The Sinclair QL Forum

Hi,

I've got my father in law's QL and would like to archive his many programs on microdrive to something more modern to preserve them and use them under emulation. Is there a method of transferring the contents of a microdrive via serial, or does anyone have any other tips on how to do this please?

Thanks in advance

Martin

There are a few on the board to have ways to dump from Microdrive to something else, but I've never done it. If the QL has a floppy drive, you can transfer from MD to FLP. Once on floppy, it is easy to create an image of a floppy with Linux and a USB floppy drive (using the 'dd' command).

Tim

I think “out of the box” solution is the transfer via serial port, and even here there will probably be some costs for purchasing appropriate cable. Second possible solution is purchasing some device for QL which uses SD cards as, let say hard disc storage replacement. There are more of those available, I’m successfully using QIMSI and it’s working well. I’m mostly transferring data from PC to QL, but it’s working in other direction too. I think for this you’ll need to install some QL emulator on PC, there are some out there…

Good luck

Jože

Thanks both of you, I've enquired about getting a QIMSI, but I'm quite interested in the serial cable route (oddly enough I have a crimping tool and plugs for BT style phone connectors!).

Martins, be careful with the cartridges. You should first check the felt pads and replace them if deteriorated!
Also is a good idea to gently clean the microdrive's magnetic heads with a cotton stick and some alcohol

Thanks for the tips, yes I've replaced the felt pads and the drives have been serviced.

M.

Great!

Does anyone have any experience of archiving using a serial cable please?

martins wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 8:26 am Does anyone have any experience of archiving using a serial cable please?

Using serial you will likely encounter two problems:

• Serial transfers will need special software (a terminal program, for example Kermit or QTerm) on the QL side. You need to solve the problem how to get this initial software onto the QL side and where to store it there. That's a bit of chicken-and-egg problem.
• The QL's original serial hardware is not the best and, in most cases, not up to the promised spec. You're likely to loose characters and experience transfer problems when using the QL's original serial hardware. You might be able work around this by reducing the transfer rate ridiculously (1200Baud, probably), which will make any transfer painfully slow. (and still unreliable)

That's not saying it's not possible, but you will definitely encounter problems, don't expect that to be a walk in the park. You might be better off to invest a bit of money in one of the modern storage solutions (Floppy or SD-Card) that can make transfer to the modern world a breeze. (You might also find someone in your area who would be willing to borrow you such hardware temporarily)

Thanks very much - it doesn't sound like serial is a valid option then. I'll have a bit more of a look into the modern data projects to see if there is an affordable route there.

Thanks again

M.