Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!kth.se!sunic!chalmers.se!mathrt0.math.chalmers.se!d8klojo
From: d8klojo@dtek.chalmers.se (Johan Klockars)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: QL Emulator on ST
Summary: It does exist!
Keywords: QL, ST, emulator
Message-ID: <1991Feb28.110758.27511@mathrt0.math.chalmers.se>
Date: 28 Feb 91 11:07:58 GMT
References: <1991Feb14.110620.11306@cs.city.ac.uk>
Sender: news@mathrt0.math.chalmers.se (Evald Nyhetsson)
Organization: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Lines: 54

There is indeed a (software only) QL-emulator for the ST, but only I and a few
of my friends have known about it until now (I wrote it).

The emulator consists of a small (about 4k I think) .prg file, which loads
two files and patches them in ram. The files needed are straight memory dumps
of the QL-rom and the Trumpcard rom.

The Trumpcard disk interface code is used because I haven't yet had the time to
write my own disk directory device driver. I'm not sure I'll ever do it.

The emulator probably only works with the Swedish MGB rom now, but I will adapt
it to JM shortly. I'm also trying to make it run on the Minerva roms.
Those are the only roms I have access to.

The roms are of course copyrighted, so I don't think I could distribute them,
but if you have a QL with Trumpcard you need only dump them to disk and
transfer them to an ST disk.

I believe you have to send in a rom dump when you order the hardware based
emulators, but the Amiga QL emulator consists of a patched rom so perhaps it
is legal. Has anyone talked to Amstrad (the company that bought Sinclair)?

Some info about the emulator:

   The QL-screen is emulated in monochrome by a multitasking job.

   It reads and writes QL-disks, but no error checking is done on writes.

   Format does not work yet.

   Serial comm, MIDI etc are NOT implemented yet.

   Turbo, Desktop Publisher, The Editor, PSION Xchange and most other
   applications work just fine.

   Some games, for example Scrabble, are ok, but many are not.

   The speed with screen emulator at priority 32 is about the same as my
   QL with CST-ram.

---

I have decided to put the current version of the program in the public domain,
but I don't think it's good enough to be posted to .binaries yet.
You could consider it a beta-release.

I won't have the time to transfer the program onto this UNIX system for a few
weeks, but if you are interested, please mail me.
Questions and suggestions are welcome.
--
  Chalmers University	| Why are these	|  e-mail :  d8klojo@dtek.chalmers.se
     of Technology	|  .signatures	|  Address:  Johan Klockars
			| so hard to do	|	     Foreningsgatan 32/408
   Gothenburg, Sweden	|     well?	|  	     411 27 Gothenburg, SWEDEN