The V-1541 Virtual Floppy Disk Drive is a service invented and provided by CommodoreServer.com, who are also the developers of the Comet64 Internet modem. The Comet64 is a Serial-to-Ethernet device that connects to the C64's User's Port and provides an Internet connection to any Internet server. As a result, you can use the Comet64 to access CommodoreServer's V-1541 Virtual Disk Drive service.

Special Note: The V-1541 virtual drive is also accessible with the Retroswitch Flyer. You can learn more about how to use the V-1541 services with the Flyer HERE.

V-1541 is a program that runs on a standard Commodore 64 computer and takes control over device #2 (RS-232) for LOAD and SAVE operations to use disks stored on CommodoreServer.com. LOAD and SAVE still work the same with other devices (such as your disk drive, device #8), but operates on a virtual disk on CommodoreServer.com.

With the V-1541 protocol, you have access to ten virtual floppy disk drives, numbered 0: thru 9:, as well access to the CSIP that supports several services such as:

• On-line gaming
• Public and private chat
• Message bulletin board (Blips)
• Sharing of disk images

You can learn more about the V-1541 and CSIP here...

If you don't have a Comet64, you can use the V-1541 with the WinVICE emulator on your PC. You just need to configure the RS-232 settings appropriately. Information on how to do this can be found on the CommodoreServere.com website, here...

For Linux users, I've posted some notes on how to do it, here...

The V-1541 command syntax takes a bit of getting used to, but isn't too complicated once you get the hang of it. Here are some examples of the most common tasks for managing your disk collection.

To see a directory of the folders or disks that are available in your current directory location, type:

  LOAD "!",2

To assign a new disk image to a drive number, you first have to navigate the drive to the location of your disk image. I do it like this:

  LOAD ">CF 0:/ROOT-DIRECTORY/SUB-DIRECTORY",2

This puts drive 0 into the directory that holds the disk image you want to assign to it. You can do this for each drive you wish to use. If you don't specify a drive number 0: will be used.

Then, you can attach (a.k.a. mount) a disk image like this:

  LOAD ">INSERT 0:DISK-IMAGE.D64", 2

Once that is done, you can also do a directory printout by typing:

  LOAD ">$ 0:",2

To load a program from a disk, you then type:

  LOAD "0:PROGRAM-NAME",2

You can see a pattern appearing: LOAD, then the command you want to execute >$ (print the disk directory), then the virtual drive on which you want it performed 0: (drive zero), followed by ,2.

You can copy files from one virtual disk to another with the following command:

LOAD ">COPY 0:PROGRAM-NAME, 1:", 2

If you want to give the file a different name, on the destination disk, you can do so like this:

LOAD ">COPY 0:PROGRAM-NAME, 1:NEW-NAME", 2

If you want to make a copy of the program onto the same disk, you enter:

LOAD ">COPY 0:PROGRAM-NAME, NEW-NAME", 2

You can delete files from the virtual disks with the following command:

LOAD ">SCRATCH 0:PROGRAM-NAME", 2

If you want to see how many free blocks are available on a disk, enter:

LOAD ">BLOCKS",2

To see the name of the disk currently in the virtual drive, enter:

LOAD ">NAME",2

And to write protect the disk currently loaded into the virtual drive, enter:

LOAD ">WP",2

To take the write protect off, enter:

LOAD ">RWP",2

You can also create and format a new virtual disk with the following command:

LOAD ">NEW filename, disk-name, disk-id",2

The filename is the name of the .D64 file (50 characters max), the disk-name is the name of the disk you see when you LIST the disk's directory (16 characters max) and the disk-id is the two character identifier you see when you LIST the disk's directory.

For a complete list of all of the commands available for the V-1541, check out this PDF I created listing all of the commands for your Comet64… Comet64/V-1541 Command Reference Card.PDF

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Here's how you can search the files on your disk images uploaded to your V-1541 account, using the >FIND command. You can use this service with your authentic C64 or C128 with a Comet64 Internet modem, or you can do this via the VICE emulator, which is what I used in this video.

In this demo, I'm doing a search for two files stored somewhere on the many disk images I have uploaded to my CommodoreServer account. The first file I search for is SHUTTLE, for the game “Moon Shuttle”. Then, the second file I search for is CHECKERS and then I run the program “Checkers-64” from the disk images stored in my account. The command I use is:

LOAD">FIND SHUTTLE",2

If you have a lot of floppy disks with multiple games and programs on them, a service like CommodoreServer's is a real time saver at finding files when you're just not sure which floppy disk they were stored on. I also find it fun to be able to use the Internet with my Commodore 64 and 128 in this way.

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Here's doing the same searches, but via the web browser interface:

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