FDS FMD Power-03

Started by Jaek_3, October 02, 2015, 03:37:16 pm

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Jaek_3

This is the revision of the FDS Power board that I have, what sort of copy protection does this have?

aguerrero810

I've got this one too!
I can successfully write whole disks with it, it is also listed on many dev sites as no copy protection!
However, you have to look and see which chip is on the board for the Mitsumi Drive. If the chip is labled FD7201P. Then you are good! But if it's labeled FD3206P. Then you may have to follow see this.

Jaek_3

Yay, I don't have to mod it (which is good in my case :-[ ) so what did you do to write disks? Did you use a game doctor, or did you use FDSStick, which I had never heard of before today.

aguerrero810

I used FDSLoadr (software by Brad Taylor) to load a copy of Disk Hacker II that I found on the internet. Doing this involves building a Parallel to Ram Adapter cable. Then loading Disk Hacker II. After that. Load a .FDS file to the Famicom, then reconnect the RAM adapter cable to your FDS and inserting a disk. I might document the process sometime.

Jaek_3

Could you send me a detailed tutorial for it please? I would really appreciate it! Also, could you link me a copy of Disk Hacker II?

P

Chances that FDSloadr works for you is slim (it's very picky with what computer hardware you use). I'd suggest just getting FDSStick (cheap and easy to use) or one of those Japanese FDSloadr variants (a bit expensive and more cumbersome to use).

Only reason to get a QDC FDSloadr variant instead of FDSStick though, is if you have a certain MSX with QD disk drive.

Jaek_3

Well, I'd image that it would be picky, but the creator of fdsloader (forgot his name) said in a video that all of these problems that everyone has would be avoided if people simply followed his advice. He recommends a pentium computer, and being that this was 2002 that would probobly be a pentium 4. I'm an avid collector of computers so I might write up some sort of combatibility chart of some sort.

What is the benifit of using one of those ancient game doctors? I'm not suggesting that I want one, but of all the methods of writing Famicom Disks, the only 2 mentioned on famicomdisksystem.com both involve a game doctor.

P

Quote from: Jaek_3 on October 04, 2015, 08:31:14 am
Well, I'd image that it would be picky, but the creator of fdsloader (forgot his name) said in a video that all of these problems that everyone has would be avoided if people simply followed his advice.

It's not about following or not following advice. If it was that easy to find an old pentium computer nowdays everyone would have done it long ago. I tried several old computers I got for free, some of them being pentium, and none of them fully worked. Another problem is space. Having a dedicated FDSloadr computer isn't something I have room for anyway. That's also partly the reason why I'm more attracted to the FDSStick than the QDC.

Quote from: Jaek_3 on October 04, 2015, 08:31:14 am
What is the benifit of using one of those ancient game doctors? I'm not suggesting that I want one, but of all the methods of writing Famicom Disks, the only 2 mentioned on famicomdisksystem.com both involve a game doctor.

The only benefit of a game doctor I guess is that if you have game doctor format disks that you want to play.
I don't think there's really any benefits in using an MGD1 Linker to write disks. Ericj made that homepage long before FDSStick and QDC came out.

aguerrero810

There's no benefit in my eyes, as it makes you have to use Game Doctor 'Headered' disks. (I think, I may be wrong)

chowder

I have a "Power-04" board, but a 7201 chip, so I write modded it using the advice at http://famicomworld.com/workshop/tech/fds-power-board-modifications/.

Has anyone had any luck wiring up a suitable adapter for the FDSStick?  I don't fancy sacrificing a couple of RAM adapters, so was just going to use some generic Nintendo AV cables with the bumpy bits cut off.  Is it as simple as it seems on the FDSStick site?

http://3dscapture.com/fdsstick/

Edit:  Having read that, it seems that most AV cables are missing pins.  If I want to write disks too, can someone suggest suitable donor cables please?  Are the official Nintendo ones OK?

aguerrero810

A suitable donor cable is also listed on the site right below the pics.
QuoteMost AV cables have some pins missing (if you know one that doesn't, let me know!) I've found that Cinpel SCART N64 cables have enough pins, but one is in the wrong place.

chowder

Quote from: aguerrero810 on October 05, 2015, 05:57:44 pm
A suitable donor cable is also listed on the site right below the pics.
QuoteMost AV cables have some pins missing (if you know one that doesn't, let me know!) I've found that Cinpel SCART N64 cables have enough pins, but one is in the wrong place.



Thanks, turns out I can't read  :-[

tofufo

Hi everybody, would like to have pinout of the Mitsumi QD drive (18pin) connected with the FMD POWER-02 in my FDS, please. Any infos will be appreciated. Thank you.