by Vladimir Vega 👾
◆ I’m sure some of you share the same fond memories I do when it comes to the legendary Amiga A500. My very first encounter with it dates all the way back to the summer of ’89. My cousin took me over to his elementary school friend’s house, and the first game I ever saw and played was the shmup Hybris <1988>. It was a stellar release by the talented Cope-Com team, and the precursor to what I consider an even better title, Battle Squadron <1989>. My initial reaction was a massive “WOW”, I couldn’t believe a home computer could pull off the kind of graphics and sound I had only seen on arcade cabinets. My only home-gaming experience up to that point was with 8-bit machines like the C64 and the ZX Spectrum.
I got my own beloved A500 from my late father back in ’92💜. I’d use that cliché phrase “things were never the same again”, and it really was like that. I was immersed in a magical world of video gaming, and only those who shared the same or a similar experience with me know exactly what I’m talking about.
Since Amiga computers are now firmly a part of history and original hardware isn’t easy to come by, some clever minds stepped up and wrote the Cortex Emulator software and firmware for the Gotek emulator, giving many of us easy access to a massive Amiga software library. The Gotek was originally designed as a PC 3.5″ HD floppy emulator, but with a bit of modding, it can be used on virtually any platform that relies on a floppy drive. Up until now, people almost exclusively used Compact Flash cards for hard drive replacement and data transfer, but fortunately for us, the Gotek emerged as a wonderful alternative.
◆ WHAT IS A GOTEK EMULATOR ? ◆
Gotek is a brilliant invention, it’s essentially a circuit board cleverly packaged to kinda mimic a classic 3.5″ drive. It connects to your machine using a standard floppy ribbon cable, while all software loading is handled entirely through a USB port via flash drive. However, when it comes to the Commodore Amiga, you first need to flash the Gotek with custom firmware to make it visible to your system and that process is exactly what I’ll be covering in this tutorial. It’s also worth noting that the Gotek drive works on all Amiga models! You might find a Gotek on your local market, or you can order it off AliExpress for around $25-30.
Here’s everything you’ll need to flash your Gotek drive :
#1 FlashFloppy Emulator
You can grab it here: download
#2 STMicroelectonics Flash loader software
You can grab it here: download
#3 HXC Firmware
You can grab it here: download
#4 USB to 3.3V TTL Serial Programmer + Jumper Wires
Make sure to get the FTDI TTL-232R-3V3 model shown in the picture, you can easily pick one up on your local market for next to nothing. Don’t forget to grab a set of male-to-female Dupont jumper wires <see image>.
You can grab the FTDI drivers here: download
IMPORTANT NOTE: Stick strictly to the FTDI model. Avoid other TTL devices, they often suffer from driver issues and will likely fail to flash the drive. The FTDI has been tested under 32/64-bit Windows and remains the most reliable option.
#5 USB male to mini-male cable
These usually come bundled with external USB hard drives, digital cameras, controllers etc. <see image>.
#6 A short piece of wire or a paperclip
Alright, the first thing you’ll want to do is install the Flash Loader. Once it’s installed, don’t run the software just yet. Next up, connect your FTDI device to your PC via a USB cable and get ready to install the drivers. Once plugged in, Windows will likely auto-detect the FTDI device and install its default drivers. However, you’ll need to uninstall those, since FTDI only works with its official driver package. Head over to Device Manager, look under Ports <COM & LPT>, locate USB Serial Port, and uninstall it. After that, expand Universal Serial Bus controllers and uninstall USB Serial Converter as well. <Check out the screenshots below>.
Once you’ve done that, unplug your FTDI device and plug it back in to your PC. Now, open Device Manager again, look under Other Devices, right-click on FT232R USB UART, and select Update Driver Software. A new window will pop up, just point it to the folder where you unpacked your official drivers. If everything went smoothly, you’ll see a confirmation message letting you know the USB Serial Converter has been successfully installed.
Now, if you look under “Other devices”, you will see that a new entry has appeared under the name USB Serial Port. Go to it, right-click, choose Update Driver Software again, and repeat the procedure from just now. If everything went well here too, you will get a message stating that the USB Serial Port is installed.
***In case the USB Serial Port entry does not appear under Other devices, look under Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
Once everything is done, reconnect your FTDI device once more and this time go to Control Panel, then Devices and Printers, where you should see FT232R USB UART listed under installed devices. Select it and check the Hardware tab to verify that the FTDI is active and working properly. If everything is ok, the next step is connecting the GOTEK to the FTDI device via the male-to-female mini cables you bought. The first thing you need to do is switch the jumper on your FTDI from 5V to 3.3V.
After that, you need to plug the male side of the cable into the 5V slot on the FTDI, and connect the other female end to the 5V pin on your GOTEK. The same needs to be done for the GND <Ground> connection, GND <Ground> from the FTDI must be connected to VSS on the GOTEK <see image>.
Next up is connecting the RX and TX lines used for data transfer. Plug the female end of the cable into the RX <RXD> pin on your FTDI, and plug the other male end into the TX slot on the GOTEK, as shown in the image. Do the same for the TX connection: meaning the TX <TXD> pin —> RX slot on the GOTEK.
RX<RXD> —-> TX GOTEK
TX<TXD> —-> RX GOTEK
Once you have all of this wired up, the last thing left for you to do is put the Gotek into programming mode <Boot0 3.3v>. You do this by connecting two holes on the GOTEK <see image> with a piece of wire so they make contact. In my case, I used a paperclip that I cut and modified so that it could be inserted. Once you have done all of this, the next step is to run the Flash Loader you installed earlier.
After startup, select the COM port assigned to your FTDI, leave everything else as-is and click NEXT.
If everything is as it should be, a new window will appear with a warning message where you need to click on Remove Protection.
Now that you have removed the protection from your GOTEK drive, the next step is flashing the new software, in our case, the Cortex firmware. If the “Remove Protection” warning does not appear, it is likely a loose connection issue with your cables, so check that thoroughly first. If the device fails to respond, you need to reset your GOTEK by bridging the two pins for 3 seconds <see image>. You can use a paperclip for this, or ideally small tweezers. Sometimes you may need to repeat the reset 2 to 3 times until the “Remove Protection” option appears. After removing the protection, the following window will appear. Leave everything as-is and click NEXT.
Next, a window will appear where, under the “Download to device” section, you need to select your FF_Gotek .hex file <download from file> located in the “firmware” sub-folder of your FlashFloppy folder. If it is not visible in the file selection window, make sure to change the file type filter to display .hex files. Additionally, check the “verify after download” option.
Once the .hex file is selected, click NEXT to start the flashing process. Flashing is usually prety fast, but make sure not to move any of those mini cables so you don’t mess everything up.
CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve just successfully flashed your GOTEK !!
Next, move the jumper on your GOTEK to the S0 position so the Amiga recognizes it as the df0 drive. After that, format your USB flash drive. It is crucial that it is formatted to FAT32, because the GOTEK won’t read NTFS. Once formatted, copy the Amiga config file HXCSDFE.CFG <found in the HXC firmware folder under config_files/autoboot_mode/hxcsdfe.cfg> straight to the root of your USB. Make sure not to put it in a subfolder, otherwise the Amiga won’t recognize it. Next, go to the File_Selector/Amiga folder and copy the AUTOBOOT.HFE file to the root of your USB as well. It’s also a good idea to create a dedicated folder for your games and programs where you can store your Amiga ROMs, which usually come in .ADF <Amiga Disk File> format. Each .ADF file represents a single Amiga 880KB DD 3.5″ floppy disk, so if a game requires 3 disks, you’ll have 3 corresponding .ADF files for it.
Once that’s done, all that’s left is connecting your GOTEK to the Amiga. The connection works just like with a regular floppy drive, just make sure the red mark/line on your floppy cable aligns with pin-1 on your GOTEK drive.
Once you boot up the Amiga, you’ll be presented with the FlashFloppy interface, where you can navigate the menu using the keyboard or a joystick.
Your “Games” folder <or whatever> will also be visible in your menu. Open it, select your game (the first .adf disk), and assign it to slot 001: _________.adf <game name>. The second disk goes to slot 002, the third to 003, and so on, depending on how many disks your game requires. Once you’re done, just press F10 <save and reboot> or do the same via the main menu. Your Amiga will then restart and boot from the disk in slot 001, as indicated on the small LED display on your GOTEK.
The GOTEK always boots from slot 001 by default. If the game requests a disk change during gameplay, simply press the button on the GOTEK and select the target slot containing the requested disk. If you have multiple images loaded on the GOTEK <for instance, up to slot 050>, it is recommended to assign a blank .ADF file to slot 001. This way, the Amiga will not trigger a boot sequence, leaving you on the Kickstart screen until you manually select another file. This prevents issues, as switching disk images during the active boot sequence often confuses the Amiga and triggers a legendary Guru Meditation error.
◆ OLED & SOUND MOD ◆
These two modifications are immensely popular. The OLED mod involves installing a small display for easier file identification and navigation, while the sound mod incorporates a small piezo speaker to emulate the sound of a physical floppy drive.
You can buy an OLED display on AliExpress or other sites. Search under electronic components for “OLED 128x32px”. These are the correct dimensions for a GOTEK, although you will still need to modify the front panel to mount the display.
After acquiring the OLED display, mount it in place of the stock display. Connect the cables/wires as shown in the following image <click to zoom>. Pay close attention to ensure the connections are exactly as depicted <SDA to SDA, GND to GND etc.> Assuming everything is wired correctly, the OLED display will turn on the next time you boot the Amiga.
Warning: Incorrect installation will short and fry the device!
For the SOUND mod, acquire a small passive piezo buzzer and connect it to the two <JB> pins next to the S0 jumper. The buzzer is not polarity-sensitive, so the wire orientation does not matter. Upon the next reboot, you will hear the emulated floppy drive sound 🙂
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