MEGA65 Welcome Guide
Tip: Until this is fixed in a future software update, an HD disk with the hole exposed will not work with the MEGA65.
If your disk isn’t working, double-check that the hole is covered.
Using the physical floppy drive is similar to using a disk image. Open the Freeze menu (hold Restore, then release),
then select drive number 0. (The internal drive can only be mounted to drive 0.) In the list of options that includes the
D81 disk images, select - INTERNAL 3.5" -. Exit the Freeze menu (resume or reset).
Insert a floppy disk in the drive. If you have not used this disk with the MEGA65 before, it needs to be formatted. This
erases all data on the disk! Use the HEADER command, providing a disk name in quotes, and a two digit disk ID number
preceded by the letter I:
HEADER "WORK FILES",I01
Enter YES at the prompt to confirm. Formatting a disk for the first time takes a minute or so.
Tip: See the HEADER command in the User’s Guide, page 135.
You can now use the floppy disk like you would a D81 disk image. Some things to try:
DIR
10 PRINT "HARD AT WORK"
20 GOTO 10
SAVE "HARDLYWORKING"
NEW
DIR
LOAD "HARDLYWORKING"
LIST
RUN
10.4 Using an external disk drive
Your MEGA65 has a 6-pin IEC serial port for connecting vintage Commodore disk drives. With a drive connected,
you can use the Freeze menu to assign it to drive 1.
Commodore disk drives use a serial protocol that allows multiple devices to be connected in a chain. Each device must
have a unique device ID. For disks, the available device IDs are 8, 9, 10, or 11. These old devices do not have a way to
figure out their device IDs automatically. Instead, you use switches on the device itself to tell the drive its device ID.
Each device ID must be assigned to a unique drive.
The MEGA65 can assign either device ID 8 or 10 to the drive connected as drive 0 (a disk image or the internal floppy
drive), and can assign either device ID 9 or 11 to the drive connected as drive 1 (another disk image or the external
serial port). You can toggle the device IDs for drive 0 or 1 in the Freeze menu by pressing 8 or 9, respectively. Make
sure your external drive is configured to use the device ID you have assigned to drive 1 in the MEGA65 Freeze menu
(either 9 or 11).
Any device that supports the disk serial protocol is expected to work, including new disk devices such as the Pi1541.
Notice that some such devices like the SD2IEC need the C64 tape port to supply power to the device, and the MEGA65
has no such port.
54 Chapter 10. Using disks
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