XWUU@PURCCVM.BITNET (05/16/91)
Someone recently posted an Enhancer 2000 disk drive for sale and listed it
as 1541 compatible. Anyone considering such a purchase should know that this
unit is NOT 100% compatible. It is in the area of 95-98% combatible with
1541 oriented software. I own an Enhancer 2000 and her's what I have found:
1) It is slower than a normal 1541 by several RPM's. It is a full 20-30
RPM's slower than my Excelerator plus drive.
2) It will NOT run GEOS 2.0. It probably has something to do with GEOS's
copy protection scheme - calls to the drives's ROM and all.
3) It will run nearly any piece of commercial software created before 1988.
It seems to run all games and programs written in BASIC just fine.
4) It has some trouble with the newest games - again...could it be due to
copy protection schemes?
So...I have my own questions...
The ROM is labelled as written by the Enhancer people. I have forgotten
the actual statement and copywrite notice that I found through software.
My Excelerator has an actual Commodore ROM in it. Does anyone know if I
can replace the stock ROM with a Commodore ROM (either 1541 or 1541II)?
I have not seen the Enhancer listed in any of the disk drive modifications
such as Jiffy DOS, etc. Does anyone know if these modifications would work?
Any input as to why the Enhancer 2000 will not run GEOS 2.0; please post - the
discussion might spur on some interesting programming/application ideas.
BTW - Everytime I have called a shop or a software outlet and asked if a
product will work on the Enhancer, I get a groan on the other end of the line.
It seems that old timers remember the compatibility problems and say:
"Yeah, I remember that unit - you'll notice that the manufacturers are no
longer in business! Good thing , too!"
Kirk
xwuu@purccvm
oops! I spelled compatibility wrong in the header!
^hamilton@brahms.udel.edu (Andrew W Hamilton) (05/16/91)
Hi. I've been thinking about joining Q-Link, but I don't have a Commodore brand disk drive. I am using an Excelerator drive, which has worked with every single program I've tried it with. But the little book on Q-Link says that Commodore drives _only_ can be used with Q-Link. Is this true, or is it just a scam to get people to buy Commodore drives? Anybody successfully use an Excelerator drive with Q-Link? Thanks for any help. J. P. Grenert hamilton@brahms.udel.edu
ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu (05/17/91)
In article <91136.105602XWUU@PURCCVM.BITNET>, XWUU@PURCCVM.BITNET writes: > Someone recently posted an Enhancer 2000 disk drive for sale and listed it > as 1541 compatible. Anyone considering such a purchase should know that this > unit is NOT 100% compatible. It is in the area of 95-98% combatible with > 1541 oriented software. I own an Enhancer 2000 and her's what I have found: > > 1) It is slower than a normal 1541 by several RPM's. It is a full 20-30 > RPM's slower than my Excelerator plus drive. > > 2) It will NOT run GEOS 2.0. It probably has something to do with GEOS's > copy protection scheme - calls to the drives's ROM and all. > > 3) It will run nearly any piece of commercial software created before 1988. > It seems to run all games and programs written in BASIC just fine. > > 4) It has some trouble with the newest games - again...could it be due to > copy protection schemes? > > So...I have my own questions... > The ROM is labelled as written by the Enhancer people. I have forgotten > the actual statement and copywrite notice that I found through software. > My Excelerator has an actual Commodore ROM in it. Does anyone know if I > can replace the stock ROM with a Commodore ROM (either 1541 or 1541II)? > > I have not seen the Enhancer listed in any of the disk drive modifications > such as Jiffy DOS, etc. Does anyone know if these modifications would work? > > Any input as to why the Enhancer 2000 will not run GEOS 2.0; please post - the > discussion might spur on some interesting programming/application ideas. > > BTW - Everytime I have called a shop or a software outlet and asked if a > product will work on the Enhancer, I get a groan on the other end of the line. > It seems that old timers remember the compatibility problems and say: > "Yeah, I remember that unit - you'll notice that the manufacturers are no > longer in business! Good thing , too!" > > Kirk > xwuu@purccvm My opinion is that the new 'super-warp speed' disk drive accelerators are frequently the culprit in these cases. The routine will sometimes use non- standard entry points in the DOS ROM & that is what really tests the com- patibilty. PHIL
ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu (05/17/91)
In article <21443@brahms.udel.edu>, hamilton@brahms.udel.edu (Andrew W Hamilton) writes: > Hi. > > I've been thinking about joining Q-Link, but I don't have a Commodore brand > disk drive. I am using an Excelerator drive, which has worked with every > single program I've tried it with. But the little book on Q-Link says that > Commodore drives _only_ can be used with Q-Link. Is this true, or is it > just a scam to get people to buy Commodore drives? Anybody successfully > use an Excelerator drive with Q-Link? > > Thanks for any help. > J. P. Grenert > hamilton@brahms.udel.edu Since the Excelerator + (I'm not sure about the original Excelerator) has genuine CBM DOS ROMs it should work fine. The ROMS are where the real differeances are. PHIL