History (1982): 1541 FDD for Commodore 64

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1541 Floppy Drive

The 1541 was a single sided 5 1/4″ floppy disk for the Commodore 64.

It utilized a serial connection to the host computer, and was better known for being slow. On reset, the 1541 would crash the head to ‘find’ the home sector making this a very loud drive, giving the impression that it was broken.

The drive housed a 6502 CPU, memory and ROM set that made the 1541 almost a full computer onto itself, which also kept its cost up very high.

The 1541 was also used in the portable business version of the Commodore 64, the Commodore SX-64.

A slow floppy drive turned out to not be what the corporate business world wanted.

Manufacturer: Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
Type: Floppy drive
Release date: 1982
Introductory price: $400 (equivalent to $1,038 in 2018)
Discontinued: 1993
Media: 5 1/4″ floppy disk SS SD
Operating system: CBM DOS 2.6
CPU: MOS 6502 at 1 MHz
Storage: 170KB
Connectivity: Commodore proprietary serial IEEE-488 0.4KB/s
Power: 100, 120, 220, or 240V 50/60Hz 25W (30W maximum)