I personally went for 'GoEX' drives a couple of years ago, one for my A500+ and one for an A1200. They mount similar to an internal Gotek except they're slimline and fit perfectly in the floppy bay. They use SD Cards instead of USB and have a jog wheel with button and slim screen mounted on the case grill. They sell for 57GBP with oled screen mount.
Electronically, the Go-Drive *is* essentially a Gotek drive. It just has a special form factor specifically designed for the Amiga. It's disingenuous to describe this as "what the Gotek should've been", because without the original 3.5" bay Gotek and the fabulous FlashFloppy open firmware from Keir Fraser this product could never have existed.
And we have already seen this form factor several times over the last 10 or 15 years. A standard Gotek can be easily modded. And i would add that without the wonderful HxC and Cortex firmwares for Gotek, FlashFloppy would have never existed either ...
Never understood many AMIGA fans who moan about something costing a few quid, when its just people mucking about doing all this work, probably barely even breaking even in most cases. Its amazingly ungrateful.
I have been playing around with a new SD card solution for all Shugart kind of floppy drives. It also is fitted internally. It sits on the cable in between the computer and the floppy drive. It can work in one of three ways. One, as a floppy emulator. Two, lets you use the real floppy drive as a regular drive and three, lets you use the floppy to create disk images from real disks that can be saved back to the SD card. There is no cutting of the case or any obnoxous external attachments to the case required. It is all controlled via wifi and a cell phone app. You can even use images directly from the internet. Externally it is impossible to tell if your retro hardware is using one. It should also be less expensive than a Gotek.
Great video. I like the calm style you have! interesting tips about the go-drive! I have my gotek in external case and did a "change df0 and df1 hack" myself. but this could have worked as well!
@@8BitRetroReFix fair enough. Is there room and connectivity to have to go-drive and a CF HD at the same time, or can the a1200 only accommodate one or the other inside?
Looks like a more elegant solution than the gotek, I like the idea of having the original floppy drive still in place just for aesthetics even if it rarely gets used. Would be nice in Jessie beige 500 PLA to get a close colour match to the A1200 case.
The Atari ST needs a solution like this. Both Amiga and ST can use GoTek, so I wonder if this would work in an ST. The power connector could be a problem, though. Maybe use that Y cable and an additional floppy cable to place the board in a place that would fit. Also, I want to say ST uses the same pinout as PC, so may have to swap a couple of pins, but wouldn't that also be an issue on GoTek? Does Flash Floppy do that in software?
I would say yes, it should work in the ST it is basically a gotek with the same pinout... I'll see Dominic at the weekend, and I'll ask him .. Thanks 😊
the guy seems to have removed the entire site and now just says conact him to order one. Most likely he got hammered for trying to sell a Gotek ripoff for 85 pounds lol
@g4z-kb7ct actually, he's sold out and needs to make more .. So I would guess sites changed, and you'll have to pre-order until stock levels are back up ..
Nice little unit but I think your statement of 'a little bit more expensive' is a bit optimistic as it's £85 and Goteks are half that. Running the few wires for the OLED and rotary encoder out to the top is easy to do and end up with the same thing
@@8BitRetroReFix Oh,i done away with internal drive.I also have a DIY External Amiga Gotek in Orig Ext FD Case.Have an A2000 if want read Orig Disks,etc..
I have got a general question on Gotek and Go-drive, which are obviously meant to open ADF files on your workbench like real floppy disks. But s it possible to acutally work with virtual disks (adfs)? Do Go-tek and Go-drive allow to write files, edit files such as startup-sequence or even format/overwirte a virtual disk (opened adf image)? Or is it all about accessing write-protected adf-images only?
Yes you can write to the virtual disks (ADF's) & not just read from them on a Gotek. Seeing as the Go-Drive is pretty much a Gotek in a different form factor & runs the same Firmware that should be the same also
I have real floppy as DF0 and Gotek drive as DF1 and work in same time. I can boot from DF1 if need. For me Gotek is better. If manufacturer upgrade Go drive to work altogether with real floppy Go drive be better because smaller dimension.
I designed my own gotek ~7 years ago that is 100mm x 40mm and fits in the same place where the FDD is and the usb plugs in where the previous fdd eject button was. The Go-Drive is just another gotek with Flash Floppy firmware ripoff in a smaller board. Considering the Gotek was reverse-engineered at least 10 years ago it's not surprising to see people ripping it off and trying to sell it for 85 pounds lol. No thanks. No-Go-Drive.
@@8BitRetroReFix Not according to their website as states "Both act as DF0:" which means copying to Ramdisk then back over to real floopy (or vice versa). If the device allowed both drives to be active, one as DF0 & other as DF1 & the switch swapped which one was what then I would be seriously interested in one. As it stands it's more expensive than a Gotek with a Breakout Box (which I currently have with a drive selector switch & external floppy). If they could make one like I said that just swaps the drive letters I would buy one in a instant as means I could put my internal drive back in & not have the external one attached.
@@8BitRetroReFix Thats only good for copying whole disks via ram, same goes for copying a single file in that you have to copy the file to ram then flip the switch & copy that from ram. Like I said if it allowed both disks to be active at the same time it would be a game changer, but in it's current form it's just an overpriced Gotek a semi handy feature
@@8BitRetroReFix I have been looking for a perfect floppy emulation for a while now (I have internal Gotek) and the most probable solution seems to be OSD mod. Very stealth :)
I personally went for 'GoEX' drives a couple of years ago, one for my A500+ and one for an A1200. They mount similar to an internal Gotek except they're slimline and fit perfectly in the floppy bay. They use SD Cards instead of USB and have a jog wheel with button and slim screen mounted on the case grill.
They sell for 57GBP with oled screen mount.
Electronically, the Go-Drive *is* essentially a Gotek drive. It just has a special form factor specifically designed for the Amiga. It's disingenuous to describe this as "what the Gotek should've been", because without the original 3.5" bay Gotek and the fabulous FlashFloppy open firmware from Keir Fraser this product could never have existed.
Agreed and it uses the same fw too 😉
And we have already seen this form factor several times over the last 10 or 15 years. A standard Gotek can be easily modded. And i would add that without the wonderful HxC and Cortex firmwares for Gotek, FlashFloppy would have never existed either ...
Looks fantastic looking to mod my a1200 not sure what to do with it been thinking pistorm route my self
@warrenjenkins9246 I'd go terrible fire for compatibility. Unless you want hdmi output 😉.. the GoDrives a great addition.
@8BitRetroReFix thanks i will give them a look
Its nice but not 85 pounds nice when compared to the cheap Gotek which works great.
Never understood many AMIGA fans who moan about something costing a few quid, when its just people mucking about doing all this work, probably barely even breaking even in most cases. Its amazingly ungrateful.
Great video 😊 the go drive is excellent. Looking forward to your cdtv video
I have been playing around with a new SD card solution for all Shugart kind of floppy drives. It also is fitted internally. It sits on the cable in between the computer and the floppy drive. It can work in one of three ways. One, as a floppy emulator. Two, lets you use the real floppy drive as a regular drive and three, lets you use the floppy to create disk images from real disks that can be saved back to the SD card.
There is no cutting of the case or any obnoxous external attachments to the case required. It is all controlled via wifi and a cell phone app. You can even use images directly from the internet. Externally it is impossible to tell if your retro hardware is using one.
It should also be less expensive than a Gotek.
Awesome work ;) .. please let me know when it's ready or if you need testers 😉
Is this available?
Great video. I like the calm style you have! interesting tips about the go-drive! I have my gotek in external case and did a "change df0 and df1 hack" myself. but this could have worked as well!
Yeah I had the same setup .. but i fancied a change ... love the Go-Drive 😀
@@8BitRetroReFix looks great from your video. no compatiblity issues so far?
@proteque no issues .. its running perfectly 👍
@proteque
I have a Gotek in an external floppy case too but it's used as a normal external floppy DF1, no hacks. I use a GoEX drive as my DF0.
looks like a great solution and not tough to install.
one easy install that everyone can do :)
Great video Steve :) Go Drive is so well designed! Cheers
Nice explanation and instal chap
hello can you recommend an IDE to SD card adapter which work with the amiga HDD LED? as a lot of adapters don't show any activity, thanks
Could this be used in conjunction with an internal HD? Is that why you get that dual power cable which you discarded?
The other power cable is for the A500 ..
@@8BitRetroReFix fair enough. Is there room and connectivity to have to go-drive and a CF HD at the same time, or can the a1200 only accommodate one or the other inside?
Yes, the a600 and 1200 both have hard drives ..
Looks like a more elegant solution than the gotek, I like the idea of having the original floppy drive still in place just for aesthetics even if it rarely gets used. Would be nice in Jessie beige 500 PLA to get a close colour match to the A1200 case.
Nice idea, bit pricey.
With a bit of crafting you can get the gotek board, oled, encoder to work the same way.
Yes you can . but with Gotek you cannot keep the floppy drive .But you can with the Go-Drive :) .. This is an easy install anyone can do ...
The Atari ST needs a solution like this. Both Amiga and ST can use GoTek, so I wonder if this would work in an ST. The power connector could be a problem, though. Maybe use that Y cable and an additional floppy cable to place the board in a place that would fit.
Also, I want to say ST uses the same pinout as PC, so may have to swap a couple of pins, but wouldn't that also be an issue on GoTek? Does Flash Floppy do that in software?
I would say yes, it should work in the ST it is basically a gotek with the same pinout... I'll see Dominic at the weekend, and I'll ask him .. Thanks 😊
Will this work on the A600? And can anyone install it for me please 😕
Check the website link in the description, and anyone can install it .. 😉
I’ll install it for you mate! Free too! However I am in Ireland so you need to fly me over and back, get me a hotel room and buy me dinner. 😂
Reminds me of the Goex on Pills.
cool! would it possible to dump disk to ram swap to gotek write to image ?
Yes , thats no problem . it can be switched on the fly :)
@@8BitRetroReFix cool
i cant see the price on that link you provided ?. does it come in black ?. too match my new case and keycaps ?.
Yeah, it comes in black, too ... 😉
@@8BitRetroReFix is there a size limit on the usb side that the roms can see ?. like 3.0 roms can only see a certain hdd size ?.
the guy seems to have removed the entire site and now just says conact him to order one. Most likely he got hammered for trying to sell a Gotek ripoff for 85 pounds lol
@g4z-kb7ct actually, he's sold out and needs to make more .. So I would guess sites changed, and you'll have to pre-order until stock levels are back up ..
Nice little unit but I think your statement of 'a little bit more expensive' is a bit optimistic as it's £85 and Goteks are half that.
Running the few wires for the OLED and rotary encoder out to the top is easy to do and end up with the same thing
Yeah it is the same thing even uses the same FW .. But you can keep the floppy drive in use too :)
Yup,have my Gotek set up Exact same way as the GoDrive.With 3D Printed case on top just like this one...
@skideric awesome, how did you keep the floppy drive in there and operational?
@@8BitRetroReFix Oh,i done away with internal drive.I also have a DIY External Amiga Gotek in Orig Ext FD Case.Have an A2000 if want read Orig Disks,etc..
I have got a general question on Gotek and Go-drive, which are obviously meant to open ADF files on your workbench like real floppy disks. But s it possible to acutally work with virtual disks (adfs)? Do Go-tek and Go-drive allow to write files, edit files such as startup-sequence or even format/overwirte a virtual disk (opened adf image)? Or is it all about accessing write-protected adf-images only?
Yes you can write to the virtual disks (ADF's) & not just read from them on a Gotek. Seeing as the Go-Drive is pretty much a Gotek in a different form factor & runs the same Firmware that should be the same also
Really nice ! It's works on Escom 1200 ?
Yes, it should do 😉 .. drop him an email to confirm it, tho .
There is a note on the website about ESCOM units
@@simonaread Ok, thanks !
Isn^'t this essentially just an ordinary Gotek hardware, implemented on a smaller PCB? I like the ribbon cable solution though.
Interesting concept, but still WHDLoad is much easier and faster. And no need for using USB keys as well.
That is ok if you have a hard drive.
I have real floppy as DF0 and Gotek drive as DF1 and work in same time. I can boot from DF1 if need. For me Gotek is better. If manufacturer upgrade Go drive to work altogether with real floppy Go drive be better because smaller dimension.
I designed my own gotek ~7 years ago that is 100mm x 40mm and fits in the same place where the FDD is and the usb plugs in where the previous fdd eject button was. The Go-Drive is just another gotek with Flash Floppy firmware ripoff in a smaller board. Considering the Gotek was reverse-engineered at least 10 years ago it's not surprising to see people ripping it off and trying to sell it for 85 pounds lol. No thanks. No-Go-Drive.
Issues with this is don`t exist together with floppy like gotek (DF1). Can˙t copy adf to floppy.
Yes, you copy adf to floppy 😉
@@8BitRetroReFix Not according to their website as states "Both act as DF0:" which means copying to Ramdisk then back over to real floopy (or vice versa). If the device allowed both drives to be active, one as DF0 & other as DF1 & the switch swapped which one was what then I would be seriously interested in one. As it stands it's more expensive than a Gotek with a Breakout Box (which I currently have with a drive selector switch & external floppy). If they could make one like I said that just swaps the drive letters I would buy one in a instant as means I could put my internal drive back in & not have the external one attached.
Switch to godrive read when it asks for the blank disc switch to floppy to write ... its as easy as that 😉
@@8BitRetroReFix Thats only good for copying whole disks via ram, same goes for copying a single file in that you have to copy the file to ram then flip the switch & copy that from ram. Like I said if it allowed both disks to be active at the same time it would be a game changer, but in it's current form it's just an overpriced Gotek a semi handy feature
@@8BitRetroReFix Thanks.
I don’t like this. I know that one opinion changes nothing, but I dislike modifying my Amiga with external mods which change her appearance.
Then put a longer ribbon cable and 3d print a new case so it can sit at the side rather than on top ... Thanks for watching
@@8BitRetroReFix I have been looking for a perfect floppy emulation for a while now (I have internal Gotek) and the most probable solution seems to be OSD mod. Very stealth :)
When you add those ping sound i stop watching. It is so annoying when using headphones ...
G0dD@mmiTT Amiga community keeps finding ways to take my money!
I love this
Tell me about it! I “upgraded” all my Amigas to normal Goteks and then found out these existed. Changed the lot and much happier.