Cartridge Doctor...

[martyn_hill]

Hi everyone

I picked up a 2nd hand copy of Talent's Cartridge Doctor from a French gentleman on eBay - knowing that such an old mdv cartridge was unlikely to work.

The packaging was pristine, but the cartridge pad gave up after the first DIR... The cartridge itself is mostly readable, bar 6 sectors of the main program file.

So, I was wondering if anyone here had a copy of the main 'doctor' program code file and was willing to send me a copy? Given that I have purchased the software, I'm assuming that's a legitimate request?

Thanks in advance...

[RWAP]

Hi Martyn,

This is one of the main reasons of the commercial software preservation project - being able to supply working copies of software (particularly where it is not freely available). There has to be the proviso that you need to be able to produce some evidence that you own the original software.

There is a small charge to help towards the costs of preservation - basically £1 if we can email a working q-emulator directory to you, or £5 (plus postage) if you need it on microdrive cartridge, £2 plus postage on disk - as always the problem with sending a microdrive cartridge is whether it survives the postal system as I don't have any repaired cartridges left!

[martyn_hill]

Hi Rich and thanks for such a prompt reply.

Should I email you directly with the proof of ownership? What would count as proof?

Given the headache with mdv reliability, my preference would be an emailed copy - I can move it across from my laptop/QPC to the BBQL it needs to run on - but I don't run Qemulator - could you extract the contents and zip then up (as there are no EXEC'able files in the set on my mdv, I guess even MS DOS style ZIP would do) - emailing me the zip archive?

I'm thinking that, although the software is protected by needing the presence of the original cartridge, I should be able to run it from another healthy cartridge and simply leave the (semi-healthy) original in the other drive.

BTW - I'm guessing that the ex-Talent team have been contacted to see if we can get copyright-free permission on this title - for those returning to the QL, this title could be a very useful!

M.

[Mr_Navigator]

BTW - I'm guessing that the ex-Talent team have been contacted to see if we can get copyright-free permission on this title - for those returning to the QL, this title could be a very useful!

M.

This is the biggest hurdle and the most frustrating bit about the role of the software preservation group, of software such as this, and that is contacting the original owners, or holders of the copyrighted material.

Finding the right person is the first hurdle, finding the method of to communicate to this person is the second hurdle.

Knowing if the communication even got through for a variety of reasons is the third. Waiting long enough for a reply before possibly asking again is the fourth.

Finally knowing all of the above was sound and yet still a deathly silence, it is the most frustrating as it could be beneficial to all if we do.

So I plead with the QL community if you have contact details for any of the requests that come up on the forum, please let RWAP know by pm.

Lee

[RWAP]

Hi Rich and thanks for such a prompt reply.

Should I email you directly with the proof of ownership? What would count as proof?

Given the headache with mdv reliability, my preference would be an emailed copy - I can move it across from my laptop/QPC to the BBQL it needs to run on - but I don't run Qemulator - could you extract the contents and zip then up (as there are no EXEC'able files in the set on my mdv, I guess even MS DOS style ZIP would do) - emailing me the zip archive?

I'm thinking that, although the software is protected by needing the presence of the original cartridge, I should be able to run it from another healthy cartridge and simply leave the (semi-healthy) original in the other drive.

BTW - I'm guessing that the ex-Talent team have been contacted to see if we can get copyright-free permission on this title - for those returning to the QL, this title could be a very useful!

M.

Hi Martyn,

You have a pm.

Part of the tasks of the software preservation team is to remove copy protection where we can (and yes, this has been removed from Cartridge Doctor).

Unfortunately, Tom Dolezal, who owns Talent+ is unwilling to allow the utilities to be released as freeware - I have asked him about this, as the market for the Talent utility titles is much smaller than that for the games software (which I sell under licence).

That said, I might be tempted to just put all of the Talent utilities onto one box set at some point this year - the main issue is the lack of manuals!

[martyn_hill]

Hi Rich

Thanks - all dealt-with now via PM.

M.