Best Gotek Firmware

AmigaBoy · 11 March 2018, 05:06

So I just bought a Gotek drive and am waiting for it to arrive.

What's the best firmware and why?

From what I can see, there's 3:

- Cortex
- FlashFloppy
- HxC

Cortex seems to get the thumbs down from everyone, and being unmaintained doesn't help, so I assume that's out.

FlashFloppy looks promising, open-source and is still maintained, but it looks like it's lacking support for extended ADFs and IPFs.

HxC looks like it has support for everything, but has a price tag attached.

Other than file format support, does one firmware have advantages over the other?

I know ZERO about Gotek drives other than they allow me to plug a USB drive into the Amiga and access ADF images as I would a normal disk.

Educate me

(and thanks!)

obitus1990 · 11 March 2018, 05:27

FF and HxC are pretty comparable in my experience of using both.

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 01:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirk_m

FF and HxC are pretty comparable in my experience of using both.

So the only advantage of HxC over FlashFloppy is support for more formats?

solidcore · 12 March 2018, 02:11

I use both on seperate goteks . Jeff has done fantastic work on hxc so I enjoy using it for the most part - however I also have a flash floppy gotek that comes in handy since I don't like to transplant my hxc gotek around when it's living in an Amiga I'm frequently messing with. I also use an Atari 520 st and Atari falcon 030 and my flash floppy lives there most of the time . If I was to purchase several more goteks I would put flash floppy on them mainly since hxc is cost per Gotek and to save money is a no brainer while still utilising for the best part floppy emulation on amiga/ataris, therefor you could say flashfloppy is the primary choice of firmware when you own many machines

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 02:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by solidcore

I use both on seperate goteks . Jeff has done fantastic work on hxc so I enjoy using it for the most part - however I also have a flash floppy gotek that comes in handy since I don't like to transplant my hxc gotek around when it's living in an Amiga I'm frequently messing with. I also use an Atari 520 st and Atari falcon 030 and my flash floppy lives there most of the time . If I was to purchase several more goteks I would put flash floppy on them mainly since hxc is cost per Gotek and to save money is a no brainer while still utilising for the best part floppy emulation on amiga/ataris, therefor you could say flashfloppy is the primary choice of firmware when you own many machines

I didn't know HxC was cost per Gotek!

I guess I'll use FlashFloppy once my drives arrive. It seems like the only reason to use HxC is if you want to use exotic formats, and support development.

demolition · 12 March 2018, 08:38

FlashFloppy supports pretty much all formats since it can use HFE files and most formats can be converted into HFE.
I'd also say that FF and HxC are quite similar depending on what your needs are.

Jeff_HxC2001 · 12 March 2018, 09:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaBoy

I didn't know HxC was cost per Gotek!

Of course it is !

What did you expect ? Get for 12 Euros a lifetime right to flash hundreds of goteks, with the possibility to resell them ? In this case this is the bankrupt for me in less than one month !

I don't ask for the charity, but just get paid for the products and softwares i develop and the support time i provide.
BTW these licenses fees are also used to develop the HxC open-sources stuff that some other firmware and products are currently using as mentioned in the previous post...

Amiga1992 · 12 March 2018, 20:05

Forget about Cortex, it's gone, dead, no one should pay attention to it.

Both HxC and FlashFloppy are great.
HxC has been around for longer and supports more machines at the moment.
FlashFloppy is open source and free.

Pick your poison, they're both great.
(Jeff, stop being pissy

)

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 20:14

I think it's going to be FlashFloppy right now. I really only need ADF support, and free is appealing to me

Jeff_HxC2001 · 12 March 2018, 20:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

Forget about Cortex, it's gone, dead, no one should pay attention to it.

Both HxC and FlashFloppy are great.
HxC has been around for longer and supports more machines at the moment.
FlashFloppy is open source and free.

Pick your poison, they're both great.
(Jeff, stop being pissy

)

yep, i should really avoid to visit these forums.
I can't moderate myself when i see some comments

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 20:38

Jeff, since you're here, maybe you can answer a question I've been thinking about.

Is it possible to implement HDF files into the firmware so a Gotek can theoretically boot a HDD instead of just a floppy, or is the Gotek hardware limited to floppies only? If that's the case, is it possible to fool the hardware into thinking the HDF is just a huge floppy?

Jeff_HxC2001 · 12 March 2018, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaBoy

Jeff, since you're here, maybe you can answer a question I've been thinking about.

Is it possible to implement HDF files into the firmware so a Gotek can theoretically boot a HDD instead of just a floppy, or is the Gotek hardware limited to floppies only? If that's the case, is it possible to fool the hardware into thinking the HDF is just a huge floppy?

Yes this is possible, and something very similar was done on Atari ST machines :

http://hxcmount.atomas.com/

To do this you need a special driver to mount the HD image present on the stick through the floppy interface.
To boot from this i think that you need to patch the kickstart. or maybe a bootstrap floppy image can do the trick too...

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

Yes this is possible, and something very similar was done on Atari ST machines :

http://hxcmount.atomas.com/

To do this you need a special driver to mount the HD image present on the stick through the floppy interface.
To boot from this i think that you need to patch the kickstart. or maybe a bootstrap floppy image can do the trick too...

Very cool! This would make the Gotek a very cheap solution to having a HDD on an Amiga 500.

demolition · 12 March 2018, 21:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaBoy

Very cool! This would make the Gotek a very cheap solution to having a HDD on an Amiga 500.

And extremely slow since it will still be going at ~21kB/s (normal floppy speed).

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 21:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

And extremely slow since it will still be going at ~21kB/s (normal floppy speed).

Is that a limitation set by the Gotek hardware or is that a firmware issue?

demolition · 12 March 2018, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaBoy

Is that a limitation set by the Gotek hardware or is that a firmware issue?

Neither - but since the Gotek is connected to the floppy controller in the Amiga, the data speed will also be limited by what this controller can handle and it cannot go any faster than a regular floppy.

AmigaBoy · 12 March 2018, 21:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

Neither - but since the Gotek is connected to the floppy controller in the Amiga, the data speed will also be limited by what this controller can handle and it cannot go any faster than a regular floppy.

ah! Yep, that makes sense.

Amiga1992 · 12 March 2018, 21:28

The main problem is that someone needs to write such a driver for the Amiga, and no one is going to do that.
This has been discussed before, FlashFloppy could also support such a thing if an Amiga-side driver existed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff_HxC2001

yep, i should really avoid to visit these forums.
I can't moderate myself when i see some comments

No dude, that's not the problem, you should definitely visit.

I really don't understand why you get so salty though, it's unbecoming, it just doesn't help the fantastic work you put on HxC.
Just relax, and do what you do best, you're great at it. As for the users, we value all development of this kind. I hope you see my message not as an attack, rather some advice, and appreciation for the work time you put in HxC dev.

utri007 · 12 March 2018, 22:04

This leads to very annoying feature of amiga scene. Everything should be free and if any one ask something from anything he is a villain.

Price of HxC firmware is not a worth of mention for adult. It is less than 10€.

HxC has also a preferences menu wich FlashFloppy lacks. Other vice they are quite comparable. So in tehnical/support point of view HxC is little better.

What anoyns me a LOT is HxC website/guides. Those are total mess, when FlashFloppy has nice and clean wiki.

Amiga1992 · 12 March 2018, 23:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by utri007

This leads to very annoying feature of amiga scene. Everything should be free and if any one ask something from anything he is a villain.

I agree, a ridiculous attitude indeed.

But this is not the fault of FF existing, so being snarky on every mention of it next to HxC is unbecoming.

They are both great and both have their strengths and weaknesses, and by co-existing I feel both benefit from each other.

11 March 2018, 05:06	#1
AmigaBoy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 19 Jump Street Posts: 238	Best Gotek Firmware So I just bought a Gotek drive and am waiting for it to arrive. What's the best firmware and why? From what I can see, there's 3: - Cortex - FlashFloppy - HxC Cortex seems to get the thumbs down from everyone, and being unmaintained doesn't help, so I assume that's out. FlashFloppy looks promising, open-source and is still maintained, but it looks like it's lacking support for extended ADFs and IPFs. HxC looks like it has support for everything, but has a price tag attached. Other than file format support, does one firmware have advantages over the other? I know ZERO about Gotek drives other than they allow me to plug a USB drive into the Amiga and access ADF images as I would a normal disk. Educate me (and thanks!)

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11 March 2018, 05:27	#2
obitus1990 Registered User Join Date: May 2016 Location: Mandeville USA Posts: 203	FF and HxC are pretty comparable in my experience of using both.

12 March 2018, 02:11	#4
solidcore Registered User Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: birmingham, uk Posts: 548	I use both on seperate goteks . Jeff has done fantastic work on hxc so I enjoy using it for the most part - however I also have a flash floppy gotek that comes in handy since I don't like to transplant my hxc gotek around when it's living in an Amiga I'm frequently messing with. I also use an Atari 520 st and Atari falcon 030 and my flash floppy lives there most of the time . If I was to purchase several more goteks I would put flash floppy on them mainly since hxc is cost per Gotek and to save money is a no brainer while still utilising for the best part floppy emulation on amiga/ataris, therefor you could say flashfloppy is the primary choice of firmware when you own many machines

12 March 2018, 08:38	#6
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 43 Posts: 4,190	FlashFloppy supports pretty much all formats since it can use HFE files and most formats can be converted into HFE. I'd also say that FF and HxC are quite similar depending on what your needs are.

12 March 2018, 20:05	#8
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Forget about Cortex, it's gone, dead, no one should pay attention to it. Both HxC and FlashFloppy are great. HxC has been around for longer and supports more machines at the moment. FlashFloppy is open source and free. Pick your poison, they're both great. (Jeff, stop being pissy )

12 March 2018, 20:14	#9
AmigaBoy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 19 Jump Street Posts: 238	I think it's going to be FlashFloppy right now. I really only need ADF support, and free is appealing to me

12 March 2018, 20:38	#11
AmigaBoy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 19 Jump Street Posts: 238	Jeff, since you're here, maybe you can answer a question I've been thinking about. Is it possible to implement HDF files into the firmware so a Gotek can theoretically boot a HDD instead of just a floppy, or is the Gotek hardware limited to floppies only? If that's the case, is it possible to fool the hardware into thinking the HDF is just a huge floppy?

12 March 2018, 22:04	#19
utri007 mä vaan Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Finland Posts: 1,655	This leads to very annoying feature of amiga scene. Everything should be free and if any one ask something from anything he is a villain. Price of HxC firmware is not a worth of mention for adult. It is less than 10€. HxC has also a preferences menu wich FlashFloppy lacks. Other vice they are quite comparable. So in tehnical/support point of view HxC is little better. What anoyns me a LOT is HxC website/guides. Those are total mess, when FlashFloppy has nice and clean wiki.

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