Upgrade your old FDD (SNES) copier to USB

[ccovell]

Hi, folks. Even though there are PowerPaks and Everdrives out there nowadays, a few of us might still have old floppy-disk based copiers or systems. Well, a cheap* new USB replacement for those FDD drives is becoming popular, so I tried one out by fitting it in my Super UFO 8.

Write-up here: http://www.chrismcovell.com/texts/usbfloppy.html

http://www.chrismcovell.com/images/USBFloppy01.jpg

*compared to HxC.

Links:
GOTEK http://gotek.en.ecplaza.net/
HxC http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/index.html

[kedawa]

Would this work for an Amiga computer?
I'd really like to find an alternative to using floppies on my A500, and the hxc is a little too pricey.

[TheChristoph]

Holy cow; that is awesome! I sold my Wildcard DX2 what feels like aeons ago, but now I kinda wish I still had it!

[madman77]

Very cool, thanks for posting!

[ccovell]

Would this work for an Amiga computer?

Quite likely not. It most likely just does MFM decoding (or whatever) and is also limited to FAT (MS-DOS) filesystems. Also, there's no way of getting .ADFs mounted as partitions on a USB stick, is there?

You could always give it a try, but most likely only CrossDos would read/write anything useful to the stick.

[Kiddo]

Hey, I happen to have a Super UFO as well! (Probably an older model)

I'd probably like to have this mod - all my old floppy-drive-compatible PCs kicked the bucket.

[BlastProcessing402]

GOTEK is likely the original manufacturer of this device, but since they are just an OEM supplier, they don't have a webshop or sell directly to consumers as such. (Maybe if you asked for a sample, they'd send you one or two for free, as manufacturers tend to do for legitimate resellers.) Anyway, GOTEK makes the original device, but I've seen obviously the same technology in rebranded devices, sometimes identical, sometimes slightly modified... always more expensive than the simple one pictured here. I got mine for $12 (plus shipping from China) on Yahoo Auctions Japan; you could try e-Bay rather than buy off those expensive re-branders.

Sounds like it's a pain to actually buy one of these things, though it looks like the install is a breeze.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Heeeeeeey that's awesome.

Maybe I'll get one for whenever I can actually test that weirdass copier I own.