Hard sector format

[Jeff]

kf loader fixed. Now starting to work on the hard sector importation.

[snhirsch]

That is EXCELLENT news. Thanks, Jeff! Quite a number of us in the Heath & Northstar communities are looking forward to this. Please keep me in mind for Beta testing?

[Jeff]

That is EXCELLENT news. Thanks, Jeff! Quite a number of us in the Heath & Northstar communities are looking forward to this. Please keep me in mind for Beta testing?

Very first images to test :

https://hxc2001.com/vrac/HS/

[snhirsch]

Thanks, Jeff. Unfortunately, the HxC fails to recognize those HFE files. I copied them to the SD card, but I cannot select them on the HxC - it never shows them.

[Jeff]

Thanks, Jeff. Unfortunately, the HxC fails to recognize those HFE files. I copied them to the SD card, but I cannot select them on the HxC - it never shows them.

... i thought you got the HxC firmware for Gotek...
You should have mentioned this since the beginning because hard sector support into the sd hxc is another story...

[Jeff]

There's a comment in the floppy emulator changelog about the AFI format supporting hard sector emulation. If I am able to generate an appropriate AFI file, can the HxC (STM32 USB) properly act as a hard sector diskette? If it can, where can I find documentation for this format?

There are a number of us out here who would like to use the HxC with Heath and Northstar computers. I have documentation on the track format for both of these.

"can the HxC (STM32 USB)". Why you are testing it on SD HxC now ?

[snhirsch]

I thought hard-sector support was just a matter of the HFE format and didn't realize it was also firmware dependent. Now that I know, I'll be glad to test on the Gotek. I assume I need the very latest firmware for it?

[snhirsch]

I updated one of my Gotek units to the latest Beta firmware and tried the Heath image. Unfortunately, it does not work. Any attempt at reading or booting from it results in a disk error message. I tried formatting it, but the format program hangs.

Not sure what information you will need to diagnose this. If it will help, I have a logic analyzer and can capture traces from both a working floppy and the Gotek.

It will take me a day or two to setup for testing on the Northstar. Will let you know what I find.

[snhirsch]

My spare Northstar Advantage was more accessible than I thought. I was able to set it up and try the Northstar images. Neither of them could be read, booted nor formatted . There's an immediate disk error on the first sector it tries to access.

I definitely won't have time to setup the logic analyzer until next weekend. If you're looking for anything in particular, please let me know. Otherwise I'll setup to trigger on active drive select and capture the index and read-data signals. The analyzer should have enough memory to capture a full track.

[Dutchacorn]

... I tried formatting it, but the format program hangs...

From the information on the HxC site I understand that the USB gotek is read-only? So formatting would never work?

[Jeff]

... I tried formatting it, but the format program hangs...

From the information on the HxC site I understand that the USB gotek is read-only? So formatting would never work?

This is a different hardware. Writing/Formatting is working with the Gotek USB HxC firmware.

BUT as i said in a previous post, the write support will not work yet with hard sectored images. Don't even try otherwise you will probably corrupt the image.

[Jeff]

My spare Northstar Advantage was more accessible than I thought. I was able to set it up and try the Northstar images. Neither of them could be read, booted nor formatted . There's an immediate disk error on the first sector it tries to access.

I definitely won't have time to setup the logic analyzer until next weekend. If you're looking for anything in particular, please let me know. Otherwise I'll setup to trigger on active drive select and capture the index and read-data signals. The analyzer should have enough memory to capture a full track.

Would be nice to have the exact specifications of the Northstar drives (Number of tracks, double step needed ?, rpm...) .

[Jeff]

My spare Northstar Advantage was more accessible than I thought. I was able to set it up and try the Northstar images. Neither of them could be read, booted nor formatted . There's an immediate disk error on the first sector it tries to access.

I definitely won't have time to setup the logic analyzer until next weekend. If you're looking for anything in particular, please let me know. Otherwise I'll setup to trigger on active drive select and capture the index and read-data signals. The analyzer should have enough memory to capture a full track.

Just checked the index signal with the ns images, all index are there. But tons of parameters must be checked : index duration, index offset vs the sector data, bitrate/rpm, out data duty cycle, are the sectors valid ?...

btw you are using a special version of the kf dtc to dump the hardsectored disks ?

[snhirsch]

My spare Northstar Advantage was more accessible than I thought. I was able to set it up and try the Northstar images. Neither of them could be read, booted nor formatted . There's an immediate disk error on the first sector it tries to access.

I definitely won't have time to setup the logic analyzer until next weekend. If you're looking for anything in particular, please let me know. Otherwise I'll setup to trigger on active drive select and capture the index and read-data signals. The analyzer should have enough memory to capture a full track.

Would be nice to have the exact specifications of the Northstar drives (Number of tracks, double step needed ?, rpm...) .

Hi, Jeff. I've sent you full information on the N* and Heath format several times - at your request. Re: your questions above:

- Standard track spacing (no double-step)
- 35 tracks per side
- Standard floppy speed

Both Northstar and Heath use absolutely standard Shugart SA-400 style mechanisms. Nothing out of the ordinary.

If there is anything else you need, please ask. I can re-send (again) all the information on both formats if you are unable to locate it.

[snhirsch]

My spare Northstar Advantage was more accessible than I thought. I was able to set it up and try the Northstar images. Neither of them could be read, booted nor formatted . There's an immediate disk error on the first sector it tries to access.

I definitely won't have time to setup the logic analyzer until next weekend. If you're looking for anything in particular, please let me know. Otherwise I'll setup to trigger on active drive select and capture the index and read-data signals. The analyzer should have enough memory to capture a full track.

Just checked the index signal with the ns images, all index are there. But tons of parameters must be checked : index duration, index offset vs the sector data, bitrate/rpm, out data duty cycle, are the sectors valid ?...

btw you are using a special version of the kf dtc to dump the hardsectored disks ?

Yes, I did mention this before. This is a Beta test version of dtc with changes to make it play better with hard-sector diskettes. It is very possible they have extended the file format in some manner. Please contact the KF folks if you need input on that - they are very interested in getting the hard-sector capture / emulate flow working.

You did not respond to my question about logic analyzer trace. If it will help, I'll setup and capture it. Please let me know?