The Sinclair QL Forum

http://www.retrogamescollector.com/vdri ... -spectrum/

Only 128kb formatted SD.

Is not so "reliable" for me but...interesting the idea

It can be applied to the QL too ^_^

I'd just seen that and was going to post about it. Looks very interesting.

Note: the 129K (or 126K) quoted seems to be a restriction of the ZX Interface 1 and not the device, so this is likely to be different on the QL.

I cannot se a mention of "only 128kb formatted SD". The web page rather says that one single emulated microdrive (that is, the image) can have a maximum size of 128kB - Which is a QDOS limit, not a device limit. Apparently, you can have as much images as you want on the SD card and map them dynamically to mdv3_ to mdv8_

Thus, the maximum storage space accessible on the SD card at any one time without "swapping images" seems to be 6 * 128k.

stephen_usher wrote: Note: the 129K (or 126K) quoted seems to be a restriction of the ZX Interface 1 and not the device, so this is likely to be different on the QL.

Not exactly. It's actually QDOS together with the QL hardware that limits the maximum number of data sectors available on a microdrive to 255 - 2 and the sector size to 512bytes - 253 * 512 = 126k. Where the 129k comes from is puzzling me a bit. I consider this impossible with the current mdv drivers they apparently use (assumed 1k = 1024 bytes).

Another question: has anyone seen a price indication somewhere?

Tobias

From the article it seems like it's still in development and testing, so no pricing.

https://vdrivezx.com/vdriveql/


QL version

Have MDV format compatibility!!!

So our PRESERVING work on original MD's have again more sense at all!!!

Richhhhhhhhhh!!!!! ^_^_^_^_^

Interesting. And Charles Ingley's 32 page manual for it is available at https://vdrivezx.files.wordpress.com/20 ... anual5.pdf

dilwyn wrote:Interesting. And Charles Ingley's 32 page manual for it is available at https://vdrivezx.files.wordpress.com/20 ... anual5.pdf

yes very useful

Now Rich can sell MDV image on SD cards too of his great games and adventures boxes but this time in original format with protections at all ^_^

tofro wrote:I cannot se a mention of "only 128kb formatted SD". The web page rather says that one single emulated microdrive (that is, the image) can have a maximum size of 128kB - Which is a QDOS limit, not a device limit. Apparently, you can have as much images as you want on the SD card and map them dynamically to mdv3_ to mdv8_

The official site is https://vdrivezx.com/

Actually, if you fit a vMap module inside the QL (you plug this into the motherboard and hte internal microdrive units plug into the vMap), you can assign the images to mdv1_ and mdv2_ also and move the internal drives to mdv7_ and mdv8_; thus allowing you to play copy protected microdrive images with ease.

I believe Charles will be listing these modules for sale soon!

vDrive QL Update

A few answers to some few pressing questions...

First up, price. Both the QL and ZX versions will be offered at the same price as the original Microdrive, £49.95. The vMap QL will be at £15.95.

I'll be making them in batches of 5-10 and they'll be available to buy from SellMyRetro. The first batch of 5, of each type, is done and I'll be making them available this weekend. The vMap will be provided in similar quantities.

By the way, thanks for the encouraging comments. Makes all the effort worthwhile.

Cheers,

Charles

Any thoughts about an internal version for the QL?