New (to me) Q40!

The Thor, Aurora, Q40, Q60 & Q68 etc. are discussed here.
bixio60
Brittle Membrane
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 7:05 am

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by bixio60 »

Chr$ wrote:
Derek_Stewart wrote:Hi,

The Q40 ROM image has to be configured before HI/LO ROM images are made.

As suggested, boot up the Q40 and LRESPR the new SMSQE rom image file. This allows the the new settings to tested before burning the roms.

Personally, I leave SMSQ/E 310 in rom and soft load the new version of SMSQ/E, QDOS Classic, Linux.
I followed the instructions to the letter. The only thing I wasn't sure about is that it specifies you should make sure it saves the menuconfig.inf file. But where it saves that to etc has no bearing on the actual changed _rom file, does it? And what does the flashing disk icon indicate in the top right area of menuconfig? I don't think that is critical as it seems to save the changes and the .inf file fine.

Interestingly the same altered (with menuconfig) files result in a black screen when LRESPR'd too - and the original unchanged version works, just like with the versions on EPROM.

Derek, if you have a Q40/60 handy, could you by any chance generate working v3.37 HI/LO roms for me (with flp boot on and 16 bit colour at start up) and I'll burn that version and try it.

Oh Fabrizio... can you share here as a zip?
you have a PM


User avatar
mk79
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1349
Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:54 am
Location: Esslingen/Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by mk79 »

Chr$ wrote:I followed the instructions to the letter. The only thing I wasn't sure about is that it specifies you should make sure it saves the menuconfig.inf file. But where it saves that to etc has no bearing on the actual changed _rom file, does it?
No, doesn't matter, as long as it finds it again for the auto-configuration. But as both times you use the same MenuConfig it will work.
And what does the flashing disk icon indicate in the top right area of menuconfig?
That means that the _inf has changed so you'll be prompted to save it when you quit MenuConfig.
Interestingly the same altered (with menuconfig) files result in a black screen when LRESPR'd too - and the original unchanged version works, just like with the versions on EPROM.
OK, strange... where did you get the ROM file from and how big is it?

Cheers, Marcel


User avatar
Chr$
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 10:03 am
Location: Sachsen, Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by Chr$ »

mk79 wrote:OK, strange... where did you get the ROM file from and how big is it?

Cheers, Marcel
The one on Wolfgang's site. Q40.rom is 281,736 bytes. The one I was using yesterday to generate the compressed HI/LO from was 281,800 bytes after menuconfig-ing.

Just tried Fabrizio's ROMs too and they don't work for me either. It gets stuck on this screen, bit like after a reset but without continuing.
20210314_132041_resized-1.jpg
I'll have a word with the previous owner to see if there is something special I need to take into account.


https://QXL.WIN
Collector of QL related computers, accessories and QL games/software.
Ask me about felt pads - I can cut them to size and they have proved excellent for mdv data recovery.
Derek_Stewart
Font of All Knowledge
Posts: 3900
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:40 am
Location: Sunny Runcorn, Cheshire, UK

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by Derek_Stewart »

Hi,

Did you try LRESPR the rom file to see if it loaded up with the required changes.

I have not had a chance to generate a new set of rom images for you, but I will get this done as soon as possible.


Regards,

Derek
User avatar
mk79
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1349
Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:54 am
Location: Esslingen/Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by mk79 »

Chr$ wrote:The one on Wolfgang's site. Q40.rom is 281,736 bytes. The one I was using yesterday to generate the compressed HI/LO from was 281,800 bytes after menuconfig-ing.
Hm, I'm pretty sure it's impossible for menu-config to enlarge files :?:


User avatar
Chr$
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 10:03 am
Location: Sachsen, Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by Chr$ »

mk79 wrote:
Chr$ wrote:The one on Wolfgang's site. Q40.rom is 281,736 bytes. The one I was using yesterday to generate the compressed HI/LO from was 281,800 bytes after menuconfig-ing.
Hm, I'm pretty sure it's impossible for menu-config to enlarge files :?:
You're right of course, I think windows was reporting the size incorrectly. QPAC File manager shows 281,800 bytes for the one from Wolfgang's zip and all of my menuconfig'd _q40_rom files.


https://QXL.WIN
Collector of QL related computers, accessories and QL games/software.
Ask me about felt pads - I can cut them to size and they have proved excellent for mdv data recovery.
User avatar
Chr$
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 10:03 am
Location: Sachsen, Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by Chr$ »

I suppose, as any changes I make to the q40_rom file with MenuConfig results in non-functioning ROM chips, that the most likely candidate must by the MenuConfig program, somehow.

MenuConfig v3.36 is the latest, so I read and is a few years old. The version in the QL-SD QXL.WIN file, is v3.36, according to the 'About' text. The version from Dilwyn's site labelled as v3.36 (also confirmed by the About text) is also v3.36.

There's a difference though. The one in QL-SD is 25,024 bytes and the version in the v3.36 zip is 24,960 bytes (the English version).

So, I'm going to try again, this time with the v3.36 from the zip file. I'll see how that goes.


https://QXL.WIN
Collector of QL related computers, accessories and QL games/software.
Ask me about felt pads - I can cut them to size and they have proved excellent for mdv data recovery.
User avatar
mk79
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1349
Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:54 am
Location: Esslingen/Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by mk79 »

Chr$ wrote:I suppose, as any changes I make to the q40_rom file with MenuConfig results in non-functioning ROM chips, that the most likely candidate must by the MenuConfig program, somehow.
I very highly doubt that. I mean, you can just compare the two files, they should only differ by one byte per option (e.g. "fc /b file1.rom file2.rom" on the command line).
There's a difference though. The one in QL-SD is 25,024 bytes and the version in the v3.36 zip is 24,960 bytes (the English version).
It's quite possible that one was compiled by me and one wasn't. Size differences can happen due to different versions of the libraries on the development machine. But this would be the first known MenuConfig problem for a decade or so.
So, I'm going to try again, this time with the v3.36 from the zip file. I'll see how that goes.
Good luck. It's not impossible after all, just highly unlikely ;)


User avatar
Chr$
QL Wafer Drive
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 10:03 am
Location: Sachsen, Germany
Contact:

Re: New (to me) Q40!

Post by Chr$ »

My files had list of differences as long as your arm compared to the default in Wolfgang's zip, so something wasn't right there.

The previous owner sent me a q40_rom file that he'd menuconfig'd with v3.34 (and menu_rext v7.66). I checked it worked LRESPR style, then gzipped and split it, popped them on the EPROMS and that works, too!

So all fine now. I still don't know if the menuconfig version was the culprit or something else at my end. I mean, there can't be many people that use a QXLII running the SMSQ/E v3.37 DOS exe to setup the ROM files for a Q40!


https://QXL.WIN
Collector of QL related computers, accessories and QL games/software.
Ask me about felt pads - I can cut them to size and they have proved excellent for mdv data recovery.
Post Reply