Gotek floppy emulator vs. HxC SD floppy emulator

[c0dehunter]

Which is better?

I have ordered a Gotek floppy emulator with sound, but I hear it might have potential save game issues.

Is this true?

[Jope]

If you encounter issues, you can always reflash it to HxC.

The sound mod that is done to these is just a piezo speaker that clicks away as the head is being stepped. Potentially useful, potentially annoying.

[c0dehunter]

Originally Posted by Jope

If you encounter issues, you can always reflash it to HxC.

The sound mod that is done to these is just a piezo speaker that clicks away as the head is being stepped. Potentially useful, potentially annoying.

I see, thanks. Where is the link to flashing instructions please?

Tx!

[Jope]

The HxC firmware costs 10 euro.

http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_....html#download

Scroll down a tiny bit or use your browser's search function to find USB Stick STM32 HxC Floppy Emulator (beta). The email link for the license is there and the instructions are in the online bootloader programmer zip.

[desiv]

For me, one of the concerns is that the HxC is apparently still supported.
Gotek hasn't had any new work/updates on it..

So I wouldn't expect (Although it would be great) any fixes for possible Gotek issues/shortcomings..

That said, I am still on the Cortex/Gotek firmware..
Will eventually move to HxC tho..

Hiccup for me is that the initial flashing tool apparently requires Windows, which I don't have (and apparently neither does Jeff?? Or did I misread a post in another thread.. Oh well.. ;-).

desiv

[Amiga1992]

Yeah I would go for the HxC firmware, Cortex is pretty much dead.

[nogginthenog]

I'm a bit confused by the terms for these devices. Can someone please explain if I understand correctly?

Gotek drives seem to come in various different models. Are they all the same?
I'm guessing out of the box they do not support Amigas.

Cortex is a replacement firmware for the Amiga:
https://cortexamigafloppydrive.wordpress.com/

HxC is a replacement firmware that supports the Amiga:
http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/

I have a Raspberry PI (3.3v serial) and a max232 adapter so I should have no problems writing firmware.

[Amiga1992]

You are correct. "Gotek" refers to the hardware (but most unbranded ones are also of the same type, brand doesn't really matter, it's the STM32 type what matters).

Cortex and HxC refer to the firmware you can load on them to support Amiga.

But to make matters a bit more confusing, the HxC floppy emulator is a hardware device too, which of course runs the HxC firmware.

So in brief:
Gotek = STM32 floppy emulator hardware brand
Cortex = Firmware for STM32 that supports Amiga
HxC = Firmware for STM32 (and others) that supports Amiga (and others)
HxC floppy emulator = Another, more advanced floppy emulator hardware

[glenn]

The REASON for the cortex software not being updated anymore is that people do as TS did, buying a preflashed unit.

Hervé Messinger that is the person who wrote the code does not like that other people is making money on his work (that he gave away for free to enthusiasts) therefore he stopped the development.

There is NO reason to buy a cortex preflashed unit, you going to pay a overprice and you support people that should not be supported.

Originally Posted by desiv

Hiccup for me is that the initial flashing tool apparently requires Windows, which I don't have (and apparently neither does Jeff?? Or did I misread a post in another thread.. Oh well.. ;-).

Yes it does require windows unfortunatly (I mainly use linux), and if you ask me its a pretty crappy software too (the windows flash loader), I havent been able to flash any of my goteks with HxC software (yes I paied for a license) since the flashing software simply does not work for me.

I have tried with two different serial adapters, three different OS'es, four different computers, three different goteks, but still no go.

I have been in contact with Jeff (author of HxC) and he ofcourse say its a problem with my computer or my serial adapter.. when I told him which type of serial adapter it was he told me that it was "well known" that it was crap, even if it works PERFECTLY FINE to flash the same gotek with cortex software time after time.. (even the same gotek on the same computer with the same OS with the same adapter, I can flash it to cortex, and then hXc fails right after, then i can flash it with cortex again with no problems..)

Now I have ordered a serial adapter with a "recommended" chipset.. when I recive it i will try again ofcourse..

(Ofcourse the HxC manual does not mention what recommended chipset is, or that it is known problems with other chipsets..)

[spannernick]

So do they have the same chipset then, Mine has Cortex firmware..?

Just thinking,This thing has 999 slots ,if you put games into the lots,how are you going to remember where each game is,I put a few in and i can't remember..,unless you wright them down on a piece of paper.. only way is look at the slot menu again and remember,shame you can't select a game and run it from the menu.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by glenn

Yes it does require windows unfortunatly (I mainly use linux), and if you ask me its a pretty crappy software too (the windows flash loader), I havent been able to flash any of my goteks with HxC software (yes I paied for a license) since the flashing software simply does not work for me.

Funny enough, I had the complete opposite experience. I tried to flash the Cortex firmware using two computers and two different UART adapters with no positive result. It was mainly to test whether the connection was working before I went along and bought an HxC license which was my plan from the start. I ended up just buying an HxC license anyway and to my surprise, the HxC tool had no problems flashing my Gotek although ST's own tool could not access it.

I used Win10, but I think using a Windows XP machine is the more compatible option if there are any problems.

Originally Posted by spannernick

So do they have the same chipset then, Mine has Cortex firmware..?

Just thinking,This thing has 999 slots ,if you put games into the lots,how are you going to remember where each game is,I up a few in and i can't remember..,unless you wright them down on a piece of paper.. only way is look at the slot menu again and remember,shame you can't select a game and run it from the menu.

Even if your Gotek is running the Cortex firmware, you can reflash HxC on it instead if you prefer that.
HxC can run in three different modes. Two of them requires to connect an LCD display plus an additional button and it will allow you to browse the files, see the filenames and select the images to mount. The third is designed to run on a plain Gotek without the display and works similar to the Cortex using pre-allocated slots for numbers 0-999.

[glenn]

I have tried in Win7 64bit, win7 32bit, and XP, no go..

waiting for my "new" serial adapter with another chipset to see if it works..

[happymondays]

Win 10 64 bit and Win 8 64 bit does not work, unfortunately. Win XP 32 bit SP3 did it for me, I flashed a straight-from-China unit with Cortex firmware and that OS.

[demolition]

I flashed the HxC firmware using Win10 x64 using a cheap fake Prolific adapter (with the Win7 driver to make it work).

[glenn]

I have a adapter that use a profilic driver now, and Jeff say its know tro be worthless, and cannot be used to flash hxc since it doesnt support full duplex..

Works fine to flash cortex however (Win 7 64bit)

I'm pretty tired of it now, I would for sure not use the hxc on my Amigas, but now I registred it to use on another computer..

[UberFreak]

I bought the cheapest serial adapter I could find, 1.5USD shipped from China.
Had no issues flashing 3 Gotek units with both Cortex and HxC firmware, from a WinXP 32-bit machine.

[Ratteler]

I've heard HxC firmware doesn't support ADF file.
That's why I'm avoiding it.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Ratteler

I've heard HxC firmware doesn't support ADF file.
That's why I'm avoiding it.

The hxc firmware for the gotek supports adf.

[demolition]

It supports HFE, ADF, ST and IMG formats directly. But true, the original HxC only supported its own HFE format as it did not have enough processing power to convert on the fly from the other formats.

[Ratteler]

Originally Posted by demolition

It supports HFE, ADF, ST and IMG formats directly. But true, the original HxC only supported its own HFE format as it did not have enough processing power to convert on the fly from the other formats.

Ok! Cool!!! I'm waiting for Klipper2K to get back to me on whether or not he still sells his external version. If he does, I'll just get that with HcX, as long as it support ADF.

The HcX demo I saw required Windows software (I'm on Mac), and all kinds of special USB treatment. Kind of defeats the purpose IMHO.

I just want to drag my ADF's to the drive and plug them in.