vkcpolice Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Hi All Im new to the forum i have moved here across from vogons as someone said that i may get more support here with my new atari st computer. I have recently purchased an Atari St 520 and need a vga monitor for it. i have the vga adapter that the computer uses but i am looking for anyone that can recommend a lcd monitor that is readily available to purchase in Australia. i am also looking to replace the original floppy drive with a gotek but my atari has a strange floppy drive and i am not sure what gotek or 3d printed case i would need to buy. please see the pics of my computer to help with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Welcome to age of Atari ? Floppy drive is original one, according to pic. It is just eject button and plastic front in Atari style. Inside is pretty much regular DD 3.5 inch drive. More problems with floppy drive happen simply because of their age, and age of disks. Now, what is exactly that VGA adapter, and with what monitor you use it currently. In which color mode, resolution ? Is Australia PAL or NTSC land ? I guess should be PAL, since British connection, but I really never thought about it. I ask because maybe better solution instead LCD monitor would be LCD TV with Scart connector - and they are for sure available in PAL land. That can cost just little more than bare monitor. And finding VGA monitor (little outdated term now) what supports Atari video signal in color mode is not so easy. Well, only in case if your VGA adapter is good quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 Hi thank you. the vga adapter i have came with the computer and is unbranded it cas a little switch on it to switch between monochrome and color mode. i don't currently have a monitor for this computer. in regards to the gotek im a little confused about what sort of gotek to buy as they come in many different form factors. that's a good idea about looking for a little tv but scart in Australia was rarely used and finding TVs these days with analog inputs is hard. The disk drive in this pc works with no issues. is it possible to use a pc with a 1.4mb floppy or will the atari only read 720k disc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 1 hour ago, vkcpolice said: is it possible to use a pc with a 1.4mb floppy or will the atari only read 720k disc? Standard Atari is only 720K disks, it requires some modifications/parts to be able to use 1.44Mb floppy's and as @ParanoidLittleMan said, it's not really worth the effort, if you don't already have software on that format, best go for a Gotec Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 It is not worth to do mod for 1.44 MB floppies (HD), and it may need special FDC chip (Ajax), what will be not cheap. PC can work with 720 K floppies, and real problem is actually not floppy drive in PC, but Windows and its poor floppy driver. I made SW what helps in it: http://atari.8bitchip.info/floimgd.php "the vga adapter i have came with the computer and is unbranded it cas a little switch on it to switch between monochrome and color mode. " That doesn't sound good. Best would be to test it with someone's VGA monitor. It might be that quality of pic will be not good. Or even that there is no conversion to usual VGA frequencies at all in color modes - in other words that it needs special, multisync monitor, and that's harder to find, and price might be not so good too. If it appears that color mode works not with some average VGA monitor, I think that is better to get smaller TV with Scart. Price is not much bigger than for just monitor. Here still can get Philips 24PFT4022 . I bought such 3.5 years ago, and has very good pic quality with Atari. Only drawback is that Atari monochrome mode works not. But that mode is not for average user who want to play, run some older SW what works in low/med res. I have older VGA/DVI monitor with which can use monochrome mode. And monochrome will work with any VGA monitor, even if is very old. Additionally you have TV, movie playback from USB attached media, and even recording of TV programs. And 2 HDMI inputs beside VGA and Scart inputs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, vkcpolice said: in regards to the gotek im a little confused about what sort of gotek to buy as they come in many different form factors. First you need to decide if you're willing to modify the case to have Gotek inside or not. It's tricky to fit even a simple Gotek without cutting some plastic (you might need a special mount). I think it's just about possible with the basic one, but the model with rotary dial won't fit. I have the basic Gotek inside and it's difficult to operate. It's probably a better idea to drag the cable to outside of the case (though I'm not sure if on ST you can do it without some cuts, like on Amiga) and use the Gotek externally. As for different models, they are basically the same thing, it's just the better ones have OLED display and a rotary knob. That makes file navigation much easier and I recommend spending a bit more and choosing this option (wish I had). Edited December 7, 2021 by youxia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 There is an alternative, a GOEX, which is made to fit, is essentially a tailor made Gotec 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 GOEX looks pretty cool. Though at this price point (50E+ 15 for display) you can start thinking about the hard drive add on from @masteries (circa ~35E). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 Hi where can i find the GOEX for sale please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masteries Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 On 12/7/2021 at 7:24 AM, vkcpolice said: Hi All Im new to the forum i have moved here across from vogons as someone said that i may get more support here with my new atari st computer. I have recently purchased an Atari St 520 and need a vga monitor for it. i have the vga adapter that the computer uses but i am looking for anyone that can recommend a lcd monitor that is readily available to purchase in Australia. i am also looking to replace the original floppy drive with a gotek but my atari has a strange floppy drive and i am not sure what gotek or 3d printed case i would need to buy. please see the pics of my computer to help with this. Greetings Vkcpolice, As friend Youxia exposed, A low cost good performance hard disk unit would be a very practical add on for your recently acquired computer, it is shipped to Australia too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 Hi thank you all for your replys im just not sure where i can buy this hard drive adapter or the gotek you mentioned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DarkLord Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Contact Masteries directly - he's the one who makes them. He posted a link above... https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=40018&hilit=masteries As for the Goex, found this: https://centuriontech.eu/product/goex4st/ HTH's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fivetwenty Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Hi As a replacement for old floppy drive, Gotek is also good option,its quite inexpensive and if modded easy to use. I flashed mine with flashfloppy firmware modded with 1602 lcd panel and rotary encoder, everything cost about 25 eur (2020). Flashfloppy and modifications are well documented and not difficult to do. Gotek was purchased from Aliexpress and model is SFR1M44-U100K. The only problems were that the Atari`s internal floppy cable was too short so had to make extension cable for it and I had to make en external enclosure for lcd panel which is the wired inside atari. I guess it could be "embedded" inside Atari too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 (edited) can you use normal 1.4mb floppy's on a pc to write images? Edited December 12, 2021 by vkcpolice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 13 hours ago, vkcpolice said: can you use normal 1.4mb floppy's on a pc to write images? That is possible, but you must 'make' them DD (720 K) floppies By covering that hole at right bottom. And it will be less reliable than using real DD floppies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 (edited) Can you run the gotek as a external drive and keep the original drive in the computer? or is it like the amiga and needs to be set as the main boot drive for games to run? also how do you flash the gotek when i bought my amiga version i just put flash floppy on the usb drive with roms and it worked can you do this with atari or do you need to flash the rom on the gotek itself? does this work? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/115226054075?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Df3d18abd31bb41fbac5c81717fc8327e%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D125026153373%26itm%3D115226054075%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A6647c86d-88d3-11ec-a5d8-de10e2fc70cc|parentrq%3Ad91f330a17e0a1b4159b7e35fff3e506|iid%3A1 Edited February 8, 2022 by vkcpolice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 I believe the Gotek works the same way as the Amiga, I think you hold one of the buttons when you power it up and if the flash files are on the USB drive it will flash it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted February 9, 2022 Author Share Posted February 9, 2022 thx how about running it as an external drive with the adapter i linked? will it boot games from an external drive or is it like the amiga where the internal drive always seeks first to look for a bootable game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chri O. Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I've seen a modded Atari ST with external drive as A and internal drive as B. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) The internal drive is always A, but as @Chri O. says, you can modify the cabling internally to maybe insert a switch to flip A to B and vice versa Edit: although my floppies were all external on my 520ST, I had 3 X 3 1/2 and a 5 1/4 drive, and with a couple of switches any could be drive A or B Edited February 9, 2022 by TGB1718 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
351coug Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 I remember the ste had a couple jumpers that set a <> b internal external, i dont remember if the original st had that option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted February 10, 2022 Author Share Posted February 10, 2022 i was hoping i could use the gotek as an external drive by plugging it into the floppy port on the back of the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 3 hours ago, vkcpolice said: i was hoping i could use the gotek as an external drive by plugging it into the floppy port on the back of the computer. On a 520ST it will drive B by just using a cable from the floppy port Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 I just checked the circuit diagram for a 1040ST which should be similar to yours, look at the attached diagram in particular W2, it does look like you can switch drives over, it's not likely to be an actual switch, but a soldered jumper. Find that and maybe you can make the required changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkcpolice Posted November 27, 2023 Author Share Posted November 27, 2023 (edited) Hi all i know this is a old thread but i have since pulled this computer out of storage to try and tackle the Gotek issue with my long drive atari st. unfortunately GOEX drives from https://centuriontech.eu/product/goex4st/ are out of stock and have been since i started this thread is there anyone else selling any options for the atari st? thanks Edited November 27, 2023 by vkcpolice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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