Oh I think I understand. I'm not holding a copy of Sid Wizard in the pic, that's the floppy I'm trying to put it on. I put the pic to illustrate that I'm not using the older, larger floppies that some people use.
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SLC, UT
Oh sorry, I meant someone who has a working copy to dupe it for you. It just seems so deceptively simple...
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Arizona
stargazer wrote:
Oh sorry, I meant someone who has a working copy to dupe it for you. It just seems so deceptively simple...
Yeah ever since I brought the first C64 home a couple weeks ago I realized that nothing about them is simple...which I'm fine with. I like projects and learning new things. In all actuality I could sell the current drive I have and based on Ebay listings I've seen, make about $130 and then turn around and buy one of those SD card readers for $70. I don't want to do that though, I want to try and use all of its original hardware.
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I tried to stick with all original and period hardware for my apples. If you decide you really like using a c64 you should consider a replacement for magnetic/mechanical data storage. It is fun to mess around with the older stuff, but eventually the combination of cost, inconvenience and lack of reliability might outweigh the nostalgia or novelty if you plan to use it much.
It is interesting that you use DD disks at work (and if not, where did you acquire it?). Do you mind sharing what you use floppy disks for? A couple years ago I worked with equipment that used high density floppies for recovery and such, but not regular use. I don't recall any of our computers having floppy drives...just a handful of disks waiting for things to go very wrong.
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Parts Unkown
A few years ago got the C64TPC which connects the C64 to the PC w/ a serial cable. I don't think he makes them anymore but I remember it being cheap and it worked without issue.
Then I picked up the 1541 ultimate II cart for getting files from the PC to the c64. Although it was a bit pricey I totally love it and have no regrets.
I also remember getting a cable that connected the 1541 to the PC's parallel port, it was really cheap but never got it to work at the time.
Although I haven't tried it, I would recommend the sd card reader, it will make it so much easier.
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Arizona
rygD wrote:
I tried to stick with all original and period hardware for my apples. If you decide you really like using a c64 you should consider a replacement for magnetic/mechanical data storage. It is fun to mess around with the older stuff, but eventually the combination of cost, inconvenience and lack of reliability might outweigh the nostalgia or novelty if you plan to use it much.
It is interesting that you use DD disks at work (and if not, where did you acquire it?). Do you mind sharing what you use floppy disks for? A couple years ago I worked with equipment that used high density floppies for recovery and such, but not regular use. I don't recall any of our computers having floppy drives...just a handful of disks waiting for things to go very wrong.
I work for a financial institution and we have gobs of old data from many years ago backed up on floppies. We have it all backed up on CDs now but we still have a lot of blank floppies and computers with floppy drives in them.
Last edited by Limitbreak (Jan 11, 2014 2:18 pm)
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Arizona
HeavyW8bit wrote:
Although I haven't tried it, I would recommend the sd card reader, it will make it so much easier.
I think thats what I'm going to end up doing.
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Jelly Stone park, MD USA
HeavyW8bit wrote:
A few years ago got the C64TPC which connects the C64 to the PC w/ a serial cable. I don't think he makes them anymore but I remember it being cheap and it worked without issue.
Then I picked up the 1541 ultimate II cart for getting files from the PC to the c64. Although it was a bit pricey I totally love it and have no regrets.
I also remember getting a cable that connected the 1541 to the PC's parallel port, it was really cheap but never got it to work at the time.
Although I haven't tried it, I would recommend the sd card reader, it will make it so much easier.
Ditto HeavyW8bit. In fact I just saw an Arduino project for C64 to PC, which seem like a low cost entry point. Even if you don't have a 'duino to try it out, there are a lot of breadboardDino 'kits' for ~$20.
https://github.com/Larswad/uno2iec/wiki … lator-Wiki
or
http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic. … b721d8a0c0
It's fun having the original drive hardware, but at a certain point having the power of a PC really is nice. 99.9% of any software you will want is out on the web, so you will have to have some way of transferring your DLs to the C64 at some point.
Have Fun!
Yogi
EDIT- Here is XUM1541 using a Teensy to control a 1570 from a PC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DazvNqZ96go
Last edited by yogi (Jan 11, 2014 8:01 pm)
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Dallas, Texas
I can easily put files onto a 1541 for you if you have a 1541 drive to play them on. I've never tried a 1581 before. I don't have that kind of drive.
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Arizona
TylerBarnes wrote:
I can easily put files onto a 1541 for you if you have a 1541 drive to play them on. I've never tried a 1581 before. I don't have that kind of drive.
I'll take you up on that offer if I end up getting a 1541. Right now I'm weighing my various options. I'd love to get it working with the gear I presently have but if it becomes too much of a hassle I'll just part with the drive.
The thought of being able to manage my C64 projects and files on a SD card is wildly appealing though.
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Dallas, Texas
Yeah, SD card solutions take the hassle out of dealing with ancient forms of save media. I've had projects become corrupted before on floppy. I can tell you, it's a soul crushing experience.