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1541 Variations


Finally, disk drives for the masses! And due to some lack of planning in the serial IO (as mentioned in the 1540 entry), a bit slower than other typical 5.25" drives. However, what the 1541 lacked in speed it made up for in reliability. Most variations of the 1541 came with two different drive door types, reflecting the manufacturer of their drive mechanisms. The first type was a push-door as pictured below. Pushing a front drive door lever inward would cause the lever to rise, and automatically spring the disk out of the drive. The other type was the turn-lever door, which would be turned horizontally to remove disks, and vertically after a disk is inserted for use. The turn-lever doors became standard once the later 1541-II model was introduced.

Like all Commodore disk drives, these drives were "smart" devices. They included their own processor, their own memory, and their own disk operating system. In fact, the relationship between a Commodore computer and it's disk drive resembles more closely two computers on a network than a typical Computer->peripheral relationship. The peripherals on the Commodore serial "network" each had a unique identifying "Unit" number, typically ranging from 8-30. This number identified which physical device was being accessed. When a disk drive contained more than one floppy drive (like the 1572 for instance), you also had to refer to the particular "drive" number you wanted (typically 0 or 1). Single-floppy drives, like the ones on this page, still had to deal with the legacy of the old IEEE-488 dual drives and the version of CBM DOS with which they were compatible by referring to their single floppy as "drive 0".


cbm/serialdrives/vic1541.gif

Model    : VIC-1541
Type     : 5.25" Floppy Disk
Media    : Single Sided, Single Density
Capacity : 170K per disk
Interface: CBM Serial Bus
Dos      : CBM DOS 2.6
Notes    : Original white casing, Demo disk


cbm/drives/vc1541.gif
Model    : VC-1541
Type     : 5.25" Floppy Disk
Media    : Single Sided, Single Density
Capacity : 170K per disk
Interface: CBM Serial Bus
Dos      : CBM DOS 2.6
Notes    : Original white casing, Demo disk


cbm/serialdrives/1541.gif
Model    : 1541
Type     : 5.25" Floppy Disk
Media    : Single Sided, Single Density
Capacity : 170K per disk
Interface: CBM Serial Bus
Dos      : CBM DOS 2.6
Notes    : Intermediary white casing, Demo disk


cbm/serialdrives/1541.gif
Model    : 1541
Type     : 5.25" Floppy Disk
Media    : Single Sided, Single Density
Capacity : 170K per disk
Interface: CBM Serial Bus
Dos      : CBM DOS 2.6
Notes    : The most common disk drive on Earth, Demo disk


cbm/serialdrives/1541c.gif
Model    : 1541c
Type     : 5.25" Floppy Disk
Media    : Single Sided, Single Density
Capacity : 170K per disk
Interface: CBM Serial Bus
Dos      : CBM DOS 2.6
Notes    : Built for the Commodore 64-II line, Demo disk


cbm/serialdrives/1541-ii.gif
Model    : 1541-ii
Type     : 5.25" Floppy Disk
Media    : Single Sided, Single Density
Capacity : 170K per disk
Interface: CBM Serial Bus
Dos      : CBM DOS 2.6
Notes    : Built for the Commodore 64-II line, Demo disk




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