Commodore 64 Floppy USB Adapter

Yes, this is a retro article, but with a modern twist.

The Commodore 64 is to date the best-selling computer of all time and hasn’t been topped. An all too common item to be seen next to the C64 was the 1541 floppy disk drive. This actually was in fact more than just a disk drive. It was a computer because it did contain a microprocessor (this one, in fact).

Everybody knows what USB is. Everything connects to it. Keyboards, mice, printers, digital cameras, network devices (wired or wireless), lights, humping dogs, you name it..

However the one thing that has never existed is a 5¼-inch USB floppy drive. Oh sure, you can get the 3½-inch USB version easily, but no 5¼ is to be found; it doesn’t exist.

Being that there are mountains of old C64 software out there that people are looking to archive, a USB solution was needed for the old 1541 5¼-inch drive. And wouldn’t you know it, someone built one.

The xum1541 is an actual home-brew solution for the Commodore 1541 that will allow it to interface to a PC via USB.

Here it is in action:

This, dear friends, is true computer hacking. If it doesn’t exist, build it. Hopefully this will be made into a for-sale product later on as I’m sure there are many C64 owners who would love to be able to back up their piles and piles of disks with a simple adapter like the xum.

Hey, if they could make an Apple II Ethernet Module, anything is possible, right?

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jdeb
Dave,
I think you really hit the nail on the head here. Nice find brother, you brought this up on the live show and ran with it. It really has some value… You are awesome, I look forward to every Wednesday. Your knowledge and experience brings great light (like glc) to this website. Keep bringing the value.
jdeb
Rich,
I think you really hit the nail on the head here. Nice find brother, you brought this up on the live show and ran with it. It really has some value… You are awesome, I look forward to every Wednesday. Your knowledge and experience brings great light (like glc) to this website. Keep bringing the value.

jdeb
i got a little extra doe to throw at it

why?
whats the point, i thought every piece software was already on torrent that u can download and run on a c64 emu on pc?!

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
Wrong. There are literally hundreds of software titles that never made it to the internet from the C64. And the only way to retrieve them is from the original 5.25 diskettes.

john devoy
It would be useful the other way as well, people that have/collect original c64 games might need to re-record the floppy due to bitrot; put a working version back into the packaging.
Stack
@ Why?
Evidently you’ve never owned a C-64 and if you have… you may have forgot the glory of it. For some it was just a computer to have in their house, like an encyclopedia collection if you will, it was nice to have, but how often did you actually use it?? For others however, it was a modern marvel with limitless possibilities. Gaming, recipes, hacking, sprites, MIDI, SAM, word processing, BBS’s, programming, and an introduction to the internet before the internet. Using an emulator is fine if you want to stroll down memory lane, but somethings gets lost in the translation. It may seem silly to invest energy into such a project. For some it’s like being reunited with an old friend!
Stack