VIC-1540

From C64-Wiki

Floppy 1540 Front

Floppy 1540 Back

The Commodore VIC-1540 or Commodore 1540 (in Germany: VC-1540) disk drive was produced for the then-new VIC-20 in the early 1980s. It uses 5.25" disks with a capacity of 170 kB. 174,848 bytes can be used on each disk side. This equals 683 blocks, but only 664 blocks can be used.
The power supply is integrated into the VIC-1540 and uses a standard IEC C13 power cable (the same found on a PC). It is connected to the VIC-20 via the serial bus. Because of a timing conflict with the VIC-II in the C64, the 1540 will only work with a VIC-20; however, the 1540 can be modified to work with a C64. The Commodore DOS version is 2.6.

[edit] Characteristics

Each disk side can hold 174,848 bytes, equaling 683 blocks, but only 664 blocks could be used.

The VIC-1540 disk drive can identify the following file types:

PRG Program files (max. file size ca. 200 blocks)
SEQ Sequential files (for data storing of applications; max. file size 168,656 bytes)
USR User files (special format of the sequential files)
REL Relative files (also for data storing of applications; max. file size 167,132 bytes with max. 65,535 datasets)
DEL Deleted file (can be viewed through tricks or directory manipulation)
If the character < is put behind the file name, the file has a software protection against overwriting.
If the file starts with *, it is indicated that the file has not been closed properly. Such a file cannot be removed with SCRATCH, but only with VALIDATE!
Max. file number in the directory: 144