I have recently had cause to use some software I wrote a few years ago to transfer some data from a Z88 PipeDream application to a QL Quill Document. I remember having great difficulty in getting a reliable product but once I had it working it was OK. Now, a few years later I have lost the serial connecting lead which I made up after trying out many combinations for the half a dozen or so cores in the cable.
After at least a month of toing and froing, I am still as far off as ever. Only two items remain (as far as I can tell) to be checked. 1) the serial port on my QL Aurora (9 pin cannon "D" type plug wired using ribbon cable from the 10 pin header socket on the Aurora board) and 2) I have noticed that in the intervening time, changes to my ancillary programmes (including updates to the boot file) means that I have included at least one "PAR_USE ser" command. As I now call for a channel#7 to be my 'Read' channel from ser1, does the PAR_USE ser command mean that my QL is looking to the parallel port for the input from the Z88? If so, does "PAR_USE" without the other name revert things back the way they were? I.e. is the Parallel port "par" and is the ser1 port back to ser1? I have tried the following: PAR_USE ser (assumed from having run the boot programme previously) 200 open #7, ser1 210 print #7, "HELLO" - prints to the printer connected to the Aurora parallel port (connected to the parallel output from the SGC) 220 PAR_USE 230 print#7, "Hello" - still prints to the same printer connected to the parallel port 240 close #7 250 print #7, "Hello" - does nothing except the expected error report that #7 is no longer available 260 open #7,ser1 270 print #7, "Hello" - prints to the parallel port printer again. It rather looks as though I shall have to re-boot the machine and remove all mention of Par_Use from the boot programme. I could get back to SBasic (from whatever programme I am running) and then issue the Par_Use ser command from the command line when needed but then I would have to switch off and re-boot if I wanted to transfer data. Can anyone out there offer me any advice please? Is there a way (step by step instructions please) to check that my serial port is still working? I do not have a serial printer nor a reliable serial to parallel converter with the correct "D" type plug on it - most of what I've got are set up for the black box QL serial ports. I have proved that the Z88 is "printing out" to its serial port and then to my printer via another serial to parallel converter suitably wired for the Z88. Incidentally, I have noticed that the pin out for the black box serial port has +12V on one lead which is connected to the PCB inside the Miracle ser - parallel interface. Similarly the Z88 Serial port has one lead at +5V which can be used to simulate a handshake ( I have read somewhere) but the Aurora 10 pin header does not have such a facility. Having had all this working in the past leads me to think that this does not matter. Does anyone know differently? Regards, John Gilpin. _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
