The Sinclair QL Forum

spkr wrote: It has not been made publicly available yet. I never really had this intention, but if there is an interest, I don't mind sharing.

I would definitely be interested. I'm always up for more retro sounds to work with.

Any luck?

Derek_Stewart wrote:Hi

I have found my BCPL Microdrive cartridge, but it requires the the felt pad replacing.

I will do this and see if I can read the drive.

I went through a move at the beginning of the year and have forgotten to check back in until now. Did you ever get around to checking the drive?

LATER EDIT: It seems that the version from my zip file is the same as described in the manual found here: https://sinclairql.speccy.org/archivo/docs/docs.htm
I won't have time to confirm until this weekend, but it sounds like it needs a ROM, then.


I think there was a image of the ROM, with a ...

I found an archive of Metacomco BCPL - I have no ROM so I have no idea if it works or not (the zip file is windows zip)
Thanks! I'll try it out as soon as I get a chance and report back about whether it works. I think I read that other MetaComCo compilers only require the ROM during compilation ...

I used to have a copy of BCPL on floppy disk, which did not require a ROM, back in the 1990s, when all we have were slow QLs....

I will have a look on my old floppy disks, which I thought I had made a copy.

That would be awesome! Let me know if you do find it.


I have a very badly scanned ...

Yeah, I'm aware of that version, but it's been updated quite a bit and is really meant for modern systems. The distribution exclusively builds 32-bit and 64-bit executables. At this point, building a compiler for QL in BCPL using the distribution is probably an easier task than retooling it.

I am quite interested in writing software for the QL and, in particular, am interested in using BCPL. I am aware of the modern distribution, but it is, of course, not for the QL.

I've done some digging and the best I can find is someone on a mailing list offering digital versions of both it and the ...