Pi1541 Zero Epyx Fastload Combo Cartridge for Commodore 64

eBay listing for the cartridge
www.ebay.com/itm/Pi1541-Zero-...
3D Printable Case
www.thingiverse.com/thing:454...
Pi1541 Homepage
cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com/

[@yorgle]

One modification I made on my Pi1541 was to add a switch between pin 9 of the cartridge port and the fastload rom, so that I could disable fastload... on the Commodore 128, if that line is connected, then on startup it goes into 64 mode... to switch to 128 you need to remove the cart which gets old fast. ;D

[@JacobExplains]

That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

[@AgeofReason]

This video is about as long as any 1541 load time.

[@retrokelpie7606]

Its shift-run to load from tape, commodore-run is from the fastload only. The $,@,%,! and pound commands are probably something worth covering more so...

[@JacobExplains]

That's a great idea! I keep meaning to do more videos about the Commodore 64 in general.

[@lurkerrekrul]

It should be noted that while Epyx Fastload was a good cartridge and a revolutionary new idea at the time, it doesn't work on all disk operations. As I understand it, it worked by replacing the Kernel load routine, so you only get the increased speed when loading a single file, or if the program calls the normal load routine to load additional files. Any commercial game that uses its own custom loader or that reads the levels as data rather than simply loading them, won't be any faster.
When I got my Epyx Fastload back in the 80s, I was disappointed to learn this. It was great for cracked games that were in one or two files, but did nothing to speed up full-disk games by Electronic Arts, Accolade, etc. Even some cracked Epyx games ignored the cartridge and took forever to load. I remember getting a copy of Street Sports Baseball, cracked by FBR that took several minutes to load. It was so slow, I never played the game until I got a better cracked copy.

[@pierrenagonio]

I am waiting for my delivery from ebay :) Looks like this is best, cheap Ultimate II+ replacement.

[@JacobExplains]

It really is! I use mine all the time, and I only unplug it to play a cartridge game.

[@pierrenagonio]

@@JacobExplains can u please make a vid how your pi1541 is configured. I wonder how your option/config files looks like. Additionally can you show us compatibility of fastloader or other soft/hardware u are using and how you are using them. That will be nice vid for your channel. THX!

[@JacobExplains]

@@pierrenagonio Those are great ideas! I've added them to my video list. Thanks!

[@pierrenagonio]

@@JacobExplains happy to help!

[@someoneoutthere1866]

Next time - output the video component output to a video capture device.. filming that monitor is horrible

[@JacobExplains]

Thanks for the advice! I have a composite/s-video capture device I use for that purpose, but this video was more to show the pi1541 combo cartridge, not the screen.