Closed 1541 drive alignment software

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PigInTheMud

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My 1541 drive seems to take 8-10 minutes to start up a game of chess (That's if it wants to read the floppy), and I guess the disk alignment software is probably what I need to fix this. Please message if you have one for sale.

EDIT
I FOUND A FLOPPY
I am either going to sell it to this community after I use it for the price that I paid for it, or maybe rent it out to other people who would like to use it in this community. That way everyone can use it
 
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possibly slightly misaligned (if it were truly misaligned it'd never load and just knock), more probably a faulty disk or dirty heads...

however..without a fast loader 8-10 minutes is not out of line for a 1541 drive and any good sized program.
 
Sometimes the drive does not load the disk and it just keeps making a clicking (knocking?) sound. This is what I am hoping to fix with the floppy.
 
Sometimes the drive does not load the disk and it just keeps making a clicking (knocking?) sound. This is what I am hoping to fix with the floppy.

Try a good drive cleaning first.

Chris :coffee:

I opened the drive up and there was absolutely no dust at all surprisingly. I also used some alcohol to clean the eye. It does run for the most part though.
 
Getting legitimate drive alignment disks anymore is actually getting more and more difficult. The program portion of the disk can be copied but the alignment side is specially formatted and cannot be reproduced. Because of this, the only ones still around are from years ago. :(

Good to hear it is mostly working though. You may want to look at a modern alternative to the 1541, such as a uIEC/SD card from Retro Innovations or a 1541 Ultimate-II. They are wonderful devices. :)

Heather
 
Getting legitimate drive alignment disks anymore is actually getting more and more difficult. The program portion of the disk can be copied but the alignment side is specially formatted and cannot be reproduced. Because of this, the only ones still around are from years ago. :(

Good to hear it is mostly working though. You may want to look at a modern alternative to the 1541, such as a uIEC/SD card from Retro Innovations or a 1541 Ultimate-II. They are wonderful devices. :)

Heather

Thanks for the advice! I am still new to the commodore so I didn't know about any of the alternatives. I'll look into getting a 1541 Ultimate-II
 
The 1541 Ultimate-II is the best solution because it provides 99% 1541 compatibility. The other solutions are less expensive but won't work with many of the software titles for the C64.

If you purchase one directly from Gideon's web site (http://www.1541ultimate.net/), be sure to send payment to him right after you place the order. If you don't, your order will just sit in limbo until you do. Gideon's order confirmations are practically non-existent but if you order then pay immediately you are guaranteed to get one as soon as he has one available. You may have to wait a while, but you will receive it. (y)

Of course, used ones appear here from time to time. But you are taking a chance waiting for one to appear.

Good luck!

Heather
 
Seconded what SDG said. The Ultimate 1541 is an awesome bit of hardware, and Gideon is completely trustworthy. It may take a while to arrive but then so did Gran Turismo 5 (y)

Drive alignment disks are available frequently from a chap on ebay.co.uk. I cant post a link as they are auctions and not "buy it now". There has been speculation that these "New Old Stock" are in fact not originals and therefore do not contain the all important alignment markings on side B. I cannot say for sure myself but I took a chance and managed to align a 1571 that wouldnt read disks (y) however I had to initially use the 1541 Ultimate to run an image of the side A program as the disk wouldn't read :whistle:

The next problem you will have is you will need a disk cleaner. Each time you put old disks in the drive, the oxidisation that has occurred on the disk surface will rub off onto the drive heads which will mean, the more you use it, the more it will need to be cleaned. You dont want to keep unscrewing the drive to do this

Good luck and make sure to take a look into the alternatives
 
Thank you everyone for the advice. I plan on getting an Ultimate II eventually, but I just recently purchased a 1541 drive alignment disk. I am either going to sell it to this community after I use it for the price that I paid for it, or maybe rent it out to other people who would like to use it in this community. That way everyone can use it
 
Hey, PigInTheMud, may I borrow the disk from you if I need alignment? For payment of course. I need to do some testing first though to see if my new drive indeed needs alignment or if it's faulty some other way.
 
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