Using a Commodore 1571 Disk Drive on VIC-20

[Barney]

I'm going to hook a 1571 disk drive up to my Vic-20 but I have a small question. I have several floppy disks filled with Commodore 64 software. Do I need to reformat these disks or will they work just as they are? Also, how do I delete a particular file on a floppy disk? Is it simply a "Delete" command or is there more to it?

Also, what is the command to reformat a floppy? Thanks.

Barney

[Diddl]

On VIC-20 your 1571 will work like a normal 1541 drive.


On a burst controller (C-128) it works as a dobleside drive.


On VIC you can switch upper, lower or both sides by software commands.

[Mike]

Does anybody know the Vic-20 commands to do the following:

1. Save a file on a Floppy Disk

2. Delete a file off of a floppy disk.

3. Format a floppy disk.

Thanks.

1. Save a file on a Floppy Disk

SAVE"FILENAME",8

2. Delete a file off of a floppy disk.

OPEN1,8,15:PRINT#1,"S:FILENAME":CLOSE1

3. Format a floppy disk.

OPEN1,8,15:PRINT#1,"N:DISKNAME,ID":CLOSE1

@Barney: It's not necessary to create two topics about the 1571 in short succession, with nearly the same questions - which incidentally could also have been answered by a quick look into the manual.

FYI, Diddl's answers also apply to pretty much every other CBM disc drive.

Michael

[Boray]

Do I need to reformat these disks or will they work just as they are?

c64 disks will work as they are...

[carlsson]

I wonder if there are any 8-bit Commodore drives that don't work with a VIC-20. After a quick consideration the only ones I could think of would be the Commodore 1551 and of course C64 cartridge based storage devices like IDE64 and MMC64.. but then again we don't need those on our VICs.

I mean you could even connect a PET style floppy drive or an old school hard drive to your VIC-20 if you got an IEEE-488 interface. Those are not too hard to find if you keep looking around and really deserve one. Then again, why bother with 1 MB floppy disks or 5-20 MB hard drives that are bulky and sound like aeroplanes if you can have far more capable, cheaper, silent and probably also more reliable solutions.