I got myself a Lotharek for a emax and sold that crap right after a month. I spend so much time and never got it working as it should. Once I got if finally working it messed with my samples and all my work was lost. It was awful complicated just to get to a point where it was halfway working. Also, it required a whole bunch of other software, drivers and 3rd party stuff to get the software conversion running. Keep in mind I'm a IT engineer.

Why would I pay that amout for a product that is not working out of the box? A company that gives a crap about propper support. Especially if a products needs as much knowledge to get things up and running.

If there's another more userfriendly and reliable floppy replacement it would be a blessing.

Interesting :
https://gearspace.com/board/electron...isk-error.html

Regarding the above link it seems that your emax is just flakey... So the emulator is maybe not the thing to blame...

EDIT : I remember you now : Next time if you want a proper support, please avoid to response me aggressively and send me some usefull feedbacks instead (i got back only one email from you...)

Just to set the record straight.

I mailed you with the support request in a kind manner describing the problem in detail and all I got from you was links and the very short answer "I should read through the documents". You call that support? Good luck with your future businesses...if you're dealing with no-bullshit customers, like myself, they will turn the back on your services for shure.

I read all documents upside down and posted in the forum from where I didnt get answers either.

Your laid back kind of support may be right from your perspective. However it is highly inefficient and annoying if someone who got stuck after having invested days getting that thing up and running.

You're bending the reality about how your support was actually taking place which is another and very common indicator of bad support lines. I do have 30+ years experience in customer services in big commercial enterprises. I know what I'm talking about.

There's plenty of reason why I should have been aggressiv by the end of that annoying journey waisting so much time for nothing. After all you are taking money for a product that you advertise? Right?

A product like yours require a functional support. Else, its pretty useless. It is by the means of support where you can show your customers who you are and you missed that opportunity at the first shot. I do have a whole bunch of old floppy based gear and no problem in buying another 7 units of yours if they would actually work without having me taking extra vacation.

The only reason why I actually bother spending more of my time in this context is for the sake of other people who might consider your services...

And my emax just works perfectly with the floppy. And the floppy workflow is compared to your product a pure blessing and FUN!

Your blaming shows that you still havent got a clue about professional support services...it just underlines my impression and experience...you should do some training in that perspective if you're serious about your business.

ive had one in a mpc 60 I for a bit. pretty nice. not as nice as my Hxcs but for so cheap its not bad.

I use one currently in my MPC60 and I love it. Makes saving all my samples pretty easy, although it is just as slow so it doesn't solve that issue as much as I wish there was a fix for that besides having to lug around zip or scsi hard drives. I've been thinking of finding a way to use a modern solid state drive and install it inside the MPC 60 as a the best solution for storage in my machine.

The fact that someone else hasn't stepped up with a solution should tell you something.

Consider this: There were well over 1000 different drive models made from at least 100 different manufacturers. Each maker of consumer goods incorporated the drives in different ways with different drive control circuitry. Almost every combination under the sun is out there, from non-standard formats to inverted cables to special cables that flip only a few pins. Some manufacturers switched drive types and controller hardware partway through a production run. So many variables it'll make your head spin.

Those 'solutions' that clog ebay target ONE type of drive that was used by certain manufacturers of industrial equipment. The Chinese company that craps those out has no real incentive to improve the product because it's "good enough". Easier for them to spam ebay than it is to actually provide customer support.

Jeff's work is about as far from that paradigm as you can get. For a product that basically needs to be a magic wand it's amazing that it works in as many situations that it does -- and in the cases where it doesn't work there's a whole community of people interested in finding a solution. I've seen cases of people having trouble and posting the particulars of the disk format or the drive pinouts and within a day or two a solution is found and the software is updated. A little patience and politeness can go a long way especially with what is essentially a one man operation.

Any product with moving parts will eventually fail. What's happening to floppy drives now is going to happen to CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray drives in due time. Emulating these drives with reliable hardware is still a young science. Most of manufacturers never dreamed people would still be (or want to be) using their product 30 years later.

You don't like the way it's being done? Do it better.

I've been getting a few pm's from people needing help setting-up their Gotek usb drive emulator's to use with older roland/akai samplers, so I thought I'd post a rundown on how I got the Gotek sfrm72-fu-dl to work with the Roland W30.

First thing is to set the correct jumper settings on the drive. You set the jumpers on JA and S1.

Next thing is a pen drive formatted to FAT32 on a PC/Mac. Completely ignore the disk format tool that came with the drive. Create a folder in the root of the drive named: "IMG720K". Drop your samplers disk images in there and rename them starting with 000.IMG and going up to 099.IMG max. You can only use 99 disk images with the emulator as it has to work in "Image Mode" to work with samplers that use a non-standard and propriety disk formats(like the w30 does)

Put the pen drive in the emulator before turning on the sampler. Turn on the sampler and press both buttons on the emulator at the same time. The screen should show "B00" if you did it correctly. So basically B00 on the screen is referring to the disk image you named 000.IMG. If you want to load that image into the emulator you press the RIGHT button on the emulator. This loads that image into the emulator's internal memory. Now the sampler should see the disk once you press enter and load it.

To save something you created on the sampler to disk, you reverse the procedure. Save the disk on the sampler and it'll get saved into the emulator's internal memory. Press the LEFT button on the emulator and it will save the emulator's internal memory to the designated image that is showing on-screen(000.IMG/001.IMG/etc).

I have only found this model of Gotek drive in beige, so if anyone finds it in black, please post a link. Also, this drive and instructions are confirmed to work with the Roland W30, S-550, S50 so far. it should work with any sampler that uses 720K disks and a shugart style disk drive, but no guarantees. If you have success using the Gotek in a sampler not mentioned, please post and let others know what model sampler and what tweaks you had to do in order to get it to work.

has anyone used this gotek floppy emulator on a Roland MC-50 or Roland MC-500 Micro Composer / Sequencer?

Great info and nice one on getting is working!

Can I ask, what model of GoTek is it (or are they all the same) - reason being, I've an old Ensoniq sampler that I like but can't be doing with floppies - it uses 720kb disk as I recall (how can a disc be that small!).

I thought the GoTek that I see on ebay was a non-option as it was 1.44Mb. Will go do some googling now but if these drives can run 1.44 and 720 modes then it may be worth a punt. As far as I know the drive in the Ensoniq is standard in other respects.

Edit: After some more reading, including this thread, it seems the EPS is 500bytes/sector 800kb and the Lotharek drive or a generic GoTek with Hxc firmware upgrade (€10?) could be used. The latter route of generic gotec from china and upgrade seems the cheapest way. Might be worth a go I suppose.

For the W-30 sampler (and also S-50 / S-550 / S-330), some users have sent me eMails saying they were only able to make this work by using the following settings which differ from those shown above;

Set jumpers on JA and S0 (not S1)
Create a folder in the root of the drive named: "IMG720" (not IMG720K)

S-50/S-550 DIY Page
.......... ..........

Top work. I just need a black gotek for thr only nut scsi2sd cannot crack - the s330.

A french fellow has, with a Gotek SFRM72-FU-DL (the SFRM72-TU100K model does not work).
Roland MC-50 - Remplacement du lecteur de disquette*************

Are there versions of this 1.44M Gotek thing which just don't do image mode? I believe mine is the SFR1M44-U100K-R. The PDF, which I believe goes with it, describes the procedure you guys are using, but on this drive, holding the two buttons just displays the firmware, then puts it into that "format as 1000 drives" mode. Worse yet, if you do it with no flash stick in the socket, it'll wait until one shows up and begin formatting with no escape.

I like the idea of it reading Roland ".outs". Was hoping it would work.

Thanks!

Yeah it doesn't look like that one does Image Mode. When you look at the features of the Gotek units, you want to look for this line in the features list:

"100 disk image file supported. (used for machine with non FAT disk format, example for
make boot disk)"

The key there is a machine with "non-FAT disk formats", like the Roland proprietary format.

Thanks pitchbend!

I'm still thinking about that, but have been using the HxC Gotek here which probably won't be used in the 550. It's a shame the firmware for these things is so crippling and read protected. If I could just flash this nice new black one with the image mode 720k firmware, I'd be set.

Don't sweat it. I've got SCSI in my S-550 now, and while the extra speed is nice, I wouldn't say it's night and day difference. Also, I discovered that you have to temporarily ditch all the SCSI functions if you want to run their sequencer. Wish there was a way you could overclock the floppy controller to take better advantage of the speed these emulators are likely capable of. It would make SCSI pretty pointless unless you were doing sample transfers.

Take Care

Muito obrigado pela ajuda, agora meu Roland W-30 está funcionando normalmente com o Floppy to USB emulator SFRM72-FU-DL.

Thanks a lot for the help, now my Roland W-30 is running normally with the SFRM72-FU-DL USB Floppy to emulator.

Yes, I can confirm that my SFRM72-TU100K works in my Roland MC-50. Both read and write work. My jumper settings are JA, S1 and MO (2, 6 and 7). Happy sequencing !

Well, I can report that my SFRM72-TU100K works fine in a MC-50 by using jumper settings JA, S1 and MO (2, 6 and 7). Read and write works. I have also informed the 'French fellow' about my findings. Perhaps he will change his text accordingly, because it might help other people with the same question.

I have an SFRM72-TU100K in my MPC60II. I've only been able to get it working with one usb stick, and I'd like to format some others. Could you share how you've successfully formatted the usb sticks to work with the drive? What operating system are you using when you format?

Thanks for your help!

i can confirm that goteks need to be flashed with hxc to work properly with roland s330

before i flashed with hxc, images would sometimes not load, writing would cause corrupt images, and the sampler would crash when going between truncate and sampling screens. also the tedious manual loading of images into/out of the gotek for each use and the archaic button pressing

after hxc there are no errors. also, just dial up the image number and use the sampler to do any reading/writing

Oi Rodrigo,

Seria difícil explicar como fez? O meu emulador é o Fu e Nao FU-DL. Já tentamos tudo e não funciona. Será que que tem que Ser o DL?

I have the SFRM72-FU only (not DL). Would it be the same ? We tried everything and it won’t work.

I just finished installing a HxC SD card floppy emulator rev F into my Ensoniq Mirage DMS-8. The whole procedure of replacing the drive and creating a bootable sd card took less than an hour. The only thing one should be vary is that I needed to reverse the data cable to match the pin 1 on both sides.

I run Linux but I was able to run the Windows version of HxC floppy emulator software under Wine. The configuration I used was pretty much default with the autoload options checked. I then saved the configuration along with some HFE disk images I've acquired to the SD card, booted the Mirage, selected an image to load and voila! Everything's running perfectly!

The reason I selected the SD card version instead of cheaper USB drive emulators is that I find it really helpful to see the actual file names instead of just slot numbers. Also I'm not sure if you can save using those USB floppy emulators. With the sd card version it is no problem at all.

I've had success using the SFRM72-FU-DL in both an S-550 and S-330. I kept it in the S-550 because of llama music with the incredible resources from sounds (disk images) to DIY info. That site has really hooked it up for us.

Hi there,
Although the original post is quite old, maybe some of you are still looking for a solution to get a nice product like the Roland MC50 updated with a Gotek drive. After I already successfully replaced the old floppy disk drive of my Yamaha EX5R with a Gotek drive I decided to do the same with the MC-50. Based on the great solution "FlashFloppy" from Keir Fraser GitHub - keirf/FlashFloppy: Floppy drive emulator for Gotek hardware I used a Gotek model which has got the description SFRC922D printed on the PCB. After
flashing the Gotek with the actual version of FlashFloppy on the Gotek only the jumpers MO and S1 had to be set. The trick to get it up and running is to put an image of an existing MC-50 disk (at best just a fresh MC-50 formatted disk) onto the FAT32 formated USB stick. For that I used a pretty old version of "Floppy Image 1.5.2" to convert the 720KB MC-50 disk into an *.img file. You can use that image as a "master" and place copies of it like 001.img, 002.img ... onto the USB stick. I don't know if there is a limitation regarding the number of files but I suppose with the standard 3 digits LED display on the Gotek it will end at 999 files. Following the modification information on Hardware Mods * keirf/FlashFloppy Wiki * GitHub I updated the Gotek drive with a 0.96" OLED display which shows the file name of the image instead of a simple number.

I hope these information will help some of you to get your good old music hardware updated.

Kind regards from Germany

Diceman63

Hy,

thanks for your info. I want to change the fdd on my MC50.

1- I've found the gotek720kb drive on amazon. If I buy it, I can to install it directly on MC50 or I must to install (on it) another drive, first of replacement? In this case, what I must to install ?

2- for your notes about the disk image, Ive bought recently the MC50 with only one diskette, without files on it. What I must to do ? I have a PC with WIN10 but without FDD :( Is it possibile to have (by mail) the image for the usb pen drive?

3- the final, last, question The alphanumerical display in your post is intersting. Where I can to buy it?

Thank you for your patience

Best regards

Giulio

Hi Giulio,

1- You don't need a "special" 720kb version of the Gotek drive for FlashFloppy! Any of the actual Gotek drives are based on the same microprocessor but the hardware layout might be different between the 720kb and 1,44mb versions. The developer of FlashFloppy explained it on Gotek Compatibility * keirf/FlashFloppy Wiki * GitHub with "Since the fixed-format (720kB vs 1.44MB) stock firmware is being replaced, this particular distinction between Gotek models is irrelevant: all of them can handle an almost infinite range of disk formats with FlashFloppy installed.".
So go for the cheapest actual Gotek drive with a 3 digits display you can find on Amazon or eBay and start without modifications like an OLED display or rotary encoder. If it works fine with the standard 3 digits display you can have a look on Hardware Mods * keirf/FlashFloppy Wiki * GitHub and decide about things you might need.
Minimum requirements to get the Gotek programmed with the FlashFloppy firmware are: a MS Windows based computer with Win7 or Win10, a USB A to USB A cable, a soldering iron and the required files and apps. Just read the instructions on Going Gotek - FlashFloppy How To - exxos Atari Forum and decide wether you will do it by yourself or ask someone how could do it for you. You will find a lot of videos about programming the Gotek drives and all the possible modifications on YouTube also.

2- If you successfully updated the Gotek drive with the FlashFloppy firmware you just need an USB stick (4GB will be fine), format it with FAT32 format and unzip and copy the disk image file(s) onto it. The attached file is just formatted with the Roland MC50 format and does not contain any data! It is only important to have the Roland format in a 720kb image available for the FlashFloppy drive. You can put as many of the images onto the USB stick as you need and give them a name like "Disk001.img", "Disk002.img" and so on. I didn't check if the 3 digits display requires a specific name because the OLED display modification will show you the complete filename and does not require a special numbering. With the buttons of the Gotek drive (or the optional rotary encoder) you can select the images you need and do the MC50 operations with it (format disk, rename disk, load and save songs). At best try it with one image first and you will see if it works without errors. Don't expect a performance like formatting a USB stick on a PC - the FlashFloppy emulates a real floppy drive and the increase of performance is not the main purpose! The FlashFloppy solution will give you a. the possibilty to use an actual media (USB stick) for saving and archiving your work onto a non-mechanical media and b. to access more than 1 floppy disk without changing disks.

3- Any modifications you might need should follow after you successfully passed step 1 and 2.

Kind regards from Berlin

Diceman63

I got a Gotek floppy emulator with Flashfloppy for my Roland MC-500 recently but I can't get it to work.

The Gotek shows no Error messages nor does the MC-500 but it doesn't load the IMG file. The display on the MC-500 just says "Roland MC-500"

Any ideas?

Hello everybody, I've been a long time lurker on this thread.

Thank you diceman63 and everybody on this thread for sharing this wonderful
information!

I was able to update my Roland MC 50 mk2 floppy drive to a gotek
SFR1M44-U100K using the information provided.

Once again, a big thank you to everybody on this thread,

Shout out from Japan

can this model emulator SFR1M44-U100k works with mc50?
how do you do this...