The Sinclair QL Forum

Thanks for the reply.
Do you think the QXL_FORMAT can help to convert somehow a .win file into a Atari readable HDD image? Otherwise, the only way I see it to find a way to mount both Atari formated HDD and the .win file uder SMSQ/E on the Atari and copy all the files manually. Maybe QLvsJAGUAR can help us / find more on this topic and help us to have a working system file.

About the beta floppy version of SMS2, I never heard of that, I would be very interested if you can find this out. Yes, SMS2 was made by FURST and sold by Joch Metz. I already contacted him, unfortunally he don't have any copy left.
Meanwhile I talked with Vincent Riviere, the developper of EmuTOS on Atari, and he think that there is a possibility with Devpack to dump the SMS2 cartridge (assuming that the extra electronic on the board isn't needed to make the software run, this is to be proven now). Ge gave me a methode. I have access to a SMS2 cartridge here in Switzerland : the Bolo museum in Lausanne have one, I could try it 2 weeks ago because I was there, and the cartridge work. They told me that I can come when I want to try to dump it. But I can't have the cartridge out the museum. Not a problem, plenty of Atari there.

Idealy, if I can achieve to dump the rom, then we can make a copy in a new cartridge (I found some on Ebay, should not be a problem). The only thing that I'm not sure is if the SMS2 cartridge is "simply" a rom, of if the extra electronic on board is needed to launch the OS. If yes, then there is no way.

guibrush writes about SMS2 and its cartridge form.

There were four versions of SMS2 produced. Two floppy versions and two cartridge versions. The floppy versions were not distributed because the cartridge version provided an "instant on" OS installation which was considered to be superior. There was an SMS2 version for Atari STs using the Atari SM124 b&w monitor and another for an Atari mrga STe with a QVME graphics card.
I have attached a screenshot of SMS2 running with a QVME.
SMS2 supported hard discs and floppy discs. SMS2 supported the QL file format so it is possible to transfer QL software to a hard disc via floppies. SMS2 predates the file containers that are part of SMSQ/E. I have attached a copy of the SMS2 manual
The SMS2 cartridge was a read/write device. It could be programmed without the need for for a dedicated ROM programmer. A simple ROM cartridge can only be modified externally but it would install SMS2. It would be simpler to use one of the floppy versions.

SMS2 was never put in the public domain but I would be surprised if anyone making a copy would be pursued by the copyright holders.

I am sure you will have noticed I posted a picture of the b&w SMS2 cartridge running from a USB stick in a PC in an earlier post.. The display is identical when
running on an Atari ST.

Finally as Derek writes:-
As I have mentioned, the Q68 in 1024x768 Mode 4 is a very nice QVME style display, which runs most software.

Interesting, Tony Tebby is not mentioned in the manual. Thanks anyway for the scan.

guibrush wrote:About the beta floppy version of SMS2, I never heard of that, I would be very interested if you can find this out. Yes, SMS2 was made by FURST and sold by Joch Metz. I already contacted him, unfortunally he don't have any copy left.

Well, TT once sent me a disk, which generates an SMS2 program disk. The disk was not the BOOT disk which could be run and executes SMS2, instead it generates such a disk.

Hi,

Here is an article about SMS2, from Atari ST Format Issue 59

Would be interesting to know, how much the two "developers" Philip Gutteridge and Graham Goodwin have paid to TT for that all.

And I would love to see the 20 lines LBasic program with an E-mail system.....

Furst Ltd. still seems to be active, https://find-and-update.company-informa ... pointments

After having played with SMS2 on my ATARI 1040STF 3 weeks ago, I had an hour or two today to give it a go on my TT030. Somehow I had no luck, so tried SMSQ/E instead. With success! And I was also able to run SMSQ/E on the Hatari emulator under Windows 7. Thanky to my Swiss QL fellow Markus, I eventually managed to get the configuration of Hatari suitable to run QL/E off the QLE.WIN. Here's another video in the series "ATARI ST (ST, STF, STE, Mega, TT030, Falcon, MIST, Hatari), TOS/GEM, SMS2, SMSQ/E"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHCRloP ... _q&index=6

Well, I'd have very much doubted it would have worked on the TT given the very different stack frame (68030) and a lot of the hardware, especially on the graphics side, being very different for a bare metal kernel to control.

Hi Urs,

Nice Video.

I had the Hatari emulator in TT System mode booting up SMSQ/E v3.37, with QL/E or any other QWA container file, as a SCSI device, a couple of weeks ago.

With the help of your colleague, who showed me how to make a QDOS disk, I can read/write to QDOS floopy disk images.

I have a TT030, which runs SMSQ/E in Mono mode, the same as your TT in the video.

I did have a QVME, but sold it last year, quite a nice circuit board. I was hoping to reproduce the QVME, but tgere seemed to be too many problems, it seems that the QVME is still copyright to the designer, who I could not find. So I dropped the project.

But as I keep on saying, the Q68 in 1024x768 Mode 4 is very similiar to TT030 running QVME, but much quieter and can rhn all QL software, which has problems on the Atari EQL Emulators...

I have a STFM with a Mode 8 emulator board, 2 x Extended 4 emulator boards which need installed into a STFMs I have. I have i stall these boards sometime.

Derek_Stewart wrote:I did have a QVME, but sold it last year, quite a nice circuit board. I was hoping to reproduce the QVME, but tgere seemed to be too many problems, it seems that the QVME is still copyright to the designer, who I could not find. So I dropped the project.

Ask Jochen, he may know how to contact Edwin Holtmann.

An beside the re-creation of QVME it would be good to get MODE 32 .