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From: ahh@s.cc.purdue.edu (Brent L. Woods)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm
Subject: Re: 1581 - Review & Questions
Message-ID: <927@s.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: Thu, 10-Sep-87 17:55:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: s.927
Posted: Thu Sep 10 17:55:21 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Sep-87 15:39:57 EDT
References: <14031@amdahl.amdahl.com>
Reply-To: ahh@s.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (Brent L. Woods)
Organization: Artificial Realities, Inc.
Lines: 56
Keywords: 1581 3.5 inch disk drive commodore c64 (64?)
Summary: Let's answer some questions, shall we?

In article <14031@amdahl.amdahl.com> dwl10@amdahl.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) writes:
 >
 >Questions: (Listen up Commodore :-) )
 > 1. Can burst mode be used on the 64? If so, is there a "fast" serial bus
 >    driver avaliable?

     No, it can't.  Also, fast serial is only available on the 128 in
C128 mode.  If you put the 128 into 64 mode, it can't do fast serial,
either.

 > 2. The burst mode source file on my demo disk is trashed. I tried to
 >    print it, and after 5 or 6 pages, the file is garbage. Is it just my
 >    disk, or are all of them that way? If it is just my disk, can I get
 >    a new one? If they are all that way, can I get ahold of a good copy?

     Mine is just fine (works pretty good, too).  I bought my 1581 about
three and a half weeks ago.

 > 4. The drive has the capability of automatically loading a file
 >    into one of it's buffers, and executing that program upon
 >    drive initialization. This is documented in the 1581 manual. I
 >    know that this feature was also on the 1541, but undocumented.
 >    My question is... what the heck good is it? What would you
 >    use it for? I am making the rash assumption that it is there for
 >    a purpose.

     Yes, I would think so.  One good use that comes to mind is re-
configuring the drive on startup.  My roommate has an Amiga, and I'm
planning on writing a program to allow my 128 and his Amiga to trade
files via 3.5" disks.

 > 5. Is "save with replace" safe to use with the 1581?

     Supposedly, that bug has been killed.  The real question is, "Do
you want to take the chance?"

 > 6. Are there any known bugs with the drive?

     Not yet...  :-)

 >Final Words:
 > I bought this drive for it's storage capacity. The faster sequential/
 > relative file access is a plus also. The drive seems to meet all of
 > my expectations on those points. I sorely miss the fastload capabilities,
     Gee, I don't have any problem with slow loading...  But, I have a
128, so I get to use the fast serial bus.  The 1581 is my second drive,
and I find that it complements my 1571 *very* nicely.  I don't use any
form of fastload, program or cartridge, and I haven't noticed any loss.

 > but I expected that when I bought the drive. The drive delivers what
 > it promises, and I would recomend it to anyone needing a large amount
 > of storage capacity.
                                                                        
                                                                        
-Brent Woods