1541 Mini & Micro

"Honey, I shrunk the disks!"

Want to give people floppy envy? Build your own USB 1541 Mini or Micro disk drive for use with THEC64 or THEC64 Mini! Watch my videos & follow the recipe below:

1) Obtain the parts

• THEC64® & THEC64 Mini® computer: USA | UK
• Compatible USB floppy drive: USA | UK

2) Choose a 1541 case type

1. 3D printed "1541 Mini" case:
   • Get my recommended 3D Printer from just $/£250: USA/World | UK/Europe
   • Download & 3D print my 1541 Mini case models
   • Apply C64/1541 spray paint match: USA | UK
      
2. Inkjet printed "1541 Micro" decal:
   • Get the self-adhesive inkjet vinyl (new matte version): USA | UK
   • Print my decal art on the vinyl at "100%" size, "Best quality": PDF | PSD
   • Apply to disk drive as shown in the final video below

3) Copy games to disk

First, connect the USB floppy drive to your computer/phone & insert a 1.44MB HD disk

Mac

1. Open Disk Utility
2. Format/Erase the floppy disk with these settings: MS-DOS (FAT), Master Boot Record
3. In Finder drag your chosen PRG, D64, or CRT game files to the floppy!

Windows (new easier method)

1. Download these 2 items: BlankDisk.img | RawWrite
2. Extract & open RawWrite, click [...], choose BlankDisk.img, & click Write to create a compatible disk
3. In Windows File Explorer drag your chosen PRG, D64, or CRT game files to the floppy!

Android

1. Ensure the floppy disk has been formatted by Windows (not using the above method)
2. Open your phone Settings & locate the Storage page where the USB device appears
   (e.g. Settings>Device Care>Storage>Advanced)
3. Click Format and wait for it to complete
4. Download your chosen PRG, D64, or CRT game files via phone browser
5. In your phone's Files app, Move the game files to the USB device, then click the Eject icon

Now plug the 1541 Mini into THEC64®. Congratulations, your floppy is now the envy of all!

Tips & Notes

• To have a D64 game disk file mount automatically, rename it THEC64-drive8.d64 first
• PRG files are smaller than D64 files if you want to fit more games on a disk
• Android results in 360K disk images rather than 1.44MB so you may want to favour the smaller PRG file format over D64 in order to save space, or go full-nostalgia with one game per floppy disk using the above file renaming tip!

With thanks: Doug Bergen, Robin Harbron, Christophe Germe, Retro Games Ltd.