• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Big blue reader

D

dave steve

Banned
Joined
Sep 9, 2025
Messages
9
Hi everybody,

Is anybody familiar with Big Blue Reader? I'd like to know if I can use it to transfer plain text files from Commodore disks to IBM disks. I've heard that it automatically changes PETSCII to ASCII and back.

Is it pretty easy to find a word processor that runs on the C-64 that can output plain text files, too? Does anybody know where I can get one?

Thanks for all of your help,
 
Never head of a 'Big Blue Reader'. Do you just put a CBM disk in one side and an IBM in the other and voila?
If you want to convert between ASCII and CBM weirdness (or any other for that matter), once you have the binary, it should be easy to write a program to translate it.
 
I don't remember the version of Big Blue Reader I used being more than a FAT formatted disk reader (as @ClassicHasClass indicated). So, while you can use it to access/copy files from IBM/DOS disks, you can't
save/copy C64 files to IBM/DOS disks. (Import to C64: yes. Export to IBM: no.)

Unless there was a later version made that could write to FAT formatted disks, I don't think @dave steve will be able to do what he wants to do this way. (If there was a later version, I never saw it.)
 
Relevant tangent: There is also another program called little red reader that is suppose to do more or less the same thing, but with a different author.
 
As I understand it, Big Blue Reader was commercial, but Little Red Reader and another related program, Tiny Yellow Brother, were shareware. It seems to me that LRR was for the 128 and TYB was written specifically for the 64 + 1571?
 
fachat said:
Really? BBB is read only from PC disks, not write to them? Can't believe that.
Click to expand...

It's been a while. I could be confusing Big Blue with a different program.

But calling it Big Blue READER when it can read and write doesn't make a lot of sense either. It would be interesting to find the manual for version 1.0 and see if it could write to DOS disks from the start.
 
acgs said:
It's been a while. I could be confusing Big Blue with a different program.

But calling it Big Blue READER when it can read and write doesn't make a lot of sense either. It would be interesting to find the manual for version 1.0 and see if it could write to DOS disks from the start.
Click to expand...
Even the 4.1 manual indicates there could be problems trying to write to a PC formatted disk. It was probably safer pointing to the primary task of the program: reading foreign disks.
 
krebizfan said:
Even the 4.1 manual indicates there could be problems trying to write to a PC formatted disk. It was probably safer pointing to the primary task of the program: reading foreign disks.
Click to expand...

That might be what I'm remembering. I wouldn't have wanted to risk any of my data being corrupted and therefore cautiously chosen to only use Big Blue for reading, unless I was writing to a brand new, empty disk.
 
ClassicHasClass said:
Big Blue Reader works well for that purpose, but you'll need a 1571 or 1581 - a 1541 can't read MFM. What exactly are you trying to use the 64 to do?
Click to expand...
Thanks! My goal is to move plain text files between my C-64 and a PC, ideally with automatic PETSCII↔ASCII and end‑of‑line conversion. I have 1541, and I’m planning to create/edit the text on the C-64 in a word processor or simple text editor that can save plain ASCII/SEQ. If Big Blue Reader plus my drive setup will let me read/write MS-DOS disks directly and handle the character translation, that’s exactly what I need. If not, I’m open to alternatives.
 
johnx993 said:
Never head of a 'Big Blue Reader'. Do you just put a CBM disk in one side and an IBM in the other and voila?
If you want to convert between ASCII and CBM weirdness (or any other for that matter), once you have the binary, it should be easy to write a program to translate it.
Click to expand...
Big Blue Reader is a C-64/C-128 utility that lets a 1571 (5.25") or 1581 (3.5") drive read and write MS-DOS disks. It’s not two “sides” at once—you insert an MS-DOS disk into a 1571/1581 and BBR mounts it so you can copy files to/from a CBM disk, optionally translating PETSCII↔ASCII and line endings during the copy. A 1541 can’t do this because it only supports GCR, not the MFM format used by IBM PC disks.
>
> Writing your own PETSCII/ASCII converter is straightforward once the file is already on the C-64 or PC. The harder part is the disk-format bridge (MFM vs. CBM filesystem). BBR handles both the disk access and the text translation in one go, which is why it’s handy for moving plain text between a C-64 and a PC.
>
> If you’re curious: with a 1571 you can handle 360K PC disks; with a 1581 you can handle 720K PC disks. BBR lets you choose translation options (PETSCII→ASCII, CR→CRLF) when copying.
 
If you for any reason can't get it to work correctly then a work around could be to use some MFM CP/M format as an intermediate format that both the 1571 and a PC can read/write.
 
MiaM said:
If you for any reason can't get it to work correctly then a work around could be to use some MFM CP/M format as an intermediate format that both the 1571 and a PC can read/write.
Click to expand...
Will give that a try i dont get it to work
 
Gar1 said:
For exporting files to an MS-DOS disk, is BDOS (which @fachat mentioned) generally considered a more reliable or feature-rich option than Big Blue Reader for writing to the disk?
Click to expand...
It's been a long time. IIRC with BDOS you could copy files without conversion using either a (pseudo) GUI or command line. It was a project of the month in the German 64er magazine in 1989.

I've never seen or used BBB, so can't really compare or comment

André
 
dave steve said:
I have 1541, and I’m planning to create/edit the text on the C-64 in a word processor or simple text editor that can save plain ASCII/SEQ.
Click to expand...

Did you mean a 1571?

Because, as has been stated several time here, a 1541 will not be able to read or write a PC's 360K floppy. If you have only a 1541, you can't make this work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top