Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

HxC Floppy Emulator on Amiga support
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amiga_3k
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Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:14 pm

Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by amiga_3k »

Probably I'm doing something stupidly wrong but can't figure out what.

The configuration I use:
Amiga 600:
- Mobo revision: 1.1
- Capacitors replaced in 2017 by professional.
- CHIP RAM expansion board in the trapdoor to up it to 2 MB (so NO FAST RAM)
- Kickstart 3.1
- No visible modification to the motherboard
- Single IDE to CF converter with 4 GB CF card and Workbench 3.1 installed
- CF is partitioned as DH0 and DH1
- No DF1 connected

Gotek:
- No revision information on the PCB
- Flashed with the latest firmware from the HxC2001 site
- HXCFEUSB_HFE_V3_0_8_2a.upd
- HXCSDFE.CFG (autoboot mode)
- AUTOBOOT.HFE
- Only jumper 'set' is SD0
- Connected to internal Amiga 600 floppy-header (as DF0 replacement) using a straight floppy cable (no twists).

I'm using a 16 GB USB 2.0 memory stick (SanDisk Cruzer).

How I use this:
With the first start I used the 'hit both gotek buttons on startup' to load the upd file. After a couple of seconds the loading is done and after some more seconds I'm greeted with the selector screen. Use F3 to get into settings (out of curiosity) and put the DF1 option to 'no'. I then select the disks (ADFs tested on WinUAE) I want (for instance Lost Vikings Disk 1 into slot 001, Lost Vikings Disk 2 into slot 002), press F7 to save and reboot and after reboot the disk 1 (001) gets read but when I'm asked to swap disks (push the button to select 002) nothing happens.

If I repeat the selection method and place, say, the Workbench Extras and Fonts disks in location 001 and 002 and boot into Workbench on the CF-card (using early startup) I can open the Extras disk but when I do a disk-swap a couple of unexpected things happen:
- Df0 changes to NDOS
- Df1 icon appears, also as NDOS (or... strangely sometimes as Fonts but changing back to 001 will create NDOS for both Df0 and Df1)

That's pretty useless. Same behavior occurs with the latest Cortex firmware/software combination, that's why I went for HxC).
So it got me experimenting further. When booting into the startup-selection screen of Kickstart 3.1 I notice not only DF0 but also DF1, which I think is weird as the gotek is jumpered to be DF0 and the DF1 option was set to no in the HxC selection software. Normally, only the available devices should show up here.

So, which part of the manual did I not read or what am I doing stupidly wrong? Any help is appreciated so I can finish the designs for a gotek-replacement housing so it will fit the A500, A600 and A1200 internally without modifying the case and still keep the controls and USB accecible.

Jeff
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Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by Jeff »

Seems to be an hardware problem. Which floppy ribbon are your using ? Is there a twist on it ?

amiga_3k
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Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:14 pm

Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by amiga_3k »

Hi Jeff,

The ribbon-cable used to connect the Gotek to the Amiga is a 'straight' floppy-ribbon. So, no twists. I made sure the pin 1 on the motherboard goes to the pin 1 of the Gotek. Also, the cable shows no damage.

Jeff
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Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by Jeff »

amiga_3k wrote:
Sun Sep 03, 2017 3:18 pm
Hi Jeff,

The ribbon-cable used to connect the Gotek to the Amiga is a 'straight' floppy-ribbon. So, no twists. I made sure the pin 1 on the motherboard goes to the pin 1 of the Gotek. Also, the cable shows no damage.
not sure if this will change anything, but try the very last firmware i have just release :

https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_driv ... rmware.zip

Into Next_WIP_Alpha_Firmware_And_Tools -> HxCFEUSB_V3_0_25_1a.UPD

amiga_3k
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:14 pm

Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by amiga_3k »

That didn't help either. Now, as I must admit the Gotek was bought in used condition, I'm not aware of the hardware revision nor what has been done to it in the past. So I decided to order a set of brand new drives to see if the issue will be gone. Keep you posted.

amiga_3k
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:14 pm

Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by amiga_3k »

Turned out the Gotek was dodgy. Got hold of a brand new one today, loaded the Cortex firmware (I used up the unit I bought on the defective drive) and it now sees disk-changes as expected. Can even play Pinball Dreams now :D

Jeff
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Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by Jeff »

That's often the problem with shitty/unauthorized hardware... ;)

amiga_3k
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Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:14 pm

Re: Amiga 600, Gotek, HxC, ndos after diskchange

Post by amiga_3k »

If I'm curious enough I will have a good look at both units and try to see what is different between the two units. One thing that is apparent is that when selecting a new ADF on the new unit, for a fraction of a second the LED-display turns off where as the old drive the unit remained on. So, something is different... now to find what, why, and can it be fixed to help others with comparable issues.

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