External Gotek and DFO

[DaveEddie]

Hi, sorry if this has been asked before. Can you use both an external Gotek and the internal floppy drive, so I can load both real disks and .adf files from usb?

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by DaveEddie

Hi, sorry if this has been asked before. Can you use both an external Gotek and the internal floppy drive, so I can load both real disks and .adf files from usb?

You can use both. Just remember that the internal floppy is DF0: and Gotek DF1:

The only caveat is that Games disks expect dF0: so any .adf games won’t boot from a external Gotek.

Hope that answers your question Bromigo?!

[DaveEddie]

Thank you for the reply. I got the Gotek with the intension of running games from it so it looks like I'll have to put the Gotek inside and replace df0? I'll still be able to use the external disk drive to load floppy disks though?

[jbenam]

If you have an A500, you can install a "DF0 Swapper" that will swap your external drive with the internal one, letting you use your external Gotek as DF0.

Just be careful of what you're purchasing though - lots of sellers don't sell real swappers, but instead they just disable the internal drive and redirect DF0 to the external port, meaning you won't be able to use the internal drive as DF1.

Which honestly could even be a good thing for some badly programmed games/cracks which don't expect DF1 to be there and will crash because of a lack of RAM (every additional drive takes away a little bit of RAM).

Swappers are also available for other Amigas, but they are a lot more complex to install, since you have to deal with SMD components. Honestly I haven't seen many "ready to use" solutions around for those.

[DaveEddie]

Thanks again for the reply. It's an A1200. Ive got the Gotek connected to the external drive port but nothing happens when I boot up the amiga, it just goes straight to my hard drive. I've got Selector.ADF on my usb but it's not recognising it so I can't even access system files on the usb. I've tried moving the jumper too. I'm obviously doing something wrong?

[jbenam]

IIRC, DF1 has a lower boot priority than an hard-drive. Try pressing both mouse buttons on boot and set DF1 as the boot device. It should then boot to selector.adf.

[DaveEddie]

Sorry but I can't figure it out. I've tried the jumper on SO and S1 and rebooting holding both mouse buttons but DF1 doesn't even show. I'm going to wait until I get an internal ide cable and hopefully that'll work. Thanks for your help. I may even decide to go full retro and just use floppy disks like back in the day. I had an idea what I was doing then. I have an external floppy for DF1 so I'm happy.

[jbenam]

If DF1 isn't showing up at all, then there is something wrong with the Gotek. Which firmware have you got on the Gotek? I hope it's FlashFloppy

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by DaveEddie

Sorry but I can't figure it out. I've tried the jumper on SO and S1 and rebooting holding both mouse buttons but DF1 doesn't even show. I'm going to wait until I get an internal ide cable and hopefully that'll work. Thanks for your help. I may even decide to go full retro and just use floppy disks like back in the day. I had an idea what I was doing then. I have an external floppy for DF1 so I'm happy.

How are you connecting the external Gotek?

Is it in a external floppy case? Or are you using a specific external cable connection that connects Goteks as DF1?

Again you need to provide a broader picture of what you are doing so others can help Bromigo!

[DaveEddie]

Thanks for that Leon but the gotek has gone back to amazon. I've decided after some research to use a pcmcia and copy everything to whdload on my HD.

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by DaveEddie

Thanks for that Leon but the gotek has gone back to amazon. I've decided after some research to use a pcmcia and copy everything to whdload on my HD.

Amazon?

It sounds like you bought a a Gotek not setup properly for an Amiga

So I take it you are aware that to use PCMCIA and a CF card you still need to put the Compactflash.device and FAT95 software on? As it doesn’t come with Workbench.

[jbenam]

I was going to post the same thing - Goteks from Amazon come programmed with the stock firmware which only works with PCs.

If you can't or don't want to reprogram one yourself for use with an Amiga - as it requires soldering and software experience - you can just purchase a pre-flashed one from eBay or one of the many Amiga resellers. They usually come with FlashFloppy onboard.

[nogginthenog]

Originally Posted by jbenam

If you can't or don't want to reprogram one yourself for use with an Amiga - as it requires soldering and software experience - you can just purchase a pre-flashed one from eBay or one of the many Amiga resellers.

Doesn't really require soldering experience. I chopped 2 unused USB cables and twisted the cables. Only needs to be done once.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by DaveEddie

Thanks for that Leon but the gotek has gone back to amazon.

My advice would be to slow down a little bit with decisions like these (and buying another CF card). In this hobby it can save you some money in the long run. The Gotek is a very handy thing to have, seeing as not all games/demos have WHDLoad equivalent.

[sneeker]

You can use a Gotek as df0 as well as a floppy drive as df0, just not at the same time, you just need to put a switch in the floppy cable that I believe swaps ds0 and ds1 and the one that is ds0 will become df0:

Its been a few years but Im sure if you search there will be a thread somewhere discussing it.

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by nogginthenog

Doesn't really require soldering experience. I chopped 2 unused USB cables and twisted the cables. Only needs to be done once.

The 5 last Goteks I have purchased all came without the header pins (necessary to put it into programming mode) pre-soldered.

Well, I guess you can also temporarily short the pins out with a paperclip just to do the first programming...