uIEC/SD

RETRO Innovations

(43 reviews) Write a Review
$60.00
SKU:
UIEC-SD-DD
Weight:
1.00 Ounces
Shipping:
Calculated at Checkout
Bulk Pricing:
Buy in bulk and save

Bulk discount rates

Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount

  • Buy 5 - 9 and get 10% off
  • Buy 10 - 24 and get 15% off
  • Buy 25 - 49 and get 20% off
  • Buy 50 - 99 and get 25% off
  • Buy 100 or above and get 30% off
Top view of uIEC/SD with deluxe daughtercard. 2 IEC ports are under the uIEC/SD and the jack on the left side is for USB power.
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Product Overview

Hold the entire collection of Commodore games and utilities in the palm of your hand! No more lugging a CBM disk drive around, worrying about disk “rot”, swapping disks, and being without your favorite software. Transfer files to the Commodore simply by dragging files to the solid state SD/SDHC card on your PC/Mac. Need more storage? Visit the local big box store or online e-tailer for gigabytes of solid state storage.

The “Micro” IEC offers that and more, supporting Secure Digital (SD) and SDHC solid state storage up to 32GB in size, emulating the CBM DOS functionality (including select CMD HD DOS operations), and supporting the JiffyDOS drive transfer protocol. The unit is small enough to embed, but large enough to satisfy even the most discerning retro-computer enthusiast.

The device even offers the ability to better itself after purchase. As new firmware updates are released, simply copy the new firmware to the SD card, reset the device, and watch it upgrade itself.

Think about it, this addition to your Commodore collection is new and costs less than the going eBay-rate for a 1581. But the Storage capacity is Far beyond a 1581! Switching out SD Cards (which are cheap) is a snap - each SD Card is like adding another free 1581 drive or any other 1571 or 1541 drive. And FAST, the uIEC is faster than any mechanical drive without wearing out parts!

All of this in 2.25 square inches of silicon and circuitry. Grab one or more today!

Notes:

  • For correct operation, the unit requires a Commodore IEC serial cable (available in our store, though any disk drive serial cable should work)
  • In order to utilize the JiffyDOS transfer speeds, the computer must have JiffyDOS installed. JiffyDOS is available in our store.
  • uIEC/SD is available in 3 configurations:
    • bare: The unit comes without any daughtercard or connector.  This option is useful for folks wishing to add an additional unit to a uIEC/SD Deluxe Daughtercard
    • edge connector: The unit is supplied with just the 1x13 edge connector.  This is useful for folks planning to embed the uIEC/SD into another structure.
    • deluxe: The base unit is paired with a small PCB (this is useful for folks who desire less clutter and want the unit close to the machine. 
      The PCB provides:
      • 2 IEC ports (which allows daisy chaining)
      • buttons for swap list navigation
      • a reset button
      • a jumper configuration setting that allows or prevents a machine reset from also resetting the drive.
      • direct connection to the C64/C128 cassette port for power
      • dual uIEC/SD connectors, to allow vertical or horizontal configuration
      • Mini USB port for external power (use any standard 5V phone charger, or a cable to your PC

Reviews

(43 reviews) Write a Review

43 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews

  • 4
    Works as expected

    Posted by Ben Ogg on 20th Jun 2017

    For one off loading of files, it is fine. As for using it in a multi drive environment, it is the BEST I have used, and works... Somewhat. The problem (seems to be) the timing / clock. When used alone it is flawless, but on a chain of drives, there are still a few lockup issues. Testing continues. . .

  • 5
    i had a SD2iec, but once i bought this i sold it. this is the fastest and the coolest!

    Posted by Rodney Day on 29th Apr 2017

    The Sd2iec I had was confusing. This blew it away! Plugs into cassette plug and shows up as drive 10. Load"fb64",10. Works so simply and easy, I also have my geos 128 2.1r using the drive as a ram drive, makes geos super fast(geos thinks it's a1581). It's so much faster then the Sd2iec I had, pretty much loads instantly! This is a must buy! Worth every penny. No regrets..

  • 5
    Modernize your C64/128 with mass storage

    Posted by Jay Theriot on 19th Apr 2017

    Initially, I purchased this device because I thought is was cool. The ability to put a mass SD/SDHD card onto a 30 y/o computer was an incredible thought. However, it is much, much more. It has completely changed the way I use the computer. The learning curve was not steep, but there was one. I have a 16 GB SDHD in service and nearly all my programs are on the device. I installed JiffyDOS on the main board and on my drives. Navigating the directories are effortless and executing programs are grand. If you are serious about pressing your C64/128 into service, this is a must buy. Jazzy_J

  • 5
    Works Well

    Posted by Michael Marston on 5th Mar 2017

    I got this and JiffyDos, the load times are very quick. This is much better than the 1541 drive.

  • 5
    A solution to my failing floppies!

    Posted by Dave Carpenter on 12th Feb 2017

    Great product. You can put .d64 images on it, nest them in a folder structure as on your mac/pc/nix, and "change directory" into actual folders and .d64 images directly using open 15,10,15,"CD:image.d64":close15 . Documentation links provided in Jon's review helped immensely. Default device is 10 but can be changed to 8 (or 9 or 11) temporarily or permanently. The only image I've found so far that would not work was Impossible Mission II's .d64 as it evidently reprograms a 1541, which is unsupported with the uIEC. For that I used ZoomFloppy to write to a new(ish) diskette. As my floppies are all starting to disintegrate, this is a great product to keep my old programs working. And on an SD card, I can fit all of them into a tiny memory card.

  • 5
    High Quality

    Posted by Unknown on 22nd Jan 2017

    Just put a file browser and games on a sdcard, and update the firmware(optional, the default works good), and you're good to go. Kinda wish he sold a case to go with it but no biggie. Got the deluxe version with daughtercard. I use it with a breadbin c64 and epyx fast load cart. (I recommend using it with a fast loader of some type). Some multi-disk games work with this, and some dont.

  • 5
    Great for running a BBS

    Posted by Lawrence Hedman on 21st Dec 2016

    What I find is the best thing about this device is that it will recognize 12 partitions on an SD card whereas all the other SD2IEC devices I've tried only recognize two partitions. The 12 partition feature made this device ideal for running a Commodore BBS from.

  • 5
    uIEC/SD vs ZoomFloppy

    Posted by James Groom on 22nd Jul 2016

    When I discovered a working C128 in my mother-in-laws basement, I started searching out tools to get the applications, games, and files from the web to the C128. I was torn between the ZoomFloppy (a fine device also offered through RETRO Innovations) and the uIEC/SD. Given my limiting understanding I wasn't entirely clear on the differences so I bought both, the ZoomFloppy is useful for copying .d64 disk images to a writable floppy, or vice versa (i.e., copying floppies to your laptop). The uIEC/CS is full on disk drive that can have 32GB+ storage in the form of an SD card. It allows you to copy program files to the SD card and simply run them through the uIEC/SD drive. In the end, this is the one I find myself using far more often. These differences would be self-evident to anyone more familiar with the intricacies of the Commodore retro computing world, so this review is probably more useful for those who are not. The uIEC/SD device is an actual drive that enables you to run just about anything you want (save the multi-disk games and programs) from an SD card whereas the ZoomFloopy is is more akin to a translator between your contemporary computer and the Commodore's existing disk drive. I wrote the comparison between the ZoomFloppy and the uIEC/SD up in even greater detail here: http://bavatuesdays.com/zoomfloppy-vs-the-uiecsd-drive/ Regardless of the device you choose, RETRO Innovations has been top notch, they delivered the drives to internationally in no time at all and perfect working order. I couldn't be happier with both my purchases.

  • 4
    Almost perfect 1541 Replacement

    Posted by Dominic on 4th Jul 2016

    Compatibility is great, but some games that have built in loaders won't work, and larger multi-disk games can be a hassle. For most games and software, though, this is perfect. Using the uIEC is very straightforward after skimming through the documentation. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this, it certainly saves desk space compared to having a 1541 sitting on your desk.