New "Artery" Goteks : Current HxC firmware support status

[Jeff]

Since March/April 2021 we can see some new Gotek variants on the market

Due to the electronic components shortage, these new Gotek revisions use different MCUs.
The STMicroelectronics STM32F105 MCU was replaced by Artery MCUs : AT32F415RCT7, AT32F415CBT7,...

These MCUs are "mostly" compatible with the previously used STM part but there is an important difference : The RAM size.
While the STM32F105 offers 64KB of RAM, these Artery parts have only 32KB of RAM.

Others points :

- The AT32F415RCT7 is a 64 pins device. This Gotek PCB version and the pins assignment are the same as the STM version.

Gotek_ARTERY_AT32F415RCT7.jpg (88.83 KiB) Viewed 35030 times

- The AT32F415CBT7 is a 48 pins device. Some headers was removed and the pins assignment is different.

Gotek_ARTERY_AT32F415CBT7.jpg (79.83 KiB) Viewed 35030 times

All of these points imply changes in the firmware :

-> Reduce several memory buffers/cache to fit the RAM usage into the 32KB available on these parts.
(EDIT August 3, 2022 : Good news !, the AT32F435 has 384KB of RAM . See below)

-> Remap some pins for the 48 pins MCU version.

EDIT : August 3, 2022 :
Finally a good news : The AT32F435 Gotek is now available with a lot more memory (and MHz) :
viewtopic.php?p=24859#p24859

Gotek_ARTERY_AT32F435RGT7.jpg (93.86 KiB) Viewed 28022 times

Current HxC firmware Artery Gotek support status :

- The bootloader was updated this week to support all the 4 Gotek variants : STM32F105RBT6, AT32F415RCT7,AT32F415CBT7.
(AT32F435RGT7 compatible bootloader done in June 2022)

- The server was updated this week to support all the 3 Gotek variants :
The bootloader can installed on all these Gotek using the normal online procedure : https://hxc2001.com/docs/gotek-floppy-e ... ation.html

- An AT32F415RCT7 alpha version/test firmware is already available in the firmwares archive.

- The AT32F415CBT7 version is in development. It should be available in the next days. EDIT 12 April 2021 : DONE !

- The AT32F435RGT7 firmware and bootloader is done. Still some server stuff to update. EDIT 8 August 2022 : DONE !
viewtopic.php?p=24863#p24863


The future developments will be focused on the merging of all these firmwares variants. DONE !

(Release : viewtopic.php?p=23696#p23696)

EDIT 4 October 2021: New QFN32 Gotek ! : viewtopic.php?p=24126#p24126

EDIT 3 August 2022: New AT32F435 Gotek ! : viewtopic.php?p=24859#p24859

[Jeff]

New version supporting all Artery Goteks and fixing some issues :

viewtopic.php?p=23698#p23698

[Jeff]

New version : RAM size detection and cache buffers size optimization :
viewtopic.php?p=23705#p23705

[Jeff]

The documentation has been updated / completed about the flash methods.
All previously available ways to program the Goteks still available with the Artery Goteks.

The Artery USB cable method uses a different software, but the process still mostly the same.

USB cable programming :
https://hxc2001.com/docs/gotek-floppy-e ... cable.html

Programming methods :
https://hxc2001.com/docs/gotek-floppy-e ... ation.html

[Jeff]

New version fixing some issues with Artery Goteks :

viewtopic.php?p=23736#p23736

[sofakng]

Does the Artery chip support the OLED screen?

I'm disappointed to buy my first floopy disk emulator (Gotek) and I see it has an Artery chip inside.

Does the Artery chip have any limitations in the firmware (so far) versus the STM32 version?

[Jeff]

Does the Artery chip support the OLED screen?

I'm disappointed to buy my first floopy disk emulator (Gotek) and I see it has an Artery chip inside.

Does the Artery chip have any limitations in the firmware (so far) versus the STM32 version?

Yes OLED / Rotary / Extra button mods are working.

I still need to test the OSD (On screen display) ( and i expect to have some issues with these chips, but i already have some solutions fix this - need to implement the changes and test them)

The difference with the STM32 Gotek is that you will have continuous USB Stick accesses : There is no enough RAM space to store a full track in the RAM cache. A possible workaround is to use the motor-on signal to stop the USB read accesses when the machine doesn't read the disk. Similar issue with the write operations : The write size are shorter, this reduce the write speed. On STM32 Gotek, the firmware can write both sides of a cylinder in one USB stick operation. This is very fast. This is not possible anymore with the 32KB Artery Gotek. Multiple write operations need to be done to write the tracks. You may have some issues with format operations (and machines writing a full track to change a single sector) if the USB stick write latency is too long ... Since a full track doesn't fit in the RAM, the firmware need to write the track to the stick during the track change... The USB stick write latency is critical at this point. But you shouldn't have this issue with the classical sector write operation used to save a file anyway.

Anyway i am slowly improving the firmware to fix/workaround the remaining features impacted by this design change but the main usages scenarios are already covered by the current firmware version.

[sofakng]

Jeff,

I've just purchased the HxC firmware. Thanks again for all of the help!

Does the Artery drive firmware support the Kryoflux / HFE flux formats?

[Jeff]

New firmware for the new SFRKC30 Gottek boards:

viewtopic.php?p=23879#p23879

24 June 2021 : Firmware STM32 USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.7.3.1a

- New SFRKC30 Gotek boards support added :

This new Gotek revision has a new rotary port and will be shipped
with a rotary switch and an OLED screen directly from the factory
(No "mod" required anymore)

- Bootloader updated.

- Firmware updated.

- Firmware customization page updated.
(https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/)

HXCFEUSB_Gotek_HxC_firmware.zip

USB_HFE_hxc_floppy_emulator_firmware_release_notes.txt

Custom HxC firmware

[sofakng]

That's really interesting that Gotek is selling drives with the OLED an rotary dial!

Do you know of any place selling the new revision?

[Jeff]

That's really interesting that Gotek is selling drives with the OLED an rotary dial!

Do you know of any place selling the new revision?

Right now i don't think that this model is available, but you can expect to find these new Gotek with the OLED / Rotary on Alibaba/ebay in some weeks.

[Jeff]

Here is the new Gotek with the OLED and Rotary. (SFR1M44-U100LQD)

new_gotek.jpg (120.51 KiB) Viewed 33468 times

[sofakng]

That looks really nice, but I'm still not a big fan of the large rotary encoder.

Has anybody used smaller encoders or other alternatives? (maybe just adding a third button for eject?)

[Jeff]

That looks really nice, but I'm still not a big fan of the large rotary encoder.

Has anybody used smaller encoders or other alternatives? (maybe just adding a third button for eject?)

I am not too. These rotary can be "dangerous" with some usages since images can be changed by accident very easily.

[macsonny]

Jeff,

I've just purchased the HxC firmware. Thanks again for all of the help!

Does the Artery drive firmware support the Kryoflux / HFE flux formats?

How did you load the HxC software onto your unit? I've also paid for the HxC firmware but I can't work out how to get the boot loader flash onto my device. Do you have a really good set of instructions I can follow?