Disk? Then usually load "*",8,1 gets most things going :-) or as below...
LOAD "FILENAME",8 loads a program from the first disk-drive
LOAD"*",8 loads the first file
LOAD"A*",8 loads the first file whose name begins with A
LOAD"A*C",8 loads the first file whose name begins with A and ends with C, with any or no included characters.
LOAD"A?C",8 loads the first file whose name consist of the three letters, where the first letter is A and the last is C. The ? is a wildcard which matches any single char
LOAD "$",8 loads the disk directory
These are all correct for the standard 1541 disk drives.
When loading the directory never append the ,1 to the end LOAD"$",8 unless you want to see garbage all over your screen. Once the $ finishes loading, type LIST to show contents.
A little more background, sometimes its difficult to tell if you need to type LOAD"*",8,1 or LOAD"*",8 Most programs need, or are not affected by the ,1 though if you are having problems loading one, try without it, and see what happens. You will certainly have to type RUN once the program finishes loading.
For background reference, the ,8 references the default disk drive number. It is possible to have a drive which has a different number. There were traces to cut on the original 1541 to change its device number. (You had to do this if you wanted to hook two drives to the system.) There were DIP switches on the back of the later 1541 and 1541-II models to change drive number. Most commercial games and programs will be unhappy about trying to load from a drive numbered other than 8, though.
And, an obscure and mostly forgotten shortcut: if you're really lazy, and want to save one keypress, or baffle random people...
L
"*",8,1 works just the same as LOAD"*",8,1. Most Commodore commands can be shortened in this form. (First letter, shift second). rU makes run. lI makes list, etc. Plus you get the fun of typing commands with strange looking little Commodore CG (PET ASCII) symbols in them!
