You can also get the kits from C64reloaded.com now. I've bought from them before and highly recommend them.
http://c64.mustangindex.com/catalog/pro ... ucts_id=62
1581 Drive Kits
Moderator: Moderators
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Schema
- factor
- Posts: 1440
- Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:07 am
- Website: http://www.jammingsignal.com
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
Maybe Joe's photocopier was broken before he set up his booth at WOCSchema wrote:Joe definitely has instructions. He has two versions, a "short" version and a long version. I photocopied them on each side of a page for the kits I sold.
Here's the long version. This is exactly what Joe provides with the kits.
http://c64.mustangindex.com/images/1581hack.txt
I asked him a couple of times for sheet of instructions and then followed up via e-mail.
He finally sent the above (text based cable mod version) via e-mail. This was days after I had drive operational with board mod.
The drive is a great product; he just has a sloppy order fulfillment process. That's my pet peeve
Mega-Cart: the ultimate cartridge for your Commodore Vic-20I know this is resurrecting a very old thread ..... but I've just bought one of these kits (at the time of writing there are 2 left on ebay right now). I'm just wondering about the mechanical part of the drive though. Unfortunatly I don't have any amiga drive to try in the kit.
But what I do have is a dead 1581 which still has the floppy drive (mechanical) part intact. Only snag is I can't tell if it is working or not, so is it ok to risk trying it? (For anyone who is intrested the dead 1581's lights, both red and green stay on permanently n matter if the drive itself is attached or not; the drive won't even spin or try to read).
I see the panasonic JU257 will work with the 1581 looking on ebay there are several too ( e.g. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trks ... rive+ju257 ) but they all end with "A897P" or "A606P" or similar number and not just "JU257" by itself. Do any of these work?
Or can I just get any PC floppy drive (internal) and modify it somehow? Or maybe just try to buy an old A500/+ floppy drive? (old used ones taken from amigas sometimes surface on ebay).
thanks
ljones
But what I do have is a dead 1581 which still has the floppy drive (mechanical) part intact. Only snag is I can't tell if it is working or not, so is it ok to risk trying it? (For anyone who is intrested the dead 1581's lights, both red and green stay on permanently n matter if the drive itself is attached or not; the drive won't even spin or try to read).
I see the panasonic JU257 will work with the 1581 looking on ebay there are several too ( e.g. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trks ... rive+ju257 ) but they all end with "A897P" or "A606P" or similar number and not just "JU257" by itself. Do any of these work?
Or can I just get any PC floppy drive (internal) and modify it somehow? Or maybe just try to buy an old A500/+ floppy drive? (old used ones taken from amigas sometimes surface on ebay).
thanks
ljones
Hi,
I am guessing some of the ROM or CIA chips in your old 1581 are fried and if they were replaced it would work. You might also want to check the voltages on the faulty 1581's power supply. A faulty or failing power supply on a 1581 can cause strange behaviour (as it did with mine until replaced).
You could always use the new power supply on the old drive to see if it helps.
As for PC drives. I suppose you could order one off eBay...I accumulated about 8-10 PC drives that are supposed to be Amiga compatible/convertable (based on their serial numbers) just by salvaging them for free from old PCs I found in the garbage or was given for free. I assume that if a drive can be made Amiga compatible, it will probably work in the 1581 as well - although it might involve some butchering of the faceplate of the 1581 to get the eject button to match up.
Why do I say that an Amiga drive would be compatible with a 1581? Because even though I had a stack of potentially useful PC drives, I also had an old Amiga external 1010 drive. It was an EXACT match for the 1581, even down to the size and location of the eject button. It mated perfectly with the screwholes and casing of the 1581 and the custom plastic eject button fit perfectly through the hole of the 1581's faceplate and was long enough too. Oh, and it worked right away without any modification.
In fact, I remember reading that when they started making Amigas, Commodore had a shortage of 3.5" drives so they started taking them out of old 1581's that hadn't sold to put in the Amiga (1000?) cases. Same drive.
So, I would look for an old (unused) Amiga 1010 external or 1000 internal drive first, then maybe a drive from another Amiga. But don't butcher any working Amigas please.
Then, try any PC drives that seem to be compatible (there is a list online somewhere of drives that are supposed to be easily converted for use with Amigas).
My guess would be that if you can find an OLD PC drive (1990s) you will have better luck than with a newer PC drive. I *think* I've read somewhere that the disk-change detect circuitry has been removed from some newer floppy drives in order to make them cheaper to manufacture.
I am guessing some of the ROM or CIA chips in your old 1581 are fried and if they were replaced it would work. You might also want to check the voltages on the faulty 1581's power supply. A faulty or failing power supply on a 1581 can cause strange behaviour (as it did with mine until replaced).
You could always use the new power supply on the old drive to see if it helps.
As for PC drives. I suppose you could order one off eBay...I accumulated about 8-10 PC drives that are supposed to be Amiga compatible/convertable (based on their serial numbers) just by salvaging them for free from old PCs I found in the garbage or was given for free. I assume that if a drive can be made Amiga compatible, it will probably work in the 1581 as well - although it might involve some butchering of the faceplate of the 1581 to get the eject button to match up.
Why do I say that an Amiga drive would be compatible with a 1581? Because even though I had a stack of potentially useful PC drives, I also had an old Amiga external 1010 drive. It was an EXACT match for the 1581, even down to the size and location of the eject button. It mated perfectly with the screwholes and casing of the 1581 and the custom plastic eject button fit perfectly through the hole of the 1581's faceplate and was long enough too. Oh, and it worked right away without any modification.
In fact, I remember reading that when they started making Amigas, Commodore had a shortage of 3.5" drives so they started taking them out of old 1581's that hadn't sold to put in the Amiga (1000?) cases. Same drive.
So, I would look for an old (unused) Amiga 1010 external or 1000 internal drive first, then maybe a drive from another Amiga. But don't butcher any working Amigas please.
Then, try any PC drives that seem to be compatible (there is a list online somewhere of drives that are supposed to be easily converted for use with Amigas).
My guess would be that if you can find an OLD PC drive (1990s) you will have better luck than with a newer PC drive. I *think* I've read somewhere that the disk-change detect circuitry has been removed from some newer floppy drives in order to make them cheaper to manufacture.
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e5frog
- Vic 20 Nerd
- Posts: 551
- Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:46 pm
- Website: http://channelf.se
- Location: Sweden
- Occupation: Service Engineer
You can buy replacement Amiga drives at Vesalia, they're €20 plus shipping (€6.90 in Europe, €9.90 to US). Why not start with a fresh drive?
Question is which one will fit the best, internal Amiga 500 drive is perhaps the same as the one in the Amiga 1010 case.
http://www.vesalia.de/
Choose
Main category: Amiga
Subcategories of Amiga: Hardware/Floppy Disk Drives
They have a great shopping cart system, you can check your shipping in the currency you like and also pay via PayPal. Very customer friendly.
PC disk drives that are old and have jumpers you can move around are often possible to rejumper for Amiga-service. Problem is that they're old and worn.
Question is which one will fit the best, internal Amiga 500 drive is perhaps the same as the one in the Amiga 1010 case.
http://www.vesalia.de/
Choose
Main category: Amiga
Subcategories of Amiga: Hardware/Floppy Disk Drives
They have a great shopping cart system, you can check your shipping in the currency you like and also pay via PayPal. Very customer friendly.
PC disk drives that are old and have jumpers you can move around are often possible to rejumper for Amiga-service. Problem is that they're old and worn.
My other interest: http://channelf.se
You can use a "PC" drive without any mods to the 1581, but you need one that has jumpers for drive select and disk change and ready. The newer ones are super cheap and don't have the jumpers any more. I went through my old drives and used google to figure out what will work in the Amiga, as the issues there are the same. High density drives work great, they switch to low density mode when a low density disk is used... which is needed with the 1581 anyway. The biggest issue I've had is that eject button they used 
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storhemulen
- Vic 20 Newbie
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:47 pm
I have a "-534P" model but can't find any indication on how to alter it. I do see that it has a DS0/1 switch on it but the RY and whatnot are not hooked up. I can solder a jumper but not sure which of the pads to use. I also have noticed it looks like most people are using SMD resistors for "hard jumpers". Any reason to not just use a straight short?
Also, I saw on Commodore128.org that someone actually got it to work with nothing but a cable mod and it seems to work with all drives. Problem is that his source info was on a German site, and he's not watching that thread anymore.
Also, I saw on Commodore128.org that someone actually got it to work with nothing but a cable mod and it seems to work with all drives. Problem is that his source info was on a German site, and he's not watching that thread anymore.