Connector pinout

[dex]

Does anyone have pinout of the QL serial connectors for the german version from Samsung (i.e., Canon 9 pin)?
I suspect these as non-standard, as my QL refuses to talk to any serial device (both SER1 and SER2).

I have replaced the original 8049 with Hermes. Does the german (Samsung) QL need a different Hermes firmware?

[RWAP]

Does anyone have pinout of the QL serial connectors for the german version from Samsung (i.e., Canon 9 pin)?
I suspect these as non-standard, as my QL refuses to talk to any serial device (both SER1 and SER2).

I have replaced the original 8049 with Hermes. Does the german (Samsung) QL need a different Hermes firmware?

For the pinouts and more details - see the Sinclair QL Homepage - http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/hardware/index.html

The Hermes firmware is the same for all QLs - the only change is if you have a SuperHERMES which needs a keyboard driver

[dex]

YES!
Thanks for help.
There is the problem:

Code: Select all

Although I don't have a USA QL (the type with 9-pin D serial connectors), I
do have a note from someone in America which states that an American QL's 9
pin D serial ports are wired with the same pin numbers as a UK QL, that is,
pins 1 to 5 of the SER1 connector correspond to the same signal on a UK QL.

------------------------------------------------------------------
QL        QL            QL CABLE             PC      PC 25-  PC 9-
SER1      SER2          COLOUR    DIRECTION  SIGNAL  PIN D   PIN D
------------------------------------------------------------------
pin 3 RxD pin 2 TxD     white       -->      RxD     pin 3   pin 2
pin 2 TxD pin 3 RxD     green       <--      TxD     pin 2   pin 3
pin 5 CTS pin 4 DTR     blue        -->      CTS     pin 5   pin 8
                (=RTS)
pin 4 DTR pin 5 CTS     red         <--      RTS     pin 4   pin 7
    (=RTS)
pin 1     pin 1         black       ---      GND     pin 7   pin 5
N/A       N/A           -           -        DSR     pin 6   pin 6
N/A       N/A           -           -        DTR     pin 20  pin 4

So, I have to made a reduction to correct pinout.

[dex]

Hey! The truth is out there!

The document about pinouts is partially wrong about the German and American QL serial port pinout.
I have examined an American QL serial/parallel interface.
The correct serial pinout is this:

English QL (RJ connecotor): German/American (9 pin Canon):
6 ----------------------------------- 5 (+12 V)
5 ----------------------------------- 9 (CTS SER1, DTR SER2)
4 ----------------------------------- 4 (DTR SER1, CTS SER2)
3 ----------------------------------- 8 (RxD SER1, TxD SER2)
2 ----------------------------------- 3 (TxD SER1, RxD SER2)
1 ----------------------------------- 7 (GND)
Pins 1, 2 and 6 on Canon are NC.

[Andi B.]

Hello,
this is my first post here and related to this topic:
Is there any possibility to connect a German QL to PC via serial cable and transfer data (e.g. using an emulator on the PC side)?
I have no experience/knowledge with this but I have a QL (and only a few more or less broken cartridges) and think this would be an interesting thing to bring life in the machine...

[dilwyn]

Hello,
this is my first post here and related to this topic:
Is there any possibility to connect a German QL to PC via serial cable and transfer data (e.g. using an emulator on the PC side)?
I have no experience/knowledge with this but I have a QL (and only a few more or less broken cartridges) and think this would be an interesting thing to bring life in the machine...

Dex has placed a corrected pinout for 9-pin USA and German QL serial port pinout.

If you use SMSQ/E, you can use SERNET software from Bernd Reinhardt to copy files between QL and PC via a serial link. In theory, it is also possible to use it with QDOS if you have the SIMSER software from Hans-Peter Recktenwald, but I have never tried this. SimSer is on http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/utils/index.html

There are some articles on my website about QL to PC serial connections, but for German QL serial port wiring you will have to substitute Dex's corrected wiring until I get a chance to update the articles on my website. http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/hardware/index.html and http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gen/serial/serial.html

Dilwyn

[Andi B.]

Dilwyn,
thank you for the great info on your site.
Does this mean, that the pinout in my German User Guide is wrong and the correct pins/signals are the ones on the right in Dex's diagram?

This is the original pinout from the User Guide:

Code: Select all

PIN SER1                        PIN SER2
1>  GND  Signal-Erde            1>  GND  Signal-Erde
2>  TxD  Senden                 2>  TxD  Empfangen
3>  RxD  Empfangen              3>  RxD  Senden
4>  DTR  Empfangsbereitschaft   4>  DTR  Sendebereitschaft
5>  CTS  Sendebereitschaft      5>  CTS  Empfangsbereitschaft
6>  -    0-Volt                 6>  -    0-Volt
7>  -    0-Volt                 7>  -    0-Volt
8>  -    0-Volt                 8>  -    0-Volt
9>  -    +12V                   9>  -    +12V

[dex]

Interesting.
I will check boards of my QLs and compare them with this german User Guide and again with my US serial device.
Maybe, that german and US pinouts are different.

Will be updated!

[Andi B.]

Hello all,

i made a Serial cable to my PC because I want to share some data/files.
Assuemd the cable is correcly soldered, which things I have to consider when submitting data via the serial ports?

My general data transfer understanding problem is:
I can tell the PC to copy file A to COMxyz (where the QL is connected with SER2) and I can tell the QL, copy file B from mdv1_ to ser2. But how does the other side knows, that data is coming?
What I have to do to configure the serial connections of both parties (e.g QL's chanels)?
Are there data-transfer programs (PC's Hyperterminal?) required?

You see I have no knowledge of these issues and it would be a great thing if you could give me a little instruction!

Thanks to all!

Andi B.

[tofro]

Andi,
if you can, grab some X-(Y-, Z-) modem program for both sides. Any standard terminal program for the PC should be able to do that. Look for QTPI or QeM (?) ffor the QL. "Kermit" should also be available for both the PC and the QL.
Either of those programs will packetize the data across the link, checksum the packets and retransmit on error. This will make your transmission a bit slower, but much more secure (Especially when transferring binaries).
If you must live without such a program, make sure you at least do the following;

• On the PC side make sure you use copy /B comx: filename - This puts the transmission into binary mode. Otherwise it will only transfer plain ASCII with the 8th bit stripped
• If you transfer executables, you need to restore the header information on the QL side - It will get lost in transit. If that's the case, the QL will no longer EXECute it. Do a "a = RESPR(<file size>):LBYTES <file>,a:SEXEC <new name>, a, <file size>, <data space>. This will restore the header information. Typical sizes for dataspace are between 512 bytes and 8KBytes, depending on the specific requirements of the program. Best check the documentation or ask anyone already having the same program on his QL.
• You don't need to tell the receiving end that data is arriving. Just start using copy on the receiving end, then start transmission on the sender, the receiver will detect any incoming data automatically.
• To start receiving on the QL side do a COPY_N ser1hz to <file name>. Make sure you don't try to use a too high baud rate. The QL can only reliably receive at below 4800 baud.

Hope this helps.