QLCOMMANDER - testers and help needed

[martyn_hill]

Hi Andrew

Works quite nicely - great job! Nice to see the Fn key fount ala Minerva

A couple of quirks - I'll report back after some more play...

[Martin_Head]

This sounds like the floppy driver is not writing the slave blocks out to the disk. You would be able to see the files until you restart, as you do. As the slave blocks would be read instead of the actual disk.

Do you only see the problem when copying from the SD drive? If you don't have the SD drive, or don't access it. Do you still get the same problem.

Could something be upsetting the interrupts, as I think the writing of slave blocks is handled by the interrupt routines.

Made some tests today - copied from flp2_ to flp1_
I can see the lights going on on flp2_ as it reads all the files (a ful disk !) the light goes on to flp1_ as it writes the data
Dir flp1_ shows all files on floppy
But after reset ... there are no files on flp1 !

So the problem is also when copying from Floppy to floppy

I only tested on my main QL - the one that has the QL-SD installed. This was a very early issued QL - AH with piggy back ROMS that needed a lot of mods to install the QL_SD . I wonder, could this be the source of all problems?
I will test on the other one when I have some time.

I know that you have tried the drives in another QL. But could it be that the floppy drive is just getting worn out, or the heads need cleaning?

Do you get the same problem copying from flp1_ to flp2_? flp2_ usually tends to get less use, so should be less worn.

[Andrew]

No, it's a brand new floppy drive bought from Bytedelight https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=du ... ydrive-set
I have tested it with 1 disk when I bought it - and it wrote and read it perfectly - but that was before I moded the QL and installed the QL-SD - and the test was made only with some small files that I typed-in.
The other day was the first time that I tried to use it with more disks and larger files, as I wanted to run some programs on the other QL.

[martyn_hill]

Hi Andrew

Might be prudent to spin-off a separate thread for your difficulties with the QL-SD fitted in the Hardware section...

[Jack_Free]

I'm a beginner, I ask stupidly how do I run the program?
There is no qlc_boot
Where can I find some DOC file editing program?
Why is not someone in the archive?
Is the QD2018 link in the qlcconfig_bas file what?

I apologize for stupid questions, but I'm a beginner and I'm pissing.
I do not understand why everything is not needed in the installation archive.

Jack

Edit:
I installed components as well as the old version of Qlcommander and then used LRESPR qlc_exe.
The program writes not implemented yet on a white screen.
What needs to be installed to run the program?

Edit2:

Something I learned from the manual.
I do not know how to use Turbo toolkit?
Should I use these files? (Turbo Toolkit v3.44, updated by George Gwilt, Mark Knight and David Gilham (32K) [26/06/16])
(http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/turbo/index.html)

[Andrew]

I'm a beginner, I ask stupidly how do I run the program?
There is no qlc_boot
Where can I find some DOC file editing program?
Why is not someone in the archive?
Is the QD2018 link in the qlcconfig_bas file what?

First of all please download the manual and read it
In order to run QLCommander your computer must have Toolkit 2 (I assume you have it in ROM) and you must install the following extensions:
1. QPTR (also needed by previous version, so I assume you have it)
2. qlc_code (also needed by previous version, so I assume you have it)
3. Turbo Toolkit (if you don't have it yet then download it from Dilwyn's site http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/turbo/trbot14.zip and then LRESPR turbo_tk_code
Turbo Toolkit manual is here: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/turbo/trbom16.zip

The above extensions must be loaded only once per session, so it is a good idea to create a boot file for loading them when QL starts

To use the editor you need to have an editor installed on your system, and you have to configure it in qlcconfig_bas
As I wrote in the manual I tested it with QD and QED.
I prefer to use QD, as it is more user friendly. You can download QD from Dilwyn's site: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/editview/qd2018.zip
QD manual is here: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/editview/QD2018_manual.pdf
After you download it follow the instructions to install it.
QD also needs Pointer Environment to run - you can download it here: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/pe/index.html
On my QL I am using ptr_gen 201, wman 205 and hot_rext 229 (newer versions gave me some trouble - but on your system they might work)

Also you must install XChange (I presume everybody has it installed). If you do not have it then download it from: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/psions/xchange.zip
XChange manuals: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/psions/xchdoc.zip

I installed components as well as the old version of Qlcommander and then used LRESPR qlc_exe.
The program writes not implemented yet on a white screen.

That's because you should EXECute it, not LRESPR it !
Please see manual - INSTALL - point 8:

8. Run QLC using the command (modify the drive and directory name to those in your setup):
EX win1_QLCOMMANDER_qlc_obj; win1_QLCOMMANDER_
OR
EX win1_QLCOMMANDER_qlc_exe; win1_QLCOMMANDER_

You should only run one of them, it does not matter which
qlc_exe – is QLC executable compiled with Turbo
qlc_obj – is QLC executable compiled with Qliberator (with runtime inclued)

I hope this will help you to install the editor and QLCommander

[Jack_Free]

Thank you very much for your help, I will follow your advice.

[martyn_hill]

Hi Andrew

I've been playing with QLC v1.0 a little more and have some suggestions for you, that I'll share via PM.

In particular:
1. QPC2 char_inc issue 1 - I have adjusted my copy of v1.0 to address this and added a routine to (90% effectively) detect whether the _fnt file is actually a standard (5x9) or a FAT (8x9) fount as many of the FAT founts I have still had the _fnt extension.

2. QPC2 char_inc issue 2 - I haven't seen any issues with character-sizes after LBYTES of _scr files on QPC - not sure why it should hiccough in your testing...

3. I've been thinking more about how to facilitate a more 'smooth' user experience when switching in and out again of external apps (XChange/QED, etc) - again, I'll share my thoughts via PM...

All in all, your enhancements to this already very nice application work very well and its proving to be a very useful tool in practice, especially on the smaller QL platform where you might not be able to run CueShell (now made freeware).

M.

[Martin_Head]

No, it's a brand new floppy drive bought from Bytedelight https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=du ... ydrive-set
I have tested it with 1 disk when I bought it - and it wrote and read it perfectly - but that was before I moded the QL and installed the QL-SD - and the test was made only with some small files that I typed-in.
The other day was the first time that I tried to use it with more disks and larger files, as I wanted to run some programs on the other QL.

A bit of a shot in the dark here...

I looked at the link, and I could not see if the drives are for 720K (DD), or 1.4M (HD) disks. If you are using HD disks in DD drives, you might get problems. I know some people say that the HD disks work OK as DD disks, but I thought that the magnetic coating was different.

I found this http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/guzis.html which goes into some detail on the subject.

[Andrew]

A bit of a shot in the dark here...

I looked at the link, and I could not see if the drives are for 720K (DD), or 1.4M (HD) disks. If you are using HD disks in DD drives, you might get problems. I know some people say that the HD disks work OK as DD disks, but I thought that the magnetic coating was different.

I found this http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/guzis.html which goes into some detail on the subject.

Drives are HD - but also support DD. And I use it with HD disks, formatted HD. The disks are brand new.