pruss@ria.ccs.uwo.ca (Alex Pruss) (10/04/90)
Having found a September 1984 QuadLink board here (Apple II+ emulator for
IBM PCs), I tried to get it to run.
Unfortunately according to the manual two programs are needed:
QuadLink Master Disk and The Filer by Central Point Software.
I have the QuadLink Master Disk, but over the last six years The
Filer has disappeared... Now first I want to know whether I really need it.
The startup instructions for the QuadLink are:
1. Boot IBM system with QuadLink board.
2. Insert QL Master Disk. Type A:QUADLINK
3. Exchange QL Master Disk for The Filer. Press any key.
4. Hit CTRL-ALT-A to enter Apple mode.
5. Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to boot Apple.
Now, since I do not have The Filer, I tried putting in an AppleDOS 3.3 boot
disk. Unfortunately at Step 3 QuadLink recognized it had been cheated and
and refused to take it. I tried ProDOS, some games, etc., with the same
result. Then I patched the QUADLINK.EXE support program to quit checking
whether the disk is The Filer. I executed steps 1-4 and got the nice
QuadLink screen:
QuadLink Ready
Press CTR-ALT-DEL to boot
Unfortunately hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL merely changed the screen into a set of
@ signs. Didn't even whirr the disk.
My hypothesis is that the boot data is loaded from The Filer by direct low
level access from the IBM into the QuadLink-Apple memory, without even looking
at the disk catalog. Thus for the primary boot one needs The Filer, September
1984 version. How do I get that beast? My other hypothesis is that on The
Filer disk they have also inserted the `ROM's for QuadLink... This would be
nasty--I would have to not only get Sept 1984 Filer but the QuadLink Sept 1984
Filer...
Anyways, does anyone have a QuadLink board for the IBM with working software?
If you do, please contact me.
Alex Pruss
pruss@uwo.ca
assistant network manager for Applied Mathematics