Recommended way to backup discs to USB - where to get Gotek?

[Jonathan]

My old CPC 6128 is back in the garage but I'll likely bring it out again over Christmas (thanks to Bryce for fixing the CTM644 a few years ago).

I'd like to back up all my old discs before they become unreadable, and also be able to use them on a PC emulator.

Would the "Gotek Floppy Emulator" be the way forward? It's out of stock at https://www.cpcstore.co.uk/product/gotekdrive/7 - are they still available elsewhere?

Thanks in anticipation!

[Jonathan]

I found the Gotek on eBay, though I'm only 99% sure it's the same.

The CPC Store page mentions "Floppy cable for CPC 664/6128" and also an optional power cable "Y-cable for Regular CPC models" - what should I search for to find these?

With the optional extras:

* "OLED screen" - I guess this is the screen with lines of writing rather than a big "8.8.8"
* "Rotary dial" - this is self-evident, but how would one work without this?
* "Drive sound buzzer" - is there a way of telling by looking at the product whether it has this?

Thanks!

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

There's also a device called a Greaseweazel for disk backup to images, and vice versa. Same creator as the Flashfloppy Gotek firmware.

https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/technical-support/greaseweazle/

[wingtsun42]

Ulifac you can do Disc to USB pen drive

[Jonathan]

Thanks. I'll look into all these. Is there a general consensus on which is best for backing up discs to USB? Gotek vs Greaseweazle vs ULIfAC.

[eto]

Thanks. I'll look into all these. Is there a general consensus on which is best for backing up discs to USB? Gotek vs Greaseweazle vs ULIfAC.

Definitely no consensus. ;-)

The Greaseweazle  (imho) only makes sense if you want to preserve or create disks with a copy protection that cannot be done on the CPC itself.

The advantage of the Gotek is that it behaves exactly like a drive. If your disks could be copied with a normal disk copy utility, the Gotek will work fine. @iconsgr do you still sell Gotek kits for the Amstrad?

Ulifac you can do Disc to USB pen drive

How can I copy from a physical disk in drive A to a DSK image? I might have missed that ...

[Jonathan]

Thank you. I think I'll be going for the Gotek, unless there are strong opinions against. I'll keep you posted.

[Mark_wllms]

Personally, I find the USIFAC II a very cheap and reliable way to copy a physical disk to an image on USB and then to mount the image. I would recommend it over a GOTEK, as you mount disk images easily from software.
It can also direct load files from USB and load snapshots into memory.  However it cannot act as a second drive, i.e. you cannot have access the physical drive A and the emulated drive B at the same time.
The only attraction of the GOTEK that I can see is if you wish to mount it internally in place of an original disk drive.

[Jonathan]

Oh no! I'll have to look into that as well now :-) I think maybe an advantage of the Gotek is that I'd like to end up with DSK images that I could use on a PC emulator as well as on the CPC, and I think the Gotek can switch quickly between a whole load of them, whereas (from skimming a thread here) the USIFAC is limited to four (plus the mass storage).

[Mark_wllms]

The USIFAC can make as many DSK images as will fit on the USB device, using a simple RSX command.

|DISK,name,(1), for getting an image to a usb device from a floppy disk. Supports DATA/SYSTEM/IBM formats & up to 42 tracks. Optional '1' argument, is for auto creating new image filenames, based on the name you give, by adding a letter at the begining of the name (Aname,Bname, Cname etc), in order to take many backups in a row, by only changing disks and pressing a key.

The GOTEK cannot create DSK images. You would need to mount a blank disk image on the GOTEK, then use a copy utility on the Amstrad to copy the files or the sectors from the Source disk to the mounted disk image.

On the USIFAC, you can mount any DSK image from the USB device by using the commands:

|MG,"name" to select the image file you want to use
|FDC, to enable Floppy Disk Controller emulation
From now on, any CAT,LOAD,RUN,SAVE command will access dsk image!

You can mount up to 4 DSK images at the same time and then 'rotate' them by pressing a button on the device. This is useful for games that come on more than one disk, or if you want to insert a 'save game' disk.

Even easier, you can run the File Manager utility on your Amstrad, which will mount the DSK images for you. You can even organise DSK images into folders. This is much easier than on the GOTEK, where you have to 'step through' each image to get to the one you want to mount.

The DSK images are standard ones, so you can easily plug the USB device into a PC and use them with an emulator.

[Jonathan]

Before seeing your last message, I went ahead and bought a Gotek, from Simulant. The big benefit for me was that they were able to make up a Gotek with an external case, OLED display, speaker, dial, ribbon cable, power y-cable, and USB stick, so I don't have to do any thinking. It looks lovely, though I haven't tried it out yet!

[Jonathan]

Just reporting back that the Gotek works fine as an external B drive :-)

I should note here that the Gotek is able to navigate through a directory structure on the USB stick.