Go-Go Gadget Gotek: Cheap DIY external floppy for your 8-bit Tandy/TRS-80

Yet Another YouTube Video about converting a cheap Gotek floppy into a retro computing peripheral with the help of FlashFloppy: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy Only thing special about this one is I'm specifically focusing on the process of preparing one of these drives for use with a TRS-80 or other computer that requires external drive enclosures daisy-chained off of a 34 pin edge connector. The assumption is you have the computer but no original parts/enclosures to work with, so we walk laboriously through the entire process of tricking out the Gotek with an OLED display, constructing a power supply with external components, and making the apropos cable. Contents: 0:00 Intro/Overview 4:35 Turn a USB cord or 5v power brick into a floppy PSU 10:25 Wiring up an OLED display to the "new" Goteks (* see links) 17:35 Carving out the hole for the new display 22:25 Make your own data cable 27:10 Testing it out on a Tandy Color Computer 3 I know this drags, I had no script and after just leaving the camera on while I tinkered I just chopped out the really boring "let's watch solder flow" parts. Maybe seeing someone butterfinger their way through this will inspire someone else to get over their fear of diving into basic hardware hackery. Linkages (and a little more info) below. Flashfloppy Wiki: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/... Gotek Compatibility. Important!!!: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/... I would have talked more about this but I just had the one type of Gotek handy so I couldn't really show off the differences. For years these devices were largely identical but lately they've started substituting several different cheaper MCUs, so depending on when the one you order was made and where you might get slightly different guts. The Flashfloppy project has been good about tracking these changes, but it will be important to identify your unit to figure out which flashing program you'll need. Programming your Gotek: https://github.com/keirf/FlashFloppy/... Most Goteks you'll buy today will probably have the "Artery MCUs". Here is a video detailing the flash process for them:    • Gotek Floppy Emulator: NEW 2021 FlashFlopp...   This video also covers additional hardware mods. In fact, stop watching this video and go watch theirs. No, wait, please don't! I need your attention! I hate just hollering in the dark! (Although you wouldn't know it from how much I insist on it...) Aliexpress search for "gotek": (Not compensated, obviously.) https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?... If you're impatient you can get one from Amazon Prime for about $30, Aliexpress will be about $22 shipped to the US. Aliexpress also has the connectors for the cable: https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?... I tossed this in because the card edges are significantly harder to find than the 34 pin IDC connectors. Amazon has the latter reasonably cheap. The price of ribbon cable by itself is pretty high, which is why I jumped on the 37 conductor remnant for about a dollar when I spotted it. You might not be so lucky. If you have a spare PC floppy cable it might make sense to reuse it, and converting it for this is fairly simple; just press a card edge connector onto the controller end, and then gently pry open the clips for the IDC (pin socket) connector that's past the "twist" in the cable, untwist it, and clamp it back together. (If you break the IDC connector just replace it with another, not a huge loss.) You need to remove the twist because it's an IBM proprietary thing. *Doh*, I also forgot to mention, set the drive select jumpers appropriately. Move the jumper on "S1" to "S0" for drive 0 (first drive) on a Tandy. For a second drive leave it as "S1". Most Goteks only have jumpers for these two positions, if you need a third or fourth drive I have an idea for that I may cover later.