Q40 and Q60 boards

[guibrush]

Sadly I can't. I can barely write a BASIC program.

The Vampire V4 SA is a powerful system with lots of complex I/O. I imagine it would be very difficult to get
enough technical information on its design to be able to write the device drivers needed to support SMSQE.

For example, a USB keyboard driver for the QIMSI Gold or Q68 is hard enough, such as to make it not worth the effort
to write.

I am sure it was designed to support Amiga DOS (or what ever it is called). It contains advanced versions of Amiga
compatible hardware that would probably not suit TT's SMS concepts.

It am sure it would be easier (and better) to start from scratch and just use the Apollo 68080 as a powerful 68000 compatible
processor.

When I say easier, I don't mean easy, and its not something I can do either.

I am aware that the 68080 is a commercial product and is probably not available, even under license.

there is a licensing scheme for the core actually. It is you that wrote to BigGun to ask about this some days ago?
We added the videos modes of the Atari ST into the core, meaning that now the V4 is capable to launch some Atari games and softwares directly when booted into EmuTOS. I see no reason why it won't be doable for the QL this way.

[Peter]

But as I'm an Apollo team member and have a V4, an Icedrake and a Firebird here at home, I can do some testing without problem.

Sounds interesting, thanks.

What do you want me to do?

In a first step, please install and launch QDOS Classic.
If it does not boot into QDOS Superbasic: Game over.
If it boots: Play with some QL programs of your choice. If they work normally, please come back here for more specific tests.

I newer launched anything QL related on the Amiga, let me know what I need to check.

I have zero knowledge of the Amiga, or how to launch something there.
But for an Amiga user, QDOS Classic should not be hard to use.

[pjw]

<>
What do you want me to do?

In a first step, please install and launch QDOS Classic.
If it does not boot into QDOS Superbasic: Game over.
<>

.. or try to find out what went wrong and whether it can be fixed..

[Derek_Stewart]

Hi,

I tried QDOS Classic on PiStorm EMU68 on a A500, which did not boot up.

I have sold the PiStorm and the A600 Vampire v2, so can not do any more testing.

[Peter]

In a first step, please install and launch QDOS Classic.
If it does not boot into QDOS Superbasic: Game over.
<>

.. or try to find out what went wrong and whether it can be fixed..

Hi Per, okay I should have said: Game over for me.

If you or someone else has the time to locate such CPU bugs, and manages to have them fixed inside a closed commercial FPGA core, please feel free to do so. And potentially pay the author - who is not interested in the QL - for his share of the debugging work. I think I have explained what effort this means, even for a more simple and open source CPU core.
I won't do it again under much more difficult circumstances.

[guibrush]

quick test on the Icedrake (what is basically a V4 for the A1200, it run at the same core level), currently on the beta of the soon to be released core:

https://imgur.com/a/FFjdK7O

We convinced BigGun to add the Atari screen modes to be able to launch the Atari games, I'm pretty sure that we can do the same for the QL ones

[guibrush]

Should it be obvious for us who "Big Gun" is?

it's the maker of the Apollo core and one of the creator of the V4.

[guibrush]

Runs Amiga OS that is probably AmigaDOS 4, which needs an emulator to run older Amiga software. I was considering buying one and dumping all other computer stuff.

No, Amiga OS 4 is PPC only. The V4 is a pure 68k machine. And there is no émulation. The core contain a 68080 CPU, that is binary compatible and have all the 68k set instruction (but as Peter said, it don't mean that everything work out of the box, in a similar way that a 68000 exe can not work on a 68040), and a new chipset, called SAGA, that extend the AGA chipset of the Amiga while providing almost 100% compatibility. And the Atari screen modes too.

Porting SMSQ/E onto the Vampire is a good idea, but who has the skills to do this.

Actually, the idea is more to add what the QL would need to be able to boot and display in the core. We did the same with the Atari ST : BigGun included the Yamaha sound chip and the needed video modes into the core. This mean that now people interested into turning a V4 into a Atari can flash EmuTOS instead the Amiga ROM and boot straight to the desktop, install MINT and can launch a good bunch of games (but not all of them). As the QL chipset is actually no so complex, I think that it's totally possible to take the same approach. It would then need no or minimal modification to let SMSQ/E run on the V4. Of course, a driver for the new video modes and for the sound would be then needed.

[desin]

i was was asking Gunnar von Boehn in April about it

Hello Gunnar

SMSQ/E is a computer operating system for Motorola 680xx Processors
it originate from Sinclair QL personal computer
there are versions
for the Atari line (ST/E,TT)
for emulators on DOS and Windows and Amiga
for a Core on Mister
the link points to the Atari version
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/h4xrvjsl ... brds0&dl=0
Can try to run it on the APOLLO ?

he replied he would ask the team about it

Greetings from Switzerland
Markus

[Peter]

quick test on the Icedrake (what is basically a V4 for the A1200, it run at the same core level), currently on the beta of the soon to be released core:

Thank you, looks good so far! Pity we can not run Minerva, which is more demanding in terms of CPU correctness.
If you can try some of your QL programs that would be the next test.
If you like, you could then run the Dhrystone, QSBB and Test 909 benchmarks found here:
https://dilwyn.theqlforum.com/benchmrk/index.html
The next test could be singlestepping and breakpoints with QMON.
(Can't find a download location for QMON at the moment. Is it still commercial?)