Revolutionize Your Retro Tech: OpenFlops - The Ultimate Open Source GoTek Alternative with FlashFloppy!

A floppy disk, also known as a floppy, diskette, or simply disk, is a magnetic storage medium that was widely used from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Limited storage capacity, fragility and data loss are some of the many disadvantages. Floppy disks belong to museum and they should be gone for good. If you have a retro computer to revive, you should consider phasing out entirely the floppy disk drive (FDD) and replacing it with USB emulator.

OpenFlops is a cutting-edge open source hardware floppy drive emulator that operates on the renowned open source firmware FlashFloppy. The meticulously designed printed circuit board serves as an exceptional alternative to GoTek, meticulously crafted using the highly versatile and open source software KiCad by the talented SukkoPera. The core component is the STM32F105RBT6 microcontroller from the STM32 32-bit Arm Cortex family. You can find all the comprehensive schematics readily accessible on GitHub.

Furthermore, OpenFlops is available at PCBway shared projects as a printed circuit board with two layers and dimensions 59.4mm by 111.6mm so you can order with a single click. PCBWay offers a range of services related to PCB manufacturing and assembly, making it easier for individuals, businesses, and organizations to bring their electronic projects to life.

FlashFloppy, the driving force behind this innovation, is yet another remarkable open source project pioneered by the visionary Keir Fraser and openly hosted on GitHub. Pre-compiled binary releases are available for On Linux it is very easy to upload FlashFloppy to OpenFlops using USB to UART dongle and stm32flash command-line interface application.