* * * *   1541 Ultimate Project   * * * *  
    By Gideon
  • The 1541 Ultimate Project
    • What is it?
        • The '1541 Ultimate' is a storage solution for your Commodore home computer, such as the C64, C128, C plus4, C16, etc.
        This piece of hardware implements a 'real' 1541 diskdrive for Commodore computers, and is capable of storing the floppy disks on a modern SD-card, or MMC-card.
        It contains a replica of all the necessary hardware to be fully compatible with a real drive.
        The '1541 Ultimate' can be used as a cartridge in the C64/C128, or as a stand-alone unit for use with other Commodore models with a serial bus.
        In cartridge mode, the user can view the SD-card content with just a simple push on one of the buttons, and 'mount' .d64 images into the floppy drive.
        In stand-alone mode, the user can use the buttons to navigate through the directories, or send IEC commands to a secondary device on the bus.
        This secondary device also allows saving and loading files to the FAT file system directly, but is not as compatible as the 1541 drive.
    • Context
        • The '1541 Ultimate' is a personal hobby project, that has grown into a mature device that can be very useful for current Commodore users.
        It enables the user to copy real 5.25" floppy disks onto an SD-card, and run them from there, without the C64 knowing that it is not a real drive it is talking to.
        Floppy disks are prone to aging, and many floppies are on the verge of getting unreadable.
        So in the context of the greater "Preservation Project" that is carried out by Commodore enthousiasts, the '1541 Ultimate' can do a lot of useful work.
        Although I am not a company,i would like to make the '1541 Ultimate' hardware available for Commodore enthousiasts, especially because this piece of hardware is very powerful and can potentially do a lot more than 'just' implementing a replacement for the 1541 drive.
        I hope that people can understand that although this board has been made with a lot of care and enthusiasm, it is still a hobby project and not an official retail product.