Gotek Extension Board by KMTech Design

Installation Instructions - Gotek/Extension Board Combo Version v1.0 and v1.1

Hi, my name is Kevin, and I am the designer of the Gotek Extension Board. I have an eBay store where I sell lots of unique accessories for retro computers. If you are interested click here.

These are the installation instructions for the KMTech Gotek/Extension Board Combo Version v1.0 and v1.1. I considered doing this in a Youtube video format, but that is not a good idea unless one is skilled at video production, which I am not. Also, you would have to put up with my funky Northern-England accent, also not a good idea! I am going the refer to the extension board as the EB from now on, because I am a man so therefore inherently lazy. Similarly I'm going to refer to the Gotek board as the GB, so by the end of this guide you will definitely have the EB-GB's ;)

JUST WHAT IS A KMTECH GOTEK EXTENSION BOARD ANYWAY?

The Gotek solid-state diskette drive emulator is an innovative device, capable of attaching to a computer and pretending that it is a real floppy drive. However, it does not use conventional floppy disks to hold data, instead it holds virtual floppy discs, in the form of image files, that it accesses from devices such as memory sticks that plug into it's USB port.

One day along came a clever fellow who made it work with the Commodore Amiga. All well and good, but the Gotek drive was never designed for this. It just wasn't the right shape. If you installed it inside an A500 or A1200 casing, you couldn't access the buttons properly, or see the display or LEDs. If you installed it outside the case it was more accessible, but rather unsightly.

The main problem with all this, thousands of valuable Amiga cases were being drilled, cut and otherwise butchered just so the owner could see the numerical display etc.

We at KMTech noticed these problems. We had a think and said hey, why not have the Gotek inside the case where it can't be seen, and have the controls outside where they are accessible. And why not give it a retro look, in keeping with the Amiga itself? And Lo - the Gotek Extension board was created!

Here is a top and bottom view of the board. You will see that it deliberately has the look of a 3.5" diskette but with added features:

INSTALLATION OVERVIEW

As installations go this is quite a simple one. All of the modification and soldering work has been done for you. All that remains is to install the two boards inside the A500 case, connect them together and connect the Gotek drive to the Amiga floppy  drive connectors.

 This work can be divided into six tasks, which are carried out in the following order:

1. Opening the Amiga case: Simply removing five screws.

2. Installing the EB: Sticking the EB to the inside of the A500 case using the four supplied mounting pillars.

3. Installing the GB: Sticking the GB to the inside of the A500 case using the five supplied mounting pillars.

4. Attaching the EB to the GB: There are four simple connections to make.

5. Connecting the GB to the A500 Floppy Connectors: You will be using the supplied 40 cm extended data and power cables for this.

6. Closing the A500 case: Putting the five screws back in.

CAUTION - STATIC ELECTRICITY!

Although the EB is not sensitive to ESD (Electro-Static Discharge), the GB most certainly is. Always be mindful of the damage that can be done by ESD. Always hold the board by the edges. Try to earth yourself either with a wristband or simply by touching something that is earthed from time to time. Try not to walk around on nylon carpets before handling circuit boards.

1. OPENING THE AMIGA A500 CASE.

Firstly, power down your Amiga and then remove all wires that are plugged into it. Turn it upside down and take out the six screws that are holding the two halves of the case together. It may help to refer to the picture below.

Turn the Amiga the right way up and remove the top cover. You will only be working on the top cover for now, so you can put the rest of the computer to one side.

2. INSTALLING THE EB.

Turn the top cover upside down and slide the EB into the floppy disk slot. Plug the four mounting pillars into the board. Note that two of the pilars are bigger than the others. It will be evident which holes the bigger pillars go into.

Double-sided sticky pads have been provided for sticking the EB and GB to the inside of the case but we strongly recommend that you use a binary adhesive such as Araldite or similar!

Make sure you locate the EB properly before sticking it down. You don't want it sticking out of the floppy disk slot too much, but you will need to be able to see the LEDs.

If you are using adhesive, it would be a good idea to anchor the EB in place with tape and leave it until the next day before commencing to the next stage.

4. ATTACHING THE EB TO THE GB.

Connect the three GB 4-way connectors to the three 4-way pin headers on the EB. Also plug the USB patch lead into the receptacle on the GB. Please refer to the photo below.