The Sinclair QL Forum

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I'm quite new to using the QL, as despite owning one for some time, I simply haven't had the time/space to use it, and now I do

Somewhere along the line I have acquired a Minerva ROM, v1.82, also marked No:1885 and 6D52 and its a 28 pin DIP.

I'd like to install this in my QL, however I'm aware from doing some digging that it needs to be installed in an adapter card.

So now the questions

1. Is Minerva a single rom set only, or does it require a pair of ROMs? (I'm used to Atari ST's with dual rom sets)
2. If it works as a single ROM only, but does require an adapter board, are those boards available, or is there a PCB layout that could be used to order from somewhere like PCBWay?

I will keep digging in the meantime to see if I can answer my own questions, but if anybody is able to assist in the meantime, I'd be really grateful.

TIA

1. Is Minerva a single rom set only, or does it require a pair of ROMs?

Requires 48 K of ROM.
Nevermind, if it is 32K+16K in two chips (32+32K with Toolkit) or 48K in one chip with adapter board (64K with Toolkit).

are those boards available, or is there a PCB layout that could be used to order from somewhere like PCBWay?

Yes. E.g. https://www.ebay.de/itm/203674356989
Or you can connect your ROM chip using this:
https://blog.darkbyte.sk/wp-content/upl ... module.png
or this:
download/file.php?id=157&mode=view

dex wrote:

1. Is Minerva a single rom set only, or does it require a pair of ROMs?

Requires 48 K of ROM.
Nevermind, if it is 32K+16K in two chips (32+32K with Toolkit) or 48K in one chip with adapter board (64K with Toolkit).

are those boards available, or is there a PCB layout that could be used to order from somewhere like PCBWay?

Yes. E.g. https://www.ebay.de/itm/203674356989
Or you can connect your ROM chip using this:
https://blog.darkbyte.sk/wp-content/upl ... module.png
or this:
download/file.php?id=157&mode=view

Thanks so much for the reply @dex, I'll take a look at this later on , cheers.

I can't believe my Minerva ROM arrived so quickly from Germany!!

Ordered on the 8th, here on the 11th. All fitted and works fine so thanks @dex

roninfourseven wrote:I can't believe my Minerva ROM arrived so quickly from Germany!!

Ordered on the 8th, here on the 11th. All fitted and works fine so thanks @dex

Was quick wasn't it. And I've just left you your first feedback!

Chr$ wrote:

roninfourseven wrote:I can't believe my Minerva ROM arrived so quickly from Germany!!

Ordered on the 8th, here on the 11th. All fitted and works fine so thanks @dex

Was quick wasn't it. And I've just left you your first feedback!

Ahh, lol I've just realised who you are

Very nice little unit, nice and easy to fit and worked a treat!

I do have a question though.

I disabled the toolkit as I have a Sandy disk interface that has TK2 integrated, however it is an earlier version, but I can't disable it.

If I enable the TK on the Minerva ROM, which one will take priority?

Unfortunately the Sandy interface only has a single ROM, so I suspect just removing it will stop the FDD from working.

Thanks.

Yes, I think they will interfere with each other if both enabled. There may be a way to disable it on the Sandy interface but I'm not sure how. You'll probably find the older version is still very useful. What size is the Eprom on the Sandy device? If you have an eprom programmer It's probably possible to re-burn one with just the flp related stuff on it.

One of the real gurus will probably know more.

Chr$ wrote:Yes, I think they will interfere with each other if both enabled. There may be a way to disable it on the Sandy interface but I'm not sure how. You'll probably find the older version is still very useful. What size is the Eprom on the Sandy device? If you have an eprom programmer It's probably possible to re-burn one with just the flp related stuff on it.

One of the real gurus will probably know more.

Both do appear on screen, and I think the fact that I had both running may have been causing the TK problems I experienced yesterday where some commands worked and some didn't.

I can't say what size the eprom is, as I'll need to disassemble the Sandy to do that. All the components are soldered in too, so I will have to fire up my desoldering gun and I'll read the contents and back them up and see if I can do anything with regards to either removing the TK from it or perhaps simply upgrading it to a newer TK.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Dilwyn has a useful list of some of the ROMS associated with the QL and it's peripherals - there are some Sandy ones amongst the list:

http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/qlrom/index.html

Pr0f wrote:Dilwyn has a useful list of some of the ROMS associated with the QL and it's peripherals - there are some Sandy ones amongst the list:

http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/qlrom/index.html

Thanks for that, I will have a look. I'm sure I can sort it and get myself up to the latest TK somehow, I think the best way might be to remove it from the Sandy if I can, then I can at least use the external ROM socket if I want (I have an original QJUMP Toolkit 2 ROM cart)