GoTek as DF1 on an A500

[c0dehunter]

Dear all,
I just ordered a GoTek for my A500, but I would like to keep my existing internal DF0, as I really like to boot games/demos off of a real floppy.



The reason I got the GoTek, is the fact it is the "easiest" (I know there are other methods) to write .ADF files back to a real floppy diskette.


Is it possible to boot from DF1, if I setup my GoTek to the external drive connector in the back?


Thanks!

[ajk]

If you have Kickstart 2.x or later, you can use the early startup menu to select the device to boot from. With 1.x I don't believe there is a way to do that. Also, probably some (a lot?) of games and demos would fail anyway, having been hard-coded to use DF0 only.

It is however possible to mod the setup on a hardware level to swap DF0 to be the external drive, and DF1 to be the internal one. This way you could have the external Gotek as your main boot drive, but still retain the ability to use the internal drive for writing and otherwise using physical floppies. There are various threads regarding the subject on the forums, it's not a huge mod.

[solarmon]

You can use a boot selector, something like:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163705977263

However, you will need to put the physical switch somewhere accessible.

[c0dehunter]

Thank you both for great answers! I might buy the selector switch, it seems a solid solution!



Cheers!

[spudje]

If you're considering more add on hardware, I suggest the ACA500+. With that you can also switch between bootable drives. That's how I use my external Gotek with my A500.

It's great to be able to use it as an external drive on all my Amiga's.

[JoeJoe]

The ACA500+ can not handel ADF Files. And the bootselection is the same as like as the Action Replay. Any Trackloader Intros read from DF0 only. The ACA fault. The Bootsekector Win.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by JoeJoe

The ACA500+ can not handel ADF Files. And the bootselection is the same as like as the Action Replay. Any Trackloader Intros read from DF0 only. The ACA fault. The Bootsekector Win.

ACA500+ switches DF0 and DF1 properly just like a hardware boot selector switch. I.e. the external Gotek becomes DF0 and any trackloader works just fine.

[JoeJoe]

Nope.... Sel0 and Sel1 can not change with Software only. IT is the same wehn you use the Bootsekector of the Kickrom (2+).

[solarmon]

I've always wondered (since I don't have one) - how is the ACA500+ able to perform (any kind of) boot selection in the first place?

[JoeJoe]

The ACA500 use the same "Trick" as the AR. Okay it is true any or most Trackloader works finde. But a lot of them read "Bad" from DF0.
Excuse for denail :/

[demolition]

Originally Posted by JoeJoe

The ACA500 use the same "Trick" as the AR. Okay it is true any or most Trackloader works finde. But a lot of them read "Bad" from DF0.

Do you have one / have you tried it, or are you just assuming that it can't work? I have tried the function with many titles (demos with trackloaders, cracked games from ADF and originals in IPF) from my external Gotek and never had a problem with it. I don't know how it does the trick but it is definitely not the same as choosing DF1 as the boot device in early startup (which does not switch the drives).
AFAIK, AR only does a simple boot selection, making it possible to boot from DF1 on KS1.3 which does not have that function built-in. It does not, however, switch DF0 and DF1, so any trackloader that is hard coded to load from DF0 will fail.

[Toni Wilen]

ACA500plus does it in hardware level. It has CPU on board so it (CPLDs) can see and modify data before it reaches CIAs.

[roondar]

I've never managed to get the ACA500plus floppy switching to work. Perhaps it's due to my HxC internal floppy drive replacement, I don't know. But regardless, now matter how I set up DF0: and DF1: in the menus of the ACA500plus, it always only reads the bootblock from DF1: and then stops.

Not saying it doesn't work for others by the way, just that I've not managed to get it working.

[demolition]

The HxC floppy emulator (the original one, not the Gotek type) is special in the way that it can emulate both DF0 and DF1 at the same time while connected to the internal floppy cable. I can imagine that could throw some grit into the machinery.

[Retro1234]

Remember 99% of games won't run from DF1

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

ACA500plus does it in hardware level. It has CPU on board so it (CPLDs) can see and modify data before it reaches CIAs.

So games would run from external drive? Basically external drive would become DF0?

[hooverphonique]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

ACA500plus does it in hardware level. It has CPU on board so it (CPLDs) can see and modify data before it reaches CIAs.

Sneaky!

[roondar]

Originally Posted by demolition

The HxC floppy emulator (the original one, not the Gotek type) is special in the way that it can emulate both DF0 and DF1 at the same time while connected to the internal floppy cable. I can imagine that could throw some grit into the machinery.

That's a good point, actually. Perhaps I could try it with the HxC disconnected for testing.

I suppose if that works I could replace the HxC with a Gotek instead.

[JoeJoe]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

ACA500plus does it in hardware level. It has CPU on board so it (CPLDs) can see and modify data before it reaches CIAs.

You are right! But the AR dont have any CPU. How IT work IT?

[Jope]

Originally Posted by JoeJoe

You are right! But the AR dont have any CPU. How IT work IT?

It works in a different way, by patching the software in RAM. Hence it is not transparent to the software. Any direct access past trackdisk.device will fail.

[JoeJoe]

Its clear... i think the ACA modify the trackdevice too. Any line go from device to the CIAs..