Amiga 500 SD HXC or Gotek?

Hello

I got an Amiga 500 and am looking to get a Floppy Drive Emulator but am not sure what brand to get I been looking at the Gotek and SD HXC.

Are there any pros and cons to either drive emulators?

[desiv]

Originally Posted by Flying Penguin

Are there any pros and cons to either drive emulators?

Yes

..

Oh.. You want more than that? ;-)

And to make it more complicated, you can use either the Cortex (normally what people mean when they say Gotek) OR the HxC firmware on the Gotek hardware.

From a firmware only perspective, the HxC firmware is more compatible, in that you can convert multiple image formats to it's format. (yes, you have to convert) But you can do (as I understand it) more than just ADFs, but extended ADFs and IPFs... That means you can get some copy protected games running that won't run with the Gotek firmware.

That being said, the Gotek (Cortex firmware) is basic, fairly simple and inexpensive.
It doesn't have it's own format, it only supports ADFs, and not extended ADFs.
But it's pretty simple to drop ADFs on the USB stick.

I like the simplicity of the Gotek (Cortex firmware) and that's what I have.
Although I am SERIOUSLY considering putting the HxC firmware on my Gotek for more support.

If it didn't require Windows to do that (all Linux here, unless I steal my wife's laptop for a bit), I'd probably have done it already.

But so far, the Gotek (Cortex firmware) is working fine for me..

Then there are the hardware issues and that has it's own pros/cons..

YMMV.. ;-)

desiv

Hmm seems like I have more than a few choices than.

The HxC Floppy Emulator software seems to compile and run fine on my distro.

So I think I might go for an HxC drive or a Gotek with HxC firmware.

Thanks for the help.

[strim]

Originally Posted by desiv

If it didn't require Windows to do that (all Linux here, unless I steal my wife's laptop for a bit), I'd probably have done it already.

Annoying, right? I recently used a Windows virtual machine running in VirtualBox to do that. It worked just fine with VirtualBox's USB passthrough.

Also, earlier tried with wine, but it failed miserably.

[strim]

Originally Posted by Flying Penguin

Hmm seems like I have more than a few choices than

Personally I'd recommend HxC Floppy Emulator as built by Lotharek. I own both Gotek (with HxC firmware) and various versions of HxC Floppy Emulator. Build quality of HxC emulator is much better than Gotek.

Software-wise, they aren't much different. Both Gotek (HxC) and HxC Floppy Emulator has very similar feature set. Maybe one important difference is that HxC supports emulation of two drives, while Gotek only one.

Originally Posted by strim

Personally I'd recommend HxC Floppy Emulator as built by Lotharek. I own both Gotek (with HxC firmware) and various versions of HxC Floppy Emulator. Build quality of HxC emulator is much better than Gotek.

Software-wise, they aren't much different. Both Gotek (HxC) and HxC Floppy Emulator has very similar feature set. Maybe one important difference is that HxC supports emulation of two drives, while Gotek only one.

Well I bit the bullet and ordered a HxC Floppy Emulator from lotharek. Very expensive but should be worth it in the long run.

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Flying Penguin

Well I bit the bullet and ordered a HxC Floppy Emulator from lotharek. Very expensive but should be worth it in the long run.

Nobody will tell you've done wrong.

[ransom1122]

Both floppy drive emulators are worth it in the end, I chose Gotek, and am very happy with it. I haven't heard any Cons on either device so enjoy it.

[Vot]

Originally Posted by Flying Penguin

Well I bit the bullet and ordered a HxC Floppy Emulator from lotharek. Very expensive but should be worth it in the long run.

Im not sure what you ordered but you do realise you can get the cortex floppy emulator and flash it with hxc firmware (or buy them with the hxc firmware) they are cheaper than the hxc hardware.

Not sure if all bugs have been ironed out of the hxc cortex firmware yet although.

Originally Posted by Vot

Im not sure what you ordered but you do realise you can get the cortex floppy emulator and flash it with hxc firmware (or buy them with the hxc firmware) they are cheaper than the hxc hardware.

Not sure if all bugs have been ironed out of the hxc cortex firmware yet although.

Yeah I know. But I liked the idea of greater image compatibility and the fact that the HxC has support for a lot of different retro systems.
Seems like a better investment down the line.

I ordered The SD GREEN - HXC Floppy Emulator REV C GREEN LCD
I intend to get a longer power and FD cable and mount it externally.

[Vot]

Originally Posted by Flying Penguin

Yeah I know. But I liked the idea of greater image compatibility and the fact that the HxC has support for a lot of different retro systems.
Seems like a better investment down the line.

I ordered The SD GREEN - HXC Floppy Emulator REV C GREEN LCD
I intend to get a longer power and FD cable and mount it externally.

Good stuff as long as you realised. I have got a hxc slim myself.

[petr22]

There is a huge price difference between HXC floppy emulator and Gotek - Gotek costs only 16 Euro, HXC costs 5-10x more and do the same thing.

I dont want to buy simple thing as USB floppy emulator for more than 120 Euro, even if it support more platforms (all this is done only by firmware). As I need floppy emulator in my every Amiga, I need at least 12 floppy emulators. 16 Euro each, I can afford it.

If needed, it is possible to buy HXC firmware licence for only 10 Euro and upgrade existing Gotek drive, adding LCD to Gotek (as on HXC emulator) is very cheap.

They use this Windows tool to flash a firmware for a reason - to prevent anyone to copy their HXC firmware (it is not possible to load it from drive). This application connect directly to HXC server, check how many licences you bought and flash the drive.

[desiv]

Originally Posted by petr22

There is a huge price difference between HXC floppy emulator and Gotek - Gotek costs only 16 Euro, HXC costs 5-10x more and do the same thing.

I have a Gotek (Cortex firmware still) and think it's great. Love the price point, and it is cheaper..
That said tho, they do and don't do the same thing. ;-)
My Gotek (Cortex) won't play some copy protected games as it only does standard ADF.

Originally Posted by petr22

If needed, it is possible to buy HXC firmware licence for only 10 Euro and upgrade existing Gotek drive, adding LCD to Gotek (as on HXC emulator) is very cheap.

Yep, this is a great feature of the Gotek hardware. I'm thinking about doing this..
That said, the HxC hardware generally is pretty easy for a non-tinkerer to install and run. No soldering.
Personally, I like soldering (tho I'm not that great), so I plan on adding the sound and possibly an LCD panel. But I can see a lot of people wanting that done for them (and I have seen Gotek's on EBay where this has been done (at least preflashed w/ HxC and sound added) for an added cost.
Think of the nicer HxC units as plug-n-play and the Gotek as more a fun hardware project.
I'm glad both exist..

Originally Posted by petr22

They use this Windows tool to flash a firmware for a reason - to prevent anyone to copy their HXC firmware (it is not possible to load it from drive). This application connect directly to HXC server, check how many licences you bought and flash the drive.

I totally get that.
Although I think that's a bit silly myself.
If someone really wanted to "steal" the firmware from a Windows machine, they probably could (and it wouldn't surprise me if someone hasn't already done that).
And you can write secure software for other platforms.

I don't see a problem with it being Windows only. But it is what's keeping me from going that way at this time.
Yes, I could VM it. I have a Win VM. Yes, I could use my wife's Win10 machine.
I choose not to... Just my choice..
At some time, I'll probably choose to do it anyway.. ;-)

Fact is, both platforms are great.
I'm glad we have options.

Indivision is a great piece of hardware. I went with a GBS. More fun to put together. Basic, cheap and works. Like me.. er.. wait.. um.. ;-)

desiv

[asapreta]

Guys, does HxC needs to have ADF converted to HFE?
All videos I see, the disks have this extension.

[Jope]

If you have the SD card version, then yes. If you have the STM32 version, then no.

[turrican9]

I have several Gotek emulators with the standard Cortex firmware. Very simple and easy to use. Just drop ADFs on a USB stick and load it up. It will just support standard 880KB ADFs but you don't really need more in my opinion. My only gripe is it will only emulate one drive. Then again I have whdload setups on my Amigas.

Benefit of HXC is that it will support more type of images and that it can emulate two floppy drives. It's much more expensive than Gotek though. It will also emulate the drive sound. However, this is too high pitched (PC beeper used) VS a real floppy drive and just annoying in my opinion

I think the Gotek will be fine for most people though. And it's cheap. Oh, and forgot to mention that since Gotek uses USB sticks it's more practical than SD cards, used by the HXC. Every PC has USB port and not all PCs have smart card readers. I bought a multi card reader that plugs into a USB for use with flash cards.