Hi,
by a QL Today article from Roy Wood, several users have got the wrong
impression the Q40 was not suitable for an ATX case. I had several personal
emails about this, so I think it is time for a public explanation.
The Q40 is *not* simply an AT mainboard. It directly fits into both AT and
ATX cases. This also applies to the mounting holes. At design time I had
already used both the AT and ATX specifications.
To use an unmodified Q40 mainboard in an ATX case with ATX power supply you
only need to:
1. Connect pin 14 (green) + pin 15 (black) on the main power connector.
2. Remove the ATX IO plate.
Instead of simply removing the ATX IO plate, you could also use a Mini-DIN
keyboard adaptor with slot bracket (needs soldering of 4 wires) or an IO
plate with DIN keyboard hole. Please note that a Q40 with unmodified system
ROM does not support software power-on/off. So at the moment you need to
use a hardware power switch (eg. the one at the back of the case).
AT cases are still available and usually cheaper and smaller than ATX
cases, so I don't see much reason for using ATX cases for the Q40.
Nevertheless I have recently bought myself an ATX case just to prove that
everything works as expected. It does.
All the best
Peter
