[Ql-Users] qStripper - 1.07 available now
Morning all, François Van Emelen alerted me to a slight bug in version 1.06 whereby a PC Quill file had the lower case a with an umlaut converted to a lower case o with an umlaut. Obviously wrong! This has been fixed and version 1.07 is now available for Windows 32 and 64 bit as well as Linux 64 bit. Have fun. http://qstripper.sourceforge.net Cheers, Norm. PS. My Windows 7 install has finally decided to become "not genuine". Seeing as how it was installed on the laptop when it was brand new, I'm just a little surprised. I only use it for qStripper builds anyway -- Norman Dunbar Dunbar IT Consultants Ltd Registered address: Thorpe House 61 Richardshaw Lane Pudsey West Yorkshire United Kingdom LS28 7EL Company Number: 05132767 ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] qStripper - 1.07 available now
Op 12/06/2012 10:10, Norman Dunbar schreef: Morning all, François Van Emelen alerted me to a slight bug in version 1.06 whereby a PC Quill file had the lower case a with an umlaut converted to a lower case o with an umlaut. Obviously wrong! This has been fixed and version 1.07 is now available for Windows 32 and 64 bit as well as Linux 64 bit. Have fun. http://qstripper.sourceforge.net Cheers, Norm. PS. My Windows 7 install has finally decided to become "not genuine". Seeing as how it was installed on the laptop when it was brand new, I'm just a little surprised. I only use it for qStripper builds anyway Hi Norman, Thank you for the fast fix. François Van Emelen ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
On 11/06/2012 16:56, Dilwyn Jones wrote: I think the key advantage for an SD-card project is something Urs already said years ago, that it might appeal to computer collectors. These are not terribly interested in the QL per se but might pay something if it enables them to transfer files to one of their collector items without too much pain. And this group is potentially much larger than the QL community itself, I guess. Though I'm not sure if a small and self-contained ROM dongle might be a bit better suited for these people, as this is probably preferable to opening the box and breaking the keyboard membrane in the process ;-) Ideally both forms could be supported with the same drivers and only little hardware changes. Marcel I agree. Whatever of the two forms it takes, this has the potential to be THE QL mass storage device. No need for Qubide and external hard disk for example. No need for floppy drives most of the time (apart from transferring stuff from original floppies). Plug in the Gold Card/Trump Card/whatever just for expanded memory, for example. A self-contained mass-storage unit with removable media (i.e. SD cards) would give the good old black box a new lease of life and of course there's always the possibilities of using the SD card for file transfer between QL and other computers where the filing system permits. So this is potentially good for existing users and retro computer collectors. I hope Peter manages to find someone to make it available. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm It is just a shame that there was not all this enthusiasm and discussion some months ago when Adrian needed to see some interest in the QL-SD Interface. Personally, I think that an internally fitted option is a non-starter - collectors want to keep the QL as original as possible, but still have a simple means of getting software onto the computer and using it - I still get orders for people wanting software on microdrive cartridge - but I normally go through 15-20 cartridges to make a good copy, only to find that the felt pad drops off in the post, or wears away after the customer has used it 10 times... At the moment, with very few disk and memory interfaces on the second hand market (I have just a Trump Card and a Super Gold Card and need the Trump Card!), people are left with no viable alternatives. A nice easy solution which plugged into the QL ROM port would be ideal for these collectors and many users - including a lot of the Quanta members (although they may then need a means of acquiring extra memory!). Finance for projects is readily available - both through myself and Quanta It is more to do with the time needed by Peter if he is to redesign the project to work in the QL ROM port and overcome some of the issues. As to whether it is viable commercially, who was it that said 'Build it and they will come' ? I certainly have a number of customers wanting some form of storage solution - be it a disk drive + interface, SD interface, or a RomDisq. I have to draw parallels here with the ZXpand interface for the ZX81 - admittedly there was an upsurge in interest because of its 30th anniversary (we need to start on plans for something to celebrate the QL's 30th anniversary ), however, the original designer was planning to build 20-25 interfaces and sell them just for the cost of the parts. Although there were not even 20 people who had expressed an interest, following discussions, we decided to get 150 units made, and sell them commercially - and are now just starting to get the next batch of 200 interfaces made (having sold out). The original designer has made a nice little profit on his efforts and it has inspired him to create more hardware for the ZX81 (an AY sound and joystick module) which has similarly sold well. -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services Specialist Enuuk Auction Programming Services www.rwapservices.co.uk ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
Morning all, On 12/06/12 09:58, Rich Mellor wrote: It is just a shame that there was not all this enthusiasm and discussion some months ago when Adrian needed to see some interest in the QL-SD Interface. Agreed. I think it's truly wonderful that people are still putting effort and time and money (too many "ands", not enough commas!) into hardware for the old QL. Unfortunately, what is the ratio of people using QLs as opposed to emulators or even QXL cards (anyone still running one?) While an SD drive would have been a brilliant addition to a QL, it's hardly of use on an emulator on a PC. Don't get me wrong, I'm not peeing on anyone's chips here (to use one of my wife's Yorkshire expressions!), Adrian, Dave, Nasta etc are to be admired and encouraged for their efforts - unfortunately, we live in a country/world where encouragement is not really, ahem, encouraged. Personally, I think that an internally fitted option is a non-starter - collectors want to keep the QL as original as possible, but still have a simple means of getting software onto the computer and using it Agreed. What use is an old QL if it doesn't have loads of cables and extensions hanging off of and out of every orifice? Mine used to have Trump Card or Gold Card, Miracle Hard Drive, Miracle Serial to Parallel converter, and a mouse hanging off the other serial port. With the Gold Card I had the 4 drive expander card, a pair of HD floppy drives and a pair of ED floppy drives. And for my Quanta sub-librarian duties, I also had a 5.25" floppy drive for the people needing software on that. Not to mention my Star LC10 Colour printer. There was no room for me on the computer table - thank god I didn't have a separate keyboard! Something to fit internally would have been great - in my case! > ... As to whether it is viable commercially, who was it that said 'Build it and they will come' ? Henry Ford? ... I have to draw parallels here with the ZXpand interface for the ZX81 - Hmmm. Ok, I loved my ZX-81 and I wish I still had it. But, how many ZX-81s sold compared to QLs? It's all down to numbers I'm afraid. If yo have 20 million of one and 75 thousand of another, which are you going to target with a commercial offering? (Those numbers are grabbed out of the air and bear no resemblance to anything accurate, by the way.) admittedly there was an upsurge in interest because of its 30th anniversary (we need to start on plans for something to celebrate the QL's 30th anniversary ), Already? (2014 i think!) - it was only half an hour ago it was the QL is 21! Time flies. (Which is its job after all!) however, the original designer was planning to build 20-25 interfaces and sell them just for the cost of the parts. A hobby then, not really a commercial interest. Although there were not even 20 people who had expressed an interest, following discussions, we decided to get 150 units made, and sell them commercially - and are now just starting to get the next batch of 200 interfaces made (having sold out). The original designer has made a nice little profit on his efforts and it has inspired him to create more hardware for the ZX81 (an AY sound and joystick module) which has similarly sold well. This is a good thing, but I'm not so sure it would work in the QL realm, due to numbers of original sales, and comparing physical QLs still in use with those that are in use on assorted emulators on PCs and Macs. Just my £0.02. Cheers, Norm. -- Norman Dunbar Dunbar IT Consultants Ltd Registered address: Thorpe House 61 Richardshaw Lane Pudsey West Yorkshire United Kingdom LS28 7EL Company Number: 05132767 ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
On 12/06/2012 10:29, Norman Dunbar wrote: Morning all, On 12/06/12 09:58, Rich Mellor wrote: It is just a shame that there was not all this enthusiasm and discussion some months ago when Adrian needed to see some interest in the QL-SD Interface. Agreed. I think it's truly wonderful that people are still putting effort and time and money (too many "ands", not enough commas!) into hardware for the old QL. Unfortunately, what is the ratio of people using QLs as opposed to emulators or even QXL cards (anyone still running one?) While an SD drive would have been a brilliant addition to a QL, it's hardly of use on an emulator on a PC. Don't get me wrong, I'm not peeing on anyone's chips here (to use one of my wife's Yorkshire expressions!), Adrian, Dave, Nasta etc are to be admired and encouraged for their efforts - unfortunately, we live in a country/world where encouragement is not really, ahem, encouraged. Personally, I think that an internally fitted option is a non-starter - collectors want to keep the QL as original as possible, but still have a simple means of getting software onto the computer and using it Agreed. What use is an old QL if it doesn't have loads of cables and extensions hanging off of and out of every orifice? Mine used to have Trump Card or Gold Card, Miracle Hard Drive, Miracle Serial to Parallel converter, and a mouse hanging off the other serial port. With the Gold Card I had the 4 drive expander card, a pair of HD floppy drives and a pair of ED floppy drives. And for my Quanta sub-librarian duties, I also had a 5.25" floppy drive for the people needing software on that. Not to mention my Star LC10 Colour printer. There was no room for me on the computer table - thank god I didn't have a separate keyboard! Something to fit internally would have been great - in my case! > ... As to whether it is viable commercially, who was it that said 'Build it and they will come' ? Henry Ford? ... I have to draw parallels here with the ZXpand interface for the ZX81 - Hmmm. Ok, I loved my ZX-81 and I wish I still had it. But, how many ZX-81s sold compared to QLs? It's all down to numbers I'm afraid. If yo have 20 million of one and 75 thousand of another, which are you going to target with a commercial offering? (Those numbers are grabbed out of the air and bear no resemblance to anything accurate, by the way.) admittedly there was an upsurge in interest because of its 30th anniversary (we need to start on plans for something to celebrate the QL's 30th anniversary ), Already? (2014 i think!) - it was only half an hour ago it was the QL is 21! Time flies. (Which is its job after all!) however, the original designer was planning to build 20-25 interfaces and sell them just for the cost of the parts. A hobby then, not really a commercial interest. Although there were not even 20 people who had expressed an interest, following discussions, we decided to get 150 units made, and sell them commercially - and are now just starting to get the next batch of 200 interfaces made (having sold out). The original designer has made a nice little profit on his efforts and it has inspired him to create more hardware for the ZX81 (an AY sound and joystick module) which has similarly sold well. This is a good thing, but I'm not so sure it would work in the QL realm, due to numbers of original sales, and comparing physical QLs still in use with those that are in use on assorted emulators on PCs and Macs. Just my £0.02. Cheers, Norm. I agree that there were more ZX81s made than QLs but I wonder how many ZX81 are now used as door stops Just some figures to help people realise the potential of the QL Market... I have sold 540 + QL keyboard membranes since 2008 ( I think that's when I started!) - other companies also sell membranes, so I don't know what their figures are... I have 1227 customers who have purchased something QL related from me over the years (with 1028 current email addresses) Compare this to the ZX81, where I have sold over 1050 ZX81 keyboard membranes since 2009 (although I am the only company who gets these made) I have 722 customers who have purchased something ZX81 related from me over the years (with 708 current email addresses) That suggests 1 in 5 ZX81 customers have purchased a ZXpand interface - so if we said 1 in 20 QL customers wanted a QL-SD interface, that would still equate to 50 interfaces being sold! It just goes to show that if you find the right product, the market is out there! -- Rich Mellor RWAP Services Specialist Enuuk Auction Programming Services www.rwapservices.co.uk ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
On 12/06/2012 09:58, Rich Mellor wrote: On 11/06/2012 16:56, Dilwyn Jones wrote: I think the key advantage for an SD-card project is something Urs already said years ago, that it might appeal to computer collectors. These are not terribly interested in the QL per se but might pay something if it enables them to transfer files to one of their collector items without too much pain. And this group is potentially much larger than the QL community itself, I guess. Though I'm not sure if a small and self-contained ROM dongle might be a bit better suited for these people, as this is probably preferable to opening the box and breaking the keyboard membrane in the process ;-) Ideally both forms could be supported with the same drivers and only little hardware changes. Marcel I agree. Whatever of the two forms it takes, this has the potential to be THE QL mass storage device. No need for Qubide and external hard disk for example. No need for floppy drives most of the time (apart from transferring stuff from original floppies). Plug in the Gold Card/Trump Card/whatever just for expanded memory, for example. A self-contained mass-storage unit with removable media (i.e. SD cards) would give the good old black box a new lease of life and of course there's always the possibilities of using the SD card for file transfer between QL and other computers where the filing system permits. So this is potentially good for existing users and retro computer collectors. I hope Peter manages to find someone to make it available. Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm It is just a shame that there was not all this enthusiasm and discussion some months ago when Adrian needed to see some interest in the QL-SD Interface. Personally, I think that an internally fitted option is a non-starter - collectors want to keep the QL as original as possible, but still have a simple means of getting software onto the computer and using it - I still get orders for people wanting software on microdrive cartridge - but I normally go through 15-20 cartridges to make a good copy, only to find that the felt pad drops off in the post, or wears away after the customer has used it 10 times... At the moment, with very few disk and memory interfaces on the second hand market (I have just a Trump Card and a Super Gold Card and need the Trump Card!), people are left with no viable alternatives. A nice easy solution which plugged into the QL ROM port would be ideal for these collectors and many users - including a lot of the Quanta members (although they may then need a means of acquiring extra memory!). I understand the reasoning, Rich, but my ROM port is already taken by a ROMDISK ; it would need a through port. Bryan H Finance for projects is readily available - both through myself and Quanta It is more to do with the time needed by Peter if he is to redesign the project to work in the QL ROM port and overcome some of the issues. As to whether it is viable commercially, who was it that said 'Build it and they will come' ? I certainly have a number of customers wanting some form of storage solution - be it a disk drive + interface, SD interface, or a RomDisq. I have to draw parallels here with the ZXpand interface for the ZX81 - admittedly there was an upsurge in interest because of its 30th anniversary (we need to start on plans for something to celebrate the QL's 30th anniversary ), however, the original designer was planning to build 20-25 interfaces and sell them just for the cost of the parts. Although there were not even 20 people who had expressed an interest, following discussions, we decided to get 150 units made, and sell them commercially - and are now just starting to get the next batch of 200 interfaces made (having sold out). The original designer has made a nice little profit on his efforts and it has inspired him to create more hardware for the ZX81 (an AY sound and joystick module) which has similarly sold well. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
Adrian Ives wrote: > I am sorry to announce that I have taken the decision to withdraw from > developing QL hardware. In the current economic climate, it is no longer > practical to devote resources to such a small (almost non-existent) market, > and I need to concentrate my energies elsewhere. Sad news! > Unfortunately this means that I have withdrawn from the QL-SD project. I > understand that Peter is talking with other parties who may be more able to > bring the QL-SD to market. I wish them all the best and will make available > the source code for the already written drivers to allow this to happen as > painlessly as possible. I was very optimistic that QL-SD will become available this year. > Thank you to the few people who have expressed a genuine interest in new > QL hardware. I wish you all the best for your future projects. Urs ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
It's a bit of an over-simplification to lay the reasoning for my decision to withdraw solely on the lack of interest. It has more to do with simple economics. It costs money to buy the stock to build the units. As I have said before about the Ser-USB, unless the stock can be bought in bulk, it is not possible to obtain worthwhile discounts. This makes the product more expensive and thus reduces the likely number of sales. Add to that a severely depressed economy and the continued mismanagement of the Euro crisis, which further depresses any market from continental Europe, and you have a pretty dire situation. Almost a perfect storm, in fact. I wish I could afford to do this as a hobby, but I can't. I considered a number of ways of moving it forward, including seeking funding from Quanta (banks in the UK don't lend to small businesses any more, so that route is closed and, anyway, what kind of a business case is it to say "Two or three people have said that they will buy one and then, when other people know they are available, a lot more people will buy them"?). In the end, and to be absolutely blunt about it, it simply wasn't worth the effort required for the small return. But the root cause of this is that there are significantly less QLs in circulation than ZX81s or Spectrums. It always was a niche machine and, even in today's more retro-friendly environment, it is a minor player. This is a great shame but it is a true and unavoidable fact and it will always influence decisions about resourcing new projects for it. Anyway ... sometime back in this thread I remember reading a question about the state of the drivers. As far as I am concerned they are good enough to be released into production, but that is up to Peter, or whoever takes the QL-SD forward. Adrian www.memorylanecomputing.com On 12/06/2012 09:58, Rich Mellor wrote: > It is just a shame that there was not all this enthusiasm and discussion > some months ago when Adrian needed to see some interest in the QL-SD > Interface. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] Withdrawing from the QL Market
Adrian Ives wrote: > It's a bit of an over-simplification to lay the reasoning for my > decision to withdraw solely on the lack of interest. It has more to do > with simple economics. It costs money to buy the stock to build the > units. As I have said before about the Ser-USB, unless the stock can be > bought in bulk, it is not possible to obtain worthwhile discounts. This > makes the product more expensive and thus reduces the likely number of > sales. Seems to be too late now, but this really sounds like a perfect case for Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/ It's a crowd-funding site, people can say "hey, I have this cool project and if 100 people pledge to spend 50€ on it, it will be built. If not, no money is lost". Most projects are relatively small, but recently a computer game even pulled in funds of several million dollars this way... Not sure if a QL product can pull it off, but if a "phone-soap" (that's actually the combination of a phone charger with a UV-lamp for killing germs) can pull in $63.000 of funds, everything seems possible ;-) http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/588318042/phonesoap-simultaneously-charge-and-sanitize-your?ref=card Marcel ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
