Commodore 8050

Commodore 8050
Commodore 8050 floppy-disk drive, with CBM 2001 PC
ManufacturerCommodore Business Machines, Inc.
TypeFloppy drive
Release date1980 (1980)[1]
Introductory priceUS$1,695 (equivalent to $6,300 in 2023)[1]
Media2 × 5¼" double-sided, double-density[2]
Operating systemCBM DOS 2.5/2.7[3]
CPU2 × MOS 6502 @ 1 MHz [2]
Memory4 KB SRAM (8 × 2114), 16 KB ROM (2 × 2364) [2]
Storage521 KB/side, 1042 KB/disk[4]
ConnectivityParallel IEEE-488[2]
Power110-117 V, 220-24 0V, 50 W[4]
Dimensions6.5 in × 15.0 in × 14.35 in (165 mm × 381 mm × 364 mm)[4]
Mass28 lb (13 kg)[5]
Backward
compatibility
PET, 4000-series, 8000-series, B128;[2] Commodore 64, VIC-20 with IEEE-488 adapter[6]
PredecessorCommodore 4040

The Commodore 8050, Commodore 8250, and Commodore SFD-1001 are 5¼-inch floppy disk drives manufactured by Commodore International, primarily for its 8-bit CBM and PET series of computers. The drives offered improved storage capacities over previous Commodore drive models.

They are notable for the disk drive having twice the processing power than the connected computer in having two 1MHz 6502 processors sharing operation of communication and disk operation, though only supporting 4k of main memory. The disk operating system is actually contained within the disk drive unit with commands being sent via the 8 bit GPIB interface where the system decodes the message and carries out the requested operation such as formatting a disk without further involvement from the connected computer.

  1. ^ a b "Commodore SuperPET". Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e Service Manual 8050 • 8250 Dual Disk Drives (PDF). Commodore Business Machines, Inc. 1985. pp. 1, 5.
  3. ^ "PET index - Disk drives".
  4. ^ a b c User's Manual for CBM 5¼-inch Dual Floppy Disk Drives (PDF). Commodore Business Machines, Inc. 1980. pp. 5–6.
  5. ^ Commodore Disk Reference Manual for D9090 D9060 8250 8050 4040 2031 (PDF). Commodore Business Machines, Inc. pp. 5–6, 8–9.
  6. ^ "Manuals | Technical Comparison of Commodore 1541 2040 4040 8050 8250 Drives". 2011-03-30. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2016-04-02.