Amiga A1200 - Fitting a GoDrive

This video continues my journey with the 'backinblack' Amiga from the last video: • Amiga A1200 modificati...
In this outing I fit a GoDrive to this Amiga A1200, and show you how I did it.
GoDrive was sourced from Digital Retro Bay - digitalretrobay.co.uk
This was a fun little project, and the GoDrive is such a useful bit of kit for enabling me to use the USB drive for .adf files, and the internal floppy drive. Happy days.
You can find me online...
... See my small retro website here: www.ya-retro.co.uk
... and you can follow me on X/Twitter at: @yawning_angel
... and on Mastodon at: @[e-mail]
... and on BlueSky here: @yawning-angel.bsky.social
Thanks for watching, and I hope this video is of interest to you.
YA. 😎

[@ItsCrapContent]

Do like that black amiga …cool vid as always

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Thank you Daph. Yeah, I find myself just staring at it sometimes, thinking ‘Wow!’. 😎

[@simonread4263]

I just got one for my A1200 and it works like a charm.

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Great to know. Enjoy. 😁👍

[@LinuxRenaissance]

My ideal scenario would be your GoDrive hidden inside Amiga and no screen. USB port would be on the back of Amiga where A1200 small expansion door is and the switch would be next to it. Maybe navigation buttons too, for backup. But the actual ADF navigation would happen as OSD (on screen display) on a green wire on RGB output (this is already possible with Gotek) plus a special key combination from the Amiga keyboard (alao already possible). So, basically, what I need from my Gotek is only the switch that you have on the GoDrive because I would like to restore the original floppy drive back into my Amiga.

[@YawningAngelRetro]

That sounds really cool Darth, I’m wondering if hardware people have considered making something like that. I guess it’s only a matter of time before something like that emerges. 😎

[@SebsPlaceYT]

Great explanation, thanks!

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Awesome, thanks for saying so. 😎

[@frankowalker4662]

I did'nt get a Gotek as I still use my floppy drive. This is a perfect solution. (Maybe try stacking a load of books behind the top of the case while threading the cable and conecting the LED's. Just a thought.)

[@YawningAngelRetro]

After shooting that scene I did think about resting it against a wall. 🤦‍♂️ Ah well, everything is clearer in hindsight. 😅

[@frankowalker4662]

@@YawningAngelRetro Sadly, that is true. Ha ha.

[@walkero]

That was a great video. Thank you for making this. One thing that is not clear is if the GoDrive can be used to boot the system from an ADF, especially if that is a NDOS disk.

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Thank you for the comment. Glad you found it useful. 😁 I’ll be trying out the booting from ADF functionality soon. I don’t see why it would not work, but we’ll see. 😎

[@davethorne3925]

looks like a great device . i see on the website it says to contact the seller . how long did it take for yours to arrive ?. does it also work if your df0 isnt plugged in ?. currently mine is broken but im buying a new one soon .

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Ah, I brought mine from him at a show a few months ago. Didn’t know they were a build to order option now. Never tried it with df0 disconnected, but I assume it should work as ling as it can get power, which it draws from the motherboard, and in turn df0 draws power from the GoDrive board.

[@frankowalker4662]

I imagine that if you keep the switch in the floppy off setting, it will work fine on it's own.

[@davethorne3925]

@@YawningAngelRetro ah ok thanks very much . that is kinda how i was expecting it too work . i have done loads of mods to my amiga since i go it back out of the loft 5 years ago. after being u there since 1996 i was gunna get the gotek but the godrive suits my needs alot better . i also have the black case and keys like you and a mk3 scan doubler . i might try the re-amiga mod soon .

[@davethorne3925]

@@frankowalker4662 yeah thats kinda what i was hoping for tbh i have hundreds of disks that i have to go thru but dont have a working floppy atm . so this will get me back up and running in the mean time . then its just a case of a strong magnet and the disc cleaning if some are failing then re-write them back to floppy thru adf

[@ddytrych]

It always been like that, you need to contact seller to order one. They are not build to order, but due to high demand you'll probably be put on the waiting list.

[@stephenelliott7071]

Thanks for the content on this FD option. I have a Gotech drive and my internal floppy drive seems to be failing now, but I wasn't happy with the option to switch between the internal floppy drive (bootable drive) and the Gotech external drive (non bootable) with a switch (I own an original A500). Which means you need to drill a whole in the case, and if left inside the case could potentially switch and cause damage to the chip...I've since picked up a kit to use a key combination instead to switch between internal floppy drive and Gotech...Any advice on this matter would be welcome, as would a place where I can get a case for the Gotech.

[@YawningAngelRetro]

Thank you for the comment. I’m not familiar with how this would work on an A500, but the GoDrive documentation says it does work with the A500 as it has a power cable splitter in the box for the GoDrive and df0 power cable. Also I’m not sure on how to source a case for the Gotek. I would assume they should be easy to get given Gotek drives are common on a number of platforms. Sorry I can’t offer much in the way of help, and good luck with your search and finding a solution.

[@off1k]

I ended up purchasing GoEX drives for both my A500 and A1200. These are slimline internal "goteks" except they mount perfectly in the floppy bay, they use an external oled screen and slim case mount. They use SD Cards instead of USB so they're almost invisible when inserted plus they have a jogwheel that also acts as a button to select folders and such. The jogwheel button and sd card slot fit perfectly in the floppy disk gap of your Amiga case. Highly recommend these drives, they cost around 57GBP with screen and screen mount. The internal GoEX mounts are different for A500 and A1200, you select which type you need when you purchase plus a choice of colours. There's also the "GoEX on Pills" edition which allows "Gotek" interaction on your Amiga monitor instead of using the little oled screen, requires some soldering though and costs a bit more.

[@stephenelliott7071]

@@off1k seems like a great solution - unless you still want to have a working floppy drive?

[@off1k]

@@stephenelliott7071 Yeah true but I have an external floppy as well. I also used an internal Gotek drive (after I replaced it with the GoEX) in an external floppy drive case to replace a dead floppy drive. I use this for a different A500 that has a normal internal floppy. It's great for copying to and from ADF to real floppy.

[@stephenelliott7071]

@@off1k sounds like a cool setup.

[@davepauljones]

So you can not copy a floppy from internal floppy drive to GoDrive and vice versa, seems to be something lacking there...mmm

[@YawningAngelRetro]

I guess because it is essentially using the same ports as the internal floppy you can only have once device active on that port at a time. The floppy controller was never meant to handle multiple devices from what I can see. But your point is fair. 😉

[@ddytrych]

Yes, you can by using simple solution like x-copy. Load your disk or .adf file to memory, flick switch to either GoDRIvE or FDD and store it.