Gotek mods for Flashfloppy

danielj

Member
AmiBayer
Joined
Jun 18, 2013
Posts
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Country
UK
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Manchester
I don't see much mention of Keir Fraser's excellent Flashfloppy on here, turning a £13 Gotek into a highly useful solid-state floppy drive usable on anything for freebies: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/wiki
DSC_3066.jpg

But for those who are interested in adding the bells and whistles to one (a nice OLED display, rotary encoder and piezo buzzer for floppy ticking noises), I've put together a video to show 1) how straight forward it is and 2) how to mod the case to accommodate these things. I hope some find it useful :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fedLRCFZycY
 
Guys, This is a Must do.... It performs Brilliantly and is less Buggy than the HXc Firmware

Thanks Daniel

Bas ;)
 
Guys, This is a Must do.... It performs Brilliantly and is less Buggy than the HXc Firmware

Thanks Daniel

Bas ;)

Oh really ? :unsure:
Can you be more specific ? Which bug the HxC firmware has that flashfloppy hasn't ? Or do you mean "cortex" maybe?

Maybe you need an update ? :
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HXCFEUSB_HFE_beta_firmware.zip
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_...xc_floppy_emulator_firmware_release_notes.txt

Before comparing, please update your hxc firmware to the latest version (currently v3.1.1.1a). I got the same kind of feedback some weeks ago with someone using an hxc firmware version from june 2015 :LOL: (v3.0.3.0 if i remember correctly) ! After the update the comparison conclusion was quite different ;).
 
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Jeff, does HxC deal with a rotary encoder/button on the same connections?
 
Yes rotary is supported (but not very well document i must admit).
The connection for the HxC firmware is J7 pin 2 for the clock signal and J7 pin 1 for the direction signal.
Connect the button on the select button on JA
Beware : the very last update fix the rotary support in normal mode (renamed configless mode in ff).
So an update is needed. This issue was reported by someone switching from ff to hxc firmware.
 
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Hi Jeff, I have a gotek that was supplied with the original cortex firmware. It boots from power on but won't detect disk changes, i.e. if I loaded a workbench adf then switched to the next disk it never changed disc and instead kept telling me the workbench disk had read errors. The same thing with multi disk games like cannon fodder for instance will load the first disk but when requesting the next disc I can change to the next image but it never begins loading. Also if start the Amiga with the usb removed and insert it when at the kickstart screen the little segment display shows the selected image (i.e. 001) and the green led slow pulses but it never begins loading. I have tried this drive on an a500, 600 & 1200 and with different cables but always the same result. I switched to flash floppy in case it was a firmware issue but still the same. Any tips at all or should I just write it off and order a new drive?
 
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Hi Jeff, I have a gotek that was supplied with the original cortex firmware. It boots from power on but won't detect disk changes, i.e. if I loaded a workbench adf then switched to the next disk it never changed disc and instead kept telling me the workbench disk had read errors. The same thing with multi disk games like cannon fodder for instance will load the first disk but when requesting the next disc I can change to the next image but it never begins loading. Also if start the Amiga with the usb removed and insert it when at the kickstart screen the little segment display shows the selected image (i.e. 001) and the green led slow pulses but it never begins loading. I have tried this drive on an a500, 600 & 1200 and with different cables but always the same result. I switched to flash floppy in case it was a firmware issue but still the same. Any tips at all or should I just write it off and order a new drive?

In this particular case i don't think that this is a firmware related issue.

The disk change issue generally come from :

-> A bad jumper setting and/or a twisted floppy ribbon. The emulator is wired on the MTRON instead of the DF0/DF1 signals.

And/or

-> A damaged floppy ribbon. The disk-change signal is cutted. This is a common issue.

And/or

-> In the case of the gotek a damaged output transistor/mosfet for the disk change signal.
I have already got some support cases like this one in the past. The gotek floppy output stage isn't protected at all and can damaged easily (like all others interfaces on this device :LOL:). In this case you need to replace the damaged part.
 
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Thanks for the tip, i think for the cost, i'll probably just order a new one, as much as i would enjoy the fault finding and resolution (if i managed it) its probably not worth it:)
 
Guys, This is a Must do.... It performs Brilliantly and is less Buggy than the HXc Firmware

Thanks Daniel

Bas ;)

Oh really ? :unsure:
Can you be more specific ? Which bug the HxC firmware has that flashfloppy hasn't ? Or do you mean "cortex" maybe?

Maybe you need an update ? :
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HXCFEUSB_HFE_beta_firmware.zip
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_...xc_floppy_emulator_firmware_release_notes.txt

Before comparing, please update your hxc firmware to the latest version (currently v3.1.1.1a). I got the same kind of feedback some weeks ago with someone using an hxc firmware version from june 2015 :LOL: (v3.0.3.0 if i remember correctly) ! After the update the comparison conclusion was quite different ;).


Yes really lol

I find the HXc firmware doesn’t respond to the selection buttons very smoothly, especially the Select.
Pressing the next or last button feature quite commonly causes the system to go back to the root directory which is very annoying.
And this is across multiple units I have built up.

:)
 
Yes really lol

I find the HXc firmware doesn’t respond to the selection buttons very smoothly, especially the Select.
Pressing the next or last button feature quite commonly causes the system to go back to the root directory which is very annoying.
And this is across multiple units I have built up.

smile.gif


Shame that you report the possible improvement only now after having build up all these units all these years. I generally follow the users feedback/recommendation/features request (and that's why i am asking you...). Do you have reported this to me before ? (via hxc forum or by email ?)

Anyway this is odd because these navigations stuff was addressed one year ago and many improvements was done in 2017. (btw the select button become optional since some months !)

And if this is the only issues, i find the term "bug" is a little exaggerated. I thought that the problems was a lot more serious/critical : For example read error, ADF write corruption, crash,... This is typically what i call "a buggy firmware". Finally you reassured me on this point, we are talking about navigation improvements ! :)

Anyway i think that the updates may help here by bringing the navigation improvement :

http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/HXCFEUSB_HFE_beta_firmware.zip
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_...xc_floppy_emulator_firmware_release_notes.txt

And if they doesn't, as i said here, in the release notes and at various other places :
For bug report and feature request don't hesitate to send an email to : hxc2001<at>hxc2001.com
Then i bring and/or fix the feature in the next firmware release.

Anyway thanks for reporting them.
:)
 
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Hi Jeff

Reverting to the root of the file system by just pushing up or down to select the next image inline would be a bug in my book, but let me just add how invaluable in general the two units in my workshop have been in helping me repair and test so many systems.. I certainly don’t regret building them..

always nice to try a different solution too though.

i will ensure I have the latest firmware flashed and try my 2 units out again very soon, especially as I have a TRS 80 Model 1 System in the process of being repaired.

will get back to you, but thank you for creating the firmware in the first place.

Regards
Bas :)
 
Will any Gotek drive from WoldemortBay be suitable for emulation? Thought I’d change the external floppy drive in my CPC to Gotek.
 
Hi Jeff

Reverting to the root of the file system by just pushing up or down to select the next image inline would be a bug in my book, but let me just add how invaluable in general the two units in my workshop have been in helping me repair and test so many systems.. I certainly don’t regret building them..

always nice to try a different solution too though.

i will ensure I have the latest firmware flashed and try my 2 units out again very soon, especially as I have a TRS 80 Model 1 System in the process of being repaired.

will get back to you, but thank you for creating the firmware in the first place.

Regards
Bas :)

I just figured out what cause the root return behavior : This is the "Load last loaded floppy" feature applied at power up.
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature :LOL: ;).
By default the emulator load the last selected image at power up but don't restore the old folder position.
I will add an option to restore the folder position too. I say option because i am sure that a lot of users prefer to start from the root to choose another game/image after a power up. this may bother some users to have to manually return to the root folder at power up. quite easy to add, i will work on this we.

- - - Updated - - -

Will any Gotek drive from WoldemortBay be suitable for emulation? Thought I’d change the external floppy drive in my CPC to Gotek.

the 13$ 1.44MB version is fine.
 
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