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replacements for 1541 floppy drive on c64


jrhodes

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I have questions about upgrading my c64 to modern disk drive alternitives/replacements.

Right now, i use a MMCReplay. It works ok for simple disk based games, but games like the Carmen Sandiego series don't work.

I have heard the 1541-II Ultimate is great, but i can not find one for sell.

How good is the SD2IEC? Would it be any improvement over the MMCReplay?

How about a gotek or hxc floppy emulator, how easy it is to connect and set one up for use on a c64?

Edited by jrhodes
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I think SD2IEC would only be marginally more capable than your MMC Replay. You should look into the Pi1541, which is a solution consisting of a Raspberry Pi plus a "hat" which interfaces it to your C64. The Pi1541 firmware is more capable than the SD2IEC is, and does the basic work of the 1541 Ultimate II (which though has a load of even more functionality). If you've got a spare Pi of enough capacity it is an inexpensive solution. One of the drawbacks is that you need an additional power cable, as the Pi draws too much power to be powered by the C64 itself.

 

As far as I know, Gotek and HxC have no use at all with the 8-bit Commodores. Those are better aimed at Amigas and alike.

Edited by carlsson
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I've used both the SD2IEC and the Ultimate 1541 (although I have an older model and not the '+')

 

I'd say that the library that is ready to use for the SD2IEC is pretty vast and would be great for someone who just wants to discover what the C64 was about. However, if you used the C64 in your childhood, you will likely want to play something that is not compatible (like your example of Carmen Sandiego). I would recommend just biting the bullet and getting the U1541. I can't really say anything bad about it and the creator has continued to innovate for the C64, so there could be more updates and improvements to come.

 

I didn't know about the Pi1541 (although it makes perfect sense) However, another solution (that I have not tried) is the Turbo Chameleon: https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/news.html and/or http://www.syntiac.com/chameleon.html

 

Link straight to Chameleon purchase page: https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/Turbo_Chameleon_64.html

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The Turbo Chameleon though is a pretty expensive product for those who require VGA output from their C64.

I haven't used it, but it does more than that right? This would be the primary feature for the OP:

 

MMC/SD card slot with MMC64 compatibility and full 1541-emulation. The TC64 floppy emulation goes far beyond what other flash-based mass storage solutions like the uIEC can offer; it supports speed-loaders and custom trackloaders, and if one floppy is not enough, you can switch on a second emulated drive.

 

I did notice this after a careful read of that last link which might eliminate most US users:

 

In cartridge mode the C64 core can be used with a european (PAL-G) or the "new" american 65-cycle (NTSC-M) C64. The "old" american 64-Cycle C64 and the argentinian "Drean" (PAL-N) C64 can not be used.

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I did notice this after a careful read of that last link which might eliminate most US users:

 

In cartridge mode the C64 core can be used with a european (PAL-G) or the "new" american 65-cycle (NTSC-M) C64. The "old" american 64-Cycle C64 and the argentinian "Drean" (PAL-N) C64 can not be used.

 

My googling indicated that VIC-II chips (what the c64 uses) that are 6567R8 and newer, like the 8562, are the "new" 65-cycle chips. Supposedly these are generally chips manufactured in 1984 or later. Sounds like many/most US c64 users would fall into the 65-cycle category.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm bringing this up again with the following question:

Will the pi1541 work with the carmen sandiego games?

I'm not about to pay for it if they will not work with it.

 

The pi1541 compatibility is actually better than more expensive devices because fully emulates the 1541 disk drive in a cycle exact way fully emulating the MOS 6502 CPU of the drive and two MOS 6522 VIA support chips. By contrast, the SD2IEC runs no 6502 code at all and only simulates various disk protocols and uses heuristics to determine which fast loader protocol to emulate at a given time. Thus, the Pi1541 achieves a very high degree of compatibility by faithfully executing 6502 code as though it were a real 1541.

https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Pi1541

Edited by thetick1
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