Howto: Accessing Q-Link Reloaded with VICE for X11

[Golan Klinger]

There seems to be some confusion about how to access Quantum Link Reloaded with the X11 port of VICE so I've decided to put together this tutorial. It is based upon the assumption that you already have VICE installed and working and are in possession of the Quantum Link software. At the time this tutorial was written, VICE was at version 1.21 and while these instructions may work with older versions, you are advised to upgrade to the latest version of VICE which you can find at the VICE website. You do NOT need to make any customizations or modifications to VICE. This information is applicable to all X11 ports of VICE regardless of whether the underlying operating system is Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X or any other UNIX/UNIX-like OS. If you don't have the Quantum Link software you can download a disk image here. This tutorial comes with no guarantees of any sort and any damage you might do is entirely your own responsibility.

Note: Installation and/or configuration of your OS or installation of VICE are beyond the scope of this tutorial.

1. Load VICE. Right click and go to the "RS232 settings" menu and enable "Userport RS232 emulation".



2. Set the "Userport RS232 baud rate" to "1200".



3. Set the "Userport RS232 device" to "Exec process".



4. Navigate down to "Program name to exec".



5. Under "Command:" enter "|nc -p 30007 66.135.38.238 5190". For reference, 66.135.38.238 is the current IP address for the Quantum Link Reloaded server and 5190 is the appropriate port. (Note: You may wish to save your settings at this point.)



6. Load the Quantum Link software (remember to "Enable true drive emulation"). Eventually you'll see the following:



7. As instructed, press F1 to connect. You should see dashes indicating the connection process.



That's all there is to it. If you're new to Quantum Link Reloaded you will be have to follow the on screen instructions to create an account. If you have a Quantum Link Reloaded account you will see something like this...





I hope that helps. If you have any problems, send me a PM and I'll see if I can't sort you out.

[murple]

Thanks, I appreciate this.

[Golan Klinger]

Please let me know if you're able to connect to Quantum Link Reloaded.

[murple]

Yeah I'll try and test it today, or at least this week sometime. The main QLink page ought to be updated with a link to this info... or at least a comment to the effect that "WinVICE requires a special patch, but the regular VICE in Linux can get the same functionality by setting up a pipe to netcat for the RS232 port emulation."

[Golan Klinger]

I don't believe WinVICE requires any patching either. The how-to type information on the Quantum Link Reloaded website hasn't been updated in a long, long time (not since the inception of the project). At the time a modified version of VICE v1.16 was required but this is no longer the case. VICE has long since had all the functionality required for connecting to Q-Link Reloaded. As for updating the site with a link to my tutorial, well, yeah, that would be useful. I wouldn't hold my breath though. It pains me to say that Q-Link Reloaded is a bit of an orphan at this point and we're lucky it's accessible at all.

[murple]

The server side of the QLink software ought to be made available, maybe if others were playing around it could be given more functionality and maybe less of an orphan. If the server is available somewhere, I haven't found it. I havent looked that hard though.

[paradime]

murple said:

The server side of the QLink software ought to be made available, maybe if others were playing around it could be given more functionality and maybe less of an orphan.

I totally agree. I suggested that in another thread:

jledger.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=qlink&action=display&thread=1159215996

...and got ZERO response. Unfortunately, a great programming effort and impressive accomplishment will eventually go to waste.

[Snogpitch]

I am connected to Q right now, and in C64friends on irc

Made my life a lot happier, thanks! ;D

[Golan Klinger]

Ha! That's great, Snogs. Glad to be of assistance.

P.S. I nipped in to say hi but I just missed you. I guess I'll talk to you on Saturday.

[murple]

Even a write-up of the protocol would help. I'm more a Perl guy than Java, but I'd certainly be willing to try extending it so that some of the other things like message bases, downloads, etc were useful. Its just PC/Auditorium now, right?

[paradime]

murple said:

Its just PC/Auditorium now, right?

It's a novelty, at best, that will wear off after 20 minutes. ;D

Anyway, we're totally off topic at this point.

[Jeff Ledger]

NICE TUTORIAL!!!!!

You should do this as a .PDF for download as well.

Jeff

[Golan Klinger]

admin said:

You should do this as a .PDF for download as well.

I would prefer that people access the tutorial here, in the forum where they can ask any questions they might have.

[Snogpitch]

I posted the general instructions to the two Yahoo Groups that support Q-Link.
tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/qlinkreunion/
tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/qlink_orphans/

Recommended they check here for further information

[brianl]

I tried using your instructions to setup vice on my Mac OSX today. I tried to connect I got repeated RS232: Error - Error writing: Broken pipe. error messages displayed on the VICE x64 console and qlink never connected.

Any suggestions?