Uses for an XA1541 cable?

[BBQedIguana]

I just ordered one of these (thanks Peter!) and I'm all excited. I'll be able to load up my precious VIC with all sorts of goodies (yeah, I know, I could just spend the money and buy a Mega-Cart - but my way is more fun!). I'm just wondering what other uses there are for the XA1541. I know I can use my PC as a BIG 1541 type drive that my VIC will just see as a regular drive. What else? Can I use that cable to print to my PC printer? Can I use it to jump onto my Rogers Internet and visit all those cool TelBBSes out there?

Just wondering. Of course, I don't have any time to do any of this stuff - but it gives me something to daydream about while I'm on the can.

[English Invader]

At Lemon 64, they have a thread with detailed guidance on how to run Star Commander on Windows xp.

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 30&start=0

I'm still working up the nerve to try this myself. Mike's new sprite editor has given me some impetus in that regard.

[gklinger]

I'll be able to load up my precious VIC with all sorts of goodies (yeah, I know, I could just spend the money and buy a Mega-Cart - but my way is more fun!).

You could not be more wrong.

Can I use that cable to print to my PC printer?

That's interesting. It's possible from a technical standpoint but off the top of my head I don't recall ever hearing about software to facilitate that. It's obvious now that you've said it so it's hard to believe nobody has ever thought of it before. Hrm.

Can I use it to jump onto my Rogers Internet and visit all those cool TelBBSes out there?

Not at the present time. Like the above, it's technically possible but there's no software. For now you'll require an RS-232 adaptor for your VIC-20's user port so that you may bridge the VIC-20 to a terminal server (dedicated or a PC acting as such).

I think X-cables are often looked at as being useful only to connect disk drives to PCs rather than the general purpose conduit they are. It's a pity. 64HDD is one of the few examples of someone imagining more exciting and interesting uses for such cables and it really is only the tip of the iceberg.

[BBQedIguana]

You could not be more wrong.

I think my wife would disagree with you - I've been WAAAAAAAAAAAY more wrong on several occasions! LOL!

[carlsson]

Probably the demand to connect a Commodore computer to a PC "server" has been rather low. A print server running on the PC redirecting parallel input to .. eh, whatever printer you have installed, preferrably not a parallel one unless you have two ports .. might've been useful at least a few years ago. Ideally that print server would emulate a MPS-801 etc to allow graphics to be printed as well as text listings.

I don't know about networking though. I had a friend in college who made a little program that let you connect two C64's via the IEC port. I think he needed to go via the floppy drive. It sounds a bit like risky business before you ensure not both CIA's are stuck high, but it worked. He could send text from one computer to the other and back. Connecting more than two users would probably have required a VIC-switch or similar.

Somehow though it seems a null modem cable in the userport is more generic if you want to connect to a PC for any other use than swapping files.

Actually the barbequed iguana is wrong about being able to use a PC as a floppy drive too. So far 64HDD only supports the X1541 and XE1541 cables, even in the Professional version. I'm not sure if someone else successfully has created a similar application that runs in Windows or Linux, people often mention the timing is critical and thus pure DOS would be the choice of OS. Yet it seems OpenCBM works quite OK for most people, and just as well as it can read and write to floppy disks it probably would be possible to develop applications similar to 64HDD - unless it already exists?

So as of this minute, the only cool thing you may be able to do with an XA1541 cable is to transfer programs to a floppy disk. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[BBQedIguana]

Actually the barbequed iguana is wrong...

GASP!!! The barbequed iguana is never wrong!!! Oh, wait, I think we established in other posts that I can be and am! LOL!

I thought I read about using an XA1541 to hook up directly to a PC on Joe Forester's STA site - but I can't be sure (and it won't come up right now, for some reason). When I was picking the cable, it was the best of the best/most compatible of the serial cables (according to Peter Scheper's site where I bought it), so I assumed if such a capacity existed, this cable would be able to do it.

Anyway, doubt I would use it for such a purpose even if I could - just like to see what options are out there. For sure the biggest reason I want it is to load up some floppies with piping hot VIC goodness so I can show more than just Omega Race to my retro friends at work.

Thanks for the info, though!

Rick