Gotek noob needs help. \ VOGONS

Gotek noob needs help.

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First post, by bofh.fromhell

Posted on 2019-04-04, 17:13

bofh.fromhell Offline

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So a few years back I found a Gotek really cheap in a thrift store.
But since I have plenty of working floppy drives I didn't bother testing it.
Until now.

And I just cannot figure it out.
It lights up, gets installed in W2K just like any floppy would, no errors.
But it just will not recognize any USB stick I put into it, the display just says "--.-." (wich might mean it sees no USB stick according to one forumpost on some obscure site).
The USB sticks are formatted and given a few floppy images with the "ipcas" software, wich should be OK ?
Theres some info that holding the 2 buttons when powering up should format any inserted stick, but that does nothing on mine.

I got it without any documentation, and online searches fails to even give me anything that resembles a manual, atleast not in any language I can read.
I can't even figure out the proper jumpersettings.
I mean theres a staggering amount of information available, but its all just random posts assuming you allready know everything else.

And my unit looks just like any others out there.
3 digit display, 2 buttons, not quite the right beige to fit any retro computer (...), a green LED that I'm assuming is the activity LED.
Taking it apart reveals no extra information in the form of version numbers or anything firmware related.
Surely theres some software to diagnose theese things ?
Or maby mine is just broken, wich could explain the price =)

Reply 1 of 7, by Deksor

Posted on 2019-04-04, 17:44

Deksor Offline

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Maybe it's been flashed with another software ?

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 2 of 7, by bofh.fromhell

Posted on 2019-04-04, 17:50

bofh.fromhell Offline

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Deksor wrote:
Maybe it's been flashed with another software ?

Possibly, who knows !
No idea how to ID whats on it.

Reply 3 of 7, by meljor

Posted on 2019-04-04, 19:50

meljor Offline

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Take a random computer with usb port.
Stick a usb stick in the usb port
format de usb stick
Create with the software multiple floppy disks/images (download from here: https://www.philscomputerlab.com/gotek-floppy-emulator.html )

NOW put it in the Gotek, disks should be selectable with the buttons (bootable images from the web are very handy).

Jumper on mine is at the ''s1'' position, never touched it.

If this doesn't work it is probably broken...

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Reply 4 of 7, by bofh.fromhell

Posted on 2019-04-04, 20:17

bofh.fromhell Offline

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meljor wrote:
Take a random computer with usb port. Stick a usb stick in the usb port format de usb stick Create with the software multiple fl […]
Show full quote
Take a random computer with usb port.
Stick a usb stick in the usb port
format de usb stick
Create with the software multiple floppy disks/images (download from here: https://www.philscomputerlab.com/gotek-floppy-emulator.html )

NOW put it in the Gotek, disks should be selectable with the buttons (bootable images from the web are very handy).

Jumper on mine is at the ''s1'' position, never touched it.

If this doesn't work it is probably broken...

Exactly what I have done =(
Mine is jumped "S0" so I tried "S1", but no change.
The "S" jumpers could possibly be driver number select, but I cant be sure.

Considering the amount of "it just works", its starting to look like i have a paperweight =)

Reply 5 of 7, by bofh.fromhell

Posted on 2019-04-04, 20:52

bofh.fromhell Offline

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Posts: 503
Joined: 2019-02-09, 16:11

I just might be on to something now.
Not a single one of my USB sticks are correctly ID'd by the software.
The sizes are completely off, varying between 3 and 4Gb on 8Gb+ sticks.
Then again the one stick I have thats smaller is 128Mb (yep that old) and the software will happily write 100 "floppys" to that.

Starting to think the fault is somewhere between chair and screen, again.
Then again I'm fumbling blind here.

Reply 6 of 7, by mikeyp

Posted on 2019-04-04, 21:24

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I found that gotek devices seem to have different firmwares on and two identical units wouldn't even write images that would work on each other. I found http://www.hxc2001.com where someone called Jeff has written his own firmware for it and it's brilliant. He asks €10 to flash a single unit with the bootloader but firmware upgrades after that are free. The software is intuitive and works well and better still, if you have a problem with it, he responds really quickly. I found a bug in the software and in the firmware and he fixed both in less than a week! I can't recommend it enough. I have 3 and am about to flash a 4th when I've finished hardware hacking it.