The Sinclair QL Forum

Hi,

Can you verify if the external keyboard is working, usually AT/XT Keyboard flash the LEDs when itialised.

Can you connect the keyboard to another computer?

Failing that, can you verify the keyboard cable has not got any damaged wires?

Hi Derek,

thanks for your reply. The keyboard is working, I got it running with SMSQ/E 3.35 .

Probably I have to install the Minerva Eprom on the Eprom socket of the Keyboard interface? This is my last idea.

Regards,

Stephan

To close this topic, maybe usefull for others:

Minerva + TK2 Eprom in the lower socket from the ABC IF worked well, no ROM on QL motherboard. Boot up and the QL Keyboard works. Lrespr the driver from Disk and both Keyboards work. TK2 is available.

Rgs,

Stephan

I've been talking to Maskenlos over pm and this question arose that also interests me:

Is it possible to program an EPROM with Minerva, TK2 (from $C000) and also include the ROMable version of the ABC keyboard code somewhere on the same chip?

The ABC ROM code is 786 bytes long.

most of the Minvera ROM versions are pretty packed, as is toolkit II, so you are unlikey to find the room in a 64K Eprom for the keyboard driver as well.

Pr0f wrote:most of the Minvera ROM versions are pretty packed, as is toolkit II, so you are unlikey to find the room in a 64K Eprom for the keyboard driver as well.

Understood. I'll put it at C000 then, instead of TK2.

Well, you could remove the QL keyboard handling from the Minerva ROM to free space Or I've got one TK2 version on my site that lacks the ED editor and is small enough, too. Or removing the network driver could free up enough space... so stuff is possible, but it's all a bit of work

mk79 wrote:Well, you could remove the QL keyboard handling from the Minerva ROM to free space Or I've got one TK2 version on my site that lacks the ED editor and is small enough, too. Or removing the network driver could free up enough space... so stuff is possible, but it's all a bit of work

Deary me, what a palaver.

I've often eyed your improved TK2 with either missing ED of missing NET, but I can't bear to be without either of them and am too lazy to set it up to LRESPR the rest from a boot file (because I sometimes boot from floppy etc). Too much for me to remember!

The ABC device has an extra ROM socket. Could Minerva and TK2 be on the main ROM and then the ROM version of the driver be on the extra ROM? That's what the extra socket is there for I suppose, even if it means using just 786 bytes of an EPROM.

What I haven't actually got my head round yet, is how many max 16K ROMs can you actually have starting at the normal external C000 position onwards? I should really know that by now!

Chr$ wrote:I've often eyed your improved TK2 with either missing ED of missing NET, but I can't bear to be without either of them and am too lazy to set it up to LRESPR the rest from a boot file (because I sometimes boot from floppy etc). Too much for me to remember!

Well, your last plan here was not having TK2 at all? Sounds worse.

The ABC device has an extra ROM socket. Could Minerva and TK2 be on the main ROM and then the ROM version of the driver be on the extra ROM? That's what the extra socket is there for I suppose, even if it means using just 786 bytes of an EPROM.

According to the manual the other socket is to fill the C000 area if you have an original ROM you want to put there. Of course in this case the other slot only serves the 48kb OS area. There is no way to map any ROM higher than that because the ROM slot simply does not have the lines for it.

What I haven't actually got my head round yet, is how many max 16K ROMs can you actually have starting at the normal external C000 position onwards? I should really know that by now!

There's space for another 32kb, but basically only extension cards can put it there.

I think the fact the ABC Keyboard interface plugs into the ROM socket - confines it to the bottom 64K or memory map - so accessing areas outside is not really possible.

That leaves you with 48K for the OS and 16K for extension ROM (TK2, user ROM, whatever you want in there).