The Sinclair QL Forum

Hi to all and Merry Christmas

So, after many years of absence of QL, I decide to setup modern QL:-)
What I want/need is:

1. Original QL
2. Minerva ROM
3. Something like GoldCard/Super GoldCard
4. Some kind of mass storage - do I need QBide ? Can I attach a different media as CF, SD, SSD instead of standard noisy HDD ?
5. Possibility to use modern monitor - does exist some kind of QL > VGA/HDMI/XXXX adapter ?
6. What kind of mouse?

What is a Q68 ?
Can Q68 replaced all of this things ?
How fast it is?

Is it possible to run SMSQ/E on RaspberryPI 4?
Any other alternatives ?

Sorry for dumb questions but I'm years out of QL scene and just can't figure all news
For me is important compatibility for most of progs including classic - Psion suite, Jochen Merz software and toolkits, toolkits in general, DP software, Spy Editor, LineDesign etc...

Or maybe use QPC / QEmulator ?

Thank for help and answers in advance!

Hi Nagual,
I'm sure the following links will be useful:

http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/backtoql/backtoql.html

https://qlwiki.theqlforum.com/doku.php?i ... e_computer

Hi Nagual

The short answer is this: Buy a Q68!

• It checks all points in your list
• it is much faster than a QL+SuperGoldCard
• it has higher resolution and colors
• works with PS2 keyboard and mouse
• it is much cheaper than buying a stock QL+SGC+QL VGA+QL SD +mouse (and the mouse for a QL is a big problem!)

The only drawback is that you will not be able to play most of the old QL games. For that you will need a stock QL (with JS ROM, not Minerva) + a vDrive QL (QL 8xmicrodrive emulator with SD card)

Or use QPCII ! - well, even if you buy a QL/Q68 you should also use QPCII

I am a "Modern Ql" user in the sense of using Tony Tebby's QDOS replacements SMS2 and SMSQ/E on modern hardware.
The advantage, as far I am concerned, is the possibility of displaying some/many QDOS programs on high resolution monitors.
The disadvantage is that SMS can be setup in such a way that the system is not easily recognised as an original QL.

I run SMSQE on a Raspberry Pi400 and a Q68. The PI can display in full colour HD via HDMI whereas the Q68 displays at a maximum of XGA(1024 x 768) via a VGA port.

The Q68 is a hardware compatible FPGA QL replacement. It comes with an SD card setup that makes it a plug and play system.

The Pi400 is also plug and play and I use SMSQmulator to run SMSQE.

From your list of applications I have managed to run Psion, most toolkits, JM and Line design on both the PI and the Q68.

Put a Q68 in a keyboard and you have a cheap "modern QL" that uses SD cards as its storage media. I think you will find that SMSQ/E in QPC will be a very useful companion to enable you to access Dilwyn Jone's QL site.

You might find images of SMSQE on Pi at the following address useful. You can see how different a "Modern QL" can be.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3688&p=44382&hilit ... 400#p40051

Both QPC2 and QemuLator (and I'm sure SMSQmulator, though I have little experience of using that one) are quite good emulators. Which one is best suited to your needs depends to a degree on what you want to do.

QemuLator is a shareware emulator with a free cut-down version with fewer facilities. It is primarily QDOS based, can use most QL ROMs (needs ROM images, which are available from my page, including Minerva). So if your needs are to be as close to a QL as possible, with best compatibilitywith older software, QemuLator is good. If you buy the registered shareware version, you get lots of useful bonuses like more memory, faster code execution, ability to use SMSQ/E etc

QPC2 is SMSQ/E based and uses all the modern enhancements such as displaying more colours and higher resolution displays. But also manages to maintain a surprisingly high degree of compatibility with older software.

Both emulators can access the host computer's hard drives, SD cards etc. The actual method varies a bit from system to system though.

In case you're not familiar with it, SMSQ/E is a more modern version of QDOS with loads of new features and facilities. Actually, it's more than that, but that simple explanation will do for now. It remains largely compatible with QDOS, but as most commercial QL software was written well before SMSQ/E came into being, there may be issues getting older software to run sometimes. Especially those which don't even run consistently on different versions of QDOS/Minerva!

QPC2 is my emulator of choice. It's not really appropriate to say one is better than the other, it's more of a question of fitting which system is best suited to your needs.

Of course, if you prefer "QL" hardware to the idea of using an emulator, expanding your QL with a Gold or Super Gold Card or getting a Q68 is the only real option these days. You may come across some older hardware such as Q40 or Q60 second hand, but these aren't produced any more.

Hi,

The Q68 can run most old QL games and other software, due to the Q68 QL compatible screen modes, which relate to the QL Mode 4/8

All the software mentioned:

nagual wrote:For me is important compatibility for most of progs including classic - Psion suite, Jochen Merz software and toolkits, toolkits in general, DP software, Spy Editor, LineDesign etc...

All run on the Q68, but they also run on other emulator systems. Which I use as well.

The details of the Q68 can be seen here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2181

Send me a PM if you are interested.

dilwyn wrote:You may come across some older hardware such as Q40 or Q60 second hand, but these aren't produced any more.

The Q40 was made very badly by Qbranch, so not in production.

The Q60 was in production in 2002, but only lasted 3-4 years, due QL Trader and Media resistance.

However, next year will be 20 years since the Q60 was in production, I may think about a new batch run of Q60 boards or built systems.

Only ideas at present.

Ah, it was incredible !

Thank you guys for all fast responses and very helpful informations
Looks like Q68 is my choice
But also, Q60 looks VERY interesting!

I'm long time QPC user (actually from DOS version) and yes, I like it very much:-)
Also, I'm registered user of Qemulator 3.3.1, and need some time to figure how it works - I tried some stuff and it was not I was expected, but it's a probably my mistake, not Qemulator:-)

I'm not really in games, just "productivity" software
And Minerva is (and SMSQ/E) pretty logical choice

Thank you guys again for help!

Derek_Stewart wrote:

dilwyn wrote:You may come across some older hardware such as Q40 or Q60 second hand, but these aren't produced any more.

The Q40 was made very badly by Qbranch, so not in production.

The Q60 was in production in 2002, but only lasted 3-4 years, due QL Trader and Media resistance.

However, next year will be 20 years since the Q60 was in production, I may think about a new batch run of Q60 boards or built systems.

Only ideas at present.

I really nice idea indeed

Today, the Q60 suffers from depending on multisync monitors. No problem in the time of CRTs. But most of today's flatscreens guess a wrong resolution and interpolate incorrectly. It has been reported that the Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC) delivers an acceptable picture, but an extra box is never a nice solution. At the moment I use a modified video chip that creates 1024x768 with a black bar, also not nice.

Since my own Q60 is also affected by the misery, I have been tempted by a new Q60 design with modern video for years. And to speak frankly, parts of the work are actually done. But the remaining amount of work is still massive. And I no longer have the time and motivation I had over 20 years ago. A Q60-2 could not again be the fastest machine - that's simply impossible with a 68060 versus emulation on modern GHz CPUs. I could achive moderate improvements by faster RAM and modernized interfaces, but that's it. Not the technological milestone it was back then.