In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Tony Firshman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>> Regrettably the QL Black box hardware was not that reliable on the >> serial line. 9800 baud being normal, with the possibility of 19200 baud >> at times. >9600 in. 19200 only out. > >The main problem was that the input handshake (8049 chip) was bugged. >Hermes uses the same basic hardware (but erasable firmware) and Laurence >Reeves simply coded it properly! If only he had worked for Sinclair at >the time we would have had a *much* better QL from the start. Although Sinclair wasn't the only one to take some shorts cuts ... I have an Acorn Archimedes A3000 which didn't even have a serial port fitted as sold. When I wanted to access the internet I had to upgrade the serial port which could only do 19200 maximum. Accepting the speed limitation the access was fine, I also used a freeware email and web browser, each element working as discrete unit application. Which made it a shared effort amongst several software programmers ... all a part of the fun ... :-) For the QL this integration hasn't quite as yet all come together ... :-( ... not helped by the cheapness now of PC hardware - with Linux or Windows - which does the job anyway. The other option is some new QL hardware that has in all on board, so to speak. -- Malcolm Cadman _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
