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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Upgrading FDD on a DOS system
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| PhenixRising Guru  Joined: 07/11/2023 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2037 |
Wondering if anyone can recommend a product that is known to work. I tried one of those USB types, some years ago but it was flakey as heck. |
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| bfwolf Senior Member  Joined: 03/01/2025 Location: GermanyPosts: 256 |
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "upgrading", but are you familiar with this?: https://www.gotekemulator.com/Gotek-Floppy-Drive-to-USB-Emulator.html These are available with modified firmware and pinout to fit many systems. For example, there are also modified firmwares for the Amiga (so that the device can emulate 880kB and 1760kB Amiga drives and floppy disks).  If you search on Google, you might find DIY projects on GitHub. I vaguely remember something about the Pico as well...  Greetings. |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9001 |
The Gotek is generally considered to be very reliable once it's set up right. Of course, the settings have to be correct for the disk controller in the machine. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 6008 |
Gotek: Depends on the system. I tried a Gotek in a HP54622D scope, and that was not succesfull, since it could not save screenshots as BMP, only as TIF. And they did not save as a file on the USB, but packed inside an .img file. At that time Windows could not open the .img (a floppy image). Linux could. But it was so clumbersome that I purchased a second hand floppy drive, and a USB floppy disk to attach to the PC. Volhout P.S. and I almost fried the scope since there was 12V on the 26 pin cable from the scope. And 5V logic does not like 12V. PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| bfwolf Senior Member Joined: 03/01/2025 Location: GermanyPosts: 256 |
Yes, the Gotek only stores sector data (decoded MFM bitstreams) in image files tailored to the specific system. It knows nothing about the actual file system – that would be asking too much, I think. But reading these images on PCs shouldn't be a problem anymore – 7-Zip, for example, can directly process DOS FAT disk images, and there are plenty of tools for Amiga ADF files. I think even CP/M formats shouldn't be an issue anymore?  Yes, you should definitely check the pinouts carefully beforehand to make sure they match. Something can easily go up in flames if something is completely incompatible.  There were countless variations of floppy drives. The original Shugart bus with DS via jumpers, IBM PC drives (with a modified drive select implemented via a cable with reversed DS signals), and special versions. That's probably why Gotek offers special versions, for example, for Yamaha keyboards.  Bfwolf |
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| PhenixRising Guru Joined: 07/11/2023 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2037 |
My customer has shipped two of my rackmount DOS PC-based CNC controllers(circa 1990) all the way from North Carolina to the UK (!!!) for me to "check over" while they rebuild the actual machines. They look and work like new  but apart from the hard drives, they have a 3.5" floppy.Essentially a standard DOS PC. I'd like to eliminate the 3.5" floppy in favour of something that they can actually use. I see all kinds of GOTEK drives but none that specifically state that they are fully compatible with a regular DOS PC.  |
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| al18 Senior Member Joined: 06/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 248 |
I’ve investigated Gotek drives over the years, but don’t own one yet. Gotek’s are somewhat confusing to me, because the Gotek hardware has changed a lot over the years, there are many different Gotek models and the Flash Floppy firmware has changed to support the latest hardware. Here’s a recent guide for Gotek’s https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-power-of-modern-gotek-floppy-drive.html Flash Floppy firmware is at https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy Hope this helps |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2542 |
i take it the floppy drive is the only way of getting files into and out of the machines? if it was worth the effort and expense, one option would be to add to the DOS machine a low-end Raspberry Pi that is configured to act as a headless file server, exporting any USB flash drive plugged into the Pi. it should then be possible to configure DOS to talk over ethernet to the Pi. another option would be to have the DOS running inside a VirtualBox VM, with the host OS then providing access to any attached USB flash drive to the VM. with a little effort it should be possible for the host OS to be completely hidden from the user. cheers, rob :-) Edited 2026-07-24 12:55 by robert.rozee |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9001 |
The ideal "upgrade" is, of course, to simply replace the floppy drive. :) It has all the advantages (and, unfortunately, the disadvantages) of the original system. I assume THIS will write as well as read. Then THIS to get MSDOS onto it. There are some youtube vids on cloning MSDOS onto a CFcard, but personally I'd go for a new install. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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