The Sinclair QL Forum

I had an idea for placing a pin header beside the tape head. This would allow a microdrive cartridge to use the bay, and an SD card to use it too. You shouldn't have to give up your microdrives to use an SD card in the same bay.

The SD card would go in a 3D printed microdrive adaptor.

This is on ...

I know a few of you have pulled microdrive units out of your QLs to use SD cards or microdrive emulators instead. I'm looking for a few microdrive units to upgrade/refurb into something next level.

If you'd like your microdrive unit to see a second life doing something next level, ping me and we ...

There is a mod that can use a different serial level shifter (ADM208EAR) with onboard +/- generation. With that mod the board can be 5V only with working serial. The existing 1488/1489 are as used on the original QL and do need the +/-12V generated off-chip.

It is more efficient and clean to do this by adding a wire link to the board than by using a whole other 5V PSU, if it's going into a system that has been permanently converted to run directly off 5V and the SGC won't be floating between systems.

There are cases where the Miracle anointed way is ...

I do not understand why the there was a wire soldered to bypass the 5V regulator, when Miracle Systems fitted a external voltage connector to allow operation with an Aurora.

But the previous owner of the SGC must read somewhere that shorting the Voltage on the SGC allows operation with an Aurora ...

Yes, that is a modded SGC with a link shorting the 9.5V DC input rail to the 5V regulator output. Unfortunately, even after the briefest period, the ICs are likely toast. If you're very lucky a RAM will have failed short first. Either way, everything is replaceable and a duplicate INGOT can be ...

With so little new programming for release occurring on QLs, I don't think this is justified.

If you have ideas on how to get developers developing again, we're listening.

E.g. the SMSQ/E harddisk driver does not even support interrupts, which would be possible, if smoother background behaviour is desired. (And better background behaviour would be the only gain from DMA, it can not improve peripheral datarate on the Q60.)

Even the most rudimentary DMA ...

When a successor to the Q60 appears and the Q60 is a previous generation product three times over, maybe you'll consider releasing the files and equations as open source?

In reality, Stella is bound to the 68K architecture.


^^^ This

It also has other failings:

* It's wasn't finished
* There is NO Stella software
* Documentation doesn't say much about hardware expectations
* No toolchains for developers
* You'd be a user-base of 2-3 people


You should see the ...