Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

HxC Floppy Emulator on Atari ST support
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Sowden
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Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:17 am

Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

Hey guys. So a guy came to me and wanted me to install my old Gotek I had. It has HxC2001 v3.0.8.2a and the machine is a STE with Rainbow TOS. I got it installed but it started acting real wonkey on me. For one no matter what I mount in slot 001 it would never read, even if I put the same disk in another slot. Sometimes it wouldn't boot on the first time I turn it on after being off for a while. It would display the "hXc" on the display. So my first thought was to upgrade the firmware. But when I tired, it would flash the number "003" on the display and it would never update. I've also tried another thumb drive and I got the same result. Does anyone know what I might do or might be missing? Thanks.

Jeff
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Jeff »

Sowden wrote:
Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:58 pm
Hey guys. So a guy came to me and wanted me to install my old Gotek I had. It has HxC2001 v3.0.8.2a and the machine is a STE with Rainbow TOS. I got it installed but it started acting real wonkey on me. For one no matter what I mount in slot 001 it would never read, even if I put the same disk in another slot. Sometimes it wouldn't boot on the first time I turn it on after being off for a while. It would display the "hXc" on the display. So my first thought was to upgrade the firmware. But when I tired, it would flash the number "003" on the display and it would never update. I've also tried another thumb drive and I got the same result. Does anyone know what I might do or might be missing? Thanks.
v3.0.8.2a is a prehistoric version ! Please update to the current version first !

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

https://hxc2001.com/docs/gotek-floppy-e ... pdate.html

Sowden
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:17 am

Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

As I've been working with it it seems to be getting worse. I used to be able to get into the file manager, but now every time I turn on the machine I just get the "hXc" signal. And yeah I figured that the firmware was quite old, thats why I am trying to upgrade it. I figured from your post that I have a FAT error. So I have tried formatting to FAT32 (cause FAT is not supported, correct?) and I've still been getting that response. I have a feeling that I might need to have it reflashed with your firmware. What do you think? Thanks.

Jeff_HxC2001
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Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:31 am

Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Jeff_HxC2001 »

Sowden wrote:
Tue Aug 06, 2019 2:53 am
As I've been working with it it seems to be getting worse. I used to be able to get into the file manager, but now every time I turn on the machine I just get the "hXc" signal. And yeah I figured that the firmware was quite old, thats why I am trying to upgrade it. I figured from your post that I have a FAT error. So I have tried formatting to FAT32 (cause FAT is not supported, correct?) and I've still been getting that response. I have a feeling that I might need to have it reflashed with your firmware. What do you think? Thanks.
Have you updated the file selector software ? :
https://github.com/jfdelnero/HXCFE_file ... r/releases

Sowden
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Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:17 am

Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

Oh, I was unaware there was two things we could have updated. I grabbed the updated file sector software and it didn't seem to help any. I tried a third different thumb drive and the file manager booted. I tried the firmware update and it actually worked! It was having trouble with two USB sticks that I tried first. But now I am having a different problem. I am able to boot the manager and mount .st files. Problem is when I select slot 001 or 002, when the machine boots I get this "Err" message and it goes back to slot 000, boots the file manager again. It seems to do this on all of the thumb drives I try. Any ideas? Thanks for your help so far.

Jeff
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Jeff »

Sowden wrote:
Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:48 pm
Oh, I was unaware there was two things we could have updated. I grabbed the updated file sector software and it didn't seem to help any. I tried a third different thumb drive and the file manager booted. I tried the firmware update and it actually worked! It was having trouble with two USB sticks that I tried first. But now I am having a different problem. I am able to boot the manager and mount .st files. Problem is when I select slot 001 or 002, when the machine boots I get this "Err" message and it goes back to slot 000, boots the file manager again. It seems to do this on all of the thumb drives I try. Any ideas? Thanks for your help so far.
Are you sure that you have updated the firmware ? Which versions you read in the file selector foot-page ?

Sowden
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

It says v3.3.8.2a. Should I try an older version to see if it works?

Jeff
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Jeff »

Sowden wrote:
Wed Aug 07, 2019 5:44 pm
It says v3.3.8.2a. Should I try an older version to see if it works?
No. which ST files are you using (File size ?)

EDIT : Replace your config file with the one(s) present in the firmware archive :
https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_dri ... rmware.zip

Sowden
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

Alright, so I replaced the config file from the zip you told me to. I used the Auto config file. It fixed it for about 10 minutes. It was then booting to 000 to a blank green desktop. Now that I go back to check it to confirm that I post correct information here, it just started working again. I don't know why it keeps on going off and on like this. I am having to hand this off to someone that I'm fixing it for, and I am leary of it breaking while it's in his hands. But then again as I am typing this, it goes back to a green desktop again. Yeah I think the device I have is broken.

Jeff
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Jeff »

Sowden wrote:
Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:11 pm
Alright, so I replaced the config file from the zip you told me to. I used the Auto config file. It fixed it for about 10 minutes. It was then booting to 000 to a blank green desktop. Now that I go back to check it to confirm that I post correct information here, it just started working again. I don't know why it keeps on going off and on like this. I am having to hand this off to someone that I'm fixing it for, and I am leary of it breaking while it's in his hands. But then again as I am typing this, it goes back to a green desktop again. Yeah I think the device I have is broken.
So sometime you don't have the drive icons on the desktop ? This may be a floppy ribbon issue or a machine issue. The jumper is set to S0 ?

Sowden
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:17 am

Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

Hey there. I finally got it to work properly, and yes the jumper was set to S0. We went through so many things, so what did we learn here? For 1. make sure it's plugged in properly. I am using a very long extension cable so I have to bunch it up underneath the ST keyboard to make it all fit. I guess 2. and 3. that we need to update not only the firmware, but the loading software as well. The loading software can be obtained through the GitHub link and the latter on your site as always. I also guess that 4. to use a newer thumb drive. I would get errors and couldn't update the firmware on a older thumb drive I was using. Did I miss anything? Thanks for your help.

Sowden
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Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:17 am

Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Sowden »

Alright, so I picked it up to turn it on before I gave it back to him, and its not working again. The thumb drive I had it working on my last post doesn't work anymore. I get a "hxc" message on the display. I had an older USB thumb stick that wasn't working when I started this, now it boots to the loader. But after I slot images and boot them, I get a "Err" message and it goes back to the loader. I also got a new thumb drive, a USB 3.0 one, and it gives me the same messages as the first one I tried. I also opened the ST. unplugged the floppy extension cable and plugged it into the Gotek directly. Got the same results. I would try to update the firmware but every thumb drive I have gives me a error "003" which means its a thumb drive error. I have no idea why this same thumb drive worked when I last posted this, sat it down for a month or so and won't work now. I am at my wits end with this thing and just about to quit. Unless there is anything you can think of I think this guy is a dead dog. Thanks man.

Jeff
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Re: Problems with my Gotek with Hxc

Post by Jeff »

Just use a clean/empty CFG file from the firmware archive :
https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_dri ... rmware.zip

And you should definitively check the machine power supply... Maybe the thumbs doesn't work cause of a 5V voltage issue...

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