********************
QL
CLUB
INTERNATIONAL
********************
ISSUE 109
MARCH 1998
MIKE KENNEALLY
E-MAIL MIKEKENNEALLY1@COMPUSERVE.COM
ANY AND ALL SOFTWARE SENT TO THE CLUB/NEWSLETTER WILL BE
TREATED AS PUBLIC DOMAIN UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
DEAR ALL,
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR GRAHAM LUTZ TO SEND ME HIS
CONTRIBUTION SO I COULD INCLUDE IT IN THIS ISSUE,HE HAS DONE A
ROUGH OUTLINE FOR THE "IDIOTS GUIDE TO QPACII",BUT KNOWING GRAHAM
HE IS INUNDATED WITH WORK AS AM I,SO PERHAPS NEXT MONTH IT WILL BE
EVEN BIGGER THAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THIS MONTH.
AS YOU WILL SEE FROM BELOW I HAVE SLIGHTLY ALTERED THE WAY
THE LETTERS HAVE BEEN LAYED OUT.THIS IS DUE TO A SUGGESTION BY ONE
OF OUR READERS/CONTRIBUTORS.
THIS IS A THOUGHT WHICH NEVER OCCURRED TO ME UNTIL HE
MENTIONED IT.NOW WE ARE ON THE INTERNET OUR INFORMATION IS
AVAILABLE GLOBALLY AND WE SHOULD THEREFORE BE CAREFULL ABOUT THE
INFORMATION WE LET OUT IN PUBLIC.SO THEREFORE I AM ERASING
EVERYTHING FROM THE LETTERS EXCEPT YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESSES OR PHONE
NUMBERS.
IF THERE ARE ANY OF YOU WHO OBJECT TO YOUR LETTER GOING ONTO
THE NET,THEN WHEN YOU SEND IN YOUR LETTER HIGHLIGHT IT SO I
KNOW,THEN I SHALL HAVE TO DO 2 COPIES ONE FOR US AND ANOTHER
GLOBAL COPY.
AS AND FROM ISSUE 110,I SHALL LEAVE IT TO YOU WHAT YOU WISH
PEOPLE TO KNOW IN YOUR HEADERS,MOST PEOPLE WHO WRITE TO US WE KNOW
BY NOW WHAT SYSTEM THEY USE,SO IT SHOULD NOT CAUSE TO MANY
PROBLEMS.
IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME GET MY COLLECTION OF NEWSLETTERS BACK
UP TO FULL STRENGTH AGAIN THEN THESE ARE THE ISSUES I AM MISSING:-
QL32,33,34,(NO PROGRAMS,I THINK)
QL66,68,69,82,83,85,96,97,98,99,101,104,105.THESE ALL HAD
PROGRAMS WITH THEM I BELIEVE,SO IF ANYONE HAS A FULL COPY OF
BOTH,I WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR THEM.TO SAVE ME GETTING A COPY OFF
EVERYONE,COULD SOMEONE CO-ORDINATE AND THEN SEND THEM TO ME.
BOB MURDOCH,I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID WHEN YOU SAVED YOUR
_DOC,BUT IT WOULDN'T LET ME DO ANYTHING WITH IT EXCEPT PRINT IT
OUT FROM QPACII AND RE-WRITE IT IN.WHAT WORD PROCESSOR ARE YOU
USING?IN QUILL OR XCHANGE IT SHOULD HAVE THE SUFFIX _DOC,BUT IT
DIDN'T HAVE ANY AT ALL.
WELL HOW ABOUT THAT!AFTER EVERYONE SAYING THE QL CANNOT GET A
VIRUS,GUESS WHO MAY HAVE ONE?WELL NOT THE QL PER SE,BUT THE QXL
CARD,APPARENTLY A VIRUS CAN INFECT THE CARD THROUGH THE QXL.BIN
FILE ON THE PC,BECAUSE IT IS BOTH A QL AND A PC FILE AND BECAUSE
IT IS A PC/QL FILE IT IS LOOKED UPON BY A VIRUS SCANNER AS A QL
FILE AND THEREFORE A 'FOREIGN'FILE AND IT IGNORES IT!ACCORDING TO
ROY WOOD IT SHOULD NOT AFFECT PURE QL FILES AS IT CANNOT INTERACT
WITH THEM.
IT HAS GOT TO THE STAGE THIS WEEK WHERE I WOULD QUITE HAPPILY
THROW THIS MACHINE THROUGH THE WINDOW,IF DOUBLE GLAZING WASN'T SO
EXPENSIVE!
IT HAS BEEN DOING THE MOST STRANGE THINGS,BEFORE I GO ANY
FURTHER,I AM NOT USING ANY PROGRAMS OR FILES FROM ANY SOURCES
OTHER THAN 'STRAIGHT'SOURCES.FOR EXAMPLE,I CAN BE SITTING HERE
QUITE MERRILY TYPING A LETTER IN WORD AND ALL OF A SUDDEN,IF YOU
PRESS THE WRONG KEY ie 'P',UP COMES THE 'PRINT'MENU,OR 'F'AND THE
FILES MENU APPEARS AND SO ON.WHEN USING EXCEL,I TYPE IN A FIGURE
OF `105.06 AND PRESS'ENTER'LO AND BEHOLD IN THE CELL I GET
12/4/1900 02.36.24,IN OTHER WORDS THE 12th OF APRIL IN THE YEAR
1900 AT 02.36 IN THE MORNING.
NOT ONLY THAT,BUT I HAVE JUST LOADED THE NEWSLETTER IN FROM
WIN1_ AND HAD TO DELETE 10 PAGES OF CRAP!
NOW ACCORDING TO ROY WOOD I WILL HAVE TO FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE
YET AGAIN TO GET RID OF IT AND RELOAD ALL MY SOFTWARE,PRINTER
DRIVERS AND SO ON AD INFINITUM,AND ALSO RELOAD QXL AS A CLEAN
FILE,WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS,WHO HAVE I MURDERED?
WELL,NOW I HAVE JUST TRIED TO QUIT FROM XCHANGE AND IT WON'T
LET ME!F3,Q,ENTER.F3,Q,ENTER.BUT IT KEEPS COMING UP,F3,Q, BUT WHEN
I PRESS THE Q KEY IT CHANGES TO SAVE,I THINK I'LL GO AND TOP
MYSELF!
MIKE.
e mail Bill@Waughql.demon.co.uk
Hi everybody
In the last issue Qpac2 got a mention by Frank Merrison. Hi
Frank you might be interested to know that in 1995 I did a few
articles in Quanta for beginners to Qpac2, I recieved a number of
complimentory phone calls from members thanking me for the
articles so they must have got something from them.
My intention was to finish the articles before sumbitting
them but you know how it is the best laid plans of mice and men
and all that so I ended up writing some of them when I was quite
busy workwise and I wasn't all that happy with the last two, I
have been thinking for some time that I could put the best of the
articles together with some additions and make them available
through Quanta or one of our traders in the form of an A4 booklet
, I hope to start this now and see if I can get it ready for the
AGM , however as Booker T and the MGs say Time is Tight ( non of
this Jonny Rotten stuff here Darren thankyou very much) the title
of the project is "QPACers guide to the Galaxy"
I would have sent the first of the articles in to Mike but
for two reasons. 1 I understand Graham Underwood(LUTZ) is going to
do this and 2 the articles contain colour graphics (pic files)
and I have not the foggiest idea how to send these or if it is
possible at all .
Now for a couple of Questions
Would someone like to tell me a bit more than I know about
this email stuff - how do you send attatchments and what can you
put in these attachments - how do you get onto the qlusers mailing
list I have been trying for some time but had little luck, haveing
said that the last email I sent got posted but I have had no reply
- I sent the message to qlusers-@nvg.ntnu.no with the subject
"subscribe" and a short message saying I would like to be placed
on the list.
I DON'T KNOW HOW IT WORKS FOR OTHERS BUT WITH COMPUSERVE WHEN
YOU ARE CREATING AN E-MAIL,THERE IS A BUTTON AT THE TOP CALLED
'ATTACH'PRESSING THIS ALLOWS YOU TO ATTACH A FILE IN MORE OR LESS
ANY FORMAT,BINARY,TXT,GRAPHIC AND SO ON.IT COULDN'T BE EASIER.
Last but not least can someone confirm that if I swap wires
10. 12 in the cable to my new floppy drive it will become flp1
instead of flp2 there are no jumpers on this drive and as far as I
can see no 0ohm link to change.
Well must go now my favourate program is about to start - the
Federation needs me - planets to save - Picard bekons - make it so
WELL THERE'S NO WAY I'M GETTING INVOLVED IN DS9 AND THE
FOUNDATION,I'M STRICTLY NEUTRAL!
-- Bill Waugh
Jean-Yves Rouffiac jyr@wavenet.co.uk
Mike,
Belated congratulations on reaching 100! It's just a shame
that I never got round to joining earlier (QL owner since '88). My
loss. However, thanks to your new web site, I have discovered the
pleasures of your magazine and have read issues 99 to 108 - any
chance of getting hold of the full set? Are there any plans to
post them on the web site as zip files?
WELCOME JEAN-YVES,BACK ISSUES ARE NOW THE DOMAIN OF
DILWYN,HAVE A WORD WITH HIM AS SOON AS I CAN I WILL SEND HIM ALL I
HAVE.
I'm a bit of a born again QL-er as I semi-retired my machine
a couple of years ago - not because I no longer enjoyed using the
QL, but because my desk wasn't large enough for a QL and a PC! Now
I've moved house and have an attic 'den' where I have ample room
to spread my computing kit about. Only trouble is, I still don't
have enough desk space. Unfortunately, this self-imposed exile
does mean that I'm not as up to date with QL-related topics as I
once was. I spend most of my time working on Windows 95/NT and
OS/2 based PC's.
Emulators: I too have tried QLAY. It's pretty good but I
would not recommend it to anyone who considers him/herself a
beginner or novice. The main problem is that you have to set up
all kinds of parameters manually, especially the speed setting.
Also, it does not directly read or write QDOS disks. Should be
good when it can read/write directly to QDOS disks.
A safer bet is Q-Emulator (assuming that you have Win95 or a
Mac). The Win95 version is currently in Alpha testing, but seems
pretty stable. (The Mac version is already quite a mature product
by all accounts). It is not freeware and will require registering
once a completed version is released. It runs in a Win95 window,
and just requires the user to click "Start" on a menu to get
going. Pretty simple. It's faster than QLAY, but a lot slower than
QPC. It reads and writes QDOS disks without apparent trouble,
although it does not as yet allow you to FORMAT a QDOS disk. I
have not run into any problems with any software, as long as it
does not require a toolkit.
Which brings me on to my first question - could someone tell
me how to make a disk image of my TKII ROM which is on my 512
SuperQBoard? I'm not sure what address and length I need to use
with SBYTES.
ANYONE KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS?I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT USING THE
CONFIGURABLE TOOLKIT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER?
QL ROMS: On one of the emulator sites (Q-Emulator or QLAY, I
forget which), there is a comment to the effect that the ROMS are
still copyrighted by Amstrad, but that they are freely available
for non-commercial use.
Software: I would like advice on how to transfer software to
disk: Psion Chess, Scrabble, Assembler Workbench, The Pawn, Meteor
Storm, etc, etc. Any help very welcome.
USE WCOPY,ie.WCOPY MDV1_ TO FLP1_ AND THEN CHANGE ALL THE
MDV's IN YOUR BOOT PROGRAM TO FLP's OR RUN IT THROUGH A MDV/FLP
CONVERTER.
Pascal: I have a copy of Computer One Pascal which
incidentally copies to disk without problem. I recall someone
asking what versions were available. CO Pascal is pretty
comprehensive, allowing for most ISO requirements, and adding
access to the QL's graphical, file, and memory handling routines.
Strings are dealt with as arrays of characters, but can then be
accessed as though they were real string types, e.g. you could
have:
writeln(name)
where 'name' had been defined as an array of characters.
Records, user-defined types, & sets are all supported.
If anyone can confirm that the copyright of this software is
not a problem, I'd be happy to supply a copy. On one of the QL
sites, Computer One Monitor is listed as freeware, but no mention
of the Pascal compiler was made.
The really nice thing about Pascal is that it is extremely
portable (apart from the QL-specific procedures obviously). So you
can develop on the QL and port your application over to any
platform which has an ISO-compliant Pascal, with only minimal
reworking required.
Z88: The new magazine sounds interesting. Are there any plans
to make it available on the Web, like this magazine? You may like
to know that there are a couple of Z88 emulators available on the
Web, one for DOS, the other for Windows. They are pretty good,
with only the occasional non-fatal bug. Use a search engine and
search for "Z88 emulator". I think that they are on the Z88
Forever page.
I THINK DARREN HAS SET THIS UP AS A COMMERCIAL CONCERN RATHER
THAN A FREE SERVICE AS IN CLUBQL,BUT YOU NEVER KNOW.THE TROUBLE
WITH A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT IS THAT PEOPLE ARE PAYING FOR AN ITEM
AND THEY EXPECT VALUE FOR THEIR MONEY,ie.THE EDITOR TO KNOW WHAT
HE'S TALKING ABOUT,GRAPHICS AND SO ON.WHEREAS ME,I'M AN IDIOT,ASK
MARTIN HE'S BEEN TELLING ME THIS FOR YEARS,I KNOW MARTIN I'M ONLY
KIDDING!
(Quick update - apparently there is another one out there
too, but I have not found it yet).
I'm not sure yet, but I think that both QLAY for DOS and the
Z88 emulator for DOS will run under OS/2. I'll check and report
back. I'll also check my Spectrum and ZX81 emulators.
Additionally, uQLx,
the X-Windows QL emulator for Unix/Linux can be compiled for
OS/2, though I have not tried that out yet either.
SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO BE A BUSY BEE FOR SOME TIME!
I am currently in the process of creating a web site which
will offer links to over 30 different emulators for the PC,
ranging from the Dragon to the Amiga, passing through such exotica
as the Jupiter Ace and the Commodore +4. Plus the QL and other
Sinclair machines, of course. I'll let you know when it's up and
running. I might also add a small QL-specific section containing
links to QL sites, plus free downloads of the software I wrote,
including the Dreamlands adventure game which was previously
published by CGH Services.
Anyway, I hope that I've made up a little for my rather
delayed start, regards,
Jean-Yves
PS. If Rich Mellor, Richard Alexander, or Alan Pemberton are
still on the QL scene, please drop me an email - I'd love to hear
from you again.
martinw@ndirect.co.uk
Hi everyone
Mike wrote
######################################################
I AM STILL SOME ISSUES MISSING FROM WHEN THE PC CRASHED SO IF
ANYONE CAN HELP ME OUT LET ME KNOW.
MIKE.
######################################################
Can you tell us which ones you are missing?
SEE ABOVE.
Colin Baskett wrote
######################################################
Andrew Halliwell wrote : (QL pluses), " Well.... Here are a
few. 1> No viruses will work on the QL (Because no-one has written
one/it's more diffictult to even if you tried.) 2> Hard disk
failure may wipe out important data/programs, but it doesn't lock
you out of the machine. You can still boot up from ROM (unless
you've got a keyboard in need of a driver, in which case you need
the floppy).
With the PeeCee, EVERYTHING is on Hard Disk. Lose the Hard
Disk, lose your computer until you can get a new one/reload a
basic system to reformat the old one, or in the case of WINDOZE
95, it is entirely possible that it won't let you do ANYTHING
until it's been successfully re-installed, or the hard disk it was
on is replaced."
######################################################
Let's not go too far here. A dodgy hard disc is a dodgy hard
disc whatever computer it is attached to. You are only gonna be
locked out of a PC if there is a complete hard disc failure (very
rare nowadays) and you haven't done what every manual tells you to
and made the neccesary system disc and backup files so you can get
back in via the floppy drive. Most hard disc problems are system
file or boot sector problems which can be bypassed and then
corrected after booting from a floppy. Nowadays with so many Ql
users keeping their progs and datafiles on a hard disc just
starting the QL isn't gonna get people much further than booting
a PC from a floppy - they've still gotta get access to all their
stuff to recover their system. Most people coming from PC to QL
are still gonna want to use some sort of hard disc system and you
have to bear that in mind when trying to persuade them of the
merits of a QL system. A hard disc is like an electric blanket
- those who don't have them don't see the need but once you have
used one you never want to go back to not doing so!
3 HARD DRIVES IN 3 WEEKS MARTIN AND I DID MAKE BACKUP DISCS
AND SYSTEM DISCS AND THEY DIDNT WORK EITHER!
This is not an attempt to take sides (despite what some might
think) but just to point out that if you are having a campaign to
persuade PC users who are lapsed Ql users to come back you have to
be careful to stick to points that are likely to impress a PC user
- taking away his home comforts won't do it! What looks like an
advantage to a QL-only user might not look that way to someone
used to a different computer. Everyone gets used to what they
normally use.
#########################################
Colin Baskett also enquired
By the way Just What Is "SPAMMING" the net ? Would someone
please explain.
#######################################
and Mike replied
BASICALLY SENDING A LETTER TO EVERYONE WHO HAS AN E-MAIL
ADDRESS,DEFINITELY A NO-NO,AS I HAVE BEEN TOLD ON NUMEROUS
OCCASIONS,ESPECIALLY AFTER SUGGESTING WE DO IT!
############################################
That's basically right although it goes a little wider. It's
unsolicited mail sent as e-mail or to a news group or news letter
It gets people very annoyed. One of the big distinctions between
this and unsolicited snail is that the rubbish you get through
your door hasn't cost you anything whereas anything sent to me by
e-mail I have to pay for in phone charges while I am downloading
it whereas it is virtually free of cost to the sender
###########################################
Dennis Smith wrote rather impatiently
Mike and Martin Wheatley : Putting QLCI onto the fidonet. You
asked how to do it? How to upload a file onto a BBS (bulletin
board system)? This has been dealt with in great depth time and
time again in Quanta. That is where you will find out how to do
it, explained in depth with pictures.
############################################
But this isn't Quanta and it hasn't been discussed here.
Asking people about things we don't know about is one of the
reasons for ClubQL and if you don't want to answer in that spirit
maybe you just shouldn't answer
MARTIN HAS POINT HERE,THIS SOMETHING WE ARE ALWAYS
RE-ITERATING AND ALWAYS WILL.THIS IS A CLUB FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DO
NOT ALWAYS NO WHAT TO DO AND WHERE TO FIND THE ANSWERS.WE ARE
ALWAYS GRATEFUL FOR ANY AND ALL HELP OFF THE PEOPLE WHO DO KNOW
HOW AND WHERE AND I APPRECIATE IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO BE PATIENT
WHEN TRYING TO EXPLAIN THINGS TO PEOPLE,ASK FRANK,HE'S BEEN TRYING
FOR YEARS TO GET ME TO UNDERSTAND PRINTERS!BUT YOU HAVE TO
REMEMBER WE ARE HERE TO HELP PEOPLE NOT PUT THEM OFF,SO PATIENCE
IS OF THE ESSENCE.
########################################################
Dennis also wrote
All QL folk should be on the Fidonet, a network that QL BBSs
use.
########################################################
A bit sweeping isn't it? I see no reason why QL people
should have to use their machine for comms if they don't want to
and if they do I don't see why they should be required to use the
particular area of comms that is your favourite
AND NOT EVERYONE HAS OR ARE GOING TO GET A QL COMPATIBLE
MODEM.
###########################################################
Dennis then said
Derek Stewart : This bit naturally tags on to the above.
Derek, what are you doing here? I didn't tell you about this, I
suppose you had to find out sooner or later. Derek has offered to
create an exclusive area on his BBS (the BBS name is Holborn View)
for QLCI whereupon Mike could post (electronic post, modem) the
QLCI text zip to the BBS. One zip per month job done, easy!.
Anyone can log on to Derek's BBS and take QLCI when they want.
This is quicker and cheaper than the internet method and a lot
less to go wrong.
############################################################
The reason the newsletter is on an Internet site is so that
it can be found by people doing Internet searches who don't
otherwise have QL contacts - again one of the purposes of the
newsletter is to help such people. People who use QL BBSs are
already pretty advanced in QL use and well aware of what support
systems there are and thus have much less need of us
############################################################
Dennis wrote
Quanta sub-groups : We can all write a million words here but
it is quicker and better to attend a Quanta sub-group and iron out
your problems there and then on the spot. If there is not one near
then create one, it works.
and Mike replied
READ FRANK'S LETTER ABOVE AND YOU CAN PERHAPS SEE SOME OF THE
PROBLEMS HE ENCOUNTERS AND I MYSELF IN THE PAST.SOME ARE EXCELLENT
AND SOME NOT SO GOOD!SORRY ABOUT THIS FRANK,BUT THOSE IN THE NORTH
SEEM TO BE BETTER THAN THOSE IN THE SOUTH.
############################################################
And just how many Southern sub-groups have you been to Mike
that you can make such a sweeping condemnation? It's my experience
that newcomers to sub-groups don't suffer from any lack of help
rather they suffer from too much and walk away with their head
spinning. I'n sure that applies North and South
AS YOU AND I GET OLDER MARTIN,IT'S GETTING EASIER!
############################################################
Martin Burke wrote a long item from which I am quoting
selectively (see QL108 for the whole thing) - I have numbered the
quotes
(1) Naming of PC drives: Martin W. says that machines are
unlikely to have 26 drives. When I used the word "drive" I used
it in a sense that probably relates better to the QL's channels
and devices - not that I deal much with these concepts much.
Perhaps better to refer to any means of input/output. As I
understand it a QL user might have - in a wondeful future - say 2
ED drives, 2 HD drives, 2 hard drives, 3 printers, a CD-ROM, a
writable CD-R, zip-drive,a DVD, a couple of ROMs, ...
######################################################
There are two different things here. Fixed devices that
require their own method of address (flp1_ or A:) and devices
attached to input/output like serial and parallel ports which are
addresses via those i/0 rather than individually (ser1_ or com)
This distinction is slightly confused by an external Zip drive
which is a parallel port device whose driver fools the computer
into thinking it is a fixed device
########################################################
(2) In my limited knowledge of PC's, I don't think I have
ever encountered anything more than a "G".
#########################################################
I have
WHAT? #########################################
(3) And I presume that QLs will not - ever? - recognise a
flp10.
#########################################
I presume that this is a restriction of the ROM therefore
only if someone gets access to the ROM source code
#########################################
(4) I am one of those people disconcerted by the simple fact
that the hard drive is "C", not "A"; and that the floppy drive is
"A" not "B". Whatever happened to B? (Something to do with it
being a 8 or 51/2" drive? Or second floppy being redundant when
hard drives were introduced? Or has Bill Gates taken it hostage?
...)
#######################################################
In a perfect world where everything was invented in a vacuum
it could be done that way. But in the real world any
technological 'advance' has to take account of and react to the
existing user base. The sequence is as follows
The first PCs had one floppy and no hard disc. Quite
logically this is called A:. Then you had two floppies much as we
had 2 microdrives - one for the program and one for the data A:
and B: Then we had the first hard disc. When this came every
computer already out there had either an A: drive or an A: and a
B: drive. The first unique letter was therefore the C:. It had
to be a unique letter so that it could be written into the BIOS to
boot from Now you can change around letters where there is a
device driver loaded and you can fool the computer into thinking a
drive exists where it doesn't (for example early versions of DOS
would copy in single drive systems using a virtual'B' in the
commands you issued). What you can't do is change the letter of a
drive that you boot from because this has to be stored in the BIOS
before the operating system loads and therefore before any changes
you make take effect. So everyone ended up with a A: drive and
then a C: drive and that is the standard boot sequence. Because
this is a standard a great deal of PC software assumes this.
If you have a very new PC there is unlikely to be A B: drive but
this was common until very recently. Frank's machine has a B:
drive and my old one did until I replaced it with a CD It's quite
possible to designate a CD as a B: drive but since there is
software out that which assumes B: is a floppy this would unwise.
Additional drives therefore tend to be D: onwards. Up until the
recent arrival of a 32 bit disk filing system in Windows it was
inefficient to have big hard partitions on a PC because of large
sector sizes. It was therefore normal to split large hard discs
into several 'virtual' smaller discs - each with their own letter
The normal sequence would be A: Floppy (first in the boot
sequence) B: 2nd Floppy C: Hard Disc (second in the boot
sequence) then the order of drives would be Any additional hard
drives or virtual hard drive partitions CD-ROM Other storage
devices (Tape backup, Zips etc) Other devices such as modems,
Mice, printers, scanners etc are accessed via the port they are
attached to
Writable Cd-Roms usually replace ordinary ones and DVD (once
the technology matures and a standard settles in for rewritable
ones) should replace them in time
With hard discs now tending not to be partitioned few
machines will therefore require more than about 6 or 7 letters in
the future - ironically less devices than some QLs.
######################################
(5) As for QL software, such as the Psion suite, using 8+3
filenames, I understood this to be done for conformity with
MS-DOS, not for the limitations of the QUDOS system.
#######################################
Why should they have bothered to conform in that instance
when they didn't with anything else? If the limitation is not
written into QDOS why has noone been able to change it since?
As one who has used both 8+3 and longfile names I have to say
I prefer the former as it imposes a discipline in naming which
makes finding files easier. Others will probably disagree - as
you say it is what you are used to
Martin Wheatley
QUANTA AGM - Saturday 25th April 1998 ~~~~~~~~~~
Come on down - or up - and see what the score is, a full day
has been arranged just for you. Here are the essentials.
The venue. The Parish Hall, Mansfield Rd, Selston,
Nottinghamshire.
Here are the directions for Selston.
Selston (4 miles from M1-J28, M1-J27 and Alfreton) is on the
B600 Nottingham to Alfreton road.
M1 junction 28 and A38 South Normanton turnoff. Follow the
sign for Pinxton (B6019). Follow this road to a 'T' junction, turn
right. The Parish Hall is 400 m. on the right.
M1 junction 27. Follow road A608 - Heanor - Underwood -
Selston (B600) to the Sandhills Tavern. Turn right and right to
the B600 - Alfreton - Selston road. Follow the road until petrol
station on the right. Turn right to Mansfield road, B6018 - Kirkby
in Ashfield - Sutton in Ashfield. Follow road and Selston Parish
Hall is on your left 400 m.
Train to Alfreton Parkway. Bus from Derby to Alfreton 243 or
245, Alfreton to Selston R12 or R13. Bus from Nottingham to
Selston R12 or R13.
Accomodation:
Central Hotel, 1 Station Rd, Sutton-in-Ashfied,
Nottinghamshire. NG17 5FF. Phone 01623-552373. Fax 01623-443106.
OR
Leighbank House Hotel, 57 Kirkby Rd, Sutton-in-Ashfield,
Nottinghamshire. Phone 01623-559704.
The cost is about 20 pounds.
You may have seen the adverts in the QL press, for some
reason the Hotels have been missed off. Please take note and 'pass
on' the Hotel information. Book early.
Beer all day, food all day, buffet later on then an 'Evening
of ale' until midnight. Mini-bus to take you back to your Hotel...
Oh yes! The AGM and Workshop somewhere in the middle.
-- Derek Stewart
I AM HOPING TO ATTEND IF ONLY FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS,I AM
AFRAID THAT IS ALL I CAN DO AS BUSINESS WILL NOT ALLOW ME ANY MORE
TIME.
Dilwyn Jones dilwyn.jones@bbc.co.uk
Dear Mike,
I have owned and used a TF Services RomDisq for a while now
and am quite happy with it. I haven't (yet!) used it to
destruction as I normally do with my computer gear, but in
ordinary light use it has proved fine on my Gold Card QL.
Apparently, the version I have isn't expected to work with the
Gold Card/Qubide combination (it might need a chip upgrade on
one of the boards). I did buy an Aurora ROM port adaptor with
the RomDisq from TF Services, but haven't used it as the Aurora
has been a bit unwell lately, refusing to start up when it's
cold or damp. Once I've got the Aurora to work, I can experiment
with this rom port adaptor to see if it would allow other QL
things to be plugged into the Aurora rom slot. It's lovely
having what is effectively a mini-hard disk on such a tiny PCB
'permanently' plugged into the EPROM slot. Considering that the
eprom slot was not designed to be written to, the addition of
writeable peripherals like the RomDisq, Miracle hard disk and
System Amadeus to the QL eprom slot is quite a feat of hardware
design. Since the system takes a little while to write to the
flash memory on the RomDisq, you have to get used to waiting for
the LED to stop flashing before switching off if you intend to
do a save just before switching off, but this is rarely a
problem, since people did imply that saving would be slow with it,
but in practice it's not as slow as I was lead to believe and in
practice you tend not to use the RomDisq as a floppy or hard disk,
but rather for storing commonly used files and startup files, and
only occasionally need to write to the RomDisq to update the
contents or add new files from time to time. Stuart Honeyball
kindly gave us an article for publication in QL Today about the
hardware design of the RomDisq, which was very informative.
Quanta is holding a workshop and AGM in Selston near
Nottingham on April 25th. It would be nice if as many Club QL
members as possible could visit that, as we haven't had a Club
QL meeting lately. Selston is fairly central and very near to
the motorways, so would seem to be more convenient for more
people than some of the more southern Quanta workshops. You
don't have to be a Quanta member to go to their workshops,
though obviously non-members can't go vote at the AGM itself.
Since the workshop itself and the AGM are quite separate
occurrences, you need not feel you can't go just because the AGM
is on. I'm sure Dennis Smith or Graham Underwood would be happy
to give you more information if you'd like to visit.
Since I accidentally volunteered myself (or do I mean Was
Volunteered) to be Club QL back issues librarian, things haven't
gone too smoothly in that department, in the sense that at the
time of writing I still haven't got a full set of back issues.
Somewhere along the line, Tim Swenson (editor of QL Hackers
Journal) said I could do the same for back issues of those
newsletters. I'm not sure when I'll finally have the full sets
of both Club QL and QLHJ, but when I do I'll be able to copy
them to disk for people who can't get the back issues
electronically over the Web. What I'll be doing is to keep copies
on ZIP drive and hard disk at home and so I'll be able to run
off copies on demand. The service will be free - just send me a
disk and return postage, and I'll announce when it'll be
available hopefully in the next issue of this newsletter (in the
meantime, give me a ring first to check).
Between these back issues, the backups of all my computers'
hard disks, and my large collection of clipart etc I'm quite
glad I have a ZIP drive. The one I have is a parallel port
version - there are now IDE versions available as well which QPC
and QXL users can access by putting a QXL.WIN file on it in the
usual way. I don't know if IDE ZIP drives can be used from
Qubide or not, I guess Ron Dunnett would be the person to ask
that to, as he sells Qubide. If I can get a reply out of him
I'll let you know. Obviously, since the IDE versions are
internal drives, you'd need a case and power supply to use it as
an external drive for Qubide. The reason for bringing this up is
that Software Warehouse have a special offer at the moment on
Tashika versions of the internal IDE ZIP drive (fully
compatible) at 59 pounds + VAT including a free copy of their
drive doubler software, doubling the disk capacity from 100Mb to
200 Mb. Notebook PC users can also get a more expensive internal
notebook version of the ZIP drive to plug into the removable
drive bay on a notebook, which again could be potentially of
interest to QPC users.
This leads to a question from me. Does anyone have a CD-R
burning machine on their PC who could help me? Following some
correspondence on the QL Users Email Mailing List recently
involving Gerhard Plavec from Austria, it seems there is a PD-CD
floating about for QPC and QXL users (i.e. with a lot of QL
PD/Freeware/WhateverWare in a QXL.WIN file on it). This gave me
the idea that as I have so many floppy disks and ZIP disks used
for backups, clipart and literature files around the house, and
blank CD-R media are down to a pound apiece, I should think of
putting these onto 650 MB CDR media if it is possible. Is there
anyone out there with a CD-burner on their PC who could help me
with this? Or I'll have to save my pennies and buy a cheap one
myself and flood the QL scene with QXL.WIN CD-ROMs.
(For people unfamilar with QXL.WIN, this is the filename of a
file placed on the PC's hard disk by the QXL and QPC for storing
QL files - all QDOS/SMSQ files are placed within this single
large file to keep them separate from DOS and Windows files).
I recently got a copy of CorelDraw 3 (a PC program) on a magazine cover
disk. It was completely full and free and not a limited time demo edition or
crippleware program as you usually find on a cover CD. The idea was that by
giving a free copy of an earlier version of the program to readers, they
would get hooked on version 3 and pay a large amount to upgrade to the
current version 8. I didn't! Basically, the program is a bit like Line
Design but a bit harder to use.
What got me interested was an additional program bundled with it and a
little discovery I made on the way. It comes with a program called
CorelTrace which takes in bitmapped pictures (various PC equivalents of
files like QL screens) and traces them automatically to make vector graphics
equivalents. What this means is that, in QL terms, you could take a screen
picture and trace it to become a resizable Line Design page, avoiding the
jagged edges and staircase effects you get when enlarging ordinary bit
mapped pictures.
This program takes common clipart files like Windows bitmaps (.bmp files) or
Paintbrush (.PCX) files and makes them into Encapsulated Postscript (.EPS)
files which can be imported into CorelDraw, then saved as Adobe Illustrator
files (.AI) files which as we all know (I hope) can be directly imported
into Line Design to make QL versions of the clipart. The little discovery I
made was that Adobe Illustrator .AI files seem to be subsets of the .EPS
files, and in most cases simply by renaming the .EPS filename suffices into
.AI, they could be imported directly into Line Design without having to go
through the process of saving them again from CorelDraw as .AI files first.
Annoyingly, Line Design seems to reject any file with the suffix.EPS or _EPS
if you try to load these, but if you just rename them to _AI it will load
them happily.
Since CorelTrace can do multiple batch traces, it meant I could tag a whole
list of files to convert from bitmaps to vector form and leave the PC to run
overnight to convert a huge amount of clipart for me, then import them one
by one into LineDesign at will. Of course, the PC crashed after the third
file out of 100 on the first overnight run, but it got there in the end
after a few hard kicks. Stand by for a QL scene imminently to be flooded
with huge amounts of free converted PC clipart for Line Design!
One snag is that as the .AI file format is a subset of .EPS
(I think, at least!), there will probably be some facilities
which won't import correctly in this way if the graphic has some
clever colourful fountain or graduated fills or other less
common features. So far, Line Design has successfully imported
the 100 or so files I've done recently without problem. I just
rename the .EPS files in DOS to .AI with a command like REN
*.EPS *.AI in MS-DOS and transfer them to QL floppy disks to
bring into Line Design. Within Line Design, I just have to press
F2, L to bring up the Load Page menu, press F4, N for no
extension specifier (so that Line Design can see _AI files rather
than just _LDP pages) and choose the filename to be loaded. All
that's needed now is for PROGS to come up with a bulk converter
of _AI files to _LDP pages so that I don't have to do this
manually for every file. I did think of recording keypress
sequences as sorts of macros to drive Line Design, but it's so
slow loading AI files that it would be risky, as key presses
might be replayed before pictures have finished loading. So I've
begged PROGS to write a converter and will sit back and wait to
see if it happens or not.
Another useful program I use on the PC to help me convert PC
graphics to the QL is Graphics Converter Gold, by Imsi. This
allows me to convert various Windoze vector graphics file
formats such as Windows Metafiles (.WMF) and Computer Graphics
Metafiles (.CGM) into Adobe Illustrator (.AI) format which will
load into Line Design. You can tag a list of files to be
converted and leave it to get on with it. One more step in my
personal task to rob the PC users to feed the QL users!
I hope all this talk of PC things doesn't frighten members.
Since I had to learn to use these PC programs to further my QL
ends, I thought others might be in the same situation. Since I
have a PC and prefer to use it as a QL thanks to QPC, I may as
well use the PC to benefit my QL activities.
Dilwyn Jones
Terry Williams 24/3/98
Hi Mike & Friends!
Mike: Reading off your further troubles with your Hard Disk
has made me very glad I do'nt hve one ! A week ago I decided I
wanted to format a disc in Flp2_ and set out to do it . As I
pressed enter to start the process I realised I had blithely typed
FLP1!!!!!!!!! that wiped my working EHD disc clean which had been
three quarters full!!!!??#### .When I had calmed down a bit I
found most of my backups and am now back to normal with just a few
of my files need re doing.I have now made a resolution that if I
think of FORMAT I only have one disc in its slot!!!
Frank Merrison: Yours is a very good idea . I find that when
I am looking over some ones shoulder while they demonstrate a
program I think 'That clever!! . What happened?? as the screens
flash by!. When I got my QPAC2 I tried reading the manual from
page one, but not for long!!. Luckily I had Purchased it from Roy
Wood and he included his own simple boot program with fairly idiot
level explanations and I was able to get going so now I would not
be without it. I still keep my TASKMASTER on my second machine for
some programs I can't get to run.
TASKMASTER?HAS MALCOLM WHITE MOVED TO WALES? It came to my
notice the other day that a cat called 'One Two Three' went on
holiday to the South of France. While out swimming one day he met
a french cat called "Une Der Twaa ". They decided to have a race
out to a rock off the shore line . The question is 'Which cat
won?. Give Up? For the answer press F5 followed by'A', and it
will appear before your very eyes, if Mike's ministrations in
preparing this doc , have not destroyed the exhange glossary
code!!. Please excuse the phonentic translation!
SORRY TERRY,BUT I TRIED IT AND NOTHING HAPPENED,ANYONE ELSE
GET IT?
TTFN Terry
FRANK MERRISON,
Mike:
Thank you for the copies of previous issues that I had
missed.
In an earlier issue I gave a brief account of a visit to
a Radio & Computer Rally held at Edmonton. I mentioned seeing ED
drives for about ten pounds and Darran (in QL106_doc) asked me to
pick up a couple if I saw them on offer again. I am sorry if I
misled you Darran but this was a single item that hardly
noticed among millions of others of all sorts. This particular
Rally is normally only held once a year but it so happens that
a second was - in fact - held about a month ago. This time I
didn't see any ED's on sale. They were second hand anyway and I
would have had to think long and hard before parting with any
cash. At these fairs it is possible to pick up really good
bargains but the dealers, generally, do not display any names
or addresses and second hand stuff is bought "as seen". Most
items on sale are genuine and of sound quality but it is
difficult when buying for someone else.
As an example; I saw 5 volt 5 amp switch mode power
supplies - brand new, and compact, in sealed packages. Exactly
the thing I had been on the lookout for to use in a box with two
disc drives. At `3.00 - how could I go wrong? I wasn't loosing
much if it didn't work. When I got home and had a closer look
these units required an input supply of up to 48v DC! Now I have
to find a way of getting `3.00's worth of admiration
looking at it and wondering what to do. Sorry Darran!
Again in QL106_doc Malcolm Roberts questions how Adrian
Vickers is able to use Quill on a PC - does it come as part of
Qlay? he asks. When I read this letter I felt sure that it was
a bit old hat by now and someone - somewhere would have
answered it. Searching through Ql107 & ql108 I can find nom
referrence to this question so here goes.
When I first bought my PC some four years a go I had a
similar problem both in using Quill and Archive on the new toy.
The answer is not in Qlay which emulates a QL but in using
Xchange which is a pure PC suite of programs. It is more correct
to say that Xchange is a single program that holds the four Psion
parts. Being, old and past it, my memory is not what it was and
once I have sorted out a problen I tend to forget how I arrived
at the answer. The old brain box being busy getting filled up
with the latest problem. Xchange is installed in the normal
manner into it's own sub-directory and the QL files run through
Digital Precision's Xover program. As I remember they can then be
exported and imported into Xchange. I seem to recall that I had a
problen doing this with the procedures of Archive but I do have
them on my PC so I either got over this problem or I must have
typed them in again. They are in a very long file so I am of the
opinion that I never took this long way round the trouble.
QL108 - the last issue seems to contain a lot of members
(including myself) who raised the problems they have found with
Qpac2. Mainly it seems to be the difficulty in following the
manual which, like many others of like ilk, is written by experts
for experts to read. Colin Baskett, who mentions using the latest
version of Qpac leaves me wondering where and how an update might
be obtained as I believe mine must be well beyond it's "sell-by
date" Dennis Smith gave me a small clue as to how and what it
is and Bill Waugh starts to explain about the stuffer buffer and
what that does but I still cannot follow the point of it. This
just looks like a long and complicated way round typing in a
few words in SuperBasic. I never like doing anything
complicated when a simple way exists.
I look forward to hearing members' views on QPac2 and any
ideas to make it easier to follow.
Best wishes to all... Frank Merrison.
P. McPHERSON,
Fraternal Greetings Everybody,
Well, it's happened yet again I missed out on issue 108
because I was in hospital again, this time with a stroke which has
affected my left side a bit, demoralised me a bit more, and really
hacked me off a lot. The good news is I'm on the mend and and
begining to use my QL again and can pose a couple more questions
to get the more experienced QL users thinking.
BLIMEY MATE,THIS LAST 12 MONTHS FOR YOU HAS NOT BEEN A HAPPY
ONE HAS IT,WE ARE ALL GLAD YOU ARE ON THE MEND AGAIN.
The first of those questions is addressed to Darren. How come
you use a Spectrum +2A instead of the older, cheaper and in my
opinion better, original +2 (grey) version? The reason I ask is
that the 2A was notorious for not being able to run much of the
Spectrums better software and couldn't use the +D disc and printer
interface which a massive difference to the humble Spectrum. I
occasionally use ours for war games like Arnhem, Vulcan and Desert
Rats (new ones are murder to get hold of these days) whilst Bob
uses it for flight simulations. Incidentally, he says "Did you
know that the Air Training Corps STILL use a 48K Speccy, "Fighter
Pilot" and "Harrier Attack" for cadet's pre-flight training
purposes - honest!". Thanks again for COSMOS Darren, did you get
my payment for it?
The next question is addressed to all those with a far
superior knowledge of the QL than I can ever hope to aquire and I
await the answers with baited breath. How can I split my screen
into two windows and run two separate versions of Xchange or Quill
documents, one on either side of the screen and still be able to
write to at least one, and preferably both of the windows? I know
I can run two, or more, documents at a time with Xchange but can
only see one document at a time and have to "F6" and reselect the
second document in order to see, and write to it which is both
time consuming and confusing as well as being a bit awkward,
especially if you have a poor (human) memory like yours truly and
several 18,000+ word draft documents to compare and amend into one
final document.
THERE IS A WAY OF DOING THIS CAN ANYONE HELP AS IT MAY ALSO
BE OF USE TO OTHERS.
I am pretty sure that this can be achieved somehow, QRAM and
QPAC2 certainly hint at it in their tutorials but I just havn't
got a clue how. So, can I place the problem in the hands of our
resident panel of QL experts in the hope of finding a solution for
me, bearing in mind that I am a fairly inexperienced QL user,
rather than a programmer and wouldn't know the difference between
machine code and morse code.
And finally, one of Bobs college mates has a simple home made
device built from an Amiga magazine circuit design which allows
hundreds of large programmes and data to be downloaded from an
Amiga directly onto a domestic video recorder and retrieved at
will whilst the process's progress can be checked on a TV screen
or monitor. Apparently, the PC also has a similar, commercially
available device which costs a fortune. He also informs me that
this method is a much more reliable storage method than either
disc or hard drive. The obvious question is: does such a device
exist for the QL?
I would be the first to admit that I far from being an expert
on such matters, but the potential of using an ordinary video
recorder as a large, reliable, and fairly fast storage device
seems to be enormous, especially for those of us that don't have
access to ED disc drives or hard drives, but do have access to a
domestic VCR and 3 to 6 hour video tapes which should be able to
hold an awful lot of programmes at relatively little cost.
Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself or maybe I am being a
little naive, but couldn't the QL transfer programmes and data
directly through one of the serial ports or via a modem directly
to a VCR and then back again or would some kind of interface
be necessary?
Best Wishes,
Paul & Bob
Mike Dodd
Dear Mike + Members,
What a brilliant idea, I think we all will learn something from
a DUMMIES guide to QPAC !
Also would someone like to explain sub directories in the
same way ?
I SHALL HAVE A GO AT THIS,NO DOUBT SOMEONE WILL 'TIDY'IT
UP.FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND,DIRECTORIES ARE WHERE YOUR MAIN PROGRAM
LIES,FOR EXAMPLE LINEDESIGN,THIS GOES INTO A DIRECTORY OF ITS
OWN,YOU CAN THEN PUT LINEDESIGN FONTS INTO A SUB-DIRECTORY ALSO
LINEDESIGN PAGES(LDP)INTO ANOTHER SUB DIRECTORY AND SO ON.YOU THEN
CONFIGURE YOUR LINEDESIGN PROGRAM TO LOOK FOR THE FILES IT NEEDS
IN THE SUB DIRECTORIES,IT MAKES THINGS A LITTLE TIDIER WHEN YOU
DIR A DISC OR HARD DRIVE,IT LOOKS SOMETHING LIKE THIS WHEN DIR'D:-
LINEDESIGN LD_FONTS> LD_PAGES>
KNOWING ME I AM TOTALLY WRONG AND AM GOING TO HAVE MY HAND
SLAPPED AGAIN,BUT WHAT THE HAY,THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR.I HOPE
THIS HELPS IN SOME SMALL WAY.
As you can see from my heading I am in the throes of trying
out a Qubide disc.( and it is TOO FAST most of the time !)
What I didn't like about the Qubide was that it runs for
ever. Well at least as long as the computer is running, which for
me is all the time. So I spoke with Ron Dunnett about it and he
said that switching the 12v would be OK. After a rummage through
my junk boxes , I soon found a switch an LED and a 1k
resistor. I then cut a hole into the top of the QL case,(top r/h
corner, near the 'S' in SINCLAIR) and fitted them. As the switch
is a rocker type with three positions I soldered the 1k+LED +ve on
one end and joined it to the other, then to the drive.I next put
the +12v onto the middle, and then the -ve of the LED to Gnd.
While I have been editing my programs to work from the Qubide
rather than floppies, I came accross a strange quirk.(Minerva
only) . I was loading in a BOOT and using "EDIT" or "AUTO" to
make the changes which were required to make them run from the
hard disc. But I was loosing lines out of the listings,(at random
- it seemed). In the end I found that if I loaded a listing and
immediately tried to "AUTO" or "EDIT" then lines dissappeared.(
starting at 100 , plus one line per press of ENTER). How this
happens I have no idea, but to prevent this happening a
number needs to be ENTERED, ( 99 ENTER ) , and all is as it
should be. Has anyone else had this ?
All the Best, Mike D.
#! Martin Burke,
24th March, 1998.
Dear Mike and Friends,
Frank's idea for an "idiot's guide" to QPACII is a good one.
The question is whether it is feasible. I suspect that there may
be a "nub" through which at the moment individuals have to
overcome themselves. It should be possible to make this easier
but only if people on both sides can identify this impediment. I
often point out to people that learning to drive a car is vastly
more difficult than driving a car. This is a reality most car
drivers can comfortably ignore: they have acquired the "learned
reflexes" and are not even aware that they use them. Explaining
what facilities, advantages, etc QPAC is meant to provide may be
the first step. Then perhaps people can graduate to learning how
QPAC provides these services - and how they set up QPACII to give
them what they want.
Define "thing": is it a routine, a program, an "object",
advanced form of "hotkey" or "alt-key"? In the March April 98
issue of "QL Today" Dilwyn tries to describe it: I was astonished
that it could be data. He refers to it as "a part of memory with
a name of some kind". Perhaps the word "memo" might be more
"intuitive": it is contained in memory and in its turn contains
some program, routine, data, etc. While I cannot claim to
understand this facility yet, I am beginning to think that this
might be a damnably useful thing - but "thing" is the wrong word.
Should it be defined in terms of function as well as - or rather
than? - content or construction? And is it important for new
users to appreciate that they define what the "thing" is - and
does - not QPACII.
Thanks to Dennis Smith for the CM8833 tips: I hope to follow
these up shortly.
Yours,
Martin Burke. #!
#! Dennis Smith.
Hello All,
A quick reminder of this year's QUANTA AGM. This will be held
at The Parish Hall, Mansfield Rd, Selston, Nottingham on Saturday
25th. April.From 10am to 12pm.
Here are the directions for Selston.
Selston is on the B600 Nottingham to Alfreton road. M1
junction 28 and A38 South Normanton turnoff. Follow the sign for
Pinxton (B6019). Follow this road to a 'T' junction, turn right.
The Parish Hall is 400m. on the right. M1 junction 27. Follow
road A608 - Heanor - Underwood - Selston (B600) to the Sandhills
Tavern. Turn right and right to the B600 - Alfreton - Selston
road. Follow the road until petrol station on the right. Turn
right to Mansfield road, B6018 - Kirkby in Ashfield - Sutton in
Ashfield. Follow road and Selston Parish Hall is on your left
400m. Train to Alfreton Parkway. Bus from Derby to Alfreton 243
or 245, Alfreton to Selston R12 or R13. Bus from Nottingham to
Selston R12 or R13.
Accomodation. Central Hotel, Station Rd, Sutton-in-Ashfield,
Nottinghamshire. NG17 5FF. Phone (01623)-552373, fax
(01623)-443106. or Leighbank House Hotel, 57 Kirkby Rd,
Sutton-in-Asfield, Nottinghamshire. Phone (01623)-559704 and
458484. You have probably seen the advert that Graham Underwood
has done elsewhere. The Hotels have been missed off. The cost is
about 20 pounds. You should all know the agenda by now but for
those who know nothing I'll run through it again. The AGM will be
a one day affair. It will start at 10a.m. on Saturday 25th. April
and will go right through until 12pm. with breaks for snacks,
technical forum, AGM after which will be a buffet and don't forget
beer all day. Don't make the mistake of turning up late as the
trading will stop around 4pm to move onto other things.
Mike and that PC. Haven't you had enough of that thing yet?
Surely you would be better off 'knocking up' an up-to-date QL type
of system to do all this type of stuff on. The QXL is good but its
tied to a volatile system giving you far too much grief at regular
intervals. Over the years I've never had a lot of trouble with
QLs, now and again during various development stages nothing much
though. I'll tell you the last time my present system failed....
er... never. Its been like this since Aurora came out. I've
crashed it doing daft things with software but I knew it might
crash and was prepared for it. If you have Qpac 1 then you have
'sysmon', that even beeps at you telling you its going to crash so
you can save your files quickly. I've had some crashes, some even
on computers but sysmon gives me the smoothest crash bar none.
Press the reset and have another go at being a programmer, no big
deal.
I GET YOUR DRIFT DENNIS,I AM THINKING OF GOING AND GETTING MY
QL BACK FROM MY NEPHEW,NOW HE HAS GONE TO UNIVERSITY HE NO LONGER
NEEDS IT,BUT WHERE THE HELL AM I GOING TO SET IT UP?
While on about PCs, which I don't want to write about, I've
known a few to just loose their keyboard function. When you can't
type you can't fix, catch 22. I had a strange conversation the
other day, it was suggested that Micro$oft software is actually
hostile to some none Micro$oft software when they are run at the
same time. It sounds slightly ludicrous but it does seem to be
right when I think back...!? One last thing on this subject a
certain person (?) spent towards 2000 pounds on a PC recently only
to find that when they said "It was year 2000 compliant" that was
a bit of a lie because he found out it wasn't. It has now been
fixed, unless they have lied again...
APPARENTLY THIS IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS I HAD ALSO,THE
KEYBOARD FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON REVERTED BACK TO THE AMERICAN
KEYBOARD SET-UP AND EVERY TIME I PRESSED A COMMAND KEY UP CAME A
MENU,ie PRESS P AND UP CAME THE PRINT MENU,ACCORDING TO
MASTERCARE,IT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN AT ANY TIME,IT JUST FORGETS ITS
IN THE UK!
SeQueL : We are negotiating for hardware discounts, it will
probably be a one off and by the time you read this it will be too
late for you to attend and get the discount but I thought I would
mention it anyway.
Frank Merrison : Qpac2. I won't say much about this as it is
going to be covered. We have an operating system to start with
called QDOS. This is supposed to be very good, you can tell that
because programmers like it, that is the measure. You cannot see
it therefore you are uncertain about it. QDOS has been replaced by
SMSQ/E (not SMSQ or SMS) - the /E bit stands for extended. The
faulty bits of QDOS have been put right, new features introduced
and the whole operating system (and therefore programs) runs
faster. Qpac2 can be regarded as another extension to the
operating system but some of it you can see. The files menu for
example. If you bought Qpac2 loaded it and you could see it on the
screen you could say "Ah! That's what it is". That's the Micro$oft
way, you will use this as I say you will. We are free, free to
adjust Qpac2 as we see fit, so eventually we end up with something
that is exactly correct for each one of us. As we set up our
systems we have different ideas of what we each think is best, so
to track down what Qpac2 is could be difficult as it is used
differently by each of us. Its the bit of Qpac2 you can't see that
makes it mysterious. I am sure that some people talk/write about
Qpac2 when in reality they mean the pointer environment. SMSQ/E =
Small - Micro-computer - System - QL variant / Extended.
Frank, you want to have a go at programming with the pointer
environment (QPTR), that's got BLOBS. What with 'stuffer
buffer','things','blobs' and hot_everything I think we have the
most exciting (sounding) operating system in town. Go on Frank
admit it, you now want to know what a blob is. Possibly the
mysterious names are there to draw you in further until eventually
you know everything then you can talk and no one will understand
you, just like the elite.
DIDN'T THEY MAKE A FILM ABOUT IT?
Martin Burke : A bit of a side note to your last text.
Plugging lots of things into a PC. If you use a lot of things
plugged into various ports (serial and parallel) then you require
interrupt requests for each thing you plug in. I think these range
from 0 to 15 and in a 'normal' system they are nearly all used up
so some hardware things have to share resources with other
hardware things. Now there's a problem, when 2 or more hardware
things try to use the same interrupt request there is a possible
conflict, so you have to decide what hardware is safe to use at
the same time. A bit crap really.
Bill Waugh : You mentioned about Scrap. To put text into
scrap then retrieve it. A quick way of doing this is to put the
text into QD then send the text to scrap. Go to the other program
- maybe Quill - use AltScrap and the text is then printed into
Quill as if you typed it in yourself. What is AltScrap? Just 4
lines of complied basic that puts the current scrap on an ALT
key, very quick and handy. I've mentioned it here before. Very
quick if you want to drop the same text 2 or 3 times or more.
QTPI : Bill, QTPI sends anything to a bulletin board or
another computer and receives anything back from a bulletin board
or another computer. We should use it for all this stuff. 218
Rover Diesels : What do you want to know? Tell me about your 218
as I am thinking of getting one.
Peter Graf : Thanks a lot Peter for your explanation, it
sounds just great every time I read about the Q40. I can't wait.
Please drop a few notes here to keep us up-to-date. I don't do
Internet, I'm a Fidonet man myself so you are reaching people that
otherwise you would miss. Thanks.
Bye for now. Dennis.
Bob Murdoch.
I have had a QL since sinclair reduced the price to `200 and
I realised the software was worth that much,the QL came for
free!I have used it spasmodically over the years,of the later
years I joined the Anglia Quanta group.(Who meet near
Norwich)They managed to answer any questions I may have had that
needed answering.However over the past 12-18 months they have all
gone over to PC's,with never a backward glance at the QL.Worse
they seem to have a QL erase key on their machines.
If anyone knows of a QL group in the east of England,I
would like to know.I did not know of your existance until I
received your centenary disc with QL Today.
Inertia on my part is the reason for the delay in
contacting you.I would agree with frank Merrison on the need for
a QPACII for dummies,and look forward to reading it.The problem
seems that it is very flexible in what is acheivable,but
all the helpers seem set in what they prefer.
I have no problems at the moment,but I am sure they will
come.
Bob Murdoch.
Malcolm Roberts
Dear ClubQLers,
It's ages since I've been able to make a submission. I think
the last 3 disks I sent to Mike all had problems. A lot has
happened since. I retired last September so I'm a man of leisure
at the moment. Unfortunately, this hasn't improved my golf
handicap. Also, I bought a PC at about the same time. This has
meant that I simply haven't got room for the QL which is in the
garage at the moment. I reconnected it to make a submission to the
club but as I said there were problems with the disk. I have had a
lot of help from Martin Wheatley who has kindly sent me
ql104-ql108 and I am making this submission via him.
I was trying to find a way to convert my QL datafiles for the
PC and looking at QLAY after reading an article in Quanta. I
didn't get very far with that but Martin gave me some help on
transferring text files across. This worked OK but highlighted a
problem with my QL disks. It seems that I cannot read QL files on
my PC that have been formatted on my QL's disk drive. It seems
that disks that have been formatted on other QL's are OK. I have
disks from QL software houses that work OK and from other
clubQLers that are also OK. Some of these I have saved files from
my QL on and these are also OK, so it seems that the problem is in
the formatting. I don't know if this was the cause of the problems
Mike was experiencing with the disks I sent, I suspect not as this
only seems to have happened in recent years whilst the transfer
problem seems to apply even to disks I haven't touched for years.
When I get around to it I will set up the QL again (in the garage)
and take another look at the problem. I haven't got a modem for my
PC so if it's OK I'll try to keep in touch via Martin. I haven't
had a good look at ql104-8 in detail yet but I wanted to get this
in to Martin as I've been pestering him for help on using Lotus
Approach as an alternative to Archive. That's a new learning curve
for me.
Regards to you all,
Malcolm
Ian Pizer
e-mail 100675.632@compuserve.com
------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all and Mike,
I got a Romdisq but could not get it to function. Me or
it? I await expert opinion. I also got QPC while at Hove QL
workshop so had to get a PC! I had warned a colleague that if
he got a PC he would be struggling to learn how to run it.
That is where I am at.
I would like to have an ALTKEY facility on my PC which
is so great on QL but have not found how to do, nor if I
need a program for that. Any HELP out there for that?
About QPC. That works as it should, Bravo Marcel
Kilgus, turning PC into QL, but the mouse will not function.
I have done as suggested in the QPC/SMSQ/E manual and advice
from Jochen and Kilgus without success. The PC mouse is
Logitech connected to PS/2 (via a special several pin small
round connector at back of PC. There must be a way around
this but ??? Any HELP? Maybe I need a third mouse! Or a cat?
It is nice to get back the QL soft reset facility which
got lost on the way to improvements (moving from Minerva to
SMSQ/E). There is a program which adds a "module" to SMSQ/E
to facilitate this. Minerva also allowed you to make accented
characters easily, which also got lost (there is something
similar in a PC WP program).
The Hove meeting was great. I wrote something for
QLToday which might appear later.
Cheers - Ian
============================================
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J.C.Marcus
5 April 1998
Hi Mike & Friends
Well, it's been a while now, but it seems that due to a
cock-up in the mail, my last letter, sent in January, went astray.
I've enclosed an edited version with this (see below). I've had
some other interesting "adventures" with my PC-cased system, which
I will relate next time.... (something to look forward to!??!)
Cheers,
JC
!#
14-1-98
Hello All,
Well, the X-mas silly season has now finally passed, & I hope
this finds you all well {& not too broke!}
Mike: thanks for all the back issues; a very interesting
read, & helps in putting everything into some sort of perspective.
I wonder if you've followed Geoff Wicks' bit, "Are you sitting
comfortably?" in the last 2 issues of QL Today? Well, given the
no. of hours I've just spent reading through the old CQLIs, & the
amount of "forefinger tapping" it all involved, does this make
CQLI a health risk?? I think we need to be told! :-)))
Talking of QLT, as you may have noticed above, I've finally
succumbed & treated myself to an Aurora + SMSQ/E; well, I had a
pretty good summer over here, work-wise, & Roy Woods' wonderful &
somewhat emotionally- charged appeal in the last QLT {"Christmas
Cajole"} just had me in tears; so I had to do it. Sorry. I'm now
busy fitting everything into a {ubiquious} mini-tower case. I
noticed some comments in previous issues, & other QL mags about
problems with plates for connectors etc. so was careful over this.
I managed to find one with plenty of pre-pressed slots for
connectors; future-proofing, I suppose. You never know which way
your computer-related interests will lead, & what wonderful new
expansion our "hardware boys" are going to dream up next! Also,
just to be different, I've decided to stick with the original QL
keyboard - yes curious I know, but: (1) I'm used to the lay-out,
& just "get lost" when using a PC 'board; (2) my QL is a (German)
Samsung build, with a very much better 'board than the "original"
original. Anyway, I'm just about ready to do the final
change-overs, but thought I'd get this off first, just in case!!
I see I missed a quiet "discussion" about musical tastes.
Pity. Well, all I have to say {& start it all off again ;-))} is:
Never mind all that bollocks, give me the Sex Pistols anytime: now
there was a group.....
OK, other points {before I get lynched}: Could I add my
thanks to all the others for Colin B., for stepping into the
breach, taking over the editorship of Quanta, & doing a real good
job at it too! That whole period, with all the bickering going on
was a real low-point for ALL QL users, as Quanta is an important
part of the QL world. Let's also hope that the "niggle" that there
seems to be/has been between it & CQLI also disappears now. {My
niggle is that I bought one of the "disputed" SGCs, only to see
the price suddenly drop by `100+ overnight. Talk about being
miffed!!!}
My idea for gaining {some} new members: try targeting the
"siblings" of past members who may have "moved on" {down} & left
their QLs for the kids to play with. There could be a whole
{de}generation out there waiting to be recruited. The PD
emulators, especially for the Amiga & Ataris {is there one for the
Atari, by the way} should also be "flogged about" as much as
possible, to atract those who have A or A's as "game" machines,
but would like to do something more with them.
Some positive points for the QL/QDOS et. al.: Entry level
still is very cheap, & upgrades can be made in small, managable
steps {if you so wish}. The PE will happily run on a Trumpcard
system. Try running Windozze on a 1985/6 PC.... You get 2
powerfull programming languages with the system {don't forget
Archive!!}, as well as the other Psion stuff, which may not be
Office, Lotus etc., but is simple to learn, & works. There is
also, of course, a huge PD source out there as well. OK, if you're
STILL not convinced, forget it.
In CQLI102 Graham B. mentions that often problems appear in
Quanta, but the solutions never get into print. This is true, but
obviously relies on one or both parties sending in the solution.
Maybe a question of laziness? I know that I've been guilty of
this in the past! Maybe the solution is to direct all queries to
the Helpline, where the "experts" can then have a go. I suppose
that the real problem is with the silly little hassles we often
have, that may be seen as "below" the level of these experts to
answer {NO insult intended, please!}; the answer then, must be
these "pages"! From what I've seen, there always seems to be
someone ready with an answer {even a silly one}.
So, on the subject: Darren B.: yes, great photo of you; are
you trying to hide your chewed-off fingernails, or what? Also,
please don't buy anymore computer gear, as there soon won't be any
room left for the letters each month!! How many systems do you
actually have up & running? And just how big is your house to fit
it all??? You ask about EXecuting Basic progs - very simple,
install FileInfoII on your system. A bit of a hassle to configure
at first, but easy to experiment with, {& it's FREE, as you'd
say!}. OR of course, you could get yourself some SMSQ/E....{;-))}
Someone also asked about help/instructions with ACP - like
FileInfoII above, ACP has Help facilities accessible from the
program - the "?" icon, or check out the relevent "_help" file
that comes with the program/s.
Dilwyn asks about a volume control for his Aurora tower
system. Well, as a sound engineer, the solution is simple. Run
the wires from the speaker in the tower to a jack socket you stick
on the back, & from there to a spare input on your stereo, stick
the volume up, AND ENJOY.
SLFN {So Long For Now}
JC
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#!
Colin Baskett
8 April 1998
Dear Mike,
May I put in a plug for the QUANTA sub-groups (and other
local QL groups). These mostly meet monthly and provide an
opportunity for QL-users to exchange notes with other
enthusiasts. They also provide a splendid opportunity for making
new friends. Some groups have more organised activities than
others. SeQuel recently invited Roy Wood and Ron Dunnett, on
separate occasions, to come and talk to them.
London Group (sounds almost like something out of LeCarre)
has just started inviting speakers to its monthly meetings. Mark
Knight told us about Fractals, with countless illustrations on a
colour monitor. Quite a tour de force and without mathematics
- well almost. And with a little digression into chaos theory:
why long term weather forecasting is impossible.
Mark has set a high standard for others who may follow.
Undaunted, however, we have a volunteer for the June meeting.
On Sunday, June 14th, at 3 pm, Alf Kendall will give a talk
entitled: ONE MAN AND HIS ATARI. Alf will give details of
configuration and a button menu among other matters of great
interest. All are welcome (there is a charge of `2 towards the
cost of hire of the hall). Thanks to Basil Lee for arranging
all this.
The next meeting of the London Group will be on Sunday, 10th
May, from 2 to 6 pm, at the Welsh Congregational Chapel,
Southwark Bridge Road. Borough is the nearest tube station.
Groups do need support but QL-users in their turn need to know
when and where their local groups meet. So may I suggest that
group members write and tell ClubQL about their groups'
activities - including where and when. I shall be glad to copy
what they have to say also in Quanta.
ClubQL International is a sort of electronic group. Do we
have any other electronic groups - topic specific ones ???? If
not, why not ?
Best wishes
Colin B #!
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