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Last modified on 28 October 2024, at 10:38

Gotek

Gotek is a floppy simulator which works with the CPC. The drives are cheap.

The basic Gotek has a 7-segment 2 digit display which shows the currently selected disk image, a USB socket for a USB memory stick, and 2 buttons to choose previous and next image.

There are additional mods that can be bought:

  • speaker (to simulate the sound of the read/write head stepping as heard in a real drive)
  • eject button
  • rotary dial (turn the dial to select the disc image)
  • LCD/OLED display (this shows more information including the name of the image)

To be useful on the CPC they need:

  • appropriate firmware uploaded to them (e.g. HxC or FlashFloppy)
  • 5v power (an old PC power supply can be used)
  • a ribbon cable to connect it to the CPC (e.g. an old PC floppy cable which has both 3.5" and 5.25" connectors).

If you have the technical ability then it's easy to install a firmware onto the Gotek, if not, then you can buy Gotek drives with pre-installed firmware.

CPC Disk images are put onto a USB drive which is then plugged into the front of the Gotek.

Now the Gotek behaves as if it is a normal drive connected to the CPC.

There is a difference compared to a real drive: the disc motor signal is not connected internally to the Gotek. This means the ready signal will be active even if the disc motor is off.

EDIT: This is true for the old models. The new model SFRKC30.AT4.35 can pass the motor signal and reacts (delayed if wanted) to it for the ready signal. See below for Flashfloppy firmware.

HxC Floppy Emulator firmware

There is a version of the HxC Floppy Emulator firmware that can be used on the Gotek. It must be purchased from the HxC website and can then be installed and used.

The firmware supports multiple computers and their disk image formats as well as the HFE v1 & v3 file formats.

Once the firmware has been installed into a Gotek it can be updated through the USB memory stick.

FlashFloppy firmware

FlashFloppy is a free firmware for the Gotek written by Keir Fraser. Although free, Keir welcomes donations to Macmillan Cancer Support charity in the UK.

The firmware supports multiple computers and their disk image formats.

As of today the firmware can be installed via a special USB cable into a Gotek and it can be updated through the USB memory stick.

To best attach the Gotek to any CPC, use the following FF.cfg setting: 

# Floppy-drive interface mode
interface = shugart

# Host platform
host = unspecified

# Pins 2 & 34 output (drive->host) manual configuration
pin02 = high
pin34 = rdy

# Rotational offset of disk after a track change
track-change = realtime

# Rotational offset of disk after draining a write to Flash
write-drain = realtime

# Index pulses suppressed when RDATA and WDATA inactive?
index-suppression = yes

# Milliseconds from head-step start to RDATA active.
head-settle-ms = 12

# Milliseconds delay from motor-on to drive ready.
motor-delay = 200

The rest of the settings can be used to your liking as they depend on preference and not on hardware emulation.

The best Gotek to buy currently (12/22) is the Model SFRKC30.AT4.35. This model features a Artery AT32F435 APU and as well a motor jumper. This completes the emulation as it simulates the motor spinup time. You should get one with Rotary encoder and with 128x64 oled display.

The first firmware with correct support for RDATA line release is 3.38 or 4.7 (both to be released as of now). Firmware 3.37 and 4.6a have a bug that prevents it to work correctly. The older Gotek models such as SFR1M44-U100K, SFRM72-U100 or SFRC922D.

For more details on which models to use and which to avoide, see here: Gotek models on Flashfloppy wiki

Physical connection

To connect the gotek to the CPC, you can directly connect it to the DDI-1 cable connector (you would need to cut off the noses on the bottom of the cable). It can work both as A drive (no 3" drive required) or as drive B. It can even work as a 3.5" or 5.25" drive for example with parados or VDOS. Please be aware that you cannot use an unmodified DDI-1 together with the Gotek without a normal 3" FD-1 drive. That is because the FD-1 delivers the 5V power to the DDI-1 and without it, it simply does not get any power to run.

You can also connect it to the original cable using an extension like this one:

1 Stk. x IDC Verlängerungskabel 34 polig 20cm 2.54mm Verbinder #A3769
6 inch 34-Pin 2x17 2.54-Pitch IDC 34-Wire Flat Ribbon Extension Cable, FF-E06

There is no cablemode required - neither for the CPC464 nor for 664/6128 external disk connector.

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