commodore64 breadbin help

[PubZombie]

Hi guys,
i know this isn’t amiga related but just wondered if you could help me. I just got my Commodre 64 breadbins out of the garage and cant believe they still work. I have well over 200 games on tapes. Is there a way of getting the data onto my PC and vice versa, or to protect them am i going to have to pay the kids to make tape to tape back ups of everything?
Any advice or a poke in the right direction is appreciated.
Cheers
\pz

[Teho]

I believe there is a way to stream the contents of a tape via a serial cable between the C64 and PC to an imagefile on the PC, or something like that. But I never looked into it. Images of C64 tapes do exist(called .TAP or .T64) and are supported by emulators, so there is definitely a way to do it.

Had a quick look around and found a tool called mtap (http://forum.classicamiga.com/showthread.php?t=3158) that'll do the job. However it requires that you make a special cable for connecting the C64 to the PC, or get a special adapter for connecting the C64's tape reader directly to the PC. Hope that helps. If not I'm sure there are more applications/solutions out there.

[PubZombie]

ok cheers i will look into it:)

[Buleste]

You could also try to either buy a CF to C64 device or try making one. I've put links to them in another thread I just can't remember it at the moment. When I find it I'll post it on here.

[PubZombie]

thanx matey. one breadbin has just died and just gives me different coloured screens. the other is working but rf modulation is very poor, looks like its going to be a hatchet job. add to that all five of my data tape players have failed in the last hour:( they have all ground to a halt

[Harrison]

If your C64 tapes and disks are of commercial games and software, then you can legally download image files of the software and use them on your PC with emulators like Vice. Have a look at http://planetemu.net/ for an extensive collection.

[Buleste]

O.k. These are the C64 CF/IDE adapters I can find at the moment.
IDE64 (http://www.ide64.org/)
Ultimate1541
MMC Replay (http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/index.php)

Individual Computers are also working on a Flicker Fixer type product for the C64.

[Buleste]

If you feel like going completely mad then you could always boost your C64 to have a SuperCPU operating at 20MHz with 16MB RAM. Go here (http://www.cmdweb.de/scpu.htm) for more information.

[Demon Cleaner]

I used an XE1541 cable which works perfectly and isn't expensive either. If you manage to find a schematic you can even build one yourself, it's not that tough. Although you have to use Starcommander to copy files, and that is a DOS shell, thus not running under Windows. You can find info about the cable at the Starcommander site here (http://sta.c64.org/xe1541.html).

The cable is connected from the 1541 floppy serial port to the PC parallel port.

Don't get an XM1541 or a XA1541 though, because I read many reports that they're not working flawlessly.

Now I'm of course using my Catweasel MkIV to do this, works faster and is also easier. Only thing is, that the Catweasel can only write/read d64 files, so only disk images. Starcommander can handle any single other format as t64, prg, p00...

[PubZombie]

thanx guys thats cool

[Niagara]

More about catweasel please.
Im also trying to set up one of my 64's and i am looking for means to put files from the net on floppy like an "Easyadf" system.
I dont know what Catweasel is though.
Expensive?
I have a mac, so ill need an old pc to do it i guess. What kind of pc would get the job done?
I have linked my 64 to a 1084s and get a clear but black-and-white image. Tried everything so could it be my cable?
Nia.

[PubZombie]

Hi Guys
I have just ordered one of these as it seems the easiest to use for a dunderhead like me. and can be used to back up my tapes, as I have a very rare original.
http://www.cancarpet.com/saymantek/c64tpc_en.html

he sells them on ebay.

dont know whether it will work on the mac but lynux maybe? you are better off asking the rocket scientists here than me, the catweazel i have seen if for the amiga and is a piece of hardware that you put in your pc to copy amiga floppies. amigakit.com should have some in stock soon i think

[Harrison]

The Catweasel controller comes in two versions. One is for the Amiga, and the other is for the PC. This controller is a floppy disk drive controller and it allows the direct reading and writing of many different disk formats, including the Amiga and C64.

The controller is made by Individual Computers and more info can be found at http://amiga.think42.com/news/news99_e.htm

The PC version, the MK4, is a very versatile PCI card. As well as being a special floppy drive controller, capable of read and writing many different system formats, as well as many different drive types (8", 5.25", 3.5" ETC), the card also has many other features. You can fit a C64 SID chip for perfect audio playback of C64 music, it has original Amiga joystick ports and allows the connecting of real Amiga joysticks and mice to a PC. And it allows the connecting of real Amiga keyboards too.

The controller isn't cheap at £86.99 but you do get a lot for your money.

The Catweasel MK2 Anniversary edition connects to an A1200/A4000 using either the clockport or IDE port. Much like the PC version it allows the Amiga to read and write many different disk formats including PC, Mac and C64. It also allows you to read and write 1.76MB HD floppy disks, which before this was only possible by an A4000 or whne using the PowerPC HD external floppy drive. So using this controller with an A1200 is a great way to add HD floppy support. It also reads HD Amiga floppies much faster than the original Amiga drives could.