Gotek

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sh0dan
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:33 pm

Gotek

Post by sh0dan »

Apologies, I couldn't find this information elsewhere on the forum but I may have missed something.

I have a couple of Acorn A7000's with Gotek floppy drive emulators rather than actual floppy drives. Battery damage etc... mean actual floppy drives are not currently working while the Gotek ignores a lot of the lines like "motor" and I think has its own pull ups maybe.

I have flashed my Goteks with the freely available FlashFloppy and they generally work very well in the A7000's. However, I cant get them to read the JFD disc formats here. I'd really love to get the JASPP images (and any I create via my Kryoflux and the notes elsewhere in this forum) to work on them as it feels like a really good setup.

I've tried renaming the JFD images to ADF which means they are listed on the Gotek lcd for selection (mod) but then show "error".

I realise I might have to ask the FlashFloppy community, but as they seem popularish I was hoping someone here might have used one or be able to suggest anything.

Gotek Hardware:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MYRB71J
https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/wi ... patibility

FlashFloppy:
https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/wiki/Image-Formats

Thanks again!
JonAbbott
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Re: Gotek

Post by JonAbbott »

This isn't really the answer you're after...

JFD images can only be used with ADFFS. The Gotek doesn't really give you any advantage over using ADFFS with JFD on an A7000, as RAM isn't an issue.

Save yourself a lot of trouble by installing PackMan and adding the JASPP distribution source to it. You can then HD install all the games you want to play - no messing around with floppy images etc. The distribution source URL is:

http://www.jaspp.org.uk/packages/release

I believe Gotek can convert Kryoflux streams to it's own format, so you have a choice of either using them direct on the Gotek, or converting them to APD for use with ADFFS using Daniel's kryo2apd.java conversion tool.
sh0dan
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Gotek

Post by sh0dan »

JonAbbott wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 4:03 pm This isn't really the answer you're after...

JFD images can only be used with ADFFS. The Gotek doesn't really give you any advantage over using ADFFS with JFD on an A7000, as RAM isn't an issue.

Save yourself a lot of trouble by installing PackMan and adding the JASPP distribution source to it. You can then HD install all the games you want to play - no messing around with floppy images etc. The distribution source URL is:

http://www.jaspp.org.uk/packages/release

I believe Gotek can convert Kryoflux streams to it's own format, so you have a choice of either using them direct on the Gotek, or converting them to APD for use with ADFFS using Daniel's kryo2apd.java conversion tool.
I still appreciate you letting me know. Its certainly saved me some time.

I have an issue with internet connectivity on the A7000's but have just been playing with PackMan on a virtual acorn and then copying the downloaded packages across to them, which seems to work. Thanks for the help.

Two things I had been considering:
1. The ability to change floppy disk using hardware buttons on the front of the case. However, it looks like packman solves that as it appears(?) to download everything without the need to switch between floppy disks in a multi disk game?
2. Having a true power on boot from floppy. However, I have no reason to believe ADFFS boot from floppy dosent work in all scenarios so I guess I'm not sure why I was thinking that might be advantageous.

I've actually been having issues with Kryoflux to Gotek when running the FlashFloppy firmware. I only know to do it by converting it to a Hfe image and when I did that the A7000's couldn't read the image. I might pay and download the HxC Gotek firmware, its just I'd need a few licences as I have a few Gotek's installed.

Thanks again, very much appreciated... as is the preservation effort of my childhood favorites.
JonAbbott
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Re: Gotek

Post by JonAbbott »

sh0dan wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:56 pm 1. The ability to change floppy disk using hardware buttons on the front of the case. However, it looks like packman solves that as it appears(?) to download everything without the need to switch between floppy disks in a multi disk game?
Most, if not all of the games publicly released do not require floppy swapping, they're either booting a single floppy or true HD installs, possibly with a floppy mounted for disc protection.

That said, ADFFS can't magically fix games that are hardcoded to run from multiple floppies such as the original Pandora's Box - which is only available for beta testers.
sh0dan wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:56 pm 2. Having a true power on boot from floppy. However, I have no reason to believe ADFFS boot from floppy dosent work in all scenarios so I guess I'm not sure why I was thinking that might be advantageous.
Boot Floppy from the menu has two forms, with CTRL held its a true power-on emulation. Without CTRL held, it's close enough that only a few really early games know they've not been power-on booted...it's to do with time. With CTRL held time is reset which can have some odd effects in the Wimp, hence why it quits the Wimp first.
sh0dan wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:56 pm I've actually been having issues with Kryoflux to Gotek when running the FlashFloppy firmware. I only know to do it by converting it to a Hfe image and when I did that the A7000's couldn't read the image.
Ask over on Stardot, pretty sure some folk over there are Gotek experts.
sh0dan
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Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Gotek

Post by sh0dan »

JonAbbott wrote: Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:08 am ...
Thanks again for all the information.
sh0dan
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Gotek

Post by sh0dan »

I realise this is a bit of an odd turn, however, despite having RISC OS installed on a Raspberry Pi 2 I hadn't realized the JASPP library was mostly compatible with it.

I am running the latest download of RISC OS and ADFFS 2.72. I've tried the Pi with two different LCD TVs.

I have ensured fake_vsync_isr=1 is un-commented and added CMDLINE/TXT as required. I have also ensured the monitor type is set to "Auto".

I've tried lots of games, but to focus testing:
- Without "AnyMode" Lemmings appears as a double screen (the same image twice) but with "AnyMode" it is fine, the same is true of Lotus Turbo Challenge.
- Pockets shows a grey screen with and without "AnyMode", the same is true of Pac-Mania.

I have tried to test via basic and mode 13 is not available on either of the LCD TVs, when I request 13 it goes to 28.

I understand that "AnyMode" should not be necessary, it feels like I've done something wrong or is it likely to be a poor choice of LCD?

Thanks again!
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matburton
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Location: Cambridge

Re: Gotek

Post by matburton »

sh0dan wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:56 pm I've actually been having issues with Kryoflux to Gotek when running the FlashFloppy firmware. I only know to do it by converting it to a Hfe image and when I did that the A7000's couldn't read the image. I might pay and download the HxC Gotek firmware, its just I'd need a few licences as I have a few Gotek's installed.
Hey sh0dan, this is something I haven't tried yet, but as I don't have a hard drive was going to try soon.

Did you do the following?
  1. Use DTC to make a Kryoflux RAW stream as stated here (to make sure it's a good dump)
  2. Use the HxC software to convert those RAW files to HFEv3
  3. Load those HFEv3 on to your FlashFloppy equipped Gotek
I was somewhat hoping that chain would actually work
sh0dan
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Gotek

Post by sh0dan »

matburton wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 4:55 pm
sh0dan wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:56 pm I've actually been having issues with Kryoflux to Gotek when running the FlashFloppy firmware. I only know to do it by converting it to a Hfe image and when I did that the A7000's couldn't read the image. I might pay and download the HxC Gotek firmware, its just I'd need a few licences as I have a few Gotek's installed.
Hey sh0dan, this is something I haven't tried yet, but as I don't have a hard drive was going to try soon.

Did you do the following?
  1. Use DTC to make a Kryoflux RAW stream as stated here (to make sure it's a good dump)
  2. Use the HxC software to convert those RAW files to HFEv3
  3. Load those HFEv3 on to your FlashFloppy equipped Gotek
I was somewhat hoping that chain would actually work
I had already created some Kryoflux preservation stream raw dumps and did get those working as suggested above.

I realised I was loading them in to the hxc utility wrongly and it worked after changing that. They were multi file raw dumps.

I'll dig out my notes and copy them in if you have any issues.
JonAbbott
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Re: Gotek

Post by JonAbbott »

sh0dan wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:55 am I have ensured fake_vsync_isr=1 is un-commented and added CMDLINE/TXT as required. I have also ensured the monitor type is set to "Auto".

I've tried lots of games, but to focus testing:
- Without "AnyMode" Lemmings appears as a double screen (the same image twice) but with "AnyMode" it is fine, the same is true of Lotus Turbo Challenge.
- Pockets shows a grey screen with and without "AnyMode", the same is true of Pac-Mania.

I have tried to test via basic and mode 13 is not available on either of the LCD TVs, when I request 13 it goes to 28.

I understand that "AnyMode" should not be necessary, it feels like I've done something wrong or is it likely to be a poor choice of LCD?
It sounds like you've possibly not disabled GPU mode support in CMDLINE/TXT, so the OS is changing the output video signal when changing modes instead of always outputting in the resolution definitely in CONFIG/TXT. The fake_vsync_isr=1 should be in CONFIG/TXT incidentally, you might have just done a typo above.

AnyMode is not required as ADFFS includes a video driver that takes over when ADFFS is loaded, it handles all legacy modes that would previously require AnyMode to bypass Monitor definition files.

With ADFFS loaded, you should be able to go to any legacy MODE in BASIC and it end up in the correct mode. Any monitor or TV will suffice for the Pi as it scales the image accordingly, provided GPU mode support is disabled.
sh0dan
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Gotek

Post by sh0dan »

JonAbbott wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:42 pm It sounds like you've possibly not disabled GPU mode support in CMDLINE/TXT, so the OS is changing the output video signal when changing modes instead of always outputting in the resolution definitely in CONFIG/TXT. The fake_vsync_isr=1 should be in CONFIG/TXT incidentally, you might have just done a typo above.

AnyMode is not required as ADFFS includes a video driver that takes over when ADFFS is loaded, it handles all legacy modes that would previously require AnyMode to bypass Monitor definition files.

With ADFFS loaded, you should be able to go to any legacy MODE in BASIC and it end up in the correct mode. Any monitor or TV will suffice for the Pi as it scales the image accordingly, provided GPU mode support is disabled.
Thanks.

I deleted it and recreated it before I realized I'd missed a key instruction :( I didnt have the beta of Risc OS. Lemmings and a like work now.

I had used PackMan to download all the games to a VirtualAcorn, which I had then shared so my A7000's could access them without the internet. I found on the Pi the grey screen and actual error on the beta of Risc OS went away if I re-downloaded the game, say Magic Pockets, using PackMan on the Pi.

I was wondering if PackMan downloads things outside of the application itself, or if it downloaded different versions depending on the platform? It also seems possible the share was somehow corrupted and its as simple as that. I'm now downloading them all specifically to the Pi but was interested for future reference.

Thanks again for all the info.
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