How to run software on a 520 STFM today?!?

[ChrisA]

Hi,

I few weeks ago I thought it would be nice to get the old Atari 520 STFM out and put on some of my old games or maybe do a bit of programming and print out the code on my dot matrix. I should have left it in the box...

Anyway, it's now functioning but I can not run any of my old software, all my disks are now corrupt/mouldy and the floppy drive is tempremental and/or maybe damaging the disks further.

I see online a wide availability of software in .ST .STX .MSA etc format which you can download and run but need other hardware/adapters for it to work, what is the best way of doing this?

When I say "best" I mean the most straightforward way from finding say BubbleBobble downloading it, then loading it onto the ST then maybe swapping it for Arkanoid and so on - the modern equivalent of swapping out a working floppy disk I suppose.

Any advice/tips very welcome.

Thanks.

[stephen_usher]

What most people do today is use a Gotek or Goex drive and store disk images on either a USB thumb drive (Gotek) or SD card (Goex).

[rubber_jonnie]

As @stephen_usher says, a Gotek or Goex is likely your best bet if you just want to emulate a standard ST with a floppy disk drive. You can find ST floppy disk images all over the web, though I usually tell people to avoid .STX images since while they work well for ST emulators they are a preservation format and are not designed to work as disk images.

If you want to go for soem sort of HDD solution like UltraSatan, ACSI2STM or the like then visit 8bitchip.info and you can download HD ready games that have been 'fixed' to remove many of the old incompatibilities.

As for your FDD, the heads may just need cleaning, especially if you've used failing floppies with it, but your floppies are likely toast, especially if stored in less than ideal conditions.

[ChrisA]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, yes I think the Gotek type of thing look good. I prefer the SD card over the pen drive so this Goex one from Centurion looks like the best fit for me.

https://centuriontech.eu/product/goex4st/

Does anyone have any experience with this, is it mostly reliable and trouble free? I found another one from Retropassion but that's been discontinued and the others (on Amazon/ebay) seem to be generic and not spefically for the ST which I translate as troublesome and/or major ag.

[rubber_jonnie]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, yes I think the Gotek type of thing look good. I prefer the SD card over the pen drive so this Goex one from Centurion looks like the best fit for me.

https://centuriontech.eu/product/goex4st/

Does anyone have any experience with this, is it mostly reliable and trouble free? I found another one from Retropassion but that's been discontinued and the others (on Amazon/ebay) seem to be generic and not spefically for the ST which I translate as troublesome and/or major ag.

I've not used one myself but AFAIK it's much the same as using a Gotek but with an SD card and uses FlashFloppy. It's a plug and play replacement, just be sure to get the correct bezel (Long button or Short button) to suit your particular STFM.

[elterwater]

Does anyone have any experience with this, is it mostly reliable and trouble free? I found another one from Retropassion but that's been discontinued and the others (on Amazon/ebay) seem to be generic and not spefically for the ST which I translate as troublesome and/or major ag.

This one should be ok for you:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146436995369

There's a few things you'll need to be aware of / workaround maybe.

1) Cable length.
The normal ST floppy / power cables CAN be slightly too short. This is typically more of a problem for generic gotek devices as they are mounted the "correct" way up but this then requires you to twist the ST's cables upside down. The ST specific goteks like the one I have linked to are mounted "upside down" so there should be no twisting of cables required (although again length may still be an issue on your specific STFM).

2) Fascia differences between long and short button drives.
Sometimes the 3d printed fascias aren't quite in-line with the floppy drive cutouts on the STFM, check if you have a long button or a short button version.

3) OLED screen placement.
Goteks like the one I have linked to have their oled screen mounted in the fascia. Great, except you can't see them normally! I have disconnected mine and run some extension cables from the gotek out through the original OLED mounting slot and connected it to a much bigger 2.42 inch OLED screen sat on top of the ST case. Will eventually get round to mounting a rotary controller instead.

4) SD card vs USB flash drive.
Don't sweat it, get a short USB extension cable and use a flash drive. Not only will it give you more options on Gotek models, it also saves you from shoving stuff directly into the Gotek itself (SD card or USB version) as that places strain against the typically 3d printed mountings and fascias these come with and the screwholes keeping the Gotek mounted in the case can be quite flimsy....

[alexh]

This Goex one from Centurion looks like the best fit for me.

https://centuriontech.eu/product/goex4st/

Does anyone have any experience with this, is it mostly reliable and trouble free?

They are the best fitting Gotek for Atari STs. They run the normal Gotek Flash-Floppy FW and are as compatible as any other Gotek.

They have a speaker for floppy disk sounds.

Like all Gotek's you can operate them without an OLED display on Atari ST by using FloppyManager (a default disk image that it boots on power-on or after a long press of the eject button). The Atari ST loads a menu where you select the stack of disks you want displayed on the TV, using the ST keyboard and mouse before rebooting. Much better IMO to OLED display (if a little slower for SD cards with only a handful of disks on). Also much easier to select multiple disks.

[ChrisA]

This Goex one from Centurion looks like the best fit for me.

https://centuriontech.eu/product/goex4st/

Does anyone have any experience with this, is it mostly reliable and trouble free?

They are the best fitting Gotek for Atari STs. They run the normal Gotek Flash-Floppy FW and are as compatible as any other Gotek.

They have a speaker for floppy disk sounds.

Like all Gotek's you can operate them without an OLED display on Atari ST by using FloppyManager (a default disk image that it boots on power-on or after a long press of the eject button). The Atari ST loads a menu where you select the stack of disks you want displayed on the TV, using the ST keyboard and mouse before rebooting. Much better IMO to OLED display (if a little slower for SD cards with only a handful of disks on). Also much easier to select multiple disks.

Ah that FloppyManager sounds good especially after I've loaded out the SD card will all the disks, I was wondering about the OLE displays as some people say they're hard to read, although on the Centurion site they (the reviewers) seem to be happy with theirs. I suppose if you have the ole display as well you can choose between which one you use. Thanks for your reply.

[ChrisA]

Does anyone have any experience with this, is it mostly reliable and trouble free? I found another one from Retropassion but that's been discontinued and the others (on Amazon/ebay) seem to be generic and not spefically for the ST which I translate as troublesome and/or major ag.

This one should be ok for you:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146436995369

There's a few things you'll need to be aware of / workaround maybe.

1) Cable length.
The normal ST floppy / power cables CAN be slightly too short. This is typically more of a problem for generic gotek devices as they are mounted the "correct" way up but this then requires you to twist the ST's cables upside down. The ST specific goteks like the one I have linked to are mounted "upside down" so there should be no twisting of cables required (although again length may still be an issue on your specific STFM).

2) Fascia differences between long and short button drives.
Sometimes the 3d printed fascias aren't quite in-line with the floppy drive cutouts on the STFM, check if you have a long button or a short button version.

3) OLED screen placement.
Goteks like the one I have linked to have their oled screen mounted in the fascia. Great, except you can't see them normally! I have disconnected mine and run some extension cables from the gotek out through the original OLED mounting slot and connected it to a much bigger 2.42 inch OLED screen sat on top of the ST case. Will eventually get round to mounting a rotary controller instead.

4) SD card vs USB flash drive.
Don't sweat it, get a short USB extension cable and use a flash drive. Not only will it give you more options on Gotek models, it also saves you from shoving stuff directly into the Gotek itself (SD card or USB version) as that places strain against the typically 3d printed mountings and fascias these come with and the screwholes keeping the Gotek mounted in the case can be quite flimsy....

Thanks for that and for finding one on Ebay. I've read a few people mention the screens readability. Fortunately or not mine can take either long or short button version as it originally came with a long button floppy but the drive stopped working and was replaced with an NEC short button version (as I couldn't get a long button version at the time) and the case "modified" to fit it as per this photo:

IMG_9262.jpg

[alexh]

Ah that FloppyManager sounds good especially after I've loaded out the SD card will all the disks

Also known as "File Selector". It is by HxC (which is a competing floppy disk emulator) however the Gotek Flash Floppy FW also supports it.

https://github.com/jfdelnero/HXCFE_file_selector

I suppose if you have the oled display as well you can choose between which one you use.

Not only that, the oled display shows the current disk inserted. If you have a multi-disk-game like say "Dragon's Lair" which is 6 disks you can more easily switch to the right one. That said, just pressing the eject button every few seconds until it loads works too :)