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https://www.youtube.com/c/StevesRetroGaming
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This PDF is Commodore 1541 Service Manual – November 1985
This is a must have for any 1541 troubleshooting.
ALSO search for the SAMS ComuterFacts 1541 manual
PDF DOWNLOAD HERE: 1541_Service_Manual (1985)
The Expert Cartridge by Trilogic
I do now if this was ever released in the USA or not. This was another memory snapshot cartridge.
Freezes – Freezes and saves programs to disk
One File – Programs are saved in one file
Compacts – Programs are compacted to reduce disk space used
Saves More – You can save 3 or more programs per disk
Not Needed – The cartridge is not needed for loading saves
Upgradable – The cartridge used RAM and disk based software for instant low cost upgrading
Monitor – Use the machine code monitor to cheat, gain extra lives, etc
Also for Tape to Disk backups
The cartridge was also reversed engineered and a reproduction was sold on Ebay.
For MORE information: The Expert Cartridge Project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilogic_Expert_Cartridge
http://www.ar.c64.org/wiki/Expert_Cartridge
https://people.kth.se/~e93_msi/c64/expert.html
I ran across this great article on Codetapper’s C64 site and wanted to share the link.
There was a quote from Chuck Sommerville about how great the copy protection was on California Games (it was Vorpal).
The article does a great job debunking the claim that all cracked versions of Summer Games came from the US Gold Cassette release.
Talking to crackers from Eagle Soft Incorporated
When I downloaded games from BBS’s back in the day here in the USA, Eagle Soft was the most common cracking group, from the games I grabbed. But here is the link to this great article: https://codetapper.com/c64/rants/california-games-c64-copy-protection/
This is a must and great read! Thank you Codetapper.
Datel Toolkit IV – The Ultimate Disk Toolkit (the ad claims) – cost just $14.99
1. Disk Doctor V2 – Read & Write any track & sector, Repair damaged sectors, look underneath read errors
2. Header/Gap editor – Decodes & Displays ALL header information, including off bytes and gaps.
3. Disk Look – Sort a directory, Recover lost files, Display file start & end addresses. Disassemble any file directly from disk, Edit the BAM, and more
4. File Compactor – Can compact machine programs by up to 50%
5. Fast Disk Copy – Copies an entire disk in 2 minutes or less
6. Fast File Copy – Copies files up to 6 times faster
7. Formatter – Formats a disk in 10 seconds, Or format any track or half track
8. Error Edit – Quickly find and recreate all read errors – more
Download the D64 here: Toolkit 4 (TOOLS) (DS)
Isopropyl Alcohol 90% – https://amzn.to/2YXmW5E
Isopropyl Alcohol 99% – https://amzn.to/2Z39VYk
Cotton Swab Sticks – https://amzn.to/2YXmjci
How to open a Commodore 1541 disk drive – https://youtu.be/_F7WpPbfisM