learn a lot about it when I was putting together QL On A Stick. My main use for it is to use it to test software on QDOS, running old programs which fail miserably on QPC, and to use it with Aurora SMSQ/E to test software in 256 colours mode to save firing up the Aurora (although these days QPC2 can do 256 colour modes too). While as Daniele said, the necessary information is on page 19 of the version 3 manual, it doesn't explicitly mention USB printers, though it does make it clear that SER output would go to the current Windows printer. It's just that, not being the brightest bulb in the box, I didn't pick up on the fact that this should work with USB printers too. Maybe this could be mentioned in future manuals, Daniele, in case others are as stupid as me? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Dilwyn Jones wrote: and to use it with Aurora SMSQ/E to test software in 256 colours mode to save firing up the Aurora (although these days QPC2 can do 256 colour modes too). These days? QPC supported the Aurora colour modes even before the Aurora supported them, as I have developed the 8-bit GD2 driver on QPC ;) Marcel Oops, sorry, badly phrased by me. What I meant was referring back to the earlier QPC versions which didn't have this facility before you developed the 8-bit driver, but it ended up sounding all wrong. Apologies, brain not quite in gear. Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] VMware
For instance, AFAIK there's no Linux version of Q-Emulator. So Ubuntu users can run a virtualized Windows inside VMWare/Virtual Box, and from inside the guest OS, install and run Q-Emulator. I think uQLx (a linux QL emulator) was developed from QemuLator sources originally, although from what little I know of them, there the similarities probably end. Plus I think it's a while since uQLx was last updated. Surprisingly, there were also versions derived from uQLx which were then ported to run in Windows and Mac environments. The Win-uQLX ran in Cygwin environment on a Windows machine. I think it was developed by either Peter Graf or Phoebus Dokos (or possibly both of them). Then James Weatherley ported a version to Mac OS - can't remember if it was for OSX or the original Mac OS'es. Both were available from Phoebus's website. Since Phoebus's pages disappeared, the emulators are on my emulators page, but I know little or nothing about them. It's interesting to see all the talk of using such-and-such a QL emulator in such and such an emulating or virtual OS within another OS. I used to marvel at (nowadays) routine things like DOS emulation on a QL, or Darren Branagh doing things like running a Spectrum emulator within a QL emulator running on a PC. I'm not sure he ever went as far as to have Windows in a Linux virtual system (or something like WINE) in turn running a QL emulator in turn running a spectrum emulator in turn running a zx81 emulator, but I'm sure it's the kind of thing he'd have tried for the hell of it if he'd set his mind to it! (Hastily dons protective suit for when Darren reads this). If there's a Linux supported QL emulator, it would be possible to build a portable or pen version of the QL, by configuring a pendrive to boot a tiny Linux kernel, followed by the QL emulator itself. I regularly use my QL On A Stick on Windows systems of course - once I'd figured out how to do it originally it turned out to be quite straightforward to get going. I don't know enough about Linux systems to produce such a pen QL using uQLx on a minimal Linux set up, although it might be an interesting exercise. Potentially quite useful for those who avoid Windows systems where possible. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] Any news?
If anyone has any news for me to publish in Quanta mag's news pages? Apart from Daniele's release of QemuLator 3 I haven't seen much news of late, so please let me know if you have any news. The Editor's deadline is 5th December and I'm sure he'd appreciate some brief articles for the magazine too. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Anyone know if Q-emuLator can print to a printer on a USB port? As far See the manual (chapter 6, I think), but this is the gist of it: 1) Prerequisite is to have the printer installed under Windows 2) In the QL Configuration window, make sure the serial port you'll use is redirected to the printer (it is by default for SER1 and SER2) 3) In the QL software, print to the SER port. If the QL software allows you to choose a printer, choose an old Epson model. An easy test is: OPEN#3,SER:PRINT#3,HELLO:CLOSE#3 This should print HELLO to your PC printer (USB or otherwise) As you say, the other way is to use the parallel port. Daniele Thanks again for this, Daniele. Can you tell me whether the virtual printer system can handle Epson-format graphics printing? I haven't tried yet, but what I had in mind was to install sdump_rext on QemuLator, choose an Epson printer and use SDUMP to print gaphics via the emulator if possible. And if Marcel is reading this, can you tell me if QPCprint can also do this? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Hi + graphics formats
I have a graphics conversion tool which was written by Phoebus Dokos - to convert images designed on the PC into QL images (certainly for hi-res modes) - I can't remember if it can convert to mode 4 or mode 8 though, or even if Phoebus would be willing to let it loose into the public domain Phoebus... where are you lurking? -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services This program is called BMP2PIC and is available from the Graphics page on my website. It's a Windows program, which converts Windows BMP files to the QL. Phoebus gave me permission back then to make it available. I can't remember exactly, but I think that despite the name it converts to QL screens, not PIC files (like Rich, it's a long time since I last used it. Also on the same page there are various QL programs to convert various PC formats to QL graphics. There's Wolfgang Lenerz's BMP conversion extensions, written as BASIC extensions allowing you to write your own program around them. There's also my own BMP program which converts Windows BMP files into QL screens or PIC files (screens with a 10 byte header holding size and colour mode information). While this can convert to the standard QL low colour modes, it doesn't do a articularly good job. Malcolm Lear's BASIC bmp2scr programs show how to write conversion routines in BASIC (can't remember if SBASIC or SuperBASIC, sorry) There's also the Generalised Bitmap Modules and Photo-QL package from Roberto Porro. Dave Westbury's Photon will let you view JPEGs on a QL. I think the version on my site is a viewer only - it doesn't save the JPEG on a QL, but it is easy to get it to display a JPEG and while it is doing that you can use a screen snatcher or image grabbing program to grab a copy of the QL display. Dave was at one stage contemplating updating Photon to accept passed channels for input and output - I think he was proposing something like EX #input_channel,#output_channel,Photon (can't remember the correct syntax, sorry). I don't know whether he ever got that far with the program, though. The page is at http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/graphics/index.html if you want to browse what's available ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Anyone know if Q-emuLator can print to a printer on a USB port? As far See the manual (chapter 6, I think), but this is the gist of it: 1) Prerequisite is to have the printer installed under Windows 2) In the QL Configuration window, make sure the serial port you'll use is redirected to the printer (it is by default for SER1 and SER2) 3) In the QL software, print to the SER port. If the QL software allows you to choose a printer, choose an old Epson model. An easy test is: OPEN#3,SER:PRINT#3,HELLO:CLOSE#3 This should print HELLO to your PC printer (USB or otherwise) As you say, the other way is to use the parallel port. Daniele Thanks again for this, Daniele. Can you tell me whether the virtual printer system can handle Epson-format graphics printing? I haven't tried yet, but what I had in mind was to install sdump_rext on QemuLator, choose an Epson printer and use SDUMP to print gaphics via the emulator if possible. And if Marcel is reading this, can you tell me if QPCprint can also do this? Thanks Marcel. I should hav elooked on your website first and I'd have seen the answer for myself. I've just tried using SDUMP_REXT on QemuLator version 3 and indeed it does work through the virtual printer system. I used the SDUMP commands like this: SDP_DEV SER1 SDP_SET 2,1,1,0 : REM Espon FX80, scale 1, invert black/white, no random SDUMP SDUMP #channel could have been used to print an individual window. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Q-emuLator
Daniele Thanks again for this, Daniele. Can you tell me whether the virtual printer system can handle Epson-format graphics printing? I haven't tried yet, but what I had in mind was to install sdump_rext on QemuLator, choose an Epson printer and use SDUMP to print gaphics via the emulator if possible. And if Marcel is reading this, can you tell me if QPCprint can also do this? Thanks Marcel. I should hav elooked on your website first and I'd have seen the answer for myself. I've just tried using SDUMP_REXT on QemuLator version 3 and indeed it does work through the virtual printer system. I used the SDUMP commands like this: SDP_DEV SER1 SDP_SET 2,1,1,0 : REM Espon FX80, scale 1, invert black/white, no random SDUMP SDUMP #channel could have been used to print an individual window. Dilwyn Jones Oops, forgot to mention that only the 8 or 9 pin printer options in SDUMP works. It would appear that 24-pin graphics are not supported. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] 2Q2A
Does anyone know if QPAC II is still about and if so any idea where I can get it? I cant even remember what it is, other than than a a PE system. Many thanks for any replies. Lee P. Yes, you can still get it. Do you remember the QRAM system? This is what came after that. QPAC2 includes: 1.. Pointer Environment - these files make up the Pointer Environment (commonly called PE). If all three are used together, they are collectively called Extended Environment (EE). Note: QPAC2 is NOT pointer environment, but it does include pointer environment and a whole lot more! a.. ptr_gen - pointer interface, which gives the enxtended console channel driver, saving and restoring windows, on screen pointer, mouse control and so on b.. wman - Window Manager, which does things like giving standardised appearance colour schemes and more c.. hot_rext - Hotkey system 2.. A number of utility menus, such as a file handler for copying files, jobs menu for listing and removing job programs running, channels menu, the button frame (a kind of docking system for QL programs), hotkeys menu, a PICK menu for selecting a running job 3.. and a whole lot more I'm sure I can't remember without going to fetch the manual! The term 'QPAc2' stands for QL Pointer Accessories 2. In other words, little applications to use on a QL system which is equipped with pointer environment. If you'd like to know a little bit more about the pointer environment to get a gentler introduction, have a look at articles on the page http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/ptr/index.html - I can especially recommend Norman Dunbar's PE Idiot's Guide which helped learn about PE years ago! There was also a QPAC1 which includes a set of small applications for Pointer Environment, including a typewriter, calculator, calendar, sysmon, clock, alarm clock as well as the pointer environment files mentioned. You can buy QPac2 from Jochen Merz Software in German - www.j-m-s.com and probably from Bruce Nicholls's website at http://www.ql-qvd.com/products.html (though I haven't checked there to see if it's listed). Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Arrange
Bob Spelten wrote: Does Windows or Linux have such a facility? Windows does. Just press the right mouse button on an empty spot on the taskbar to get an action menu. See: http://www.cowo.ch/Arrange_Windows_XP.jpg Urs That's great. It's really nice having all the open windows arranged and cascaded like a card index, with just the title bar visible for each, making it easy to select the window I want. And tiling the windows horizontally or vertically arranges them so I can at least a bit of everything. Makes it easy to pick out QPC2's little window from all the Wiindows programs. Sadly with QPC (on the display I use at least) it seems to resize the window which results in the ugly text effect, when characters seem to reize with some lines thicker than others. But when it happens, just drag the bottom right corner of the QPC2 window until it looks normal again. Thanks Urs, that was a great little tip. I'd never used that before. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] QaLendar 2011
That most desirable of QL accessories, the QaLendar for 2011 is now available to download from http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/calendar/calendar.html The calendar is available as either a Word .docx file for Office 2007/10 (if you wish to edit it) or in a more compact PDF format. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] QaLendar 2011
On 09/12/10 16:55, Dilwyn Jones wrote: That most desirable of QL accessories, the QaLendar for 2011 is now available to download from http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/calendar/calendar.html Where are all the scantily clad women then? ;-) ducks -- Norman Dunbar You mean... you'd really have scantily clad women than QLs then??? Oh, I see, you want ducks ;o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] The QL Forum
I know my internet here has been dropping pages for no reason and then loading them fine with a refresh. I've activated the account from the forum so please try now :) Thanks - I can login now. Dilwyn ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[Ql-Users] PAUSE
Does anyone know of an extension to BASIC similar to PAUSE n which does not return if a key is pressed. That is, a fixed pause. Or anyone know how or ideas on how best to go about writing one? I guess a suitable keyword name might be WAIT (just to get this started - it wasn't listed in Rich Mellor's BASIC reference manual anyway!) I considered using job suspensions, but wasn't sure if this would work the same on all systems - I want to introduce short timings which are consistent on all systems and aren't affected by keypresses, so the game can run at a vaguely consistent speed on all systems. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] PAUSE
On 14/12/2010 16:14, Dilwyn Jones wrote: Does anyone know of an extension to BASIC similar to PAUSE n which does not return if a key is pressed. That is, a fixed pause. Or anyone know how or ideas on how best to go about writing one? I guess a suitable keyword name might be WAIT (just to get this started - it wasn't listed in Rich Mellor's BASIC reference manual anyway!) I considered using job suspensions, but wasn't sure if this would work the same on all systems - I want to introduce short timings which are consistent on all systems and aren't affected by keypresses, so the game can run at a vaguely consistent speed on all systems. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm SUSPEND_TASK (turbo toolkit), SJOB -1,x (Tiny Toolkit) or SUSJOB -1,x (Btool) will all suspend a task for a given number of frames - although beware that these commands, as with PAUSE and INKEY$ vary between 50Hz european machines and 60Hz US machines! -- Rich Mellor I had considered using something like that, but the best solution for what I am trying to achieve would be an equivalent of INKEY$(n) where a keyboard read and time delay could be combined such that the game doesn't suddenly run faster when you press keys. Any further ideas in that department, perhaps? Simon Goodwin's DIY Toolkit has a TIMER set of commands, which can work in units of 1/50 or 1/60 second. I guess an equivalent to what I want could be written as a loop based on the timer, with a keyboard read somewhere in the loop. But of course what happens if multiple keypresses are made within the loop? Maybe that's why PAUSE and INKEY$ work as they do. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] PAUSE
Ralf Reköndt wrote: Dilwyn Jones wrote: Does anyone know of an extension to BASIC similar to PAUSE n which does not return if a key is pressed. That is, a fixed pause. Or anyone know how or ideas on how best to go about writing one? I guess a suitable keyword name might be WAIT (just to get this started - it wasn't listed in Rich Mellor's BASIC reference manual anyway!) I considered using job suspensions, but wasn't sure if this would work the same on all systems - I want to introduce short timings which are consistent on all systems and aren't affected by keypresses, so the game can run at a vaguely consistent speed on all systems. Dilwyn Jones S_Edit contains a command EXT7 (PAUSI in clear) in keyrow_asm, which does what you want. Cheers...Ralf Ok, to short to examine... PAUSI ticks_to suspend_job pausi vector ca.gtint,a2 subq.w #1,d3 bne quit move.w 0(a6,a1.l),d3 addq.l #2,bv_rip(a6) moveq #-1,d1 suba.l a1,a1 qdosmt mt.susjb rts Cheers...Ralf NB: Sorry for old MAC_INC ;-)) Thank you Ralf. I'll have a go at this later tonight. Simpler than I thought! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] PAUSE
Dilwyn Jones wrote: I had considered using something like that, but the best solution for what I am trying to achieve would be an equivalent of INKEY$(n) where a keyboard read and time delay could be combined such that the game doesn't suddenly run faster when you press keys. SUSPEND_TASK 50:key$=INKEY$ There, combination achieved ;-) Marcel Thanks. I'm not using Turbo, so would rather not rely on SUSPEND_TASK. But I see what you mean. I'll use Ralf's example to write my own extension I can use in QLiberator compiled jobs. For some reason I had thought that pressing a key released a suspended task, but I was mixing that up with using CTRL SPACE (break) to release a suspended BASIC interpreter job 0. Reading the Turbo Toolkit manual reminded me I was wrong. Isn't it nice to realise the answer to what you thought was a difficult question turns out to be so simple. Doooh! :o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] PAUSE
Dilwyn Jones wrote: I'll use Ralf's example to write my own extension I can use in QLiberator compiled jobs. And...;-))...please make it an official release 8-) Cheers...Ralf Thanks Ralf. If I get it working it'll be ont he Toolkits page on my website later tonight! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Here is something interesting to try with SMSQ/e
Having playing around with setting up windows the old fashioned way (program submitted in the future) I came across this bug (feature)! try this first WM_BORDER 25, 1026 and even edged 3d type border now try this WM_BORDER 0,1026 Enjoy, Lee He he, nice one! And the 3D borders available with WM_BORDER in the new window manager don't get used that much after Marcel went to all the hard work to implement them. I remember having fun and games with unexpected results many years ago on a Spectrum - drawing arcs, I think, which resulted in Spirograph-style shapes if you used extreme values of the angle (third) parameter of a Spectrum DRAW command. IIRC, it calculated several dots on the 'arc' and tried to join them with straight lines. But this got a bit out of hand if you used very large values for the angle! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] C68 from 1994?
Hi again, does someone still have C68 binaries and libs from around 1994? A private email with ZIP-file(s) would be great. ... or better: Does someone still have the PDQ C compiler? Thanks, Peter Hi Peter, In the TOS4QL package on my emulators page there is a file called PDQC - I don't know how full a part of the distribution this is. It might be worth having a look. http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/emu/tosforql.zip There is also a copy of Digital C on my website. The author Gerry Jackson also kindly released the sources. I mention this in case you could perhaps look at modifying the sources to make it do what you want? Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Snow joke
On 21/12/10 15:05, Dilwyn Jones wrote: It's so quiet, with everyone locked in by snow, everyone is either (a) stuck on the roads, or (b) busy digging themselves out, (c) using their QLs like mad while locked in the house, or (d) using my snow simulation of a couple of weeks ago. Ssh! Can't you see we're all sleeping here! ;-) * WAKE UP NORMAN * ;o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Membranes Quanta Dec/Jan Mag. p52
I was interested to see in Quanta the picture of the replacement membrane with strip leads. This is just what I have done, but with a standard membrane. Having found that the fault was in the leadout strips, and jumpered breaks by drilling holes and fitting fine wires with conductive paint, as more broke, I decided that the best way was to cut them off and fit strip cables in a similar way, the strip cable having the same pitch as the connectors on the main board. There seemed no point in putting another of the same pattern in. I've done several and they have been fine. I probably put a note about this in Quanta at the time. I have also got a Rainbow keyboard which came fitted to a QL; it just plugs into the connectors, and usefully sports a numeric pad. I don't know what is inside as it is rivetted! BryanH Little tips and suggestions like this are always helpful. Why not jot it down and put it in Quanta or QL Today for a wider audience to read of the possibilities. My only slight concern would be when plugging the strip cables into the membrane sockets ont he keyboard. Would this potentially force them wider open so that if ever you went back a standard membrane (and thank goodness Rich is securing supplies of these vitasl spares with assistance from Quanta) they would fail to make proper connection with the by-now wider contacts? Years ago (in the 1980s) I had a QL with a replacement keyboard sat in place of the original keyboard (Schoen or one of those types,I forget which). When it became faulty and I tried to use the original keyboard and cover, the keyboard did seem intermittent, but I couldn't tell at the time if this was the membrane (which had been in the attic for a while) or the contacts which was the problem. That QL got kept for spares for years so I never did find out if it was my adventures with the wire connections which caused the problem or not. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
