About This Video
In this video, I take a detailed look at the Creative Micro Designs CMD HD-20 hard drive system for the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128.
Originally produced by Creative Micro Designs between 1990 and 2001, the CMD HD-20 gave Commodore users access to much larger storage capacities and faster file transfers than traditional floppy disk drives. The system combined a custom Commodore SCSI interface with a dedicated hard drive enclosure and power supply.
The CMD HD also supported JiffyDOS acceleration, HD-DOS boot functionality, RAMLink compatibility, additional SCSI peripherals, and partitioning capable of emulating Commodore 1541, 1571, and 1581 floppy drives.
My CMD HD-20 needed a little work, so I open it up and go through several upgrades. I install a new ROM IC, replace the original SCSI hard drive with a modern Zulu SCSI2SD adapter, and install a reproduction rear enclosure decal to replace the missing original.
Once everything is back together, I connect the CMD HD-20 to my Commodore 64 and demonstrate the system in operation.
Items Featured:
- Creative Micro Designs CMD HD-20 hard drive system
- CMD HD-20 ROM IC upgrade
- Zulu SCSI2SD adapter installation
- Replacement rear case enclosure decal
- CMD SCSI interface hardware
- HD-DOS functionality demonstration
Resources Mentioned:
- CMD HDD Schematics
- Rabbit Hole Computing - Zulu SCSI v1.2
- COREi64 - Commodore CMD HD Reproduction Rear Label
- RETRO Innovations - CMD HDD Boot ROM 2.80 Binary Image
- RETRO Innovations (Jim Brain) - CMD HD DOS 2.80 ROM IC
- BlueSCSI v2
The CMD HD-20 was an impressive storage option for Commodore 64 and 128 users, offering capabilities well beyond a traditional floppy drive. With the ROM upgrade and Zulu SCSI2SD installed, this CMD HD-20 is back up and running without having to rely on its original SCSI hard drive.
Explore more hardware, projects, and information in my Commodore 64 System Guide.