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Initial Setup
Initial setup has two basic steps:
- Set up the physical interface to the host system
- Configure the operating mode for image navigation
By default FlashFloppy will emulate the Shugart floppy interface. This is compatible with a broad range of systems including Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, and many other devices. Shugart-compatible systems will typically expect the Gotek to respond as 'unit 0'. Therefore place the selection jumper at location S0 at the rear of the Gotek.
IBM PC compatibles use a slightly modified interface which places the disk-changed signal on a different pin. To select this interface mode place a jumper at location JC at the rear of the Gotek. The host system may expect the Gotek to respond as 'unit 1': in this case place the selection jumper at location S1 at the rear of the Gotek.
An alternative method to specify the interface mode (Shugart or PC) is via the FF.CFG file.
See Host Platforms for detailed instructions and troubleshooting for specific host systems.
FlashFloppy requires a USB drive formatted with FAT32 (note that ExFAT and NTFS are not supported). Most USB sticks are factory-formatted appropriately. If erasing the entire drive on a Mac, be sure to select the legacy "Master Boot Record" partitioning scheme.
FlashFloppy supports three different operating modes. For the best experience across the widest range of host systems, Native mode is recommended in combination with an LCD or OLED display.
- Native mode: No need for any configuration files. Allows direct selection of any valid image file on your USB stick.
- Indexed mode: Switches between image names of the form DSKA0000 and so on.
- HxC Compatibility mode: A legacy mode requiring an image-selector program to run on the host system to pre-assign disk images to numbered slots.
In this mode you need no configuration files or selector software (however, as in all operating modes, you may optionally configure FlashFloppy via FF.CFG).
Behaviour depends on which display type you have connected:
- LCD/OLED: FlashFloppy will allow you to select between any valid image file and any folder within the current directory. Selecting a folder will make that the new current directory, and list any image files and subfolders within.
- 7-Segment LED: FlashFloppy will automatically assign all valid images in the root folder of your USB stick to slots which you can switch between using the Gotek buttons.
In all cases, the following folders and images are ignored and will not be listed for navigation:
- Any name beginning with a dot (.)
- Any file which is not a valid image (eg. unrecognised filename extension)
- Any folder or image with the FAT "Hidden" attribute set
- Root folder called FF/
- Any folder called __MACOSX/ (these get strewn around by macOS)
This mode is configured via FF.CFG: nav-mode = indexed.
FlashFloppy will switch between image names of the form DSKA0000*.*, DSKA0001*.*, and so on. Each image which will be automatically assigned to the corresponding numbered slot. Note that any supported image type can be used.
Note that an arbitrary filename is allowed after the DSKAnnnn prefix (eg. DSKA0000_myimage.img). Additionally, the DSKA prefix can be changed in FF.CFG (indexed-prefix=).
This mode selects between pre-assigned slots in an HXCSDFE.CFG file. These slots are configured by an image-selector program running on the host system, either in ROM or (more typically) an AUTOBOOT.HFE image compatible with your system, copied to the root of your USB drive. Supported systems include Amiga, Atari ST, and Amstrad CPC. Note that for enhanced compatibility, the correct files for Amiga and Atari ST are included in the FlashFloppy release distribution.
The Gotek buttons cycle between the assigned slots in the config file. To reassign slots boot the file selector: this is immediately accessible in slot 0 by pressing both Gotek buttons at any time. Configuration with the host selector software is straightforward: assign files from your USB stick to drive A "slots". On reboot, these slots are accessible via the up and down buttons on the front of the Gotek. Holding a button will cycle faster through the populated slots. Pressing both buttons will take you immediately to the file selector.
Important Note: HxC assigns images to slots by physical location on the USB stick, rather than by full path name. This means that if you move files around within the filesystem, the slot assignments will break with unpredictable results (FlashFloppy error messages, garbage disk images, etc). You must not copy a new image over an old, or file-by-file copy one USB stick to another, unless you subsequently refresh the slot assignments in HXCSDFE.CFG.
Copy the following files to the root of your USB drive:
- HxC_Compat_Mode/Amiga/AUTOBOOT.HFE
- HxC_Compat_Mode/HXCSDFE.CFG
Copy the following files to the root of your USB drive:
- HxC_Compat_Mode/Atari_ST/AUTOBOOT.HFE
- HxC_Compat_Mode/HXCSDFE.CFG
The latest files can be found on the CPC scene website.
Copy the following file to the root of your USB drive:
- HxC_Compat_Mode/HXCSDFE.CFG