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S-760 USB Floppy Drive Emulator (USB/FDE)

I was able to find an inexpensive solution for connecting a USB/FDE to my S‑50, S‑550 and W‑30 samplers so I wanted to do the same for my S‑760. Easier said than done!!! After a lot of trials and (mostly) errors, I finally found a way using Jumpers which are not supposed to be used  

GOTEK Model: SFR1M44-FU-DL "kind‑of works" with the S‑760. It might also work with the with S‑750 and S‑770 but I've only been able to test it with the S‑760. It uses a higher density of 1.44MB. There are some "gotcha's" to look out for when using this "plain‑jane" model. THIS MODEL IS NOT THE BEST SOLUTION. I highly recommend using a less expensive GOTEK and have its firmware updated with FlashFloppy v3.9a or higher!!! See this link with details about the FlashFloppy Update For GOTEK With Roland Samplers

*** READ THIS PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS GOTEK WITH THE S‑760 ***

It is important to note that GOTEK Model: SFR1M44-FU-DL is not a 100% functional replacement for the original 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive on the S‑760! Why? Roland incorporated a more expensive 3.5" FDD which serves a dual purpose of reading and saving both low density 720KB DS/DD and high density 1.44MB DS/HD disks. This means that with the factory 3.5" FDD, you are able to use the "Convert Load" command to convert S‑550 & W‑30 disks over to the S‑760 format. This generic GOTEK model is NOT able to read S‑550 & W‑30 low density 720KB DS/DD disk image files. Thus, it is unable to use the "Convert Load" command. However, you are still able to use the preferred method which is to take a Hard Drive or SCSI2SD device filled with S‑550 & W‑30 sound disk data and perform the "Convert Load" command and use S‑550 & W‑30 sound disks


     Model: SFR1M44-FU-DL USB Floppy Drive Emulator for Roland 1.44MB
     Cost: Approximately $26 (USD) from various vendors on eBay

	So... just to make it perfectly clear, this GOTEK model will NOT load S‑550 or W‑30 disk image files into the S‑760 because S‑550 and W‑30 disk image files use a lower density disk drive format @720KB. Also, this model will NOT load the excellent David Marshall S‑760 collection and some of the other commercial S‑760 disks because they were formatted @720KB

The Hardware Installation, Software Installation, Loading Samples and Saving Samples instructions found on the DIY Page "Installing a GOTEK Which Has Factory Firmware" are nearly identical except for these Jumper Settings

You will need to use these Jumper Settings on the USB/FDE to make it work with the S‑760

     JUMPER     POSITION       FUNCTION
       J5       OPEN           (not used)
       JA       OPEN           Generates a READY signal on pin 34 of the floppy driver interface
       JC       OPEN           (not used)
       JB       JUMPER         (unknown)
       S0       JUMPER         Drive Select 0
       S1       OPEN           Drive Select 1
       MO       OPEN           Motor Select

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Installation Notes

• As an option, before installing the GOTEK inside the S‑760 case, I highly recommend the Mini Toggle Switch Mod DIY which makes loading and saving sample disks 100x easier by eliminating the need to constantly insert/remove/insert/remove the USB stick. The cost is only 50¢ and installation is quite easy
  NOTE: Do not install this toggle switch if you have the FlashFloppy firmware installed
  
  
  
• If needed, you can find the current S‑760 System Boot Disk v2.24 at the INFO Page. Rename the file to 000.IMG and place it inside the IMG144 directory on the flash drive
  
  
• The original 4‑wire power cable for the FDD inside the S‑760 will not reach from the Main Board to the new GOTEK. You will need to perform a simple modification to extend the power cable and make it a couple of inches longer or buy a 4-pin extension cable or buy some TE‑Connectivity® connectors, a crimp tool and make your own FDD power extension cable

         TE Male Crimp    - P/N: 571-170429-2
         TE Male Socket   - P/N: 571-172211-4
         TE Female Crimp  - P/N: 571-170204-1
         TE Female Socket - P/N: 571-1718224
         Tayda Crimp Tool - P/N: SN-48B
         
         A Mouser cart with TE‑Connectivity® parts is available at  this link
  
         ... and this is the end result. A simple Male/Female 6‑inch extension FDD power cable

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S-760 Sample Disks

• The L-7xx Roland Sound Bank Series for the S‑7xx samplers are High Density disks and will load just fine with this model GOTEK
  • A large 55 Disk collection of the L-7xx Roland Sound Bank Series is available as a free download from the SGroup Website
    
    • www.sgroup.ca/archive/samples/Roland/S770/
  • Simply rename these disk image files to *.IMG and transfer them to the USB stick

• As mentioned earlier, when this model GOTEK is used with an S‑760, it will only load High Density 1.44MB disk image files
  
  • Low Density 720KB disk image files for the S-50, S-550, S-330 and W-30 will not work
  • Commercial Low Density 720KB disk image files for the S-760 will not work (i.e. the Deluxe David Marshall Collection)

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So... the big question now is, "Will this work with my S‑750, S‑770 or DJ‑70 sampler?"

From looking at the S‑750 and DJ‑70 Service Manuals, the 3.5" FDD model used is the FZ‑357 which is identical to the S‑760. I would say chances are very good! However, the S‑770 Service Manual shows the 3.5" FDD model used is the FX‑357. I don't know how this differs from the FZ‑357!?! These questions will remain unanswered until I get actual feedback from S‑750, DJ‑70 and S‑770 owners who can verify a working installation


Update 04/29/2017
I received an eMail from an S‑770 owner who has successfully connected this 1.44MB model GOTEK to his S-770 sampler. However, he reports that there are some "gotcha's"

1) For some bizarre reason, even though the S-770 3.5" disk drive reads and writes 1.44MB disks, Roland issued the main S-770 System Disk on a 720KB floppy disk!?! This model GOTEK is unable to read 720KB disk image files including the "official" Roland S-770 System Start-up Disk unless it's converted over to a 1.44MB DS/HD density *.OUT file. How to do that? He got around that problem by using Omniflop to copy the 3.5" system disk and then saved it as a 1.44MB *.OUT file

2) The S‑770 always goes out to the GOTEK to see if there is a disk to boot from. If there is, it will never boot from the internal SCSI hard drive. I think the solution is explained over at the S‑550/W‑30 Hard Drive Boot webpage i.e. Just fool the S‑770 into thinking there is no floppy disk in the drive by ensuring a "non S‑770" 1.44MB *.OUT file is loaded into the 000 GOTEK flash area


Edit: I've posted a 1.44MB DS/HD density *.OUT file Start‑Up Disk for the S‑750/S‑770 for downloading. This is untested because I only have the S‑760

         S‑750/S‑770 Start-Up Disk Image File v2.25 (1.44MB 2HD Format)
                  After unzipping the file, rename S770_OS_SYS772_V2_25.img to 000.IMG if using it with a GOTEK 1.44MB USB/FDD
                     - or -
                  Rename S770_OS_SYS772_V2_25.img to S750S770.OUT if using it with OmniFlop to create a physical 3.5" Floppy Disk

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Using The S‑760 With FlashFloppy Firmware On An SFRM72‑TU100K USB/FDE

One online visitor to this website shared some useful info about using a non‑standard USB/FDE with his Roland S‑760

Although this is not the same Model: SFR1M44-FU-DL as described above, I thought someone could use these pointers if they have a model SFR1M44‑TU100K using updated FlashFloppy firmware

Many thanks to Julskey for sharing this useful info!!!

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I recently obtained a used Roland S‑760 without the video board (sad), and I stumbled into your website. I have this SFRM72‑TU100K (I also have a SFR1M44‑TU100K fully functional in an SY77) which was flashed with FlashFloppy with the OLED display mod and was working well with my Yamaha SY85. When I tried to install it to the S‑760, it won’t boot up. Then I came across your website and tried the JB,S0 Jumper and it will now boot. But it won’t read floppy images. After many trials and errors , I found that once booted into the system, I have to remove jumpers from JB,S0 and put a Jumper on M0 and I could convert load S‑550 images, but cannot load 1.44MB images

Then I tried to also configure the Flash Floppy configuration file. And after many trials (about 2 days), I found gratification

The correct Configuration would be to put jumpers on JC and S0 only (this was the original config for my SY85) and configure the FF.CFG with interface = ibmpc‑hdout (on my SY85, interface = JC)

With this configuration, the S‑760 boots up, Convertloads S‑550 images and loads 1.44MB images flawlessly. It is strongly suggested to do the OLED mod as you can see what image is currently loaded into the GOTEK. Very convenient because you don’t have to remember which file went to which image number. And you don’t have to remove the usb drive everytime the S‑760 asks for a Disk, you just simply scroll to the correct image

What I have noticed when booting is even if you have the system image already loaded, the S‑760 will ask you to insert a disk. I just change to a different image and change back to the system image. Everything else works flawlessly. The S‑760 can even identify that the disk image loaded is a system disk or an incorrect disk

I found this out just a few hours ago and I thought I’d share this with you so that other users can restore the full functionality of their floppy drives

Good Day!

-- Julskey
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One visitor to this website used the instructions above provided by Julskey and was having some issues

He eventually figured out what was wrong. Below is the problem and his solution:

PROBLEM
Sadly this hasn’t worked. I’ve converted the .IMG images to .hfe files and still no joy. My problem remains, if the jumpers are on S0 (or S0 & JB) the S‑760 will read and load the O/S disc image (either *.IMG or *.hfe versions) but won’t even see or load any others (both *.IMG or *.hfe) once it’s booted. If the jumper is set to S0 & JC as recommended above, the S‑760 won’t load the O/S image as it says it’s "not a system disc" (both *.IMG and *.hfe)

SOLUTION
**UPDATE** It now seems to be working! YAY! I Used the setting as provided on the llamamusic.com website (S‑760 specific to gotek with FF) I think what I was doing wrong was not waiting enough time between loading another image that isn't an O/S one and re‑loading the O/S one. You have to wait until the sampler says "This is not a system disc" and then scroll back to the original O/S disc image and it will load. I am using straight *.IMG files for both O/S and Sound discs. So far the offical Roland S‑770 ones [L701‑L711] work a treat, but for some reason the David Marshall S‑7XX Library does not, they all show up as "Not Formatted"

Editor Note: The deluxe David Marshall S‑7xx files won't load because those are Low Density 720KB files. The "plain Jane" SFR1M44‑FU‑DL GOTEK only works with High Density 1.44MB files. I'm still learning and experimenting with the new FlashFloppy firmware and will post more info when I figure out if it is able to read both densities with this GOTEK model

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No CRT+Mouse?

If you are a new owner of an S‑760 without the CRT+Mouse option and can only use the LCD screen, you might be having a difficult time trying to load samples using this model GOTEK. Here is a step by step procedure detailing the hard way. To use the example shown below, you will need these two files installed in the IMG144 folder on the USB stick (renamed to 000.IMG and renamed to 005.IMG). Note: If you don't have the toggle switch mod installed on your GOTEK, simply Remove the USB stick (Toggle DOWN) or Insert the USB stick (Toggle UP)

If you are already able to boot your S-760 from the GOTEK, skip down to the section beginning with "After the S-760 boots up..."

Press the toggle switch on the GOTEK in the DOWN position

Power on the S-760 while holding down both buttons on the GOTEK

Press both buttons on GOTEK simultaneously and repeat until the display reads b0.0.
  (Note: You may need to press the left and right buttons individually to make the display eventually read b0.0.)
Insert USB stick
  (This should be formatted using MBR and contain a folder called IMG144. Inside folder is the file called 000.IMG which is the boot disk)

Press the toggle switch in the UP position

Display will show b00 (Notice that the periods are missing now)

Press the RIGHT Button on the GOTEK

Display will show d0 for 15 seconds while the file called 000.IMG is loaded into the GOTEK 

Press the toggle switch in the DOWN position

Power off the S-760 and wait 30 seconds

Power on S-760 while holding down both buttons on the GOTEK

The LCD on the S-760 should show
    System Initializing
      System Loading
     S-760  Ver. 2.24

After the S-760 boots up, double-check that the toggle switch on the GOTEK is in the DOWN position

Press the MODE button and it will turn its red LED on
  (The LCD will show Mode Menu with selections F1 through F6)

Press both buttons on the GOTEK simultaneously and repeat until the display reads b0.0.
  (Note: You may need to press the left and right buttons individually to make the display eventually read b0.0.)

Press the RIGHT Button on the GOTEK until the display reads b0.5.

Insert USB stick

Press the toggle switch in the UP position

Display will show b05 (Notice that the periods are missing now)

Press the RIGHT Button on the GOTEK 

Display will show d0 for 15 seconds while the file called 005.IMG is loaded into the GOTEK 

Press the toggle switch in the DOWN position. Display will show d0.5.

Use the ARROW Buttons on the S-760 front panel to select F5: DISK
  (You can also use VALUE/MENU(PUSH) Rotary Encoder knob)

Press the S1/DEC Button. This acts as an ENTER Key
  (You can also press the VALUE/MENU(PUSH) button)

The LCD will show
Disk Load 
MLT: NAge MT set

Use the DOWN ARROW to highlight MLT: NAge MT Set

Press the S1/DEC Button and a checkmark will appear in front of this line

Three choices appear at the bottom of the LCD
These correspond with the F1, F2 and F3 buttons on the front panel
    F1 = AllOn
    F2 = VolInfo
    F3 = Load

Press the F3 Button to Load the disk image from the GOTEK

The message "Now Working" will appear at the bottom of the LCD along with some weird animated arrows
You will also see the activity LED on the GOTEK during the loading process
Eventually, several names of various Patches will scroll on the LCD
There is a LOT of data and this loading process will take about 90 seconds
This time could increase or decrease depending on how complex the samples are
I've seen some disk files take several minutes to load because it contains hundreds of samples

Disk file 005.IMG is now loaded into the S-760

To check, Press the MODE button and it will turn it's red LED on

Use the UP ARROW and highlight F1: Performance

Press the S1/DEC Button

All of the Patches currently loaded into the sampler memory will appear on the LCD (use the ARROW Buttons to scroll)

Press the MODE Button 

Ensure the toggle switch is in the DOWN position

Repeat the above process to load a different disk from the USB stick