Vytantus
Offline
Melbourne, Australia

Focused more on the modern/compatible approaches.

C64:

- XE1541 cable setup [C64=1541=PC]  w/64HDD > http://www.64hdd.com/64hdd.html

- XA1541 Adapter [essentially same as the XE1541] > http://www.nkcelectronics.com/commodore … a1541.html

- XU1541 Adapter w/USB > http://truechiptilldeath.com/2009/10/xu … -available

- C64TPC Adapter [essentially same as the XE1541] > http://www.cancarpet.com/saymantek/c64tpc_en.html


- SD2IEC board using SD card [+ Daughter Board] > http://www.nkcelectronics.com/sd2iec-boar2.html

- uIEC board using SD card [similar to SD2IEC] > http://www.jbrain.com/vicug/gallery/uIEC

- 1541Ulitmate using SD card w/1541 emulation [on the board] > http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/

- MMC Replay using SD card [joining of MMC & Retro Replay cartridges] > http://www.protovision-online.de/hardw/mmc_replay.htm



AMIGA:

- Easy1541 cable [essentially same as the XE1541] > http://sta.c64.org/easy1541.html



There are others but i can't remember/be bothered re-finding.

I'm really just wanting to know which is the best option based on ease of use, compatibility and functionality.

Im aware of things like the CMD HD, but I'm really only interested in portable and lightweight solutions.


Also suggest more, i know these can't be the only gates of passage.

Thanks for everyone offering their experiences with some of this stuff.

Last edited by Vytantus (Mar 3, 2010 6:24 am)

Sander von Focus
Offline
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I got the 1541ultimate - which works like a charm. No need to carry around a drive anymore. (well, tbh - i never carry my c64 around either.)

I know someone selling his FD2000 (http://www.cmdweb.de/fd.htm) - let me know if you're interested.

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City

An X*1541 cable will give you transfer facilites more than storage options. It's a needed tool if you still have floppies. You could also try the 64HDD software with this cable, but it means you have to be stuck to a PC slave to be used as a hard drive.

I would recommend, however, the XU1541 adapter, which is USB.

http://truechiptilldeath.com/2009/10/xu … available/

I have an SD2IEC myself but I haven't been able to use it yet, so no reports. All the "non emulating" options are basically the same, most stuff doesn't work because they need real 1541 hardware for the fastloaders. So whichever one you choose it usually doens't matter. For the record, the SD2IEC is the cheapest.

Now the 1541U is in a whole different league since it's a disk drive emulator. This one won't work as a hard drive and it will be as slow (or fast) asa real disk drive is Get this if you want floppy-less compatibility.

MMC Replay is a complete different east on its own. The SD card will be of the "non emulating" type so compatibility is low. But the MMC Replay can also load CARTRIDGE images onto it and work as a cartridge of the type you wish (the more useful type being the freezer cartridges). You can also add a daughterboard for Ethernet connectivity.

If you wanna hook up a hard drive or compactflash, you can use the uIEC that takes IDE or get an IDE64. Compatibility, again, s like that of non emulating SD solutions.

You really don;t want to use any of the oldschool options like the CMD products (FD-2000 HD disk drive, HD Sries hard drives ,etc).

PULSELOOPER
Offline
São Paulo, Brazil
akira^8GB wrote:

I would recommend, however, the XU1541 adapter, which is USB.

http://truechiptilldeath.com/2009/10/xu … available/

akira, would the XU1541 be pretty much like a c64tpc?

BitPop
Offline
York, Yorkshire

I've got the 1541U.  It's awesome, but a bit much if you only need to use normal file system.  I got it so I could play old fastloader games too big_smile

Worth looking out C64TPC if you want a nice cheap option.

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City
PULSELOOPER wrote:

akira, would the XU1541 be pretty much like a c64tpc?

No, I deem it better.
It's like a regular XE1541 solution but through USB. You can use Star Commander or OpenCMD, 64HDD and the other usual apps.

<|¦¬{D
Offline
Earthling

What would be the best program to use with an XU1541 on Windows XP? I used to use OpenCBM but it's been so long since I've used it I can't remember how to work it! XP doesn't have DOS, so is this an issue? I'm needing to make some new disks up and I want to make it easier on myself

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City

OpenCBM is the best. Works on XP.

tRasH cAn maN
Offline
akira^8GB wrote:

But the MMC Replay can also load CARTRIDGE images onto it and work as a cartridge of the type you wish (the more useful type being the freezer cartridges).

Does that mean you can make like a complete memory dump which you can later resume?
If so that's a good enough workaround for the lack of disk drive emulation.

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City

No, what I wrote just means that you can load a ROM image of your liking and use it, including freezer carts. here might be freezers that allow memory snapshot and dump to disk though!

neuroflip
Offline
Barcelona, Spain

i would add Easy1541 for amiga users. It works like the X*1541 solutions but running on amiga.

Easy 1541
c64Opik (opus-like gui for easy1541)

to manage d64 files on amiga i use:

SimDisk
und64

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City

Thanks for those neuro, I think i will make me the easy1541 cable because it sems more convenient for my current home studio setup!

neilbaldwin
Offline
WOW MAN!

I use a combination of RetroReplay + (ethernet board) and Netdrive.

RR connects to LAN and I run Netdrive on my work machine (iMac) which allows you to copy files to and from the iMac from the C64 as though it's a disc drive.

It even treats .D64 images as folder. Which is nice....

rumpelfilter
Offline
Italy

XU1541 looks really interesting! With USB and all... I'm not really moving the C64 a lot anyway, and if I would do, then not without a laptop...
EDIT: great thread btw! Thanks a lot, this was really useful!

Last edited by rumpelfilter (Feb 15, 2010 10:16 pm)

rumpelfilter
Offline
Italy

I was looking at the XU1541, but there's one thing I don't get... it seems it's only made to connect a 1541 floppy diver to the pc, but I need to connect my C64 to something where I can store data... is there a trick to do this with the XU1541 or do I have to get a 1541Ulitmate?

Theta_Frost
Offline
Milwaukee, WI

If your just going to use your C64 for music would an option that emulates the 1541 completely be necessary?  I'd just like to back up stuff from JCH and some other trackers.