----- Original Message -----
From: "Petri Pellinen" <[email protected]>
To: "ql-users" <[email protected]>
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
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