1541 fast load cartridges
Pete Hsi
Yes! I FINALLY got tired of waiting for my 1541!
I'm looking to buy a fast load cartridge and I would like your opinions and
experiences about the following products:
Mach 5 (Access)
Mach 128 (Access)
Turbo Load/Turbo Save (Better Working)
Fast Load Cart. (Epyx) -- I heard this one was crappy... true?
Vorpal Utility Kit (Epyx) -- claims 15 times faster using special format
Explode! (Soft Group) -- claims 98% compatiblity and 500% faster
loading times.
Final Cartridge II and III (H&P) -- this is a "do-it-all" cart...
pretty expensive
Super Cartridge (?) -- Competitor for the Final Cart.
In particular, I would like to know the following:
1. Do you MUST re-format your files to take advance of the speed?
2. How convient are the utilities (copiers, fast formattors, etc)?
3. How compatible is it with copy protected programs?
4. Does it work when used with REL, SEQ, etc files types (from word processor
and spreadsheet output files)?
Either post or E-mail your repsonses. If you would like a summary of responses,
send me mail and I'll be happy to send one your way.
*** butane lighter on ****
50 lashes with a wet noodle to whom ever was responsible for designing the
1541 ;-) I just worked on an IBM PC for the first time and boy what a
difference in load time!
*** butane lighter off ***
Thanks in advance
--Pete, Univ of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC = "U Must Be Crazee" :-)
ARPA: pe...@umbc3.umd.edu -or- pe...@umbc2.umd.edu
Bitnet: pete@umbc
"Cobol is a virus from outer space"
"Friends don't let friends program in Cobol" --Scott Paisley, UMBC
Don_ROOK_E...@cup.portal.com
Fast load is GREAT!!!!!
Andrew Figueroa
years, as well as a Mach 5 and Mach 128. The Fast Load is the most
compatible, and that is it's major plus, not to mention competent built in
utilities and super DOS wedge.
I think you will like it!
Andy Figueroa "figu...@lognet2.arpa"
Marcel LeBlanc
>
>Yes! I FINALLY got tired of waiting for my 1541!
>
>I'm looking to buy a fast load cartridge and I would like your opinions and
>experiences about the following products:
> Super Cartridge (?) -- Competitor for the Final Cart.
The cartridge is called Super Snapshot (latest is V3.0). We don't think
of ourselves as competitors to the Final Cart., but rather the other way
around!
>In particular, I would like to know the following:
> 1. Do you MUST re-format your files to take advance of the speed?
Not for the products you mentioned, with the possible exception of Vorpal
(?spell?) EXTRA NOTE: SS V3.0 will speed up program loads on a 1541 by 11 to
15 times WITHOUT any special format. If you use the included utility disk to
convert program files to TURBO 25 format, files converted to this special
format will load up to 25 times faster (200 blocks in 5 1/2 seconds).
The 1581 loader is 11 times faster than standard.
> 2. How convient are the utilities (copiers, fast formattors, etc)?
Most of the cartridges that you mentioned don't have many other utilities.
Super Snapshot V3.0 has a Fast File Copier that will copy from one drive
type to another (or the same of course) .e.g. copy from a 1541 to a 1581
(FAST!), or from a 1581 to a 1571, etc ...
SS V3.0 also has disk copiers for the 1541 and 1581 for 1 or 2 drives, and
a fast format for the 1541.
> 3. How compatible is it with copy protected programs?
I have to be careful not to step on too many toes on this one:
I haven't heard many complaints about SS V3.0. I have had good luck
with Epyx FastLoad, but poor results with Final Cartridge.
> 4. Does it work when used with REL, SEQ, etc files types (from word processor
> and spreadsheet output files)?
I don't like to make definitive statements, but I don't think you will find
any cartridges that will speed up general REL file access. SEQ file access
will only be affected if the software does a 'LOAD' of the sequential
file (e.g. LOAD"seq file,s",8).
>--Pete, Univ of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC = "U Must Be Crazee" :-)
> ARPA: pe...@umbc3.umd.edu -or- pe...@umbc2.umd.edu
> Bitnet: pete@umbc
Marcel A. LeBlanc
University of Toronto -- Toronto, Canada
also: LMS Technologies Ltd, Fredericton, NB, Canada
UUCP: {decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo,uw-beaver}!utcsri!godzilla!leblanc
ARPA: leblanc%godzilla.ele...@relay.cs.net
CSNET: leb...@godzilla.ele.toronto.edu
CDNNET: leb...@godzilla.ele.toronto.cdn
BITNET: leb...@godzilla.ele.utoronto (may not work from all sites)
--
Marcel A. LeBlanc
University of Toronto -- Toronto, Canada
also: LMS Technologies Ltd, Fredericton, NB, Canada
Eric Green
>
>I'm looking to buy a fast load cartridge and I would like your opinions and
>experiences about the following products:
when used with RS232.
> Fast Load Cart. (Epyx) -- I heard this one was crappy... true?
course).
> Final Cartridge II and III (H&P) -- this is a "do-it-all" cart...
> pretty expensive
from final.
> Super Cartridge (?) -- Competitor for the Final Cart.
Super Snapshot. For the moment, the "Cadillac" of plug-in cartridges. Does
most of what TFC does, without the bugs. Does screen captures etc. too, via
wonders of having an on-board RAM (so it can stash the old screen before
messing things up with its menus). Only disadvantage is that, when used with a
C-128, you need something like an Aprotec expander chassis or else you have to
unplug it every time you want C128 mode.
Also has the advantage of fastloading with 1581s, too.
>In particular, I would like to know the following:
> 1. Do you MUST re-format your files to take advance of the speed?
You can. Makes them almost as fast as 1571's burst mode. But not
necessary.
> 2. How convient are the utilities (copiers, fast formattors, etc)?
Semi. Hit a button, at any point, and the current state of the computer is
saved in its on-board RAM. Then you can do all sorts of things, like the
formatter, issue disk commands, get a disk directory, etc. Have to be careful,
I imagine...
> 3. How compatible is it with copy protected programs?
I really wouldn't know. You mean you still have programs with copy
protection on them?! One function of Super Snapshot is to remove copy
protection.... lovely, when you're using antique software such as Superscript
or Superbase that takes forever to load otherwise.
> 4. Does it work when used with REL, SEQ, etc files types (from word processor
> and spreadsheet output files)?
REL files will never be fast (sorry!). Would be childs play to speed up SEQ
files (because of the on-board RAM, you could fast-burst 256 bytes at a time
without handshaking, & buffer them internally for CHRIN & CHROUT). Dunno if
they do, though. Doubt it.
>*** butane lighter on ****
>50 lashes with a wet noodle to whom ever was responsible for designing the
>1541 ;-) I just worked on an IBM PC for the first time and boy what a
>difference in load time!
>*** butane lighter off ***
The problem is that the 1541 was designed by committee, over a period of 5
years :-). Actually, the whole C-64 system was designed in something like 4
months time, by mucho hacking of code for previous systems (the C64 ROMs are
obviously derived from the VIC-20 ROMs) and use of silicon that had been
kicking around internally for ages (e.g. the infamous VIC-][ chip). The 1541
was a slight modification of the 1540 (the VIC-20 drive, but it couldn't work
with the 64 because of the VIC-][ chip stealing bus cycles), and the 1540, in
turn, was a very bastardized single-drive version of the 4040 disk drive... if
you look at the ROMs, they still have code all over the place for handing dual
drives (the source of the infamous save-with-replace bug). The 1571 is even
worse -- they left all the 1541 in place, but, patched it here, there,
everywhere, with jmp's to 1571 routines, with tests all over the place in
those, "duhh, am I in 1541 mode? Ohwell, better do what was replaced by the
jmp, and head back to original 1541 code." One can become neurotic, attempting
to trace the 1571's spaghetti (and here we were, thinking the 1541 was bad!).
I was quite disappointed when the C128 came out with the same old
cassette-based operating system... I was hoping Commodore would finally move
out of the stone age... but so be it. Oh well.
--
Eric Lee Green e...@usl.CSNET Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191
{cbosgd,ihnp4}!killer!elg Lafayette, LA 70509
"Human evolution ended when civilization began".
jkne...@jknepper.com
Even though you may never see my reply, since your Posts was in 1988...
I hope you realized that you spoke like a true developer.
But you didn't ask the simple questions.
I hope that after all these years, you have learned to figure it out and try more, than asking for more information.
Nobody like to find the answer than a true developer.
I can't even remember where I was at in 1988.
Have a good day.