Error 21 Help

Started by Triple Dash, February 08, 2017, 12:04:02 pm

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Triple Dash

Got new game in the mail today and I keep getting Error 21 messages whenever I try to load it.

This is the first error I've run into, and my other FDS games continue to run without issue, so I thought I'd quick ask for some advice before I try to do some repair. I'm using a Twin Famicom if that makes a difference.

If my other games are running just fine, do I need to re-calibrate?

milkmanv1

I suppose that would depend on the quality of the write or damage with the disc and then of course calibration of your own drive (vs drive that it was written on) I have a twin famicom and I very crappily tried to align the spindle hub when I was younger. I haven't touched it since, but I wanted to get a regular red FDS, so i finally pulled the trigger and did the belt repair/full alignment. It wasn't too bad and it reads all disks flawlessly. The FDS in my twin would read about 80% of games, but was inconsistant. One day it would load games with no trouble, other days the same game would not load. A side only on some disks, etc erc.

Anyway, there was always one game that I could never get to load, and it works now on my "perfectly calibrated" drive. I put that in quotes because I have about 15 or so games and it will load all of them, but that does not mean it will load every disk ever written. If the drive it was written on was slightly off kilter when that specific game disk was written vs the other 99.9% of games it spat out, you may have to do some substantial tweaking

Triple Dash

Got three more games in the mail today (Christmas $) and they all work fine. I guess I'll just have to weight the pros/cons of trying to re-calibrate.

I would hope this is easier than what my mind is making this out to be as I don't think I need a new belt.  :-\ :-\

milkmanv1

Yeah you definitely do not need a new belt. The drive would not work at all without one. Unless of course your belt is old and slipping, but I still doubt it would load games without a lot of "fiddling" if the belt was worn enough to slip.

If you get error 21 on just the one disk and 99% of all other discs work, then the disc itself could be damaged. Alternatively, your calibration could just be off by the smallest smidge and that could be causing the issue as well.