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2022-08-26
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DRIVING ALTERNATIVE
by Ira Sloke
Getting 1541 DD/DS "flippies"
(that is, with two index holes) is
getting to be a real chore here at the
Tower. Our current batch (and
evidently, the ones Fender and Judi
used last year for 1541 LOADSTAR's) do
not have a hub ring, and might not
have exactly the right coating for
some 1541 or 1571 drives. One
LOADSTARite has just recently put his
C-128 system back together, and found
that issues 201 through 205 would not
load on his system.
The 1541 is certainly the standard
for the C-64. But DD/DS disks are no
longer supported by the Incredibly Big
Machines, so the manufacturers don't
make them. And in a way, this is not
bad. Let's face it -- the 1541 was the
club foot of the C-64. Disk access had
to be crippled to work with a drive
designed for the VIC-20. And with slow
drive access, the C-64 very soon
earned the monicker of "game machine."
The 1581 3.5 inch disk is much
better designed (no paper sleeves,
hard container). And it holds about 5
times the data. The whole LOADSTAR
experience is seamless with a 1581
disk.
But, alas, 1581's are not easy to
find. Every now and then, I see one or
two on eBay -- going for about $40.
(Not bad -- except that $40 might get
you a defunct unit. eBay's like that,
sometimes.) The other 3.5 alternative
is an FD2000, which Maurice Randall
builds for $189 plus shipping.
Now, friends -- putting a
JiffyDOSed FD2000 on your C-64 turns
it into a brand new machine. You won't
have nearly as much time for getting
coffee or relieving your bladder --
but most people aren't bothered by
excellent access times.
And here at the Tower, we have
promised to NEVER force anyone to
upgrade. We will continue to produce
1541 disk versions until A) Our
subscription base drops below 100, or
B) we can't get the blessed disks --
whichever comes first.
[DAVE'S NOTE:] Right now, we are in
the 300's and if y'all renew, life
will be good!
What we can do is suggest an
alternative way of getting a 1581
drive for as little as $20. A fellow
by the name of Nick Coplin has
developed a MS-DOS program that will
run on almost any old PC (386 25Mhz or
faster). Somewhere near you, someone
is getting ready to toss just such a
computer into the trash, VGA monitor
and all!
This program runs under MS-DOS,
not Windows, so does not need a fancy
machine. All you will need to buy --
for about $20 -- is the XE1541 cable,
which connects the PC's printer port
to the serial port of the C-64.
I just got the cable and program
and spent about 2 hours getting my old
PC connected and the program running.
And -- It works! I need to tweak
it some more to get the access just
right. But now I have, in effect, a
nice, big hard drive for my C-64! I
can put 1581 disks on the PC hard
drive with a slick little MS-DOS
program called 1581Copy. Then it is
just a matter of LOADing the path and
the desired program and RUNning it.
This might not be the alternative
for you. But then again, it could be
exactly what you need to carry your
C-64 on into this Century!
For further information, write:
Nicholas Coplin
9 Forbes Crt
MERRIWA WA 6030
AUSTRALIA
ncoplin@lycos.com
You will need an X1541 or XE1541
cable that hooks your C= serial port
to the PC's printer port. If you are
interested, write to:
Kovacs Balazs
Orsolya utca 5. IV/12.
1204 Budapest
Hungary
sta.ANTI@SPAM.c64.org
Balazs Kovacs (Hungarians typically
put their last name first) also goes
by Joe Forester and gladly constructs
the cables. Write him first for
details.
[Late Breaking News]
I just got a note from Nick. The
one bug I found made 64HDD not work
with LOADSTAR. Nick informs me the bug
will be fixed in a couple of weeks.
DMM