Kawai Q80 and the Gotek USB

[Jeff]

I bought a new 34 pin straight ribbon cable like the original and no change in the problems.. i look forward to trying the firmware to test it thank you just so you know the gotek i am using only has the 3 digit display

you should have now received the firmware.
once the image selected, you should read the track position. let me know if this one change during you read/write attempts.

[PaulStahl]

I bought a new 34 pin straight ribbon cable like the original and no change in the problems.. i look forward to trying the firmware to test it thank you just so you know the gotek i am using only has the 3 digit display

you should have now received the firmware.
once the image selected, you should read the track position. let me know if this one change during you read/write attempts.

ok i have uploaded the new firmware but i don't see anything when i read or write on the display.. there is no change in the problems.. what am i looking for?

[Jeff]

You mean always see "000" on the display ?

[PaulStahl]

You mean always see "000" on the display ?

yes .. if i change disc numbers it will briefly show the disc number then back to 000 and not change when trying to save or write..

[Jeff]

You mean always see "000" on the display ?

yes .. if i change disc numbers it will briefly show the disc number then back to 000 and not change when trying to save or write..

Ok so there is definitively a hardware issue.
If you confirm that the floppy drive still working with this machine and that you can ear the head stepping/moving while reading a disk, then the problem is probably the gotek itself. the issue is the "step" and/or the "dir" signals (pin 18 & 20).

[Jeff]

You mean always see "000" on the display ?

yes .. if i change disc numbers it will briefly show the disc number then back to 000 and not change when trying to save or write..

Ok there is now a gotek's io diagnostic firmware available.

if you want try it :

viewtopic.php?f=33&p=20061#p20061

[PaulStahl]

You mean always see "000" on the display ?

yes .. if i change disc numbers it will briefly show the disc number then back to 000 and not change when trying to save or write..

Ok there is now a gotek's io diagnostic firmware available.

if you want try it :

viewtopic.php?f=33&p=20061#p20061

Today i tried a different new Gotek emulator and programmed it with HxC and it works perfectly so the problem was that the other unit was defective. Thank you for all your help and quick response!! Now on to work out the problems with my Yamaha QX3

[Jeff]

yes .. if i change disc numbers it will briefly show the disc number then back to 000 and not change when trying to save or write..

Ok there is now a gotek's io diagnostic firmware available.

if you want try it :

viewtopic.php?f=33&p=20061#p20061

Today i tried a different new Gotek emulator and programmed it with HxC and it works perfectly so the problem was that the other unit was defective. Thank you for all your help and quick response!! Now on to work out the problems with my Yamaha QX3

Ok fine ! (Have you tried the diagnostic firmware on the non-working gotek ?)

[PaulStahl]

I tried the diagnotic firmware on the defective Gotek this evening but i'm not sure what i am looking at.. I did go over the read me file directions.. I noticed that this gotek does not have a red LED inside like the new one. When i run the diagnostic firmware the first digit flashes repeatedly with an "h" and an "L" the second digit flashes repeatedly with an "8" and a backwards "C" these never change as i ground each input..the third digit segments a,f,b,g,e,d are lit.. as i ground the following pins the third digit changes as follows.. pin 10 segments f,b,g,e,d are lit... pin 18 segments a,f,g,e,d are lit..pin 22 segments a,f,b,g,e are lit..pin 24 segments a,f,g,b,d are lit.. pin 32 segments a,b,g,e,d are lit..

[Jeff]

I tried the diagnotic firmware on the defective Gotek this evening but i'm not sure what i am looking at.. I did go over the read me file directions.. I noticed that this gotek does not have a red LED inside like the new one. When i run the diagnostic firmware the first digit flashes repeatedly with an "h" and an "L" the second digit flashes repeatedly with an "8" and a backwards "C" these never change as i ground each input..the third digit segments a,f,b,g,e,d are lit.. as i ground the following pins the third digit changes as follows.. pin 10 segments f,b,g,e,d are lit... pin 18 segments a,f,g,e,d are lit..pin 22 segments a,f,b,g,e are lit..pin 24 segments a,f,g,b,d are lit.. pin 32 segments a,b,g,e,d are lit..

And what about the pin 20 ? (Digit 1 segment c / step signal).

EDIT : If i understand you correctly the Digit 1 segment c doesn't lit at all ? If so, this the issue : the pin 20 / step signal seems to be sticked/forced to the ground. Follow the pin 20 trace to see you can see a bad solder or a shortcut somewhere... (This schematic may help : https://cortexamigafloppydrive.files.wo ... matic1.jpg)

[PaulStahl]

I tried the diagnotic firmware on the defective Gotek this evening but i'm not sure what i am looking at.. I did go over the read me file directions.. I noticed that this gotek does not have a red LED inside like the new one. When i run the diagnostic firmware the first digit flashes repeatedly with an "h" and an "L" the second digit flashes repeatedly with an "8" and a backwards "C" these never change as i ground each input..the third digit segments a,f,b,g,e,d are lit.. as i ground the following pins the third digit changes as follows.. pin 10 segments f,b,g,e,d are lit... pin 18 segments a,f,g,e,d are lit..pin 22 segments a,f,b,g,e are lit..pin 24 segments a,f,g,b,d are lit.. pin 32 segments a,b,g,e,d are lit..

And what about the pin 20 ? (Digit 1 segment c / step signal).

EDIT : If i understand you correctly the Digit 1 segment c doesn't lit at all ? If so, this the issue : the pin 20 / step signal seems to be sticked/forced to the ground. Follow the pin 20 trace to see you can see a bad solder or a shortcut somewhere... (This schematic may help : https://cortexamigafloppydrive.files.wo ... matic1.jpg)

Digit 1 only displays "H" and "L" no change during testing.. Pin 20 is definitely shorted to ground, i checked it with my meter.. I followed the trace all the way to the main chip but could not see anything abnormal. It is just a defective unit i think..

[Jeff]

Digit 1 only displays "H" and "L" no change during testing.. Pin 20 is definitely shorted to ground, i checked it with my meter.. I followed the trace all the way to the main chip but could not see anything abnormal. It is just a defective unit i think..

Ok. If you got a "strong" shortcut to the VSS the meter should show something between 0 and 2 ohms. In this case this is probably a solder shortcut somewhere on the pcb (this is "fixable").
If you have higher value (~5/~10 ohms or more up to ~100 ohms) then the malfunction is probably into the uC itself : GPIO damaged by an ESD or an overvoltage.

[PaulStahl]

I ran into another snag today using the HxC emulator software v2.1.22.3 I can not load a file image from any of the HFE quick install disk image pack for the Q80, it will say Null sized DOS image! invalid disk! but they work fine in the Q80.. i can save load and format these files that i got from the quick pack.. If i try to create a blank 720K disk from the software and load my SNG song files to it the Q80 will read it and i can see whats on it but when i go to load it becomes disk unavailable .. if i try to format it, its disk unavailable and then i can no longer read it with the software it will give the same error message .. Maybe this is a format issue of some sort?

[Jeff]

I ran into another snag today using the HxC emulator software v2.1.22.3 I can not load a file image from any of the HFE quick install disk image pack for the Q80, it will say Null sized DOS image! invalid disk! but they work fine in the Q80.. i can save load and format these files that i got from the quick pack.. If i try to create a blank 720K disk from the software and load my SNG song files to it the Q80 will read it and i can see whats on it but when i go to load it becomes disk unavailable .. if i try to format it, its disk unavailable and then i can no longer read it with the software it will give the same error message .. Maybe this is a format issue of some sort?

But in fact i am not sure that the Q80 use a compatible FAT/DOS format. Does it ? The floppy disks was readable on a PC without special tool ?

[PaulStahl]

I ran into another snag today using the HxC emulator software v2.1.22.3 I can not load a file image from any of the HFE quick install disk image pack for the Q80, it will say Null sized DOS image! invalid disk! but they work fine in the Q80.. i can save load and format these files that i got from the quick pack.. If i try to create a blank 720K disk from the software and load my SNG song files to it the Q80 will read it and i can see whats on it but when i go to load it becomes disk unavailable .. if i try to format it, its disk unavailable and then i can no longer read it with the software it will give the same error message .. Maybe this is a format issue of some sort?

But in fact i am not sure that the Q80 use a compatible FAT/DOS format. Does it ? The floppy disks was readable on a PC without special tool ?

I do have to use a special program to save my SNG files from a floppy disk as well as i must format a disk with the Q80 before it is usable so i can see why the HFE file with my songs on it would not work from the emulator software.. I would think though that i could create a blank disk with the emulator software and then format it from the Q80 but i am not able to.. I wonder how they created the HFE files that i use from the quick pack?