256 colors Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) The 1040STE eBay purchase came with FlashFloppy v0.14 Gotek drive and 15GB VERBATIM USB stick The USB stick has 68 files mostly all games in ST/MSA and maybe more file formats i didn't check them all On the drive two buttons a green light and rotary dial My problem is i have no idea how to use it being total newbie this stuff I did do google search could only find advance topics like installation and firmware stuff i'm all at sea here trying to understand the basics of loading and browsing files The only other file in the USB was a IMAGE_A CFG file thats reads like: AnotherW_FL/Another World1.st Any help please? Edited February 22, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter44102 Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 I think you set the dial to 000 then reboot the machine. At that point you have to assign which file goes to each dial number from 001 and up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 I think you set the dial to 000 then reboot the machine. At that point you have to assign which file goes to each dial number from 001 and up Something like that if you start from 0 for example then dial or button up to [] then wait and starts from a and so on Not worked out yet how to jump to any letter without dialing up or down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vattari Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 I would recommend installing the latest firmware firstly. The newer version 1.0 can be downloaded from here: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/wiki/Downloads Copy the UPD file to the root directory of your USB. With the computer powered off, press and hold both buttons on the Gotek and then power on the computer. The Gotek will read the update file and update the firmware (you’ll see “UPD” displayed on the LED display while its upgrading). In the zip file, you find a generic CFG file and an Atari ST AUTOBOOT.HFE file that you can copy to the root directory of your USB. This will give you the File Selector that will start when the drive is set to slot “000”. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) I would recommend installing the latest firmware firstly. The newer version 1.0 can be downloaded from here: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/wiki/Downloads Copy the UPD file to the root directory of your USB. With the computer powered off, press and hold both buttons on the Gotek and then power on the computer. The Gotek will read the update file and update the firmware (you’ll see “UPD” displayed on the LED display while its upgrading). In the zip file, you find a generic CFG file and an Atari ST AUTOBOOT.HFE file that you can copy to the root directory of your USB. This will give you the File Selector that will start when the drive is set to slot “000”. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk It's under six months warranty so i will leave that for the moment that way i don't have put up with bullshit from eBay sellers telling me i broke it Edited February 23, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 With this new drive if i want to save game progress or position how is this done? For example i just download Dungeon Master 1.2 in as a ST image from Dungeon Master Encyclopaedia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) Once you get the Gotek up and running it should behave like a normal drive. I can't remember the specifics of saving a DM game, but if I recall correctly you click on the disk icon and it asks you to where to save and also asks for a filename. It should save it. You may need to create a blank ST disk image and place it in drive 2, but I don't remember if DM allows that or it saves directly to the game disk. PP, has a great program for making ST images blank or otherwise: http://www.8bitchip.info/atari/floimgd.php Edited February 24, 2019 by Ute 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Once you get the Gotek up and running it should behave like a normal drive. I can't remember the specifics of saving a DM game, but if I recall correctly you click on the disk icon and it asks you to where to save and also asks for a filename. It should save it. You may need to create a blank ST disk image and place it in drive 2, but I don't remember if DM allows that or it saves directly to the game disk. PP, has a great program for making ST images blank or otherwise: http://www.8bitchip.info/atari/floimgd.php Right you've lost me a little bit about about drive 2 can you explain a little further How would i setup a drive 2 if needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) So saying drive 2 was wrong terminology, they are actually slots or more like different disks that can be swapped out quickly. I've attached screen shots that might help. As the others have said, turn the dial so that the Gotek display reads 000, then reset the computer. You should see screen shot 1, then a few seconds later screen shot 2. Press enter. Use your arrow keys to navigate to the directory and press enter to display the contents of that folder(Screen shot 3) then the Gotek will ask which slot to place the file in(screen shot 4), usually just select slot 001. You can then navigate back out to where your blank ST disk image is and save it to slot 002. Turn the dial on the Gotek to select slot 001 and reboot the machine. Now the Gotek will try to boot from whatever is in slot 001 - in this case DM. When you are at the saving screen in DM, turn the dial to select slot 002 on the gotek and DM should see it as a blank disk, just like if you had swapped disks on a real drive. Edited February 24, 2019 by Ute 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 So i need HxC Floppy Emulator File Selector on the usb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) I use the Hxc emulator file for Amiga and ST stuff. Just copy two files to the root directory of your USB: HXCSDFE.CFG, and AUTOBOOT.HFE from the ST folder in this file:https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/SDCard_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_Manager.zip There may be other software or ways to do it, but the Hxc file is super easy and quick. EDIT: After re-reading the thread, Vattari had already mentioned that, sorry. Edited February 24, 2019 by Ute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) I use the Hxc emulator file for Amiga and ST stuff. Just copy two files to the root directory of your USB: HXCSDFE.CFG, and AUTOBOOT.HFE from the ST folder in this file:https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/SDCard_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_Manager.zip There may be other software or ways to do it, but the Hxc file is super easy and quick. I did this using the files from the zip On the Gotek drive display i get AUTOBOOT 000/000 HFE as i press reset i get screenshot 1 but with two bombs Also tried the other HXCSDFE from V3_CFG_FILE folder Edit:ignore the above didn't realize there was another CFG file that needed removing first At least i can get too screenshot 1-4 so far will tinker bit more with it tomorrow Edited February 24, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6BQ5 Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Question : once 256 Colors gets the disk image mounted and boots up with it how would he go about ejecting the disk image and inserting a new one? Would he have to reset the computer and repeat the process described above? Or, is there a program he can run to hot-swap the files? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) That's not the only issue then iv'e got problems with the XRGB-Mini refusing to sync no matter what i do unless it's static screen or a very very basic game At the moment lucky i can put Atari STE direct into the tv/monitor via SCART for the moment Edited February 24, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Question : once 256 Colors gets the disk image mounted and boots up with it how would he go about ejecting the disk image and inserting a new one? Would he have to reset the computer and repeat the process described above? Or, is there a program he can run to hot-swap the files? In his case he has a rotary dial, and it's as simple as twisting it to the next number. Other Goteks have up and down buttons that raise or lower the number respectively. Lets say you Dungeon Master mounted in slot 001, Startglider on 002, and A word processor that can boot from TOS in slot 003(Or any ST image file that boots to the desktop). You turn the dial to 001, play DM until your done, turn the dial to slot 002, press reset and it will boot in to Starglider. Now you want to run the Word processor, turn the dial to 003, and press reset. Tos will boot up and you can run your program from inside Tos. You can boot from any slot. That's the beauty of the Gotek, as long as its been mounted on the initial screen, you can quickly access the other slots. Even if you power off the computer, the config file on the USB will remember whats in the slots and what slot was last booted from. The only time you need to switch back to 000 and reset is when you want to switch what is in the slot numbers. With the latest software you can have up to 1000 slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6BQ5 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Ahh ... so the ST must be reset and rebooted in between disk swaps. That's what is holding me back from a Gotek or similar device. I don't want to reset and reboot my ST every time I want to swap disk image. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) Keep in mind it's not with each swap, just every time you want to boot from a different slot. You could have a game spanning multiple disks each disk in a separate slot. When the game ask for the next disk, just access the next slot and continue. Yeah, it's a trade off. The convenience of not having physical disks, but having to reset in between each time. Edited February 25, 2019 by Ute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) I can select slot 001 for dm okay then select slot 002 for blank in HxC Floppy Emulator File Selector that's fine Turning the dial or using both buttons does nothing on the GoTek drive apart from giving me AUTOBOOT 000/000 HFE message Clicking the dial in or out gives me Host Direct Access/Host Direct A*EJECTED So at the moment no way of selecting any slots or resetting because of the above Edited February 25, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) After placing files HXCSDFE.CFG, and AUTOBOOT.HFE in the root of usb stick turning the dial or using both buttons does nothing on the GoTek drive apart from giving me AUTOBOOT 000/000 HFE message Clicking the dial in or out gives me Host Direct Access/Host Direct A*EJECTED If i just turn on the computer or reset it always boots into HxC Floppy Emulator File Selector I also flashed FlashFloppy v0.14 Gotek drive too version v1.0 Skipped Updating the Bootloader it says i don't really need too Edited February 25, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6BQ5 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Keep in mind it's not with each swap, just every time you want to boot from a different slot. You could have a game spanning multiple disks each disk in a separate slot. When the game ask for the next disk, just access the next slot and continue. Yeah, it's a trade off. The convenience of not having physical disks, but having to reset in between each time. Ahh, ok. I think I get it now. So, I can “pre-load” several disk images before booting and then swap between them after booting. That’s not too bad but you’re right in that it’s still a compromise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Ahh, ok. I think I get it now. So, I can “pre-load” several disk images before booting and then swap between them after booting. That’s not too bad but you’re right in that it’s still a compromise. Exactly. And in reality, unless you only ever play a few games or programs, have an extremely good memory, or have all of the mapped slots printed on an excel sheet - then most of the time you're going to be switching back to 000 and hitting reset and remapping the slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) After placing files HXCSDFE.CFG, and AUTOBOOT.HFE in the root of usb stick turning the dial or using both buttons does nothing on the GoTek drive apart from giving me AUTOBOOT 000/000 HFE message Clicking the dial in or out gives me Host Direct Access/Host Direct A*EJECTED If i just turn on the computer or reset it always boots into HxC Floppy Emulator File Selector I also flashed FlashFloppy v0.14 Gotek drive too version v1.0 Skipped Updating the Bootloader it says i don't really need too Interesting. I've never used the rotary encoder, I just have the two button version. A work around for now: When on screen shot 3, select an ST image and press F7 this will select the current highlighted entry and reboot the machine and load that program. You may want to contact the seller and see if he can give you more info on the rotary version. Edit: Another thought, make sure each ST image is in its own folder, and the only thing in the root directory are the two boot files. Also make sure they are ST Images and not MSA files(.ST vs .MSA extension), Gotek will only load .ST files. Edit #2: This video may be helpful? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31l7Tj-1yIM Edited February 25, 2019 by Ute 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) Interesting. I've never used the rotary encoder, I just have the two button version. A work around for now: When on screen shot 3, select an ST image and press F7 this will select the current highlighted entry and reboot the machine and load that program. You may want to contact the seller and see if he can give you more info on the rotary version. Edit: Another thought, make sure each ST image is in its own folder, and the only thing in the root directory are the two boot files. Also make sure they are ST Images and not MSA files(.ST vs .MSA extension), Gotek will only load .ST files. Edit #2: This video may be helpful? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31l7Tj-1yIM All games are in ST format in each of there own folders no MSA files Both HXCSDFE.CFG, and AUTOBOOT.HFE are in the main USB root Selecting images to boot with F7 works a lot easier then fucking around with dials and buttons thank fuck! Turning the dial to give me AUTOBOOT 000/000 HFE message then resetting the computer into HxC Floppy Emulator File Selector Okay now finally getting somewhere With dm in slot 1 and the blank in slot 2 now able to boot dm with F7 as above Once inside dm selecting blank disc from dial was able to format disc and save game and reload dm game save position Edited February 26, 2019 by 256 colors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ute Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 That's awesome. Glad to hear you got it working. Now you just need an UltraSatan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256 colors Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 That's awesome. Glad to hear you got it working. Now you just need an UltraSatan Yep let's hope that's less of an unnecessary mindfuck to use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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