QL microdrive cartridge question
Okay, I'm throwing this open to the Speccy community at large...
Does anyone know what I would need to do to examine the contents of a QL microdrive cartridge without access to a working QL? Ideally I need to get the files on it readable via a PC or Mac. This could be via an emulator but I'm not sure if there are any QL emulators that read .mdr files (for example).
There is a sector copy app for the Speccy available here on WOS, but I've read elsewhere that QL cartridges are formatted differently to the Spectrum so I'm not even sure that the app would read the cartridge (via a real Speccy with a Microdrive attached)? Even if it can, having the cartridge saved as an .mdr is pretty pointless unless there's a QL emulator that can use it.
The cartridge is from a former developer and he's not 100% certain what is on the cartridge or whether it is still readable, but we won't know until we try!
Anyone ever rescued data from a QL microdrive cartridge before? Any help or advice much appreciated!
Thanks!
Does anyone know what I would need to do to examine the contents of a QL microdrive cartridge without access to a working QL? Ideally I need to get the files on it readable via a PC or Mac. This could be via an emulator but I'm not sure if there are any QL emulators that read .mdr files (for example).
There is a sector copy app for the Speccy available here on WOS, but I've read elsewhere that QL cartridges are formatted differently to the Spectrum so I'm not even sure that the app would read the cartridge (via a real Speccy with a Microdrive attached)? Even if it can, having the cartridge saved as an .mdr is pretty pointless unless there's a QL emulator that can use it.
The cartridge is from a former developer and he's not 100% certain what is on the cartridge or whether it is still readable, but we won't know until we try!
Anyone ever rescued data from a QL microdrive cartridge before? Any help or advice much appreciated!
Thanks!
Post edited by Rainbird Rich on
Comments
QLAY is the only QL emulator which can handle microdrive images, although I am uncertain how you would create the image! The new Q-eMulator version (not yet released) will also handle its own microdrive images.
The easiest way to rescue a QL cartridge is to send it to me and I can use one of several QLs, each with different microdrive characteristics to read the cartridge, or get as much information as possible off it.
The easiest way, if you have a QL and Trump Card / Gold Card / Super Gold Card is to use the command FORMAT ram1_mdv1 (or similar) - this makes a fast sector copy to ram disk and highlights corrupt files by adding * to the end of the filename. You can then try finding another QL or microdrive unit to read that specific file.
This is what I have been doing for a while to help with rescuing programs for the QL Wiki www.rwapadventures.com/ql_wiki
www.rwapsoftware.co.uk
www.sellmyretro.com