ali@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Ali Ozer) (03/06/87)
---- [The Amiga 2000 comes with a slot for 5&1/4" drives and internal slots, to which full XT-on-a-card can be plugged in. Then the Amiga runs IBM software as a subtask (possibly concurrently with Amiga programs). (The Amiga can run *all* IBM software, not only things like Lotus, etc. Even programs like the Flight Simulator are no problem.) Anyway, I was wondering about the possibility of adding C64 emulation, and posted this to comp.sys.amiga. Thought it might be useful to post it to comp.sys.cbm as well --- I would be interested in hearing any comments...] How generic are 5&1/4" drives like the one to be put in the A2000 for IBM emulation? I mean, does the drive itself have anything to do with what format data is on the disk, or is it the disk controller that determines most parameters? The actual question is, can the 5&1/4" drive destined for the A2000 read Commodore 64 disks, given a different controller? I imagine (with maybe a bit of clever programming) the Amiga could emulate a C64 in full time (including to the smallest details including sound, sprites, the different video modes, etc), in software only. Then all you would need is the disk controller chip to be plugged into one of the slots, and how much could that cost? Any comments? Am I right in assuming that all the hardware one would need is a disk controller? And am I right in assuming the Amiga can emulate a C64 in software? If it was possible for the A2000 to fully emulate a C64 for less than $50 plus the price of the disk drive, it might make current C64 owners happy and more willing to spend money on an Amiga (rather than some other machine). Ali Ozer, ali@rocky.stanford.edu, decwrl!rocky.stanford.edu!ali
timothy@ukecc.uky.edu (Timothy W. Williams) (03/10/87)
<munch, munch, munch.... snort, cough> In article <159@rocky.STANFORD.EDU> ali@rocky.ARPA (Ali Ozer) writes: >The actual question is, can the 5&1/4" drive destined for >the A2000 read Commodore 64 disks, given a different controller? Sure... the 1571 (on my Commodore 128) can read MS-DOS formats, CP/M, 1541, and, even, 1571 "native" mode... why not just use a 1571 type drive?? Then we can run CP/M as a task too!! "Imagination is more important than intelligence." Albert E. -- Timothy W. Williams