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Commodore 64 floppy drive has the power to be a computer — bulky 1982 Commodore 1541 5.25 inch drive packs a 1 MHz MOS 6502 CPU

Source

Tom's Hardware

Published

Jan 6, 2026

TL;DR

AI Generated

The Commodore History channel on YouTube revealed that the Commodore 1541 floppy disk drive has the capability to function as a standalone computer, boasting a 1 MHz MOS 6502 CPU, RAM, ROM, and I/O. Despite similarities to the C64's processor, attempts to turn the 1541 into a VIC-20-like computer were limited without extensive hardware modifications. By referencing the Commodore KIM-1, the project aimed to utilize the 1541 for general-purpose computing, requiring modifications to the ROMs and I/O routines. The resulting 'general purpose computer' was restricted to serial terminal use due to its limited I/O capabilities.

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Commodore 64 floppy drive has the power to be a computer — bulky 1982 Commodore 1541 5.25 inch drive packs a 1 MHz MOS 6502 CPU

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Commodore 64 floppy drive has the power to be a computer — bulky 1982 Commodore 1541 5.25 inch drive packs a 1 MHz MOS 6502 CPU

TL;DR

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