Table of Contents

Gotek

Consider Gotek as the generic drive name. There are two versions of the FDD emulator. One is HxC2001 and the other is Flash Floppy. There is a lot of animosity between the two projects. HxC2001 believes FF stole some of the programming. FF's view is that the code was sitting in an open source GIT so he used it. The HxC2001 version requires a license and payment for the license. The FF version does not need a license or payment. Hence the FF software is the most popular. I guess we're all a bunch of cheap bastards.

HxC2001 version

  • the HxC2001 version has some extra features and support
  • the HxC2001 version has some config files and folders to allow more configurations
  • see the home page at https://hxc2001.com/

Flash Floppy version

  • the FF version does everything you need it to
  • the FF version is easier to use
  • you format a USB drive as FAT32 and put your ADF files on it. Done.
  • the source files can be found at https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy

General Notes Since the Flash Floppy does everything you need I've stuck with that for my Amigas. All of the following notes are related to the FF platform.

  • only uses 5v, you don't need the 12V lead from the FDD power cable
  • when you program it, ONLY USE THE USB FOR POWER, you should not plug in a FDD power cable
  • commands
    • F1 - search files in current folder
    • F8 – Reboot
    • F9 – Save
    • F10 – Save and Reboot
    • Reset
      • press both buttons or
      • select on boot, go to 000 file, then press left button
    • Change disk
      1. load disk into slot first
      2. after things have booted press right button
  • Amiga
    • on gotek drive, close jumper S0 so that it acts like DF0:
    • on gotek drive, close jumper S1 so that it acts like DF1:
  • Atari

Flashing a Gotek

Via Linux

This is for AT or Artery based Goteks ONLY! There are different instructions for STM32 controllers.

  1. install dfu-util, it should be available from most distros
    1. sudo apt install dfu-util
    2. download the flashfloppy release and unpack it. There will be a dfu/ directory containing the firmware file. You want to use the .dfu file, not the .hex file.
  2. set the programming jumper on the gotek as per wiki.
  3. attach gotek to linux box via USB-A to USB-A cable.
  4. list dfu devices attached This should display two entries for one device (just different alt numbers). If more than one device is shown, you'll have to add the –device option as per the dfu-util manpage.
    1. sudo dfu-util –list #
  5. if the Gotek is factory fresh you may need to unprotect it. It is safe to do this if it is already unprotected.
    1. sudo dfu-util -D /path/to/flashfloppy-at415-st105-3.41.dfu -a 0 -s 0x08000000:unprotect:force #
  6. now that the flash is unlocked you can program/flash the memory
    1. sudo dfu-util -D /path/to/flashfloppy-at415-st105-3.41.dfu -a 0 #
  7. remove the USB-A cable
  8. remove the temp programming jumper

Misc Notes

  • FF 3.41 is current as of 2023-Aug
  • ideally, try to find a 435 chip it has 384KB of SRAM
  • most new Goteks have a 415 chips which work fine for Amigas, that chip only has 32KB SRAM, this will limit things like extra features and HD file images, again not a biggie for Amigas
  • there is an open hardware version of the gotek named OpenFlops it works with Flash Floppy
Last modified: le 2023/09/24 13:22