USB Floppy emulator Opinions - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: rfdes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 12:26:43 am
content: I am considering purchase several of the thin 1.44 MB USB Floppy emulators (GOTEK) to replace some Tektronix and HP test equipment Floppy drives. I would appreciate good/bad comments in regards to using these Floppy emulators. I've heard several people claim that they do not work that well but I never heard as to the why they were problematic.Your opinions are welcome -thanksJim

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 01:24:54 am
content: Try searching the HP_Agilent Yahoo! group. I am sure it has been discussed there in the past. Probably also in the TekScopes group (available publicly on groups.io). I remember some of the low-profile ones being too tall to fit. In addition to that, not all instruments use a standard pin-out, so you may have to fabricate your own cable.

author: shteii01
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 01:30:45 am
content: Just of the top I found it interesting that on ebay those devices often advertised as replacements for electronic keyboards or some other electronic musical devices. I am not a musician and not familiar with those, but is it possible they use some proprietary protocols that would make them unsuitable for using in pc?What alm said about different pin out might also be part of it.

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 01:39:48 am
content: Pretty sure some of those advertised for synthesizers work for test equipment. I do not know specifics.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 05:49:01 am
content: Quote from: rfdes on July 07, 2017, 12:26:43 amThey don't have a good user interface so it is very easy to screw things up. Insert a stick, press the wrong button and it erases the screendumps you use made. I have tried one in my TDS744A but I removed it the same day. If you are only after screendumps then a VGA framegrabber (even a USB one) may be a better solution.

author: eb4eqa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 09:31:32 am
content: Hi. Buy with caution. I got two of the slim GOTEK units, one for the 8753ES VNA and the other for the Lecroy LT344 and I was unable to make them work. "User Guide" is non-existent, there are a few similar papers horribly written that are supposed to apply to units that after a few seconds you see do not apply to the unit you have. Then you have to find a USB pendrive that actually works, usually old and low capacity. Then the instrument tries to read the virtual drive before writing, but you have to set the unit to WRITE so it fails. Of course help from the chinese seller that also sells woman underwear and fishing accessories is completely useless.In a word, a complete fail. At least they are cheap so you can try. A big more expensive and probably much better are the ones fromhttp://www.lotharek.pl/but I have no experience with them.Good luck and keeps us posted please :-)Regards,Robeto

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 10:44:25 am
content: the gotek drives are designed for industrial sewing machines & similar stuff.they are only popular on ebay because there is 3rd-party firmware to use them on the Amiga.i have had about 5 of them and would never use them with the original firmware.

author: rfdes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 10:53:49 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on July 07, 2017, 05:49:01 amButtons? What are the buttons for? I thought you only would need to insert the 'stick' and all is good. Please explain.

author: rfdes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 10:57:24 am
content: Quote from: stj on July 07, 2017, 10:44:25 amSo, you are saying that someone has managed to reprogram the hardware for a custom application? That's interesting. Do you have a link for this 3rd party firmware?

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 11:50:21 am
content: https://cortexamigafloppydrive.wordpress.com/http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/index.html(big page - search the word "gotek")i think there are more.because it's very cheap, arm based and we have the schems - it's seen as a good base to use.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 05:41:25 pm
content: Quote from: rfdes on July 07, 2017, 10:53:49 amIt doesn't work that way. One button is to read files into the memory of the emulator and the other is to dump the memory onto the USB stick. It is definitely not some kind of bridge!

author: GlowingGhoul
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 06:53:30 pm
content: I have used these successfully in a wide range of applications. Far superior to gotek:http://www.lotharek.pl/category.php?kid=7

author: ps
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2017, 07:19:36 pm
content: Quote from: rfdes on July 07, 2017, 10:53:49 amWith the regular GOTEK SFR1M44 you can have up to 999 floppy disk images on your USB pendrive. The currently selected image is indicated by the LED display. Press the right button to increment the 1s, press the left one for the 10s and both together for the 100s.In original configuration it emulates a Teac FD235 jumpered for PC use. Test equipment may need a different configuration of /DiskChanged, /Ready, Drive Select and Motor On and the HD/DD select line. Old floppy drives had a lot of jumpers to configure these signals (both for the 34 pin and 26 pin connector), but after IBM PC became the universal standard most of the configuration options disappeared.Here is a schematic of the unit where you can see which signal goes to which pin:http://www.tonmann.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/gotek_usb_floppy_mod2.png

author: rfdes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2017, 09:58:30 am
content: Thanks guys for your advice and opinions.I guess what confuses me is that GOTEK appears to sell a 720K and 1.44MB version under different part numbers and I'm wondering if these are nothing more than a jumper swap? Are these units, in reality, the same? I would certainly have to believe so.I realize that the low profile model is a different hardware design(26 pin vs 34 pin) but the units I saw online (just a few) are advertised as 720K models. Does anyone know firsthand if these low profile models are also 1.44M models with a different jumper setting?

author: martinator
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2017, 10:38:22 am
content: It's the software/firmware version that decides 720 or 1.44 not jumpers as far as I know/remember but you can buy a 1.44mb Gotek which is usually cheaper than the 720k ones and then re-program it with the HXC floppy emulator firmware and this gives more image support etchttps://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=43416Some of the other posts already contain relevant information so I won't duplicate that.The Gotek drives are not as fast as a proper ready built floppy emulator like the HxC because of the usb stack vs sd card access time thingy.Having a fast usb stick increases the speed of saving/loading but they are fine margins so no need to buy a turbo extreme stick just get a decent one.

author: testpoint
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2017, 03:24:20 pm
content: forget the emulator, I try to use it instead of the old drive in many instruments, OTDR etc, but never success, from the theory, the system can not support the USB port, now, the best way is, replace the old floppy drive, find a new one replace it (new Mitsumi, 5 USD), and use the floppy disk (2 USD), if you want to exchange the data with PC, OK, buy a new USB floppy drive (5 USD), at least, you can use several years.

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2017, 04:20:24 pm
content: the reason it fails is because pc drives (and the standard gotek firmware) to not comply with the shugart standard.they ditched and swapped some pins on the connector.pins like "index" and "disk-change".that's why pc drives dont work on old stuff like amiga's etc.