New member & BIG QUESTION!

[mozartpc27]

Hello All,

I am new to the board, so let me introduce myself.  I am US citizen in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area (for those familiar with the US, not very far away at all from CBM's old West Chester headquarters).   I am a proud owner of both a Commodore 128 and a Commodore 64.  Currently, the 128 is the one set up for use.   I have 1541-II, 1571, and 1581 disk drives.  I was a huge Commodore fan back in the day, and my fondest hope is to keep my little computing system alive.

Which brings me to my BIG QUESTION, which I hope you on this forum will be able to help me answer.  I must admit I have not used my Commodore computers much lately, mostly because the machines are isolated.  Moreover, I am not the experienced computer programmer many of you on here probably are; I did quite a bit of pretty primitive programming on my C64 back in the day, but I haven't done it for years and I am no expert in how to maniuplate these machines on a very high-skill level basis.  So, I've never really learned how to share files between my Commodore and my PC, but I am now determined to do so.

So, what is the most effective way to go about this?  I wanted to buy Big Blue Reader, but I see it is no longer available from the manufacturer.  Is there anywhere I can get it?  Short of getting this program, how can I go about making it possible to share files back and forth?  I know I will probably need the XM 1541 cable (actually, I am considering buying an adapter on ebay, but I don't want to purchase anything until I am sure I know what I am doing).  But I suppose the big question is: even if I have the XM 1541 cable or adapter, a Commodore computer and/or disk drive cannot read PC file systems.  So, let's say I want to download some Commodore software from the internet.   How do I get it on to a Commodore-formatted disk, even if I have an adapter that will allow me to plug a Commodore drive into my PC?

I am deeply interested in this because I would really like to go back to using my C64/C128, even for rather mundane, every day projects like word processing.  To do that, though, I need to be able to get some additional software for my Commodore.  Specifically, I am interested in getting GeoSpell and GeoWrite Workshop 128, both of which, I believe, are available for free download from this web site: http://cbmfiles.com/geos/geos-2.php .  The problem is, I can download them using my PC, but I can't transfer them to a Commodore computer.  And I can't download them to my Commodore, even though I have a Commodore modem (1670/1200 baud).

My best bet would probably  be to locate that Big Blue Reader software.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[redrumloa]

A variant of the X1541 cable would be one of the cheapest, if you have a computer running WinXP 32bit or earlier. There is plenty of hardware you can buy to accomplish the task, like MMC Replay(out of production), MMC64(out of production), Catweasel MK4+(available, XP 32bit or under) with PC 5.25 floppy drive, uIEC(available) and others. Another cheap way would be to build a cheap RS232 interface and connect it to your PC's serial port with a null modem adapter, assuming your PC has a serial port. You could then just use terminal software on both sides to slowly transfer files.

Let us know if you are willing to spend money to accomplish this, or just looking for the cheapest solution. Also let us know what OS you have installed on your PC and if it has PCI slots and/or serial/parallel ports. The Catweasel MK4+ with a 5.25 PC floppy drive is the most expensive option at about $135 plus used drive cost, but is crazy fast writing back commodore disk images (D64) to a real floppy disk for use on your Commodore.

[mozartpc27]

Thanks for your reply, redrumloa.

So, I am not sure "building" a cable is an option for me, as I have precisely no experience with this sort of thing.  I am a fan of the Commodore platforms, but I am by no means an advanced user.

The PC system I have that I could use for this purpose is an IBM Thinkpad T20 with a Pentium III processor, running Windows 2000.  It has, of course, a serial port, as well as two PCI slots.  Windows 2000 is built on the NT platform, which means only that fake verison of DOS, not the full real version, so if that makes a difference, let me know.

I am willing to spend a little bit of money on this, but I think I'd rather not go as high as the option you mentioned.  I was looking at, for example, buying one of these "XE/XM 1541 adapters" on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350325412839&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) for $14.99+shipping, which allows you to just plug an existing Commodore serial cable into it and then plug the serial port end into a PC.  Then, I guess I was thinking of buying 64HDD Professional, so that I would have software that would allow making the file transfers easy-ish.

I must admit that the cheaper I can do this for, the better, but ease of use is also a high priority.  So, I guess I'd want to rank solutions by Ease, then inexpensiveness.  The ideal solution in my mind will be easy to use and cost under $50.  this may not be possible, I realize.

I bought the Commodore 1581 disk drive several years ago with the idea that having it would make it easier for me to swap from a PC to the Commodore, but I guess I didn't buy the "Big Blue Reader" in time.

[redrumloa]

Hi again.
Big Blue Reader is very, very old school. It probably would not work for you in the way you would want to in today's conditions. That adapter will work for you, it will plug into the parallel port. On a side note, if you have a thinkpad it would not have PCI slots. You probably meant PCMCIA slots. Get that XE1541 adapter, plug it into the parallel port and hook up a 1541 to it. For software on the Thinkpad, use Star Commander.

http://sta.c64.org/sc.html

This method should only cost the the amount of the X*1541 adapter and should work fine.

[mozartpc27]

Awesome!  Thank you!

[RobertB]

I wanted to buy Big Blue Reader, but I see it is no longer available from the manufacturer.  Is there anywhere I can get it?

http://ftp.pokefinder.org/index.php?s=big+blue+reader&m=0&h=100

Back from a long weekend of
computer activities,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

[RobertB]

I was looking at, for example, buying one of these "XE/XM 1541 adapters" on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350325412839&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) for $14.99+shipping, which allows you to just plug an existing Commodore serial cable into it and then plug the serial port end into a PC.

Ah, NKCElectonics... it's also at their store at http://www.nkcelectronics.com/commodore.html

I must admit that the cheaper I can do this for, the better, but ease of use is also a high priority.  So, I guess I'd want to rank solutions by Ease, then inexpensiveness.  The ideal solution in my mind will be easy to use and cost under $50.

Then with the equipment you have, it would be just a matter of getting Big Blue Reader, Little Red Reader, or Tiny Yellow Brother (without needing to get a X* adapter).

Back from a long weekend
of computer activities,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

[RobertB]

Big Blue Reader is very, very old school.

Yeah, old school!    In fact, FCUG member Dick Estel may demonstrate BBR at the July 24-25 Commodore Vegas Expo.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
CommVEx v6 2010 - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX

[redrumloa]

Then with the equipment you have, it would be just a matter of getting Big Blue Reader, Little Red Reader, or Tiny Yellow Brother (without needing to get a X* adapter).

And how will he convert Big Blue Reader from D64 to a real life 5.25 floppy disk without at least a XE1541 adapter and Star commander or some other method he doesn't have? 

[saehn]

I bought the Commodore 1581 disk drive several years ago with the idea that having it would make it easier for me to swap from a PC to the Commodore, but I guess I didn't buy the "Big Blue Reader" in time.

Well heck, if you've got a 1581, you can get 1581disk or OmniFlop (both free, I forget which one is better) and just write to your 1581 disks directly using your PC's 3.5 drive. And/or you can put D64 images on your 1581 disk, then write them to a 1541 disk using one of the programs available here: http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/c64/diskutil/transfer/index.html.

[RobertB]

And how will he convert Big Blue Reader from D64 to a real life 5.25 floppy disk without at least a XE1541 adapter and Star commander or some other method he doesn't have?

Oh, yeah....    Nevertheless, our new C128 Alive! member can send me his postal address, and I can mail him a copy of Big Blue Reader on a Commodore disk.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
CommVEx v6 2010 - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX

[Pinacolada]

I highly recommend 1581copy. Works great in a DOS box.

http://d81.de/