Commodore 1581 HW/SW questions

[cryptoburners]

Hi

Here is a few hardware/software questions regarding the commodore 1581 unit from me here in Norway where polar bears walk the streets..

I want to hear if it is a modified 3.5" that was mounted in 1581 or an ordinary PC 3.5" disc drive. - in case it should be necessary to replace it. If not does anyone have technical information on how to modify an ordinary 3.5" pc disk drive?.

My second question is if you could help with the originals Commodore 1581 3.5" Floppy disks. As far as I know there were 3 different included originally in the package, which I need to replace.

I am especially looking for the CP/M v3.0 disk as well as the two original disks for the 1581 device.

I would greatly appreciate if you could be helpful with a disk image of these that I could get downloaded.

[Jope]

It is the same kind of drive as in an Amiga 500 or Amiga 1000.

You will need to do the same modifications as when using a PC drive in an Amiga.

The disk images are probably available from the zimmers.net ftp server as d81.

[cryptoburners]

Thanks, it seems a bit challenging to find the cp/m disk. I will check the ftp link.

[Jope]

Mine only came with the test/demo, but it wasn't CIB anyway.

CP/M is here http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/demodisks/c128/

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by cryptoburners

I want to hear if it is a modified 3.5" that was mounted in 1581 or an ordinary PC 3.5" disc drive. - in case it should be necessary to replace it. If not does anyone have technical information on how to modify an ordinary 3.5" pc disk drive?.

David Farquhar provides a very good overview of the 1581 fdd, including some technical details. He contends:

"The Amiga floppy drive was very similar to DSDD floppy drives for IBM-compatible PCs, and the same modifications that allow certain PC floppy drives to work in Amigas also work in the 1581."

If he's right, then you should be able to replace the internal drive of the 1581 with a PC drive that is modified the same way for use in an Amiga (see PC fdd hard hack links below).

- https://dfarq.homeip.net/commodore-1581-drive/ (1581 fdd overview + tech specs)

- http://aminet.net/package/docs/hard/ju257 (modifying Panasonic JU257A PC fdd's)
- http://aminet.net/package/docs/hard/PcF2AmF (modifying 1.44 PC fdd's to work as 880k Amiga fdd's)
- https://is.gd/wqseAH (modifying PC fdd's to work as 880k Amiga fdd's)
- https://v.ht/5Wk76 (YouTube videos on modifying PC fdd's for Amiga use)
- http://jope.fi/drives/computolio/ (Amiga/PC fdd compatibility list - hello Jope! )

My second question is if you could help with the originals Commodore 1581 3.5" Floppy disks. As far as I know there were 3 different included originally in the package, which I need to replace.

I am especially looking for the CP/M v3.0 disk as well as the two original disks for the 1581 device.

Originally Posted by Jope

Mine only came with the test/demo, but it wasn't CIB anyway.

Same deal when I bought my 1581 years ago secondhand. Looks like it was the same for Bo Zimmerman too - he only links to the demo disk on his website.

http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/d1581.html

[Zippy Zapp]

Originally Posted by DrBong

Same deal when I bought my 1581 years ago secondhand. Looks like it was the same for Bo Zimmerman too - he only links to the demo disk.

http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/d1581.html

Same here. In North America it came with only 1 disk, the test/demo disk. I bought two of them back then and I still have mine and the box and the disk. It would have been cool if they included a CP/M 3.5 disk with it too but they didn't here. Probably because CP/M was already on its way out when the 128 came out and even more on the way out when the 1581 came out.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Jope

Mine only came with the test/demo, but it wasn't CIB anyway.

Originally Posted by DrBong

Same deal when I bought my 1581 years ago secondhand. Looks like it was the same for Bo Zimmerman too - he only links to the demo disk on his website.

http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/d1581.html

Originally Posted by Zippy Zapp

Same here. In North America it came with only 1 disk, the test/demo disk. I bought two of them back then and I still have mine and the box and the disk. It would have been cool if they included a CP/M 3.5 disk with it too but they didn't here. Probably because CP/M was already on its way out when the 128 came out and even more on the way out when the 1581 came out.

Thanks for confirming - I gathered that was the case in North America. Bo Zimmerman has been a massive C= collector from way back, so if C= in North America had released the 1581 with anything beyond the demo disk....I'm sure he'd have said or shown something about it on his website. It wouldn't surprise me if the North American situation was true of most (if not all) of the rest of the world.

Nonetheless, CP/M was definitely an interesting inclusion by C= when they conceived the C128 (and upon release in early '85).....but, ultimately, it was a feature that didn't appeal to end-users for business/work purposes enough to translate into significant sales in those domains. The caveats involved with CP/M use on the C128 may have had a fair bit to do with that (e.g. requirement of a 1571/1581 drive to use CP/M software, CP/M mode being slower due to the inability to take advantage of the C128's burst mode). Cheaper PC's being released in the U.S. at that time would've been another very good reason not to buy a C128 for business/work purposes.

Anyway, the drawbacks mentioned & more on the C64 (e.g. lack of 80-column mode too that most CP/M software utilised at the time) probably would have discouraged C= producing too many standalone versions of the CP/M V3.0 software on 5.25" disk for the C64/128 customer base. Of course, most (if not all) C128 users would've already been in possession of it by way of its inclusion with the purchase of their system.

As you said, by the time the 1581 came out in 1987 (2+ years after the C128)....CP/M was well and truly on its way out, so it would've been yet another good reason for C= not to have produced too many standalone packages or to have bundled the CP/M V3.0 software (as standard) with the 1581. Consequently, the OP will probably find it challenging or costly to source a physical copy outside North America if he has a hankering for it somewhere along the line!

Originally Posted by cryptoburners

Here is a few hardware/software questions regarding the commodore 1581 unit from me here in Norway where polar bears walk the streets..

My second question is if you could help with the originals Commodore 1581 3.5" Floppy disks. As far as I know there were 3 different included originally in the package, which I need to replace.

I am especially looking for the CP/M v3.0 disk as well as the two original disks for the 1581 device.

BTW, what's the 2nd disk that you're looking for that supposedly came with the 1581??!!

[cryptoburners]

Hi

Sorry for the delay
There are four 3.5 "diskettes I am looking for where two of these are original.
"Commodore 1581 Demo / Utilities and Commodore 1581 CP/M version 3.0"

In addition, I'm also looking for replacement disks for "The 1581 Toolkit (c) 1988 KJPB" as well as "Super81 with unknown publisher."

See attached picture.