QUBIDE version 1.28

QUBIDE is an IDE hard disk interface for the QL. Before describing it in detail, I’d like to explain how this interface ever came into existence. Months ago, one of the discussion threads on QBox was some wishful thinking about using IDE drives on the QL. IDE was discussed for some time when Zelijko Nastasic left some messages explaining that it should not be that hard to implement. In a short amount of time, Zelijko was asking for volunteers to test out his prototype IDE interface. The hardware was complete but someone still needed to write the software driver. Phil Borman then came forward and modified the Rebel driver to work with the new IDE card. Phil also wrote a set of programs to make life with QUBIDE easier. Add in Ron Dunnett for Finance and Marketing and you have a successful product. Others like Arvid Borretzen (who contributed Norback to the public domain) and Stuart Honeyball also played a part in making QUBIDE a reality. This hardly could have happened in the fiercely competitive PC market.