FlashFloppy / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

lowrybt1
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by lowrybt1 »

Thanks Philip. The HxC2001 appears to be having no trouble tracking to zero. I tried to mix up the jumper settings per your suggestion but no joy. I can confirm an additional symptom, however.

Before the system freezes, the screen always changes color with the characters becoming very difficult to read. The machine (and HxC drive) continue to work, you just can’t figure out what is on the screen. Ultimately, I warm boot the machine and it is from here that it seems the machine (the C4) is frozen. Interestingly, the drive activity light on the HxC turns off after a period. Theres’s no appropriate response to key-presses (H, D or M). Sometimes, hitting D will make the drive jump one track and the drive activity light on the HxC comes on briefly before going out. Power down, cold boot and nothing happens because it seems the disk image is corrupted. Power down, plug in a 5.25 drive and that works great.

Googling, I found some references to HxC drives not behaving when used as drive A with Atari’s -- that setting the HxC as drive B results in reliable operation. I’m going to try that with a twisted cable which I’m sure will result in all sorts of interesting sleuthing.

Tom
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nama
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by nama »

I have one 5.25" drive as B, and the Gotek as A. Both are on the same cable, no twist needed, just jumper settings.

Anyway, let us know how you get on.

Phil

2P (1mhz 32k) - 502 + 8k + CEGMON + garbage collector fix BASIC, D&N MEM-CM9 + 24k, 540 (mono) [SOLD]
4PMF (2mhz 24k) - 505, 540, 527, D13 + 5.25" + Gotek
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Spares - 3 x 527, 1 x 505, Backplane
nama
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by nama »

I also wonder if this is an issue:
"Possible source of problem #1: the 505 board has been modified to accommodate two 5.25 drives with separate drive cables for A and B. Somehow this modification creates an incompatibility with the HxC (and/or the D-13 which I’ve not modified in any way). Disabling the dual drive setting in the HxC CFG file does not resolve the issue."
My C4 hasn't been modified. Used to be a one drive system.
Now I run 2 drives from the same cable, from the D13...no twist. Jumper settings on the drives dictate A or B

Phil

2P (1mhz 32k) - 502 + 8k + CEGMON + garbage collector fix BASIC, D&N MEM-CM9 + 24k, 540 (mono) [SOLD]
4PMF (2mhz 24k) - 505, 540, 527, D13 + 5.25" + Gotek
Superboard RevD - CEGMON + 610 board 24k + D13
Spares - 3 x 527, 1 x 505, Backplane
Mark
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Re: Flash Floppy / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by Mark »

...

Regarding the potential incompatibility, Mark can you confirm the bitrate, sectors per track and bytes per sectors in the HFE images? I think the HxC might not accommodate 125,000 bit/sec?

Why do I think there might be a signal issue? The HxC drive activity light is on solid from the moment the C4 is powered on. That should not be, I think.

Phil, even with write protect turned on at the firmware level and/or on the SD card itself, the card (and device) get corrupted. I’m wondering if the HxC has some small bit of CMOS memory related to configuration that gets messed up.

Overall, I’m feeling really good about the D-13 being calibrated and having 4 fully-functional 5.25” drives -- but it’s inevitable that those old drives will fail. It’s very exciting to see OSD65D boot from an SD card and I know I’m close to having that sorted out. Is there a version/model of the GoTek you would recommend more than another and can you recommend a good DIY site for updating the GoTek firmware to flashfloppy?

Many thanks, Tom
The bitrate for the generated HFE images is actually 250,000 bit/sec for 5.25", there are 2 bits for each encoded OSI bit cell so the output data shouldn't be faster than 125,000 bps. This was done to mirror the conversion from a kryoflux dump of a real disk.
I thought the generated images might be too short for HxC so I increased the padding to match the length from the kyroflux conversion. HxC disk tools show the correct bitrate and RPM set in the track data header, but when missing the RPM setting as the kryoflux dump did, the tools hang. Not sure why. I'll put up OSIHFE V1.1 in the next day or so.

There is a nice conversion tutorial here: Exxos Forum
I had the best success using the USB A-A initial flash method. It takes only seconds to flash and did so without errors.
My Gotek drive was $14.43 from one of the eBay sellers here
I don't have any complaints or recommendations. I'm waiting for receive some OLED displays to upgrade the track display!

Cheers,
-Mark
Last edited by Mark on Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
MK14HAK
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by MK14HAK »

lowrybt1 wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:40 am
Theres’s no appropriate response to key-presses (H, D or M).

Tom
Tom have you got a ROM or RAM fault ? Try the RAM test program maybe.
Seems CPU has run amuk and written to HI memory areas DE00 will change video format and colour and it has probably written to CXXX and corrupted your image.
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lowrybt1
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by lowrybt1 »

Thanks, Mark. I had looked at one of the images using the HxCFloppy Emulator software and saw the 250,000 bit rate which I thought curious but the image was booting so I figured there was a reason for the 2x. Thanks for explaining. And thanks for the link to the GoTek upgrade DIY. I have one on order.

Haven’t had time to reposition the drive on the twisted cable but will do so soon. Also, found $5.00 straight-through (no twist) cables for single or multiple drives at IEC.net. (Of course, shipping is $10). These are still being produced (or stockpiled) for the TI-99/4 community.

I have two additional thoughts, one of which I can test easily enough:

1. is it possible there is something unique about the image of OS65DV3.3 I keep using/testing that leads to a subtle issue, or that triggers symptoms because of a some memory issue in the C4? Easy enough to try another image to see what happens.

2. Mark, the HxC2001 claimed the CFG you kindly offered is corrupt. I noticed that unzipped it was 64K compared to 8K for a CFG file created with the HxC Floppy Emulator tool. Perhaps the CFG file works with GoTek/FlashFloppy and not with HxC. I will find out soon enough.

And to close on a light note, last night I played Time-Trek for 45 minutes -- for the first time in 35 years.
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lowrybt1
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by lowrybt1 »

Mark, we were cross-posting.... I think your diagnosis is the most likely valid explanation. Can you point me to a RAM test program? Thanks, Tom
C8PDF w. 48K, 2x 520 24K RAM boards and Glitchworks 64K board
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MK14HAK
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by MK14HAK »

Try Dave's excellent OSI resource:

http://osiweb.org/software.html

Mike
600RevB:16K,2MHz,64x32,470,CEGMON
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lowrybt1
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by lowrybt1 »

I completed memory checks and found no errors which is good since I had replaced all the 2114’s on the 505 and 540 last year and my memory expansion card is a GW-OSI-RAM1. Something that I missed previously is the HxC reporting WE (write error) after things go bad with the image (which makes sense). Sometimes the Write Error appears when I power up the C4P while the boot/disk image is already selected on the HxC. The power on actuals cause the track counter on the HxC to jump a few tracks. My non-expert feeling is that there is some fundamental incompatibility. I’ll have a GoTek soon and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens when I’ve load FlashFloppy.

Could there be some difference in the way that the HxC processes HFE files versus the GoTek? One thing I’ve noted is that the CFG file that Mark and Philip shared is 60K (compared to the standard 8K CFG file produced by the HxC FloppyEmulator) and the HxC refuses to see the 60K file as valid.

Tom
C8PDF w. 48K, 2x 520 24K RAM boards and Glitchworks 64K board
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lowrybt1
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Re: HxC / Gotek floppy emu working with OSI disk images

Post by lowrybt1 »

The Gotek arrived. Attached it as drive A and loaded the images Philip had supplied. Basically, it works great. The images boot, the machine is stable, nothing freezes. The one minor-minor exception is a hiccup with the image of Tutorial Disk 5. After X minutes, a bit flips somewhere and the screen goes from B&W mode to color mode (64x32). Doesn't happen with the other image. And if I boot Tutorial Disk 5 using a legacy floppy drive, the screen setting doesn't change, no issue with color mode just turning on. 56832 is the value that gets poked to change screening settings. On the off-chance there's something wrong with the 2114 IC related to the 56832, I may pull and replace it. Does anyone know precisely which memory chip is responsible for this setting on the 540B?

(Mark, I've not tested the Gotek yet with HFE images created with OSIHFE. Will do that soon.)

In any event, it's great. I will now begin copying images of my old floppies onto DSK00X.HFE files.

Many thanks!
C8PDF w. 48K, 2x 520 24K RAM boards and Glitchworks 64K board
OSI 567 Telephony board
Spare 8" drives
Klyball D-13
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