Justin Payne Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Father's Day soon approaches and one gift I'm thinking about is getting a SD solution for my recently obtained C64. Correct me if I'm wrong but the SD2IEC seems like a good option. My only question, power from cassette or Userport? I was going to go with the cassette port power but I figured I'd throw that out there for some C64 experts. Are there any advantages to getting one over the other?Other than that, is there anything else I should be aware of before making the purchase. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 The only reason not to use cassette port would be for those masochists who like to reminisce and endure those tape loading times. There's userport options to connect extra joysticks among plenty of other things so I'd be keeping it free. So long as there's no great advantage of using the user port for SD2IEC then I'd definately use the tape port to supply power. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3256828 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Cool. Sounds logical. Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3256832 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oge Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Tapes were the main media for a lot of users in Europe and the same (about slow load times) can be said about stock 1541 Disk Drives. A TurboTape file request the same time in order to be loaded when compared to a stock Commodore Disk Drive. Apart from that, just keep in mind that the +5V coming out from the C2N is port is maximum 100mA: check if the SD2IEC requires more power. Cheers, Oge Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3256893 Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I have a Uiec/sd that uses the cassette port because I have a reset device in my user port. That way when I use my Uiec/sd instead of turning my comp on and off, I just usually hit reset button. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3256913 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Thanks guys. Oge, they offer both options on the website so I would assume the power out the cssette port is enough. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3256975 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 As far as I know, both the cassette and userports have the same electrical characteristics. The joystick ports however may be weaker. I've got a cassette port splitter for connecting two C2N's to duplicate tapes, but I've never used it. If the port is powerful enough to be able to drive two tape recorders at the same time, it should be powerful enough to drive both a C2N and power a SD2IEC as well. Of course it is possible that this splitter is out of spec and would be devastating to use, but I would think no manufacturer no matter how small would produce a peripheral that is dangerous to use. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3257092 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Tape port supplies a seperate 6V DC for tape motor, the 5V DC would be for the logic. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3257204 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 ISTR joystick ports being limited to 50mA or 100mA. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3257301 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oge Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Tape port supplies a seperate 6V DC for tape motor, the 5V DC would be for the logic. Exactly. That is why we can connect two Datassettes at the same time (not that this won't put a stress on the 6VDC - unregulated - source) Cheers, Oge Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3257509 Share on other sites More sharing options...
motrucker Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Father's Day soon approaches and one gift I'm thinking about is getting a SD solution for my recently obtained C64. Correct me if I'm wrong but the SD2IEC seems like a good option. My only question, power from cassette or Userport? I was going to go with the cassette port power but I figured I'd throw that out there for some C64 experts. Are there any advantages to getting one over the other? Other than that, is there anything else I should be aware of before making the purchase. I hope I am not to late with this advice. There is a great SD card device that uses the user port, and can even work with the C-128. I bought one of the UK1541 devices just a short time ago, but I am quite pleased with it: http://www.retrocollect.com/News/sd-card-loading-uk1541-adapter-announced-for-commodore-64.html You may be interested too. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3306694 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 I'm glad you responded and even if I did purchase something, your information will be valuable to others. After a bit of research, I ended up holding off. It seems the solution I was looking at had some limitation, particularly writing to the device from ths Commodore. I want a SD card solution that can be written to. Those are available but at about twice the price, which is currently not my price point. I will definitely look at what you sent me and thank you very much for doing that. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3306823 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimakis Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I'm glad you responded and even if I did purchase something, your information will be valuable to others. After a bit of research, I ended up holding off. It seems the solution I was looking at had some limitation, particularly writing to the device from ths Commodore. I want a SD card solution that can be written to. Those are available but at about twice the price, which is currently not my price point. I will definitely look at what you sent me and thank you very much for doing that. I can recommend the uIEC/SD from RETRO innovations. The cool thing about it, is you can use either a microUSB cable to provide the power, OR the tape port. What solution were you looking at where it wouldn't be written to? the uIEC/SD basically allows you to have floppy disc images that you can switch between. You can create a blank disk image, and it is more than capable of writing to that. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3308832 Share on other sites More sharing options...
motrucker Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I can recommend the uIEC/SD from RETRO innovations. The cool thing about it, is you can use either a microUSB cable to provide the power, OR the tape port. What solution were you looking at where it wouldn't be written to? the uIEC/SD basically allows you to have floppy disc images that you can switch between. You can create a blank disk image, and it is more than capable of writing to that. I understand what you have said, but my take on what the OP wants is to able to write to the SD card from the Commodore computer, not the PC. This is a different kettle of fish, and I still haven't seen a resonably priced option for this. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3308904 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Correct. I'd like to get something I can write to. I originally was looking at the SD2IEC but I'm glad I took a moment to read more about the devices to see that although this one was less expensive than the rest, it also had some limitations. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3309199 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Uh.. isn't the SD2IEC series writeable from the Commodore? I have saved files to my uIEC/SD device, and I believe I have saved files to mounted D64 images as well. Do you have a particular use case where saving will not work, or where did you pick up the information you can't save files? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3309344 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Hmmm. I could have sworn that I read that it wasn't writable from the C64 but I did a quick search and found someone who had so I'm a little confused. I'll have to see if I can find that page again. There was also the issues with comparability. I read that programs had to be adapted to work with the device and that the competition, although more expensive, dealt with this issue. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3309461 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Opps. I meant, "Compatibility". Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3309606 Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertB Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) Though probably not at your price point, the SD2IEC device that interests me is the C64SD v3.0 Princess FLC from Manosoft. http://www.manosoft.it/ It's interesting that it has tap file support, which no other SD2IEC device has, to the best of my knowledge. I missed out on the C64SD v2.0 Infinity (which also had tap file support). Now I just have to wait until the v3.0 is in stock. And I've had a number of SD drives -- an early version of the uEC/SD (and the uIEC/CF), the SD2IEC from NKCElectronics.com, a couple of SD2IEC's from England, even the 1541-III, the MMC2IEC, and PETdisk. And they all read/write with the Commodore, Robert Bernardo Fresno Commodore User Group http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm Edited August 29, 2015 by RobertB Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3309934 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimakis Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I'm not 100% about saving files in uIEC and SD2IEC. I was pretty sure that you can. You certainly can save files to disk images that reside on the SD card. IE, you create a blank disk image on the computer, and now when you mount it, you can save to that disk image, as if it were a real floppy. Yes there are incompatibilities. Some games require the original 1541 drive or better emulation. However, they are available already modified to work for the most part. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3310025 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 To clarify, any program that tries to reprogram the floppy drive with a custom loader, is where the SD2IEC series will fail but the much more expensive 1541 Ultimate works. This is due to the 1541U has more expensive programmable chips that has the capacity to entirely emulate a floppy drive, while the cheaper SD2IEC series just simulate the higher level commands. The SD2IEC firmware is designed to detect attempts to use some of the best known custom loaders so in some cases it can handle those appropriately, but any loader that differs from one of the major loaders will not work. Since many game and demo programmers find pride in developing their own routines instead of using what others already made available, this is a problem. But as mentioned, if you download D64 images with so-called single filed games etc, compatibility will usually not be an issue. I don't know about the UK1541 device, if it is a step inbetween the two and indeed offers the full, cycle exact emulation as advertised, but the answer shouldn't be more than couple of Google searches away. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/239345-cassette-or-userport-for-sd2iec/#findComment-3310278 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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