read PC HD floppy images with gotek+FF

alestanga · 10 June 2022, 11:35

hello everyone, is it possible to read PC HD Floppy (1.44MB) with the gotek drive and flashfloppy?
my unit has version 3.32 and is installed as DF0, internal drive, on my Amiga 500 Rev 6A with pistorm.
I'm running Kickstart 3.2 and Workbench 3.2
I've no problem reading PC 720kB images but all the HD images I'm throwing at it are unreadable.
I have made some tests with the interface=amiga and interface=shugart but to no avail.
is there a way to read PC HD Floppy images? (MS DOS 6.22 for instance)
thanks.

jlin_au · 10 June 2022, 13:06

Read the Amiga section of webpage (https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy...ommodore-amiga).

I'm assuming that your want to read ADF files holding an ADF image of 1.44MB 3.25" PC HD floppy which is different to an Amiga HD 1760kB ADF image.

The Text states that the flashfloppy firmware support 1760kB ADF image (Amiga HD) when "high-density ID sequence must be explicitly enabled in FF.CFG". There is no mention of support for 1.44Mb ADF images (PC 3.25" HD).

FF.CFG in the /FF directory must have the following line to support 1760kB ADF images:
interface = amiga

When an 1760Kb ADF image is selected, the Flashfloppy firmware should then switch to emulate an Amiga HD 3.25" floppy drive and transmit or receive track data at about half the data rate of that used by an actual PC HD 3.25" floppy drive so the amiga can read or send it on its DD floppy interface.

alestanga · 10 June 2022, 13:38

no I actually want to read an IMG file of a MS DOS formatted floppy.
it's an IMG file of the 1st MS DOS 6.22 installation floppy that works just fine in VMWare or Virtual PC.
MS DOS 5 720kB IMG floppy images work just fine on the amiga with the gotek and FF.

Jope · 10 June 2022, 13:48

jlin_au, That wouldn't quite work the way you imagine. A .adf file will be mfm encoded differently to a .img file.

alestanga, Perhaps it is possible to get it to work by having interface = amiga in FF.CFG and then formulating a IMG.CFG for PC HD IMGs that has half the rpm and rate as normal, but I admit I didn't read the flashfloppy source code with enough thought to understand whether this will actually work when FF is mounting a .img file into an Amiga drive. Mainly the ID stream might not be changed into a HD ID stream when mounting a PC HD image.

Try it anyway, only takes a bit of your time. If it doesn't work, then the code is there, fix it and do a pull request. Or make a feature request to Keir via his usual channels. :-)

alestanga · 10 June 2022, 13:53

cool thanks!
I'm goind to look into that this weekend and I'll report back.
thanks for the hint!

Jope · 10 June 2022, 14:01

One more idea, if the id stream doesn't change which makes autodetection of HD impossible, you could make a copy of your PC0 or PC1 dosdriver to a different name and hard code it to the HD sector size.

Then just make sure you don't have the original device mounted, instead mount your customized device when you want to access PC HD images.

jlin_au · 10 June 2022, 14:35

Sorry I'd assumed that alestanga's PC HD images were actually in ADF format as there is definitely an ADF format setup supporting a standard PC 1.44Mb HD 3.25" floppy.

Suggest alestanga try forcing flashfloppy to detect the MSDOS 6.22 floppy image in a .img file as a HD 1.44Mb floppy image via the /FF/IMG.CFG file (see https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy...iguration-File ).

From memory Microsoft did some funny tricks with their MSDOS 6.22 HD floppies to store more data so you may need to match the HD .IMG template size to each actual .IMG file provided so FF sees them as PC HD 3.25" format.

Alternatively, use VirtualPC and WinUAE to convert the .IMG files to proper 1.44Mb 3.25" .ADF files for use with the Gotek.

alestanga · 10 June 2022, 17:49

well, guess what, it works (soft of)
this is my img.cfg:

[::1474560]
cyls = 80
heads = 2
secs = 18
bps = 512
mode = mfm
rpm = 150

now the Amiga recognizes the disk but... booting into this disk from PC-TASK results in an error.
aborting the error returns me to the command prompt and manually launching setup.exe gives me a read error.
copying the files from amigashell works until it reaches qbasic.exe, any file starting from qbasic.exe returns an error.
maybe I have to tinker with the geometry but I'm out of time for today.
FYI, setting rpm to 300 results in an unreadable disk.
thanks!

alestanga · 26 June 2022, 21:24

so, it turns out it was the image file the problem...
after defragging it with some windows tool I had been able to install MS DOS 6.22 with PC-Task on my A500 with PiStorm!
disk2, 3 and 4 had no problem by the way.

10 June 2022, 11:35	#1
alestanga Registered User Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Romanengo, Italy Posts: 20	read PC HD floppy images with gotek+FF hello everyone, is it possible to read PC HD Floppy (1.44MB) with the gotek drive and flashfloppy? my unit has version 3.32 and is installed as DF0, internal drive, on my Amiga 500 Rev 6A with pistorm. I'm running Kickstart 3.2 and Workbench 3.2 I've no problem reading PC 720kB images but all the HD images I'm throwing at it are unreadable. I have made some tests with the interface=amiga and interface=shugart but to no avail. is there a way to read PC HD Floppy images? (MS DOS 6.22 for instance) thanks.

10 June 2022, 13:06	#2
jlin_au Registered User Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Fadden ACT Australia Posts: 128	Read the Amiga section of webpage (https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy...ommodore-amiga). I'm assuming that your want to read ADF files holding an ADF image of 1.44MB 3.25" PC HD floppy which is different to an Amiga HD 1760kB ADF image. The Text states that the flashfloppy firmware support 1760kB ADF image (Amiga HD) when "high-density ID sequence must be explicitly enabled in FF.CFG". There is no mention of support for 1.44Mb ADF images (PC 3.25" HD). FF.CFG in the /FF directory must have the following line to support 1760kB ADF images: interface = amiga When an 1760Kb ADF image is selected, the Flashfloppy firmware should then switch to emulate an Amiga HD 3.25" floppy drive and transmit or receive track data at about half the data rate of that used by an actual PC HD 3.25" floppy drive so the amiga can read or send it on its DD floppy interface. Last edited by jlin_au; 10 June 2022 at 13:20. Reason: correct text

10 June 2022, 17:49	#8
alestanga Registered User Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Romanengo, Italy Posts: 20	well, guess what, it works (soft of) this is my img.cfg: [::1474560] cyls = 80 heads = 2 secs = 18 bps = 512 mode = mfm rpm = 150 now the Amiga recognizes the disk but... booting into this disk from PC-TASK results in an error. aborting the error returns me to the command prompt and manually launching setup.exe gives me a read error. copying the files from amigashell works until it reaches qbasic.exe, any file starting from qbasic.exe returns an error. maybe I have to tinker with the geometry but I'm out of time for today. FYI, setting rpm to 300 results in an unreadable disk. thanks! Last edited by alestanga; 10 June 2022 at 17:51. Reason: typo

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Can’t read Gotek display	Kejoe	support.Other	5	01 September 2020 16:53
Gotek Disk Validating Read / Write Errors	gurth	support.Hardware	10	14 February 2017 23:19
Add ability to select PC floppy drive so you can read ADF files from PC Floppy	Unicron	request.UAE Wishlist	6	07 February 2017 16:12
using 2x Gotek drives on one Amiga loading floppy images into both of them	turrican9	support.Hardware	11	04 January 2016 00:46
Unable to read 7z compressed adf images	laxity	support.WinUAE	6	22 May 2006 18:59

10 June 2022, 13:38	#3
alestanga Registered User Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Romanengo, Italy Posts: 20	no I actually want to read an IMG file of a MS DOS formatted floppy. it's an IMG file of the 1st MS DOS 6.22 installation floppy that works just fine in VMWare or Virtual PC. MS DOS 5 720kB IMG floppy images work just fine on the amiga with the gotek and FF.

10 June 2022, 13:48	#4
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,863	jlin_au, That wouldn't quite work the way you imagine. A .adf file will be mfm encoded differently to a .img file. alestanga, Perhaps it is possible to get it to work by having interface = amiga in FF.CFG and then formulating a IMG.CFG for PC HD IMGs that has half the rpm and rate as normal, but I admit I didn't read the flashfloppy source code with enough thought to understand whether this will actually work when FF is mounting a .img file into an Amiga drive. Mainly the ID stream might not be changed into a HD ID stream when mounting a PC HD image. Try it anyway, only takes a bit of your time. If it doesn't work, then the code is there, fix it and do a pull request. Or make a feature request to Keir via his usual channels. :-)

10 June 2022, 13:53	#5
alestanga Registered User Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Romanengo, Italy Posts: 20	cool thanks! I'm goind to look into that this weekend and I'll report back. thanks for the hint!

10 June 2022, 14:01	#6
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,863	One more idea, if the id stream doesn't change which makes autodetection of HD impossible, you could make a copy of your PC0 or PC1 dosdriver to a different name and hard code it to the HD sector size. Then just make sure you don't have the original device mounted, instead mount your customized device when you want to access PC HD images.

10 June 2022, 14:35	#7
jlin_au Registered User Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Fadden ACT Australia Posts: 128	Sorry I'd assumed that alestanga's PC HD images were actually in ADF format as there is definitely an ADF format setup supporting a standard PC 1.44Mb HD 3.25" floppy. Suggest alestanga try forcing flashfloppy to detect the MSDOS 6.22 floppy image in a .img file as a HD 1.44Mb floppy image via the /FF/IMG.CFG file (see https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy...iguration-File ). From memory Microsoft did some funny tricks with their MSDOS 6.22 HD floppies to store more data so you may need to match the HD .IMG template size to each actual .IMG file provided so FF sees them as PC HD 3.25" format. Alternatively, use VirtualPC and WinUAE to convert the .IMG files to proper 1.44Mb 3.25" .ADF files for use with the Gotek.

26 June 2022, 21:24	#9
alestanga Registered User Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Romanengo, Italy Posts: 20	so, it turns out it was the image file the problem... after defragging it with some windows tool I had been able to install MS DOS 6.22 with PC-Task on my A500 with PiStorm! disk2, 3 and 4 had no problem by the way.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)