VOGONS


First post, by jforrest1980

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So I have this GOTEK device. I thought it would be nice to use instead of my old floppy drive, because some of my old games don't seem to work right. So I went online to one of those abandonware sites to try and get a few floppy images to try on my win 98se machine. None of the files are in .img format. Normally a downloaded file will look something like this...

deice.exe
game.1
game.2
game.3
game.4
game.dat
install.bat

So what is the process for preparing these images to mount them on a GOTEK USB?

I imagine the game.x files, are the ones that need to be converted. I'm not sure if I even need the .exe, .dat, and .bat files, or if those are just for DOS Box.

Is there a software I need to convert the game.x files to .img?

I tried renaming them, and GOTEK did not like that.

Reply 1 of 14, by tayyare

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jforrest1980 wrote:
So I have this GOTEK device. I thought it would be nice to use instead of my old floppy drive, because some of my old games don' […]
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So I have this GOTEK device. I thought it would be nice to use instead of my old floppy drive, because some of my old games don't seem to work right. So I went online to one of those abandonware sites to try and get a few floppy images to try on my win 98se machine. None of the files are in .img format. Normally a downloaded file will look something like this...

deice.exe
game.1
game.2
game.3
game.4
game.dat
install.bat

So what is the process for preparing these images to mount them on a GOTEK USB?

I imagine the game.x files, are the ones that need to be converted. I'm not sure if I even need the .exe, .dat, and .bat files, or if those are just for DOS Box.

Is there a software I need to convert the game.x files to .img?

I tried renaming them, and GOTEK did not like that.

Actually I'm not sure if any of those files are floppy images. You need proper floppy images to use a Gotek drive.

These might help about the procedure after you pur your hands on image files:

Re: Understanding A Gotek drive emulator

You might also want to improve your Gotek:

FlashFloppy, an open source firmware for Gotek drives

GA-6VTXE PIII 1.4+512MB
Geforce4 Ti 4200 64MB
Diamond Monster 3D 12MB SLI
SB AWE64 PNP+32MB
120GB IDE Samsung/80GB IDE Seagate/146GB SCSI Compaq/73GB SCSI IBM
Adaptec AHA29160
3com 3C905B-TX
Gotek+CF Reader
MSDOS 6.22+Win 3.11/95 OSR2.1/98SE/ME/2000

Reply 2 of 14, by CrossBow777

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Now I'm not using my GoTEK as a PC floppy drive, but I believe it is very similar. I had to hunt and track down software to work with it that would allow me to format the USB flash drive into the needed multiple floppy partitions. You can have the GoTEK do this on its own by pressing down on the right hand button as you power it on with a flash drive plugged in. But the problem here is that it will likely create 999 partitions and most of the software I found would only work with up to 99 partitions. Anyway, you still need the software in order to access the extra partitions because Windows will only see the first floppy partition. With the other software you basically just copy and paste the files you need into the other floppy partitions. Then to swap disks afterwards is when you use the buttons to advance the floppy partitions.

I'm using my GoTEK without any mods on my Roland MT-200 sound modules, but those files it uses etc were all MSDos compatible and in PC format still. So I would image it would work the same.

I did have to change the jumpers on the GoTEK before it worked with my sound module though. I believe out of the box they are already configured for standard PC use.

g883j7-2.png
Midi Modules: MT-32 (OLD), MT-200, MT-300, MT-90S, MT-90U, SD-20

Reply 3 of 14, by jforrest1980

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I actually think I have my GOTEK set up properly. I used the tutorial from Phils website to get it all prepared. Setting up the USB was a breeze.

At this point I know I have to right click on one of the 99 directories in my USB, and simply "write image" instead of just copying files.

My issue is getting the files converted to a .Img format so I can write them. Problem is most files online appear not to be 1:1 floppy images. They have been converted to dos box or some other emulator. At least Thats what I think. Some files are just a giant WAD when they should be individual floppies as well. So there are at least the WAD type dumps, and the ones in the first post.

Reply 4 of 14, by Jo22

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So you're using the original Gotek firmware still ? If yes, you can try creating you own floppy images using WinÍmage.
Open it, klick on "new" and drag your games files into it and save. After this, you can write them to the Gotek.
But beware, the original Gotek software is very restrictive in comparison to, say, FlashFloppy (or HXC).
It is limited in features according to what model you have (720 KB/1.44MB version, etc),
even though the internal board is all the same. So if you've got a PC/XT, for example, a 720KB version is needed,
since the 1.44MB uses higher bus speeds only a PC with a HighSpeed floppy controller can handle.
Alternate firmeware versions don't impose these aritifical limits, as far as I know.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 5 of 14, by jforrest1980

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Jo22 wrote:
So you're using the original Gotek firmware still ? If yes, you can try creating you own floppy images using WinÍmage. Open it, […]
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So you're using the original Gotek firmware still ? If yes, you can try creating you own floppy images using WinÍmage.
Open it, klick on "new" and drag your games files into it and save. After this, you can write them to the Gotek.
But beware, the original Gotek software is very restrictive in comparison to, say, FlashFloppy (or HXC).
It is limited in features according to what model you have (720 KB/1.44MB version, etc),
even though the internal board is all the same. So if you've got a PC/XT, for example, a 720KB version is needed,
since the 1.44MB uses higher bus speeds only a PC with a HighSpeed floppy controller can handle.
Alternate firmeware versions don't impose these aritifical limits, as far as I know.

Don't think I'm using the original GOTEK software. I am using "USB_Floppy_Manager_v140i", which is the same software used in the video Phil's Computer Lab made in his GOTEK Floppy tutorial. It said to use that software becasuse the software that came with the GOTEK wasn't any good. I will try out this winimage, and hopefully I can get something working with USB Floppy Manager.

Last edited by jforrest1980 on 2019-01-17, 05:18. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 6 of 14, by jforrest1980

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Well.... messed around with this for like 3 hours today and made little to no progress. Tried WinImage and MagicISO. Both of which I am pretty certain can do what I want, but I can't get it working.

So saving a game.1 file in WinImage as an image file does not work. The problem I am having is that in WinImage, I see no way to actually save as a .img file. For some reason .IMA is the only type you can save as. The USB floppy does not like this.

So on to MagicISO....

I think this will do what I want, but still have no idea what files need to go into which disk directory.

With a little research I learned that the format in the 1st post is probably correct....

deice.exe
game.1
game.2
game.3
game.4
game.dat
install.bat

and that the deIce.exe file is most likely for unpacking. The first 1.44mb disk file when extracted, has a large .wad file in it that is close to 3mb. So I am thinking game.1 and the deice file both go into the same directory in the GOTEK floppy.

So I think where I am at here is that I have no idea what floppy disk images deice.exe, game.dat, and install.bat need to be placed in, in roder to get things working.

Would game.1, and all the extra files go into the same directory?

Then just place game.2, game.3, etc... into their own directories?

Also, do these files just needs to be placed in a USB floppy directory, or do they actually need to be written?

Reply 7 of 14, by jforrest1980

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Update 3862.5:

Managed to write Disk 1 and actually get a install screen. I installed these files on Disk 1 of the GOTEK.

deice.exe
game.1
game.dat
install.bat

That got me as far as completely installing Disk 1, and being prompted to insert Disk 2 and hit Enter. So I did that and it did not work. Eventually it prompted me to insert a Disk with a .bat file. Originally I had Disk 2, 3, and 4 ONLY on the floppy drives. I did not have the .bat, .exe, and .dat files. So I decided to go back to my PC, and rewrite Disk 2, 3, and 4 like this.

deice.exe
game.2
game.dat
install.bat

I also wrote Disks 3 and 4 like this.

So that didn't get me past the Disk 1 install either.

Now I think I am at the point where i need to know which files need to be placed on Disk 2, 3, and 4 in order to get things working.

While we're at it, technically did I have the correct files on Disk 1, or did I place some unnecessary files on there?

Reply 8 of 14, by BeginnerGuy

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Two possible solutions though a bit of a shot in the dark.. I can't tell you what goes on what disk when I don't even know what we're installing. Sounds to me like you have the gotek working but you're now just struggling with a game.

1. Is it possible you're trying to install something that is checking the disk label? I recall software like Windows 3 being very picky about the disk names being "Disk01, Disk02, ..." and MS-DOS requiring "DISK 1" "DISK 2" etc. I recently had a problem like this when I backed my own dos disks up, the filename[.img] is most likely becoming the disk label in the gotek. Otherwise, you should probably look around for a new set of images, or just test them in a virtualized dos environment first. I imagine this is your issue based on being able to install disk 1 but the installer never finding disk 2. It's hard to say without knowing the original disk labels.

2.. Another possible solution that works for software like MS C/C++ 7.0: Make a directory on your DOS (or windows) computer, copy ALL of the install files from every disk into that single directory (e.g. XCOPY /S A:\*.* C:\GAME) and run the installer right off of your C drive. Some software will have duplicate file names on each disk, which will require you to be able to overwrite them while the installer is running, for that to work you'll need windows. Either way, if you're lucky deice will install the entire thing without ever asking for a second disk.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably off topic:
For Linux users, and maybe OP has linux I'm not sure... to make an img file is very easy, just open a terminal and do the following, where DISKLABEL is whatever you want to name the disk.
cd ~/Desktop (or whatever directory you want to put the img file in)
mkfs.msdos -C ~/Desktop/DISKLABEL.img 1440
sudo mkdir /media/floppydisk/
sudo mount -o loop ~/Desktop/DISKLABEL.img /media/floppydisk/

cd /media/floppydisk or just open it in your file manager and paste your files. Just make sure the file is named the same as the disklabel of the real disk you're copying if it's something like MS-DOS. Unmount it and you're set to copy it to a gotek or load it into a virtual machine.

Last edited by BeginnerGuy on 2019-01-17, 07:51. Edited 5 times in total.

Sup. I like computers. Are you a computer?

Reply 9 of 14, by tayyare

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CrossBow777 wrote:

Now I'm not using my GoTEK as a PC floppy drive, but I believe it is very similar. I had to hunt and track down software to work with it that would allow me to format the USB flash drive into the needed multiple floppy partitions. You can have the GoTEK do this on its own by pressing down on the right hand button as you power it on with a flash drive plugged in. But the problem here is that it will likely create 999 partitions and most of the software I found would only work with up to 99 partitions. Anyway, you still need the software in order to access the extra partitions because Windows will only see the first floppy partition. With the other software you basically just copy and paste the files you need into the other floppy partitions. Then to swap disks afterwards is when you use the buttons to advance the floppy partitions.

I'm using my GoTEK without any mods on my Roland MT-200 sound modules, but those files it uses etc were all MSDos compatible and in PC format still. So I would image it would work the same.

I did have to change the jumpers on the GoTEK before it worked with my sound module though. I believe out of the box they are already configured for standard PC use.

Here are some batch files for your convenience. They are designed to utilize full 1000 disk capacity of the Gotek drives. Not as easy to use as magic but not hard at all, the method is documented well:
https://github.com/xtcrefugee/gotek-usb-batch-files

This aside, I strongly recommend doing the flashfloppy and OLED (and rotary switch, for that matter) mods. Flashing procedure is very easy and straight forward, hardware mods are also a piece of cake (very well documented in Flashfloppy github site and all the parts can be purchased from aliexpress for a few bucks). When it is done, you will never look back, I tell you.

Flashfloppy Wiki:
https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/wiki

For flashing:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CP2102-USB-2- … .27424c4ddHxPcz

For Hardware mods:

Aurdino cables:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dupont-Line-4 … .27424c4d4nZRjU

OLED display:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-91-inch-128 … .27424c4dWGWEeP

Rotary switch:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Rotary-Encode … .27424c4d4nZRjU

Pins:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Promotion-K26 … .27424c4dWGWEeP

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/F293-Free-shi … .27424c4dWGWEeP

Only thing that requires some patience is modifiying the top plastic cover of the drive (if you are doing the hardware mods), but it can be done in less than 10 minutes with a Dremel.

GA-6VTXE PIII 1.4+512MB
Geforce4 Ti 4200 64MB
Diamond Monster 3D 12MB SLI
SB AWE64 PNP+32MB
120GB IDE Samsung/80GB IDE Seagate/146GB SCSI Compaq/73GB SCSI IBM
Adaptec AHA29160
3com 3C905B-TX
Gotek+CF Reader
MSDOS 6.22+Win 3.11/95 OSR2.1/98SE/ME/2000

Reply 10 of 14, by CrossBow777

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I'm confused on why the files have to be in a .IMG format to begin with? Again I literally browse open one of the partitions from within the Floppy Manager v4 software and then from my hard drive or NAS where I have the files stores I literally just copy and paste the files into the partition through the folder explorer in the software. That way I'm copying over the exact files I need from each disk into their own sequential partition. The files appear in standard 8.3 format (Another critical point when using the floppy manager v4 software is that everything you copy over much be in 8.3 format or it will fail to save the data).

But again, I'm using in my MT-200 but the files that are listed in the disk partitions match with what would have been on the actual floppy disks themselves.

g883j7-2.png
Midi Modules: MT-32 (OLD), MT-200, MT-300, MT-90S, MT-90U, SD-20

Reply 11 of 14, by jforrest1980

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Big part of the problem is I'm new to this. I'm just trying to go by the Phils Computer Lab GOTEK video tutorial. On there he would copy paste regular files like you mentioned. However, for floppy images he would right click a directory and "write" them. To me this seemed like the same concept as saving some files to a CDR, opposed to writing an ISO. That's pretty much how I understood it.

The reason I though the images had to be in .img format is because I thought that was the file extension read by DOS. I really have no idea why, but i do know WinImage .IMA files screw up the GOTEK USB drive. They make all the directories disappear, even though when inserted in the GOTEK they are accessable. Maybe I can just try and copy paste as you mentioned after work, and some of the stuff mentioned in the previous post.

Anyway, I never mentioned the name of the game because I am unfamiliar with the rules here. I didn't want to get banned or anything.

So if thats cool I'll definitely mention the game Im working on right now if that will help.

Reply 12 of 14, by CrossBow777

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I understand totally where you are coming from. It took me...longer than I will admit to finally figure out how to get the files working on my GoTEK once I got the drive configured to work in my sound module. You can write or create img files that the software can use, but this is mainly as an archival thing or if you want to copy the same thing to a bunch of partitions all at once. But to use it, you have to connect up a USB-Floppy drive to create said image. This is what I had to do to get that working.

To give you an excellent example of how I use the img file...

The Sound Module has a built in format it uses for the diskettes you put into it. The odd thing is that the format it uses is totally MSDOS readable and I can even copy and save files to the disk without issue and the sound module can read them. However, if I format the floppy using the standard format commands from DOS or Windows...then the floppy will not work in the sound module unless I again format it. As a result of this, I needed a quick way to setup all of the floppy paritions on my flashdrive for use with my sound module. I could have switched to each parition 1 by 1 and used my module to format them. But that would take forever with 100+ partitions. So.. I formatted an actual diskette through the module ahead of time. I then used my USB-Floppy drive and created an img file through the Floppy Manager software of this blank roland formatted disk.

Once I had that img file, I was able to highlight or select all the actual partitions through the explorer of the software and use the Write image option. I chose my blank pre-formatted floppy image and it wrote it to all the empty floppy partitions on my flash drive. It only took like 30seconds if that do and the sound module is able to see the partitions and write to them without any additional formatting being needed.

So again, that is primarily what the .img option is for as I understand it.

Now if the game in question has an invalid sector or something similar being used as part of copy protection, then I'm not sure you can create an .img of it through the default floppy manager software and have it write that image to the GoTEK properly. I've not tested that because most of my actual old DOS based games I owned back in the day all used manual protection schemes where I had to look up a stupid work on some page, or use a code wheel. (Stupid copy protection btw..since you we used to take the wheel apart, photocopy them, and then use brads to put them back together..)

g883j7-2.png
Midi Modules: MT-32 (OLD), MT-200, MT-300, MT-90S, MT-90U, SD-20

Reply 13 of 14, by BeginnerGuy

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jforrest1980 wrote:
Big part of the problem is I'm new to this. I'm just trying to go by the Phils Computer Lab GOTEK video tutorial. On there he wo […]
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Big part of the problem is I'm new to this. I'm just trying to go by the Phils Computer Lab GOTEK video tutorial. On there he would copy paste regular files like you mentioned. However, for floppy images he would right click a directory and "write" them. To me this seemed like the same concept as saving some files to a CDR, opposed to writing an ISO. That's pretty much how I understood it.

The reason I though the images had to be in .img format is because I thought that was the file extension read by DOS. I really have no idea why, but i do know WinImage .IMA files screw up the GOTEK USB drive. They make all the directories disappear, even though when inserted in the GOTEK they are accessable. Maybe I can just try and copy paste as you mentioned after work, and some of the stuff mentioned in the previous post.

Anyway, I never mentioned the name of the game because I am unfamiliar with the rules here. I didn't want to get banned or anything.

So if thats cool I'll definitely mention the game Im working on right now if that will help.

I'm pretty sure DEICE.exe was an installer written by John Romero, so that should narrow the list of games down quite a bit 😜.. We don't discuss piracy here, but I think it's safe to discuss why you're having trouble with a game. Though, I'm assuming you did pirate it and that's the issue at hand, we can't tell you where or how to go pirate a working copy for sure.

Sup. I like computers. Are you a computer?

Reply 14 of 14, by jforrest1980

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Weird thing happened. Somehow I actually got it to work. I decided to make 2 sets of floppies for the game. One .img set made in Magic ISO, and one .IMA set made in WinImage. I installed the first disk with the WinImage disk. The second Disk wouldn't work with the WinImage set, so I had to use the MagicISO Disk 2 image. Then the final 2 images took several tries to actually get to install, but I got them both to install from the WinImage .IMA set.

So I think the problem may have been all along, is that when I was hitting "Enter" to start installing Disk 2, that I was hitting Enter too fast. I noticed that if I actually hold down Enter for a second, that it seemed to work. At least that's what it seemed like. Who knows what actually happened.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Now on to the next game. Should be fun.