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Posted By

JamesC
on 2002-11-20

Well Jim

the site was down Monday so I didn't get a chance to reply til after you would have shipped stuff out. Did you get a tracking number so that you and I can watch the progress as it comes this way? I should have asked you to pop for Priority Mail and I pay you back, as I will have Thanksgiving weekend to play with what you're sending me. Otherwise parcel post out of Alaska will take til after Christmas to arrive here.

I have Starter Productivity here that I need to clean up and upload, but the other tapes you listed are not in the database.

I'm currently using YAPE 0.41 for PAL testing, and my real machine for NTSC testing.

It'd be neat to bump up to 38400bps but since all I have is a 1670 there isn't much use to do so. Maybe someone will come up with an adapter to allow the Plus/4's user port to be hooked up to a PC network card for fast data transfer, then I could use the Plus/4 to Telnet through the cable modem.

Even around here in metro Kansas City PC dial-ins don't get much past 40000bps reliably so it'd be neat to be BBSing at PC speeds. Problem there is that there aren't many BBSses around anymore, so everything would probably be to other Commodore boards by Telnet. Could open up the Plus/4 to reliable Internet access though, with an HTML decoding program like Lynx in ROM to free up memory for those long-winded pages we occasionally come across. Or even my long-winded messages.

Let me know tracking number and when shipment goes out, please!

Posted By

BushRat
on 2002-11-17

No Problem

Had the same problem you described on my SX-64, in my case it was the VIC chip.

I went out to the shed on a quick treasure hunt (quick, because it is 12 degrees outside). I didn't find the Sams for the 1581, right off the bat, but will look tomorrow. I did find some other goodies. A bunch of printer interfaces for Commies. Graphix Jr., G-Whiz, TurboGraphics. Mps803s and Okimate printers I forgot about. Even my old 1702 and 1902a monitors. Thanks for jogging memory...
I did find a bunch of C64 tapes and a few plus4 tapes. I think the Plus4 tapes are already in Landos database. Starter Script+4, Airwolf C16-Plus4, Monopoly (Joystick), Typing Professor, Starter Productivity Software, TurboMusic Demo.

I'll send along a package of spare chips and parts, before they get lost again. I have chips and chip sets for SX-64, C64, 64C, C128, Plus4, C16, 1581, 1541, 1541II. You might try the PAL Kernal and Xtal... if you ever get fat with Plus4s. I have several spare upgrade xtals for the ACIA controller that will nearly double the 19,200 baud rate of the stock Plus4.

I also ran across the Sams for the 1541 and the 1541-II drives, Programmers reference manuals for the Plus4, C128 and C64. Thought those were lost.. Even found an old binder, that Jack's Commodore engineer friend sent, with an annoted disassembly for the CBM DOS V10 in the 1581. The 1582 that I have is a proto (#2 of 6) that was hand jumpered and looks very much like the external Amiga 3 1/2 floppy, with standard DIN plugs on the back, like the regular 1581 drive. I'll dig it out and take some pix. The board, if I recall, looked virtually the same as the 1581 with some hand soldered jumpers added. If you'll look under the Eprom D81 images, on the CD I sent you, you might just find that Rom dump. I think I included a lot of C64 related Rom files in it, and I'm pretty sure that I made a Rom dump of the 1582. Jack was going to do an article about the Commie protos about 1995 but got into a hastle with the owner (at that time) of a certain high-density drive company (whose name I won't mention here). Seems that the 1582 could read a similar format... he always wondered if they ripped off an unreleased Commie prototype. Now that last is only hearsay.

I'll, atleast, send you a 1581 drive assembly.

Posted By

JamesC
on 2002-11-17

Oh while we're at it

go head and either scan the Sams's 1581 repair guide and email it to me for webposting, or put it in with the chips and I'll scan it then return it to you.

I have a Sam's Plus/4 repair guide here somewhere but I imagine it's hidden with the Calc/Plus and Zork III that I cannot find. I know where it -used- to be but that was two years ago that I last saw it. When I find these items I will scan and post them for download.

Posted By

JamesC
on 2002-11-17

Well thank you Jim

but I already have a 1581, I just wanted to get this second one going. It is not necessary to send me another 1581. But you can hang onto it in case my good one dies.

I have put a Mitsumi 1.44 mechanism in the second 1581 but I haven't made it out to the computer room to hook the drive up to power yet. I received it without a power supply but I have a spare one from a 1541-II that I can use.

I would like some pics of that 1582 drive though, maybe pics of the case, motherboard, and serial plate.... would be perfect for the Prototype page of my website, as I don't think I've seen anyone else posting pics of one. Maybe even a ROM dump; could it be possible to convert a 1581 into a 1582 with just the ROM and a HD mechanism? (A screen shot of a directory listing with 62xx blocks free would sure be neat too!)

As of now, I still need a 6525 for the 1551, and I have a screwy SX64 that gives garbled characters on bootup. The whole screen is just a mess of random characters, with random colors, a few even blink I think (It's been like 2 months since I last tried it). Personally I think it's the Kernal or the VIC as the VIC's heat sink was floating in the case when I got it. Someone else emailed me that it could be the character ROM; does the 64 series use a seperate chip for characters? Or is that in the upper memory ROM with the Kernal?

Anyway if you could drop a 6525, and whatever you think would fix the SX into the mail, and put a tracking number on it, I would be more than happy to reimburse you for chips plus postage. GEOS is being held up on this disk drive, and the other fellow who is expecting a 1551 is waiting on it to arrive from Europe so it may not clear Customs til after Christmas.

My mailing address at work is James Crook c/o Main Appliance Center, 7205 West 80th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66204-3719.

Any other Commodore users nearby who wish to stop by and chat, give me a call first at 913-649-6646 to make sure I'll be around.

(Not like there's a real Plus/4 following in the States, but you never know!)

Posted By

BushRat
on 2002-11-17

Bummer...

You're lucky, I just popped in.. been a while. Okay, I don't recall putting a 1.44 drive in a 1581... may work in low density mode, as I've Mitsumi drives in 1581s before. I know that it will work in the 1582 HD drive. Will get that "strip and archive" project done eventually. I looked through my Email box and don't see that address you sent. Resend it to me and I will send out a 1581 drive to you Monday and some spare parts. I think I also have the Sam's Repair manual for it. If so, I will send along. Never did find out anything on that missing chip.. we might as well count that as gone. But, I received the Plus4 case okay, as you received my previous mailing. So, I really don't anticipate any problem.
As to the Plus4 supply handling the load... I'd be careful of the "brick". I have a few of those, but I usually use the "repairable" type. They have no problem with additional load. My current setup uses an old style C128 supply with a Plus4 plug on it. I replaced all the square female plugs with the round C64 style plugs. The square ones always gave me problems with dirt/oxide buildup and the split pins on them never kept their tension for good positive contact.

Posted By

JamesC
on 2002-11-16

ARRGH!!! Jim -- where are you???!!!

I bought a 1581 off of Ebay last week. Recevied it Thursday, couldn't wait to try it but there was a rattle in the unit. I took the cover off and there was a spring rolling around in the bottom. I took the drive to work Friday and compared it to everything else I had, but nothing matched close enough for me to figure out where the spring goes. Plus the metal 'belt' that pulls the head where it needs to be is broken, and everything I have at work uses a screw-type head positioner.

So I put a 1.44 drive into the housing. I bought a Dremmel-type (KMart's house brand) after work and cut the hole for the new drive's eject button. But the drive's opening is below the 1581 case's opening, so disks will go in but not pop out. I removed the front cover again, and put the HD cover on the front for the time being.

I think I like the idea of a 1.44 mechanism, although it will still format out to 880k it means I can use more common 1.44 disks instead of hunting down 720k floppies. (I am down to my last 100-disk case of DS-DD 3 1/2" disks.)

My question is, have you done this, and what other modifications might you have made while you were at it? I'm to the point of trashing the 1581 case and using the controller card to control a built-in 1581-type in a Plus/4 case. I can pull 5V off the user port and 9V off the power supply plug, but do you think the Plus/4 power pack will handle this kind of load?