mitch@manta.NOSC.MIL (Ray Mitchell) (01/04/89)
Does anyone know anything about any modifications to the Commodore 64 to permit the use of a parallel interface to the disk drive? Anything would be appreciated. Thanks, Ray Mitchell . .
hxh@hal.UUCP (Howard Hermann) (01/06/89)
In article <420@manta.NOSC.MIL> mitch@manta.NOSC.MIL (Ray Mitchell) writes: >Does anyone know anything about any modifications to the Commodore 64 >to permit the use of a parallel interface to the disk drive? Anything >would be appreciated. > Thanks, > Ray Mitchell > . > . Datel Computers advertises in RUN a Deep Scan Burst Nibbler, selling for $39.99 that uses a parallel cable from drive to computer. Their telephone number for orders: 1-800-782-9110, and for tech support: 702-454-7700. Datel usually takes two-page display ads in RUN. Sorry, but do not know much else about the product. Suggest you call them for specs. Howard Herman
jgreco@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Joseph E Greco) (01/07/89)
In article <420@manta.NOSC.MIL> mitch@manta.NOSC.MIL (Ray Mitchell) writes: >Does anyone know anything about any modifications to the Commodore 64 >to permit the use of a parallel interface to the disk drive? Anything >would be appreciated. > Thanks, > Ray Mitchell > . > . Depending on what your meaning and intent is, there are several alternatives: (1) Several devices add a parallel cable to the 1541. Most notable in my mind is Skyles Electric Works' "The Flash." That particular product is relatively old, and I know there are newer products available, but they all seem to suffer from the same problem: Overall lack of compatibility with certain programs. (2) I believe there is a product available that lets the 64 use the Burst Mode available on the 1571/1581 drives. Considering the data transfer rates involved, there's no reason that this shouldn't be considered - since the serial data rate is about what a parallel interface could handle anyways. (3) Various enhancements are available to make the 64/1541 faster with little or no hardware modification (Fastload and Mach-5 were the first generation of these enhancements, current packages offer a LOT more). I'm mentioning this and (2) only to suggest less expensive alternatives. (4) If you can't get what you want with these means, there's always IEEE-488. While you won't be able to use a 1541/71/81, there are plenty of old Commodore CBM class drives out there for cheap. They are approximately 400-600% faster than serial drives (transfer rate), depending on the IEEE interface you select, and many internal operations are faster as well. (5) If I've misinterpreted what you're interested in, and you're looking for a way to directly connect a disk drive module to a 64 with a disk interface chip or something, I not only admire your courage but would also like to hear more. If you're interested in more information on any of these topics, let me know and I might be able to dig something up. Happy Hacking! -- jgreco@csd4.milw.wisc.edu Joe Greco at FidoNet 1:154/200 USnail: 9905 W Montana Ave PunterNet Node 30 or 31 West Allis, WI 53227-3329 "These aren't anybody's opinions." Voice: 414/321-6184 Data: 414/321-9287 (Happy Hacker's BBS)
ecarroll@cs.tcd.ie (Eddy Carroll) (01/08/89)
In article <420@manta.NOSC.MIL>, mitch@manta.NOSC.MIL (Ray Mitchell) writes: > Does anyone know anything about any modifications to the Commodore 64 > to permit the use of a parallel interface to the disk drive? Anything > would be appreciated. > Thanks, > Ray Mitchell Over here in Europe, there are several parallel disk systems available for the C64/C128 + 1541 drive, giving around a 25 fold increase in speed. I have Dolphin DOS from Evesham Micros (63 Bridge Street, Evesham, Worcs WR11 4SF, England, phone England 0386-765500) and am very pleased with it. Typical loading speeds are around 3-4 seconds for a 50K program file. Most programs load in less than two seconds. Sequential file access is speeded up 12 times, as is program saving (as opposed to loading). The extra speed is achieved by using both a parallel interface and an 8K track buffer in the 1541. I think I heard somewhere that they also use a hardware circuit to do the GCR decoding rather than leaving it to the software. The whole system works with almost everything, and can be switched out completely for the odd piece of software that doesn't like it. In addition, you get some other nice extras at the C64 end, such as built in DOS 5.1 lookalike, mini machine-code monitor, predefined function keys, extended screen editor, pause mode while scrolling screen and automatic detection and use of a printer connected to the user port. All of these are squeezed into the space used by the Tape and RS232 routines on the C64 Kernal ROM (The C128 version doesn't remove RS232, not sure about tape). If you need to access RS232 in C64 mode, a switch is provided which allows you to swap between normal and Dolphin DOS mode. Finally, you can get some useful disk utilities including a 21 second fast disk copier, a fast filecopier and a bit nibbler that copies everything I've thrown at it. I can highly recommend this package, which I've been using for around 18 months. It costs 70 Sterling pounds, and I suspect it doesn't work on the new models of the 1541, but if you can get it you won't regret it. As I mentioned above, other systems are available, but I have heard that at least one of these is not terribly reliable (it claims a 60x increase in speed for example, which is just about impossible given the speed the drive revolves at!) (I have no association with Evesham Micros, other than as a very satisfied customer.) -- Eddy Carroll ----* Genuine MUD Wizard | "You haven't lived until INTER: ecarroll@cs.tcd.ie | until you've died in UUCP: {..uunet}!mcvax!ukc!cs.tcd.ie!csvax1!ecarroll | MUD!" - Richard Bartle