RETRO Innovations ZoomFloppy Manual

ZoomFloppy Manual
v1.0b – Jan 28 2011
This manual describes how to install and use the ZoomFloppy USB floppy adapter. The
ZoomFloppy connects your Commodore 1541/1571/1581 drives (and even serial printers) to a
Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. This allows you to read and write files or entire disk images
from the original media. Unprotected disks can be read to or written from D64 image files, say
for use with emulators. Protected disks can be read to or written from NIB or G64 files, provided
you have installed a parallel cable in your 1541 or 1571 drive.
PLEASE READ THE "WARNINGS" SECTION AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT
BEFORE PROCEEDING. IMPROPER USE OF THE ZOOMFLOPPY MAY DAMAGE
YOUR DRIVES OR THE ZOOMFLOPPY ITSELF.
Introduction to the ZoomFloppy
At a minimum, the ZoomFloppy must be connected to one or more floppy drives via the IEC
serial port (6-pin DIN) and to a computer via USB. It is powered over USB, so no external
supply is needed. This configuration gives basic access to read and write disks. OpenCBM
provides some faster serial transfer routines and defaults to auto-selecting the best one for your
configuration.
For higher performance and to copy protected disks, you may want to install a parallel cable in
your drive (not included). This cable was originally produced for Speed DOS and Burst Nibbler.
It is attached to one of the VIA chips (1541) or CIA chip (1571), either by removing the chip and
installing a socket or by soldering. It gives an 8-bit parallel channel to transfer raw GCR bytes at