Virtual Floppy Drive on Game Doctor SF7

[pcmantinker]

I just bought a GoTek virtual floppy drive capable of emulating 100 floppies on a single flash drive. There were models that supported 1000 virtual floppies, but I thought that was overkill.

I have no problem with playing games split from ucon64 and copied to the virtual disks. I just start loading the first part of a game (if it's larger than 8Mbits) and it waits until I switch to the next disk to load the next part. Games larger than 8Mbits can't be automatically dumped. For some reason, it seems like it tries to write multiple parts to the current disk even if it's full. I suspect this is due to how a virtual floppy drive works. I can however copy the games internally and then copy each part to disk manually.

I much prefer using a virtual floppy drive than having to manage 100 physical disks. The software is fairly easy to use but I had to install it on my Windows XP laptop as it doesn't run properly in Windows 8 64-bit. It's probably due to the driver not being designed for 64-bit Windows. In any case, it brings new life to my Game Doctor SF7!

[MottZilla]

But it's still a hassle compared to the newer carts like PowerPAK, SD2SNES, and Super EverDrive. But if the VirtualFloppy thing can be obtained cheap, it's probably not a bad idea when you already have the Game Doctor. I've never seen one of those things for cheap.

[lidnariq]

For some reason, it seems like it tries to write multiple parts to the current disk even if it's full. I suspect this is due to how a virtual floppy drive works. I can however copy the games internally and then copy each part to disk manually.

The Game Doctor uses a standard 34-pin floppy cable, right? I bet the virtual floppy's emulation of the DISK CHANGED wire signal is confusing it.

[pcmantinker]

But it's still a hassle compared to the newer carts like PowerPAK, SD2SNES, and Super EverDrive. But if the VirtualFloppy thing can be obtained cheap, it's probably not a bad idea when you already have the Game Doctor. I've never seen one of those things for cheap.

Yes, newer carts like the PowerPAK, SD2SNES and the Super EverDrive are much easier to manage than the Game Doctor SF7. However, none of those can actually backup original carts and saves from original carts. That's a good reason to keep a Game Doctor around. Another good reason is for collector's sake. I realize I could get a Retrode that I can dump my games and saves from, but that's besides the point.

I found a cheap floppy drive emulator for about $25 on eBay from a Chinese seller. It took a while to arrive, but that's to be expected with Chinese imports. The floppy drive emulator and the 2GB flash drive cost about a total of $32 so it wasn't too bad. I mainly got this to have a more modern way to interface with my SF7. I can't for the life of me get the parallel transfers to work from my old Inspiron 3800. I have tried about 3-4 different cables and each of them have given transfer errors from uCON64.

For some reason, it seems like it tries to write multiple parts to the current disk even if it's full. I suspect this is due to how a virtual floppy drive works. I can however copy the games internally and then copy each part to disk manually.

The Game Doctor uses a standard 34-pin floppy cable, right? I bet the virtual floppy's emulation of the DISK CHANGED wire signal is confusing it.

Yes, you're probably right. In any case, I do like the ability to back up my own carts and game saves. The software on the PC allows switching virtual floppy disks and you can manage files from Windows Explorer.

[ccovell]

I did a write-up about the same Gotek floppy emulator on my page: http://www.chrismcovell.com/texts/usbfloppy.html

Of course a PowerPak is much easier to use, but for those that don't want to throw out their old copiers, this is pretty useful too.

[pcmantinker]

That's a great write up about USB floppy drive emulators! Thanks for sharing. I have a SNES PowerPAK, but I occasionally like to use my SF7 so this was a nice upgrade.

[wyndcrosser]

I never purchased a flash cart for my SNES, because the nostalgia for my GD SF7 was too much. I always wanted one as a kid, my Father's computer-techy friend had one, as well as the various copiers for N64.

I purchased one of these Gotek drives now, so wish me luck.

Thanks Covell.

[wyndcrosser]

I picked up a gotek usb floppy emulator from ebay for about $10. it's black... but who cares (SF7 is biege). The thing works GREAT. I had to get the software from Covell, so if anyone needs it PM me.

The software takes a bit of "wtf", but I got it ready in about 30-40 seconds. Floppies load up about 2x as fast as they did using a physical floppy drive.