A couple of questions . . .

General discussion forum - for all that doesn't fit in any other category.
Post Reply
tadawson
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 4:47 am

A couple of questions . . .

Post by tadawson »

On the "Image-less mode":

Using either the test images provided in your zip, or much more elaborate configuration created on Linux, I note that this mode appears to only display a partition number - "PART00x" - for selection. Is this correct, or am I seeing something wrong?

I would have expected that, since it clearly reads the FAT disk image to determine valid partitions (went blind when I had them wrong ...), that I would have thought that it would have displayed the FAT image label added when that image was created, allowing identification of what that partition contains (as do names in normal mode). Is this correct?

If not, then I have to say, that while Image-less mode seems like a nice idea, that it really is no better than the stock firmware that came from Gotek, in that you need to maintain an external list of what is on a stick to be able to know what is being loaded. The convenience of the GPT partitions being directly mountable seems to be more for a band-aid for those choosing to cripple themselves with Windows, since access to a .img on a Linux box is a trivial excercise - mount the stick itself, and then simply mount the image:

mount /dev/sdd /mnt (the stick)

mount /mnt/FILENAME.img /mnt2 (the image)

which renders the image fully read/write and loadable with almost zero work, vs having to figure out which partition is needed for what, and then

mount /dev/sdd<n> /mnt (the partition/image)

Doesn't seem like much help with no info to select on the target device with the emulator.

Might this be something that could be added to the firmware to make it more user friendly?

My use case is for a lighting console, to replace a box of various floppies, each with a very specific, separate content - 4 images with console firmware, several with venue "template" configs, and then show files for regular acts and lastly generic show file images.

Get the wrong one, and your day may be shot, so critical to be able to easily identify and access, and at this mode, it would seem to me that Normal mode with the config file in place (to ensure the last choice comes back after power cycle or stick insertion) would be my best option.

Image-less, if it can ID as well as remember the last partition mounted (as per Normal) would seem to be a step up, if those features were added.

Regarding config files: I seem to see no means to edit these outside of the screen on the Gotek. I see mention of Linux based software, but having pulled the zip file for the software, there is absolutely nothing for Linux contained in it. Did I get the wrong download, or ???

And lastly, on upgrades. I created a "custom" firmware, copied it to the stick as per instructions (worked for the initial load, but was not on the OLED screen yet at that time.). I put the stick in, hold both buttons, and power it up. I get a blank screen, and it just stays that way ... Not sure what I am supposed to see for an upgrade with an OLED (nothing seen in the docs) and even waiting 10 minutes, nothing resolves. Unresponsive to the buttons, or a stick removal. Power cycle comes back up fine, but on the initial firmware - nothing was loaded. Am I missing a step here, or ? ? ?

(UPDATE: Pulled down the image again, and left the name alone (had altered, but still .UPD as per docs) and this time it worked. Still no display during the update though . . . *something* would be nice to know it's not dead, considering the "show" you get on the 7 segment!)

(Note that this is a duplicate of an email sent directly. It appears that this project uses an internet provided that can't be bothered to maintain a consistent IP for it's traffic, and my spam blocking process keeps eating things as fast as I can open them . . . so sorry for the duplication!).

Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 8092
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:12 am
Location: Paris
Contact:

Re: A couple of questions . . .

Post by Jeff »

Yes the internal name display is planned in a future firmware version.

For the linux checkout the repository and do a "make" in the "build" folder :

https://sourceforge.net/p/hxcfloppyemu/ ... yEmulator/

The software is also available on some distribution thought flatpak (should be at least available on ubuntu and similar distributions, check your software manager)

https://flathub.org/apps/details/fr.fre ... pyEmulator

(Please note that most of the options/settings can be changed directly on the emulator. :
https://hxc2001.com/docs/gotek-floppy-e ... tings.html )

For the "image less" last selected partition : i just need to find the place to save it. i think i use/ turn a flag in the last selected partition boot sector.

About the bootloader : Yes it will be time to update it. This still the 2015 version designed for the original gotek 7 segments screen. That's why the oled screen is black. I think i will just use the red LED to avoid these screens compatibility issues. (i don't plan to support all the screens variants & models just for the update process...).

tadawson
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 4:47 am

Re: A couple of questions . . .

Post by tadawson »

Red LED? The units I just purchased omly have the single green, umless a second LED is added. Seems like perhaps they dropped the RED, although the pads still appear to be on the board.

That's not really a big deal, since I doubt there will be rampant updates. It just ought to be documented somewhere . . .

Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 8092
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:12 am
Location: Paris
Contact:

Re: A couple of questions . . .

Post by Jeff »

This is now fixed... At the documentation side :wink:

Post Reply