New Trump Card ROM compatibility

[RWAP]

If I type "ATR_DEV", then "DIR atr1_", it can read and write MS-DOS disks (but 720K only) I can also WCOPY flp1_ TO atr2 , and transfer QDOS floppy files into a MSDOS disk!

On the other hand, it seems impossible to read normal Qdos disks if written by QemuLator
Only a partial list and a number of square roots, then "bad or changed medium":

Are you using HD disks reformatted on the PC to DD format or real DD disks? This can cause confusion when moving between two different disk drives!

[dilwyn]

The '(C) Jo' in the banner makes me think it really is a Jochen Hassler code because on some of his other software such as GAL Assembler I have seen it appear exactly like that.

This will absolutely not be a Qubbesoft Trump Card ROM as although Qubbesoft did do a Trump Card with level 2 drivers, it did not include the ATR driver.

The version of the level 2 upgrade ROM ("flp-level-2") which was released through Jurgen Falkenburg Computer Teknik included a MAKE_DIR command and level 2 (hard directories). So it can't be that one. Jochen Hassler's original did not have level 2 drivers as far as I am aware.

Here's a short summary of the ATR_xxx commands in the Falkenburg flp-level-2, I suppose you could try these to see if they work, but the screen shot of extensions did not show these unless the ATR_DEV keyword enables the other extensions.

Code: Select all

ATR_DEV 
installs the ATR driver (with up to four new drives atr1_ ...atr4_) and adds
three additional new commands to Basic. If ATR has been installed already,
ATR_DEV will reset the settings of the ATR floppy driver to their basical values
(of FLP_START and FLP_STEP). Furtheron the driver will delete all disk
informations of the actual disk so that they will be read in completely new at
the next access like with a new medium.

ATR_USE [nam] 
renames the ATR device name like used trom FLP_USE or RAM_USE. 

ATR_CONV x 
sets the automatic character translation tor file transfers from "flp" (QL) to
'atr' (IBM/ATARI) and vice versa to on (x=1) or off (x=0). This is useful tor
the transfer of text files since special ASCII codes and linefeed differ between
QL and IBM/ATARI. Of course the translation may not be used for code files and
executable programs. The translation tables are included in the file
'ATRconv_dat' of the enclosed disk and have to be loaded (ATR installed) before
with LRESPR flp1_ATRconv_dat.
With x=2 the use of a second self-defined translation table will be selected.
It may be created with 'ATRconv_asm' of the enclosed disk.
If the translation tables are not available a 'not implemented' error message
will be given, if for x=2 no second table has been loaded a 'bad parameter'
error will be printed.

ATR_TRACK num 
like with FLP_TRACK this command defines the number of tracks for formatting
disks, 80 tracks is the predefined default.

[Cristian]

Hi,

Can you make a copy of the ROM code for the QL Preservation Project
Your one seems to be quite old. If you can programme eproms, I can send to you copy of the ROM

I thought ATR was still copyright with Albin Hessler. I have copies of ATR as loadable extensions, but non-distributable due copyright, unless this has been made freeware?

A friend of mine could programme the eprom. Thank you very much for sending me your Rom
About my rom: actually I don't know if it's still copyright. If someone can confirm it's free, it will be a real pleasure to make a copy (if you explain me how!)

[Cristian]

If I type "ATR_DEV", then "DIR atr1_", it can read and write MS-DOS disks (but 720K only) I can also WCOPY flp1_ TO atr2 , and transfer QDOS floppy files into a MSDOS disk!

On the other hand, it seems impossible to read normal Qdos disks if written by QemuLator
Only a partial list and a number of square roots, then "bad or changed medium":

Are you using HD disks reformatted on the PC to DD format or real DD disks? This can cause confusion when moving between two different disk drives!

Good idea. But I've been using for years HD disks (with tape to close the hole) with both Trumpcard and QemuLator without any problem. Actually the taped HD disks are also more reliable than the DD ones... till now.

[Cristian]

Dilwin,
thank you for your info and ATR_ summary
I'll make some tests ASAP.

[Cristian]

Code: Select all

ATR_DEV 
installs the ATR driver (with up to four new drives atr1_ ...atr4_) and adds
three additional new commands to Basic. If ATR has been installed already,
ATR_DEV will reset the settings of the ATR floppy driver to their basical values
(of FLP_START and FLP_STEP). Furtheron the driver will delete all disk
informations of the actual disk so that they will be read in completely new at
the next access like with a new medium.

ATR_USE [nam] 
renames the ATR device name like used trom FLP_USE or RAM_USE. 

ATR_CONV x 
sets the automatic character translation tor file transfers from "flp" (QL) to
'atr' (IBM/ATARI) and vice versa to on (x=1) or off (x=0). This is useful tor
the transfer of text files since special ASCII codes and linefeed differ between
QL and IBM/ATARI. Of course the translation may not be used for code files and
executable programs. The translation tables are included in the file
'ATRconv_dat' of the enclosed disk and have to be loaded (ATR installed) before
with LRESPR flp1_ATRconv_dat.
With x=2 the use of a second self-defined translation table will be selected.
It may be created with 'ATRconv_asm' of the enclosed disk.
If the translation tables are not available a 'not implemented' error message
will be given, if for x=2 no second table has been loaded a 'bad parameter'
error will be printed.

ATR_TRACK num 
like with FLP_TRACK this command defines the number of tracks for formatting
disks, 80 tracks is the predefined default.

Yes Dilwin, I tried these commands and seem to work correctly
Anyway, the ROM still has some strange behaviours
For example, the command FLP_USE is listed but not accepted:

Probably it's due to the reasons suggested in the previous posts.
In any case, I remain available to make a Rom code copy for Derek - once clarified the possible (C) issues.

[dilwyn]

Hmm, I've never seen FLP_USE give a 'channel not open' error before. Either the syntax is different in this particular version, or it gives additional credence to RWAP's suggestion that this might be a home brew rom, with extensions not linked fully correctly.

The ATR driver and Level-2 Upgrade ROMs are still copyright Jochen Hassler and Jurgen Falkenburg to the best of my knowledge. I know various people (including RWAP) have tried to contact the authors to get them released without success.

Providing a copy for preservation purposes might be possible, however, since Rich maintains copies of as much software as he can get his hands on, without giving away copies until he has permission. It has happened a lot of times - we manage to contact copyright holders eventually who say "yes you can release it as freeware but I haven't got a copy of it to give you any more". Without Rich's efforts to preserve the software, we'd end up with no copies in the future. Sure, a lot of software just sits there and we can do nothing with it (except perhaps look at the code to remove copy protection or occasionally fix bugs on modern systems) until we do get the permissions, but without preserving a copy for the future we'll be stuck when we do eventually get permission.

So, in your situation, I'd be happy to give Rich a copy for preservation purposes - if you feel unsure, include a message saying it's for preservation only until you get permission to re-release this.

On an original QL, you can save a copy of the EPROM with the command:

SBYTES mdv1_trump_rom,0,48*1024

I'm not sure if this applies to the Trump Card, since some Miracle Systems devices shadowed the ROM making it harder to save a copy reliably. Probably the easiest way would be physically remove the EPROM and read it using an EPROM programmer. Also, since the Trump Card includes Toolkit 2, I'm not sure if you'd have to save a 64K image replacing the 48*1024 with 64*1024. Since the Trump Card takes QL RAM memory beyond the design limit of 640K up to 896K, I would imagine an on-board eprom on the Trump Card probably patches code in the QL rom and adds the Trump Card specific extensions and Toolkit 2.

Anyone know any better with Trump Cards?

[dilwyn]

Forgot to suggest alternative syntax to try for FLP_USE, since it complains of 'channel not open'. You try putting the new device name in quotes, e.g. FLP_USE "mdv" instead of FLP_USE mdv

If that doesn't work, try FLP_USE #channel,"mdv"

On some systems, FLP_USE by itself without a parameter just resets the FLP driver name to FLP from whatever it had been set by you. If that version works, you'll know the driver is there, but different syntax

[Cristian]

So, in your situation, I'd be happy to give Rich a copy for preservation purposes - if you feel unsure, include a message saying it's for preservation only until you get permission to re-release this.

Yes Dilwyn, I've perfectly understood: thanks for your complete explanation.
Sure, for me it's a true pleasure to give my very little help to the preservation project
I'll try your suggested method.