Posted on

Guide to using Greaseweazle Floppy Disk Hardware Kit

This guide shows how to install Greaseweazle software with an easy to use graphic user interface on your windows PC, first download the main Greaseweazle Host Tools archive and the GUI Menu from the links below.

Main Greaseweazle Windows Software

https://github.com/keirf/greaseweazle/releases/download/v1.18/greaseweazle-1.18-win64.zip

Greaseweazle GUI Windows Graphic User Interface

https://desertsagesolutions.com/software/greaseweazle/windows/GreaseweazleGUI-v2.121.zip

Now unzip the main Greaseweazle folder to your Windows desktop from the first download link

Then unzip the  file “GreaseweazleGUI.exe” from the second download link and copy it into the folder you just extracted

**Note (this file needs to be inside the main Greaseweazle Folder to work)

Then run “GreaseweazleGUI.exe”, by double clicking and you will see the main menu screen below

If your Greaseweazle hardware is connected it will show as a device inside the USB Serial ports window, to ensure the hardware is working reliably you first need to check the  data speed, It’s recommended to only use a direct connection to your PC motherboard USB 2 or faster ports, front panel USB ports and hubs may slow down the connection and cause problems and errors.

Now to test the connection speed, select “Measure Bandwidth” from the middle row, then click the “Select” button

You will now see a command window and it will give a speed reading, the test will tell you if your connection is too slow to be reliable, run the test a few times to get a consistent reading, if your connection is too slow try a different USB port on your computer or use different or shorter usb cable.

Once the speed test has passed successfully you are then ready to read and write floppy disc images, if you get verify errors when trying to write a disk try a different disk, many Double Density disks will now be over 30 year old and may be contaminated with dirt or dust or have degraded magnetic coating this  can cause verify read and write errors, for older disks try using the “erase disk” function first before trying to write an image to disk.

Setting DiskDefs 

To use the latest Disk image Definition’s  supplied with the greasweazle gui download,  select “Globals” – then choose “Use DiskDefs File“, then select diskdefs.cfg  – now latest disk definitions  will then be available in the the “Format” drop down box when writing disk images

Mac and Linux Greaseweazle Host Tools Software Direct Download Link

https://github.com/keirf/greaseweazle/releases/download/v1.18/greaseweazle-1.18.zip

FloppyBridge Support – Use Real Disks with WinUAE & Amiberry Emulators

You can also use your Greaseweazle to read Amiga floppy disks directly into WinUae Emulator using the the floppybridge plugin, see guide linked below

https://trumouse.com/use-real-floppy-disks-on-winuae-amiga-emulator-with-floppybridge/

The main Greaseweazle Github Page is https://github.com/keirf/greaseweazle

 

 

Posted on

USE Real floppy disks in WinUAE with FloppyBridge or GreaseWeazle

Floppybridge is a plugin by Rob Smith that allows owners of a Drawbridge, Greaseweazle or Supercard Pro USB disk controller’s to use real amiga floppy disks on a PC

First download the floppybridge.zip – https://amiga.robsmithdev.co.uk/floppybridge1.4.zip

Then extract/unzip the contents into a new folder and name this folder “plugins”, then copy this folder into your WinUAE install folder, this location is usually “C:\Program Files\WinUAE\”

Now run WinUAE emulator

 

Connect your drive hardware and make sure its detected in windows either a Greaseweazle, Drawbridge or supercard

Select Floppy Drives under the Hardware section in the menu above, then for the first selected drive DF0, click option (3.5″ DD), this will open a drop down menu, now select the last option (Configure FloppyBridge)

You will now see the “Floppybridge profile manager” window, now click create

You can now create a disk for your specific hardware,  – as shown below

You can give the profile a name, then select the hardware with the Driver option, Drawbridge, Greaseweazle or SuperCard and the COM port of your specific hardware

Once you have set each option to match your hardware and preference, click ok – your profile will now appear in the floppy drive section as your chosen drive, you can now use real Amiga floppy disks directly with WinUAE amiga emulator