Gotek and HxC working together

[turrican9]

Update. So I deleted the above mentioned images from the tracks then filled track 20 to 25 and hit F10. What happens now is that the display is blinking with Err14 something. And it's not loading track 20. A soft reset did not help. And neither did a coldboot. I had to press both forward/backwards buttons. it then jumped straight to track 25 and started loading. I could then manually count down to track 20 and load it with no problem.

Edit: Fileselector loaded up fine. But when I hit F10 again same thing happens. Blinks between Err and 14

Update: So track 14 seemed to be empty but I hit the backspace key on it again and then F10. This time track 20 loaded fine. So it seems that the image that was in track 14 had not been properly deleted, even though I removed it and it didn't show anything. But as I said, pressing the backspace key on it again fixed the problem.

Update: Another thing is that the delay is too short when press either forward of backwards buttons for the fast counting function. Sometimes when you just want to click the buttons to count a few tracks like 14, 15, 16, 17 if you press it just a tad too long it will start counting fast and skipping tracks. A 2 second delay or at least hold it for 1 second for it to count fast would be nicer. I would say hold it for 2 seconds should be more practical for the fast counting to trigger.

This is starting to smell beta release soon. This seems very usable for Amiga at least.

Update: So same thing happened. I went into fileselector and hit backspace key on all the tracks I had loaded and they seemed gone, then put new ADFs in other tracks. This time when I hit F10 it actually booted Pinball dreams from track 20 which appeared blank after I had used the backspace key. In reality it should jump to track 30 and load Cannon Fodder. All the tracks from 20 to 25 I had ejected/deleted the ADFs. So seems to be a minor issue with clearing tracks here. So I could count 21, 22, 23 24 and then on 25 I got the Err 25 message on the display. All these should not be there at all.

Edit: Going into the fileselector again and hitting the backspace button gave the Err and blinking number error on track 20 to 25. So they were still not properly cleared. however, I could jump to track 30.

Edit: Another problem is that the extended ADF which was converted to HFE Cannon Fodder save disk no longer seems to work. I typed in the save file name and hit enter. And the screen is just blank and it just seems to go forever with the disk activity light on. Will never finish saving.

Hopefully these issues will be fixed in the next alpha release so I can test again.

Edit: So I went back to the latest beta firmware to verify that the Cannon Fodder HFE save disk worked, and it sure did. No issues saving with beta v3.0.8.2a

[Jeff_HxC2001]

New version :
Autoboot.hfe updated to fix the clear slot issues.
(Note : Start with the fresh cfg file may be needed.)

http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_d...AlphaTrial.zip

btw, can you send me your Cannon Fodder image ?

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Update -> Atari ST version of the file selector compiled and added :
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_d...AlphaTrial.zip

[Sorgelig]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

It is implemented... Leave the autoboot enabled and just press both UP and DOWN buttons more than 1seconds to eject/insert the disk.

how can i get it ejected at power on without pressing the buttons?
I don't want to plug/unplug USB stick. Just want to use it on demand. So, when i power on my A1200, i want it to boot from HDD (with USB stick plugged). And when i want to insert a disk (let's say autoboot.hfe into 000) i just press UP button. How to achieve this?

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Originally Posted by Sorgelig

how can i get it ejected at power on without pressing the buttons?
I don't want to plug/unplug USB stick. Just want to use it on demand. So, when i power on my A1200, i want it to boot from HDD (with USB stick plugged). And when i want to insert a disk (let's say autoboot.hfe into 000) i just press UP button. How to achieve this?

There is nothing to unplug.
To eject the disk : Press both up & down buttons > 1 second. The eject state is saved to the cfg file, so at next power up the disk still ejected.
To reinsert the disk, press both up & down buttons > 1 second again.

[turrican9]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

New version :
Autoboot.hfe updated to fix the clear slot issues.
(Note : Start with the fresh cfg file may be needed.)

http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_d...AlphaTrial.zip

btw, can you send me your Cannon Fodder image ?

Cannon fodder hfe image sent to your email.

Will test this new release. Thanks

[turrican9]

So testing the latest alpha release right now. The previous issue with the tracks not being cleared properly seems to be fixed now. Cannon Fodder HFE save disk is of course still not working since there is a reason jeff asked me to send the file to him.

There is still no delay added for the fast counting function. So when just pressing, (without holding it) backwards or forward button it will sometimes skip tracks and start the fast counting. It needs a delay, like 1 or 2 seconds. Just like the Cortex firmware has.

[turrican9]

Just discovered that the demo 9Finger is not working. Copied it over to real floppy from the gotek to an External floppy drive and it worked fine from real floppy disks.

Edit: Worked now. Even though I had already tried to cold boot the Amiga last time. But now it works. So no problem.

[Sorgelig]

Originally Posted by turrican9

There is still no delay added for the fast counting function. So when just pressing, (without holding it) backwards or forward button it will sometimes skip tracks and start the fast counting. It needs a delay, like 1 or 2 seconds. Just like the Cortex firmware has.

Exactly! I've told about this to Jeff. It should be 1-2 second delay before fast counting. Fast counting can be 3-5 times faster - it's generally not a problem if you will miss 1-2 steps while fast counting - the genaral purpose of fast counting is quickly navigate through large amount of disks like 100 or 200. So, basic usage is use fast counting first and then quickly press up/down after to fine tune the index.
Actually i don't use so many slots because i use autoboot image to assign disks of only one game/app. But i'm still affected by current navigation behavior when index suddenly skipped if i quickly press up and then down - it seem FW think i hold the button while actually i quickly press them. So, pause before auto counting should be 1-2 sec, and FW should distinguish quick presses from holding. I can press quicker than 1 press/second so FW need to follow a presses rate, not wait 1 second before register next press.

[Sorgelig]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

There is nothing to unplug.
To eject the disk : Press both up & down buttons > 1 second. The eject state is saved to the cfg file, so at next power up the disk still ejected.
To reinsert the disk, press both up & down buttons > 1 second again.

Hmm...
1) my 3x7Seg display is on front of Amiga (which is essential) and i REALLY REALLY REALLY don't like it's flashing the whole time i'm using Amiga with FDD ejected. Please turn off display completely (or at least display something statically). For example, after eject (or power up) display something static (or better don't display anything) before any button press. First press of button will start to display current or 000 index (i prefer 000, but not insist).

2) Pressing 2 buttons are troublesome. It's ok for ejecting(no complain here - there are no other ways to eject). But would be good if selected slot will be activated automatically by timeout after changing. Otherwise it's often switched up or down due to hard to press 2 buttons at the same time quickly. This autoinsert behavior is very suitable with (1). So, i press "eject" - disk will be ejected and display will be turned off (Can you display a dot? - this will be neat). Then if i press up or down, the last active slot will be enabled. Then I ether don't press anything and it will be inserted back, or i continue to press up/down to choose another slot.

3) Please add an option (in autoboot.hfe settings) to start Gotek in ejected mode. For Amiga 600/1200 with IDE disks inside, loading from HDD is pretty usual function. So, i would preffer to load to HDD, no matter if i used Gotek to boot before powering off or not.

[PortuguesePilot]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

Update -> Atari ST version of the file selector compiled and added :
http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_d...AlphaTrial.zip

The Atari ST version still doesn't work with my 520STfm.

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Originally Posted by PortuguesePilot

The Atari ST version still doesn't work with my 520STfm.

What doesn't work exactly ? Can you be more specific ?

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Originally Posted by Sorgelig

Hmm...
1) my 3x7Seg display is on front of Amiga (which is essential) and i REALLY REALLY REALLY don't like it's flashing the whole time i'm using Amiga with FDD ejected. Please turn off display completely (or at least display something statically). For example, after eject (or power up) display something static (or better don't display anything) before any button press. First press of button will start to display current or 000 index (i prefer 000, but not insist).

2) Pressing 2 buttons are troublesome. It's ok for ejecting(no complain here - there are no other ways to eject). But would be good if selected slot will be activated automatically by timeout after changing. Otherwise it's often switched up or down due to hard to press 2 buttons at the same time quickly. This autoinsert behavior is very suitable with (1). So, i press "eject" - disk will be ejected and display will be turned off (Can you display a dot? - this will be neat). Then if i press up or down, the last active slot will be enabled. Then I ether don't press anything and it will be inserted back, or i continue to press up/down to choose another slot.

3) Please add an option (in autoboot.hfe settings) to start Gotek in ejected mode. For Amiga 600/1200 with IDE disks inside, loading from HDD is pretty usual function. So, i would preffer to load to HDD, no matter if i used Gotek to boot before powering off or not.

New version :

http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_d...AlphaTrial.zip

- Fix the key glitches (hopefully ).
- The Blinking display while the disk is ejected now timeout and switch off after some seconds.

[PortuguesePilot]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

What doesn't work exactly ? Can you be more specific ?

Yes, I can. When I proceed to install the firmware update, as explained in the readme, everything seems to go accordingly but then the Atari ST will not recognize the Gotek drive any more and will not boot, acting like an Atari ST would without a disk inserted. The display indicates slot 000, the USB drive flashes as if it's being read but the loader simply will not boot, even if I reset or even power off/on the machine. The last working firmware, and the one I have to re-install every time, is v3.0.5.1a.

Everything works great on the Amiga, though, using the same installation method.

[Sorgelig]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

New version :

http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_d...AlphaTrial.zip

- Fix the key glitches (hopefully ).
- The Blinking display while the disk is ejected now timeout and switch off after some seconds.

1) still no delay before auto-counting.
2) still no auto insert
3) still no "always eject" mode at power up.

I don't know if anyone else asked for eject besides me. If talk about me, then current implementation (no always eject at power on, no auto insert) it's useless. I cannot remember if i ejected the disk before switch Amiga off or not. So, to make sure i have to unplug the USB stick at power on. Fighting with disk insertion after eject without increments/decrements while pressing the 2 buttons - also not fun game. So, basically current implementation of eject mode is useless for me...
I still need to keep USB unplugged to make sure Amiga won't boot from FDD at power on.

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Originally Posted by Sorgelig

1) still no delay before auto-counting.

There is, and i found it already quite slow. Maybe i don't understand what you call " before auto-counting." ?
Are you sure that you have updated the firmware (should be 3.0.9.5) ?

Originally Posted by Sorgelig

3) still no "always eject" mode at power up.

There is. But you need to change a flag into the cfg file.

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Originally Posted by PortuguesePilot

Yes, I can. When I proceed to install the firmware update, as explained in the readme, everything seems to go accordingly but then the Atari ST will not recognize the Gotek drive any more and will not boot, acting like an Atari ST would without a disk inserted. The display indicates slot 000, the USB drive flashes as if it's being read but the loader simply will not boot, even if I reset or even power off/on the machine. The last working firmware, and the one I have to re-install every time, is v3.0.5.1a.

Everything works great on the Amiga, though, using the same installation method.

Sound to be an hardware problem.
Jumper setting ? a picture of the connection maybe ?
Did you see the the drives icon on the gem desktop ?

[Sorgelig]

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

There is, and i found it already quite slow. Maybe i don't understand what you call " before auto-counting." ?
Are you sure that you have updated the firmware (should be 3.0.9.5) ?

Sure, i'm on the latest FW, because i see a "-" after some time when disk is ejected.

the whole behavior of counting I meant is this:

#define UP   1
#define DOWN 2
#define ANY  3

int btn = read_btn();
if(btn & ANY) {

  //increment/decrement once
  index = (btn & UP) ? index+1 : index-1;
  display(index);

  //delay 2 sec, break if button was released earlier
  for(int i=0; i<20; i++){
     delay_ms(100);
     btn=read_btn();
     if(!(btn & ANY)) break;
  }

  //quickly rewind 5 index/sec while button is pressed
  while(btn & ANY) {
     index = (btn & UP) ? index+1 : index-1;

     display(index);
     delay_ms(200);

     btn=read_btn();
  }
}

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

There is. But you need to change a flag into the cfg file.

can you upload cfg with this flag changed?
Can you add this option into autoboot.hfe settings?

[Sorgelig]

What is the purpose of display timeout after eject? I can change disks without ejecting, so i think, timeout is not required at all.
You can simplify the whole navigation. No need this flashing after eject. Simply display "-" right after eject. If disk need to be inserted, then single press up or down will start to display the last used index and the whole navigation will be exactly the same as without eject. Slot will be automatically activated when user will stop navigation.

[Jeff_HxC2001]

Originally Posted by Sorgelig

What is the purpose of display timeout after eject? I can change disks without ejecting, so i think, timeout is not required at all.
You can simplify navigation. No need this flashing after eject. Simply display "-" right after eject. If disk need to be inserted, then single press up or down will simply activate the last used index and the whole navigation will be exactly the same as without eject. Slot will be automatically activated when user will stop navigation.

To see which disk is ejected. And a timeout is also needed to reinsert the disk.
"Simply" press up to direct insert an image is not good because your are not sure which one will be inserted, as you said yourself.