RWAP wrote:The port to q-emulator was fairly easy - as it is just the Gold Card version.
Qemulator has always been able to emulate the Gold Card binary of SMSQ/E. I didn't mean that.
New is a specific Q-emuLator port of SMSQ/E with additional features, see
http://www.terdina.net/ql/rom/SMSQ_QEM.zip
tofro wrote:SMSQ/E can be had better and faster on Emulators today.
Minerva can also be had "better and faster" on emulators, so that's pointless. People want Minerva on the QL for the improvements it offers. Same reasoning for SMSQ/E.
The fast SMSQ/E BASIC and screen is even
more important for the QL than for the other machines. The QL lacks speed, very much unlike PC emulators. As the recent numbers of returning QL users and the demand for QL-SD shows, expanded QLs are actually used today.
Another point for SMSQ/E on the QL would be the option to run the same basic OS on
all QL style architectures, for software which is not memory hungry (and really memory hungry software won't work on a QL anyway).
tofro wrote:SMSQ/E for the GoldCard today has a size of ~220k - That would obviously not fit in the ROM space and use up 1/3rd of the memory of a typical fully expanded QL
Of course I'm aware of the RAM footprint, but there would still be a lot of usability. The GC version contains features unnecessary on the QL, like Aurora graphics and GC specific device support. Also, SMSQ/E reduces the need to load additional extensions on a QL, such as TK2, lightning, etc. which makes the balance look better.
Obviously one would not bother supporting all QL configurations by SMSQ/E - 128K is impossible anyway. Expect Minerva in ROM, or - if it helps porting - even expect other hardware people can get for the QL today. One might need a patch to Minerva, so the Interrupt can be redirected (not sure, maybe the actual code in Minerva ROM allows something else).
tofro wrote:The other problem is that SMSQ/E for the GC only had to address one single piece of hardware. Once you extend this to other cards, the floppy drivers all have to be implemented in separate versions.
SMSQ/E happily lives with other pieces of QL storage hardware, e.g. Qubide, Romdisq and QL-SD. If there is a QL floppy, it brings it's own driver, and SMSQ/E should in principle be able to run such a driver (GC pitfalls like ROM shadowing are not here). If not, simply forget that piece of hardware under SMSQ/E or stick with Minerva. No system has ever been compatible to everything.
tofro wrote:And still you need RAM or replacement ROM for the vector area at address 0.
I can see no need to replace something at address 0. Reset vector and initial stackpointer can remain. The OS in ROM will boot first, anyway. I have not yet looked at all exceptions.
Update: There are less exception redirection possibilities than I remembered. Much more patching than just interrupt is probably required in Minerva ROM.
Peter