On 10/12/04 at 12:24 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
1. Qubide II - definitely. Whether QL expansion is SGC or whatever, Qubide
remains the only option for hard disk expansion via IDE from a QL or
Aurora systems.
This is doable, but requires a minor and/or major upgrade to the driver.
The minor part is centered about keeping the driver and the disk format the
same, just catering for minor differences in the hardware (line not needing
to set any jumpers at all and the capability to work with romDisq).
Possibly, the initialization sequence could be simplified. All of this
assumes that the Qubide source (latest version) is available, and AFAIK, it
is
Yes it is :-)
(Roy? What is the legal status of it?), and also assumes a person that
can look into said source, understand the necessary bits, and change as
needed. It may be prudent to start a repository of sources, perhaps best at
the official SMSQ site?
The latest QubIDE v.2.02 is already incorporated in QDOS Classic btw :-)
The major part is more radical. It is high time that hard drive partitions
and formats be unified on QL platforms, and in fact, it is only Qubide that
does not directly conform to the norm. It should be possible (indeed, it
should not be much work) to convert the SMSQ/E win drivers for Qx0 to run
on Qubide hardware. The problem here is the lack of utilities. Qubide's
format and partition utilities are, to my knowledge, far more than is
available to the Qx0 user.
Absolutely true... and when the QubIDE software is run on a Q40 or Q60 thanks to the wonderful work of Derek Stewart, many of the problems experienced with the regular QubIDE software (ie Not a QubIDE partition message appearing out of nowhere) are now gone. Plus format AND verification (which the SMSQ/e Mkpart doesn't do) is lightning fast...
However in all truth, there is a GREAT SMSQ/e partition tools only it doesn't run under SMSQ/e... it runs under Linux (atari-fdisk) and it's worth to boot a ram-based linux only for atari-fdisk :-)
Still more radical, it should be possible to support both types of partitions as well, but that requires a lot of work on the driver(s).
I am not sure if it feasible without major changes in the QubIDE software
There are also issues associated with both drivers, namely use of slave blocks and keeping the disk map (FAT or derivatives) in memory...
2. Ethernet - no use for it myself, but people have said on this list they
want it.
The hardware here is almost trivial, but the software isn't, unless one
limits oneself to a modified NET driver that can run on Ethernet hardware.
One gets a quick QL network but nothing else... OTOH supporting TCP/IP
could in due time expand the usefulness of such hardware imensely.
For that it is most likely that Peter's work on QlwIP will be almost trivial to adapt to a new EtherIDE (AFAIK Peter's hardware driver is for the Realtek chipset which is IIRC what you were going to use too)
3. SGC-type expansion. Something is needed, whether you go down the
"traditionalist" path for a plug in and go Miracle-style expansion, or a
much more radical path...
You have to decide if you wish to go the "expansion" route (i.e. plug into
QL or Aurora) or go for some completely new hardware such as the one you
said you are developing for your employer.
Actually, it is likely that both will be made available.
When is the keyword here :-D
The 'low end' system would be ehat my employer wants:
Very close to a fully kitted out black box QL and then some, as we can make
it now. The difference is, that everything is integrated and it is very
small - about the size of an Aurora. Functionality is not a quantum leap
over that, but it is higher than what we already have - most notably RAM is
increased to 32 or 64M, on-board 16M (with support for future 32M chip
incuded) Flash for program and data storage is provided, up to 50% more
speed than SGC (so still a far cry from Q40), built-in graphics that is
similar in some respects and improved in others compared to the Aurora (eg,
you can't have more than 512 pixels vertical but you can have 256 colors in
all resolutions, and 16 bit color in some, including standard VGA 640x480).
Varioous standard ports are included. New features are MMC flash cards, and
USB (possibly also ethernet), sampled sound support (mono). CF card support
has been seen before, the difference is that connecting a standard IDE
drive involves a CF to IDE adapter is needed, not the other way around as
would be traditional. It will probably also have a QL type expansion port
for peripherals ONLY at least on prototypes - in order to connect a floppy
interface or Qubide, to transfer data when setting up the system. It does
NOT have a floppy interface - one can be added externally. The video output
can also be used as an interface to a TFT LCD,
Without an inverter or is it a DVI output?
including a touch-screen option. So, it's some of the old with some of the new, in a nice small package - usable as anything from an interesting toy to an industrial controller. Obviously, many features will need to be supported in the OS, either through modified existing drivers, or through completely new ones.
The 'high end' is a version of GoldFire or a re-hash of that design using a
top of the line ColdFire V4e CPU. In either case, the designs have
radicalityt to them:
GF design introduces dual processors (I have been going on about this for
years now and lo and behold this is the next step the mainstream is taking,
admittedly with dual core CPUs instead of dual CPUs, but the idea is
similar if not equivalent), along with a full stack of new hardware
features, which also involve additions to things like interrupts (by
introducing dedicated interrupt levels for fast peripherals and having the
ability to route them to either of the two CPUs). Lots of OS and driver
work that should prove essential in the future (if there is to be one).
This one has the disadvantage of using 68060, which is now officially
obsolete, so it's usefulness outside the QL community would be questionable
until the design is migrated to a CPU that is more readily available, in
other woprds, ColdFire.
Stop it you make us all salivate :-P
CF design introduces CF compatibility issues and solutions to same, but
also substantially increased performance. Also, it would in all probability
dispense with any compatibility with QL style peripherals, even though it
IS possible to support them to a limited degree. This design also includes
a graphics subsystem - using the CPUs memory (DDR RAM) for this is a viable
option. This CF processor also includes features like a FPU, MMU, and
MAC/DSP instructions, ethernet ports, and even a cryptographic acceleratror
module that also includes a real random number generator. It might be worth
noting that there are custom CF V4 chips with dual cores in use - one
apparently decodes MPEG2 streams for digital cable, which should give you
an idea of the performance of the chip. In the case of the particular chip
i had in mind, it is also possible to use a PCI bus. This can simplify
interfacing to some desirable chips, but can immensely complicate
initialization and drivers in some cases.
PCI bus software already exists in open source for Big Endian CPUs (one of which is the ColdFire V2 series) and even for regular 68K CPUs (via way of Amiga-Minix)
Phoebus
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