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How to read and copy 5.25 inch floppy disks?

I was just gifted a Commodore 64 by my dear and beloved father. It came with a third party 5.25 inch floppy disk drive, an FD-148. The 1530 Datassette C2N unti I just bought separately and went for $15.

I am also lacking a power supply unit, but those go on some auction sites for about $20, so non problem there. Now, to the problems.

I have two 5-pin S-video cables, which I cannot connect to any monitors that I have. I am going to check the thrift stores in my area to see if they have any monitors with those 8-pin holes (into which the 5-pin plugs go). Even if they don't, buying an S-video to SCART converter is no problem, and then putting a SCART to HDMI on top of that shouldn't be a problem either. Here is the S-video plug.

The real problem is the disk drive.

I powered it up, no problem. The problem is the 6-pin serial data cable.

When the Datassette arrives and I finally buy a PSU and convert the S-video to HDMI, I will probably be able to read any diskettes and cassettes that haven't gotten demagnetized.

But I would really like to thank my father for gifting me all this by somehow backing up his old texts, poems and essays from these floppy disks into PDF or whatever.

Questions:

  • is it possible to "simply" find a "dumb/passive" 6-pin serial data to USB adapter?
  • if not, could it be possible to open up a 3.5 inch floppy drive, peel the 6-pin data cable and directly interface with the floppy drive's controller, which in turn I would connect to some interface/controller on a modern motherboard?
  • other?

I am not having my hopes up at all. I am fully prepared to simply take pictures of the Commodore's output with my smartphone, making the pictures look as good as possible using my experience in photography.

Thanks in advance!

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f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4
sopuli.xyz

You want an XUM1541. Edit: Commodore famously botched the code for serial data flow, so there are a number of products to get a load time measured in seconds rather than minutes... but there's no guarantee that these or the XUM1541 will work with an off-brand disk drive.

You do not want an original Commodore 64 power supply. They deliver higher than normal voltage when they die and take parts of the computer down with them. Beware the epoxy bricks, both black and beige. (I'm in the USA; it is my understanding that the European wedge-shaped one can have its board replaced with a new, safer one.)

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printf("%s", name);reply
piefed.blahaj.zone

Thanks! I'm about to order this XoomFloppy now. :)

If it doesn't work with my off-brand floppy disk, I'll try solution #4 here.

The IT-guy at my workplace said the same thing about the original PSUs... he also told me that there should be newly made replicas, which I have failed to find yet...

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printf("%s", name);reply
piefed.blahaj.zone

Thanks! I saw somebody on an old C64 forum refer to the 5.25 inch ones as "flippy", that's why... xD

This looks promising! I will keep this as a backup plan in case the XoomFloppy doesn't work with my off-brand floppy drive.

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How to read and copy 5.25 inch floppy disks? | Spyke