exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Hi,
I recently got my first Mega STE and I can’t manage to get a GoEx to work with it.
Actually, even an EPSON SMD-380 doesn’t work, while the original SMD-300 works flawlessly.
The machine has no internal HD, the pins 1-16 of the internal ACSI connector are jumpered and external Ultrasatan works OK.
When I plug a GoEx or a DD Floppy, the machine goes straight to desktop after memory tests, and double clicking floppy icon gives nothing.
Using the Diagnostic Cart, all floppy tests are ok whatever floppy drive I’m using, so it looks ok on HW side.
Obviously the GoEx and DD drive I use for testing works well in a standard STF or STE.
Anything I missed ?
Olivier

... floppy connector the right way round put in?

SMD-300 is Pin1 near the power plug but SMD-380 are 180 degrees

There is an upgrade for the MSTE to HD floppy, it requires a GAL as well as the HD FDD. I have a late factory fitted one.

The official upgrade docs are here: https://docs.dev-docs.org/ in the Mega STE section. It describes the HDD upgrade process.

I've posted the files for the GAL on here (Somewhere!!) but let me know if you want them and can't find them. They may well also be on the same website.

EDIT: The GAL files are on the same website, go to the 'Expansion' Category and they are present in the ISO file that is hosted there. The GAL files for the FPU upgrade are also there too.

So I did some further testing with no luck.
This Mega STE actually has a proper GAL and I was able to format an HD floppy in the original drive.
I tested with a shorter cable but still the same, SMD-300 works but GoEx and SMD-380 doesn’t.
Final test was with a Panasonic drive from an Amiga 600 and this one works.
As the non working floppy and goex turns on and the goex doesn’t display any error message I suspect some impedance issues, I will try to do some more testing with the scope.

try switch 7 off ...

I tested ...

Switch 7 must be off with a SMD-380

When you use internal (switch 7 on) HD Floppy you can also use a external DD Floppy or GoEx (DD Mode). I tested it with a SF314 ...

I tried changing the switch but I still get the same behavior.
I checked a few signals with the scope but didn’t spot anything obvious.
What I don’t get is that the GoEx is properly handled by diag cart and pass all the tests, TOS can detect it too else I would get 4 bombs at boot.
I will look gain tomorrow, but anyway, I can live with a HD floppy, I just wanted to make sure there isn’t a bigger problem behind this issue.

It should/must work ...

What TOS version you use?

Using TOS 2.06 FR:
- SMD-300 or Panasonic (HD drive) : boots from floppy, no issue, both HD and DD floppies can be read, written and formatted.
- GOEX or SMD-380(DD): Goes straight to Desktop after memory tests, floppy icons are available but clicking on it doesn’t do anything.

Using TOS 2.05 FR:
- SMD 300 or Panasonic boots from floppy, no issue, floppy can be read or written.
- GOEX or SMD-380: Screen stays blank, machine doesn’t boot.

Using Diag Cart: Every kind of drive can be read, formatted or written.