| Posted By
Jay
on 2001-06-12
|  Hey, I've got a 1541!
Someone sold me a 1541 for $10 - a steal i thought (remember, this is Canadian money, so that works out to be about $0.07 U.S.)!
Only problem is it doesn't work - when I try to LOAD"$",8 or anything, it makes a machine gun noise, which I think is signalling that it's in bad need of alignment, yes?
Anyone know of a website or anything with some documentation on how to do a hardware alignment, or what is involved in fixing one of these puppies up?
Thanks!
(I miss my 1581...)
Jay
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Posted By
JamesC
on 2001-07-17
| Yes, provided you have a 1541
If you have a working 1541, then check out sta.c64.org for the cable and software required to move Commodore files to the PC.
Once you get them on your PC, you will need a CD-ROM burner or a CD-RW drive to generate the CDs. If you intend to share the CD with others, a CD-ROM is preferred, as some CD drives cannot read CD-RW.
James C, USA
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Posted By
Dieter
on 2001-07-14
| Copy C116-programs with 1541-Discs on a common 486 / Pentium 3-PC
Hi James,
could you help me?
Is there a program which copies a whole disc with C116 / C16 / Plus 4 programs with a 1541-floppy and a special link cable on a common 486/ or pentium 3- PC?
I want to store all C116 programs on CD.
Could you help me?
Thanks
My Name is
Dieter Neumann
Germany
Mail-Address:
neumannhgb@freenet.de
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Posted By
James
on 2001-07-01
| 1541 Alignment
The "1541 Speed and Alignment Tester" program and documentation appear in the May 1988 Compute's Gazette, page 63. The program itself is just under 3k of machine language for the 64. Documentation takes almost 4 pages.
I think I may have a simple alignment program on diskette around here somewhere, but I haven't had a chance to look in the last couple of weeks. If you still need help, let me know and I'll try to prioritize my 'Commodore playtime', as my wife calls it. 
James
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Posted By
Jay
on 2001-06-14
| 1541 software alignment
I've seen some BASIC code for "bumping" the alignment head, it's pretty short. I've never used it before, but I may give it a try. I need to take the drive apart first and give it a decent cleaning first, because it's in kind of ruddy shape.
Unfortunately, I don't have any purchased disks for it. All I have are a couple of C-64 formatted disks.
As for the age of the drive, it's the darker brown colour, but it's got a pull-down lever, not the "push in-and-up" original mechanism.
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Posted By
James
on 2001-06-13
| Definately a problem.....
The 'machine gun' noice is caused by either bad alignment, or a defective Track 1 sensor. Original 1541's didn't have this sensor, and later 1541's have been known to have bad ones.
Have you tried reading the directory from a purchased diskette (as opposed to one you've formatted and written yourself)? The 1541 test/demo disk is great for checking the alignment of the drive.
This rattling can also be caused by inserting a non-Commodore diskette (ie an Apple or IBM diskette). The drive can't read other formats than its' own, so a foreign diskette is the same as a blank one, and the drive will search for quite a while for CBM GCR sync marks before giving up (if it ever does).
A good alignment is a hardware AND software repair. It requires adjusting the stepper motor and using a known good diskette with the proper program to read the diskette, telling you how far off it is and how much to adjust the motor.
I've not seen a Plus/4 version, but Compute's Gazette published a 64 version. I think it was machine language for speed, which is probably why we've not seen a port to the Plus/4. I'll thumb through my old mags and see if I can provide more info on this.
James
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