Pi1541-III DIY Kit Emulator

The device is a 1541 disk drive emulator for Raspberry Pi 3B/3B+, the kit includes all parts except the Raspberry Pi!

The set includes a USB-A to 5.5/2.1 jack power cable, an IEC serial cable, and a ready-to-use 32Gb micro SD card configured for Raspberry Pi 3B/3B+.

PCB color options: black or white.

Functionality

Pi1541, using a 32Gb microSD card, allows playback of disk images on Commodore computers, such as:

• Commodore 64
• Commodore 128
• Commodore VIC-20
• Commodore 16
• Commodore Plus4

Design

The kit includes:

• Power cable with USB plug (for any 5V power supply, e.g., a phone charger).
• Serial cable for the disk drive.
• Knob in gold, black, silver, red, and blue colors.

Technical highlights:

• Top-notch compatibility:
  Almost 100% compatibility with the original, including support for many fast loaders (even those with copied originals and demo scene wonders). Forget heuristic guessing with SD2IEC – here, 6502 code runs in full cycle-exact mode, just like in 1982.
• Sci-fi-like operating modes:
  • Minimal SD2IEC start (for browsing PRG and D64 files).
  • Full emulation of 1541/1581 after loading a disk image.
  • Reading and writing? No problem, with support for multiple channels and sequential files.
• Classy hardware:
  • Mountable on Raspberry Pi 3B+.
  • PCB with logic level converter (5V CBM → 3.3V Pi).
  • IEC connectors and chain option (cascading connection with other drives – real or emulated).
  • Version III equipped with a 1.3" OLED display and a rotary encoder for navigation – scrolling folders like on a smartphone, not like a maze with a joystick.
• Media support:
  • Store hundreds of D64 files on an SD card (up to 32GB+).
  • Browse with the Pi keyboard/screen or C64 commands (LOAD "*",8).
  • Saving files? Yes! But remember: it’s retro, not the cloud – always back up before your cat sits on the card.
• Power and assembly:
  • 5V power supply from C64 (up to 1A).
  • Compact casing.

Based on the project:

https://github.com/tebl/C64-Pi1541-III

Youtube:

Watch the video on YouTube