A Pi1541 “Backpack” Floppy Emulator for Commodore 64 Computers That Ditches the Wires

One of the biggest headaches in the world of retrocomputing is getting data (including games and programs) from internet repositories to the old computer. Unless your definition of “retro” is very loose, that computer isn’t going to have Wi-Fi. It might not have any kind of networking capability or USB ports, either. Going back to the 8-bit era, data transfer options were limited to mostly floppy drives and cassette decks. Disk drive and cassette deck emulators are popular for that reason, and Taz-nz’s Pi1541 “Backpack” is a neat option for Commodore 64 computers.

The Pi1541, a portmanteau of Raspberry Pi and 1541 (a popular model of Commodore floppy disk drive), is one disk drive emulator design that many enthusiasts use. A Commodore 64 will see it as a 1541 floppy disk drive and can load games or programs from the device. But the user can easily put that data (the equivalent of a ROM) into the device’s storage through modern means — either over a local network, from a USB flash drive, or an SD card.

However, most Pi1541 builds have a form factor similar to that original Commodore 1541 drive. That makes them bulky, taking up desk space. They also need a cable to connect the Pi1541 to the Commodore 64.

Taz-nz’s design is an attempt to make the Pi1541 as compact as possible, while still retaining all of the usual functionality and even introducing some new features. Taz-nz describes it as a “backpack” design, because it plugs directly into the back of the Commodore 64. There is a passthrough for external drives and the cartridge port remains accessible.

This is a custom PCB that acts as a HAT for a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W single-board computer. Taz-nz is in the process of designing a 3D-printable enclosure for the device. This is still a work in progress and Taz-nz still has some testing and development to do. But when that is done, they will be releasing all of the design files for people to make their own devices.