Commodore 1541 Troubleshooting & Repair Guide
Commodore 1541 Troubleshooting & Repair Guide is a repair book for Commodore's VIC-1540, VIC-1541 and 1542 disk drives by Michael G. Peltier, published by Howard W. Sams & Co., a division of Macmillan, Inc., Indianapolis (Sams catalogue number 22470). The scan is the third printing (1987) of the first edition, copyright 1986. ISBN 0-672-22470-4; Library of Congress card number 85-63530.[1] The numbered pages run to 228, ending with Appendix E.[2]
It covers each model separately: the 1540 and 1541 share one mechanical design and the 1542 has its own, and the advanced theory chapter treats the three models' circuits in turn. Appendix A holds interconnect diagrams, schematics, parts layouts and parts lists for each model's disk controller board and drive motor servo circuit.[2] The copyright page carries Commodore's and the author's warning that repairing or modifying the drive during the warranty period voids the factory warranty.[1]
Contents
[edit | edit source]Page numbers are from the contents list.[2]
- 1. Description of the VIC-1541 (disassembly, changing device numbers, reassembly), p. 1
- 2. Theory of Operation (mechanical theory for the 1540/1541 and for the 1542; electronic theory), p. 15
- 3. Alignment (exercising the drive, calibrating disk rpm, read/write head alignment, track 1 stop adjustment), p. 29
- 4. Preventive Maintenance (including head cleaning with cleaning disks and by hand), p. 43
- 5. Basic Troubleshooting and Repair, with a flowchart, p. 47
- 6. Advanced Troubleshooting and Repair (green and red LED, power supply, drive motor, stepping motor, computer circuit, read/write circuit, blown fuses), p. 67
- 7. Advanced Theory of Operation: model 1540, p. 145; model 1541, p. 165; model 1542, p. 183
- Appendix A, Technical Data: interconnect diagrams, p. 190; schematics, p. 192; parts layouts, p. 207; parts lists for the 1540, p. 215, the 1541, p. 217, and the 1542, p. 219
- Appendix B, Fabrication of Video Detector, p. 221
- Appendix C, MOS Handling Precautions, p. 224
- Appendix D, Standard IC Pin Numbers, p. 225
- Appendix E, Description of Disk Controller IC, p. 227
Use as a source
[edit | edit source]It is a third-party book; check its figures against Commodore's documentation where that is available. The Anatomy of the 1541 Disk Drive covers the drive's DOS and internal software. For drive repair in general see Floppy Drive Repair.
The 245-page scan includes Sams's advertisement page, the covers and a closing page from retro-commodore.eu.
Download: SAMS Commodore 1541 Troubleshooting & Repair Guide.pdf (43 MB)