So several months ago I purchased a Famicom CIB and have been having a lot of fun with it. I was able to successfully mod it to be AV instead of RF which was a fun intro to soldering.
Now I decided I want to try the Disk System. So I purchased one online - I purchased an untested one since it came in box with all original manuals and adapters.
I figured I could always replace the actual Disk System if it didn't work as many tested ones just with no box seem to be sold online regularly. As kind of expected, the FDS doesn't work. But I don't get errors or strange sounds. It's as if the FDS doesn't turn on and Famicom has same screen as if there was no cartridge. I am using AC adapter with no batteries.
I want to give it a try to fix but am unsure where to start. Is it possible it is just the adapter that is broken? If power board is dead, is this something I can find replacement for?
If the RAM Adapter's ROM doesn't start, the disk drive won't turn on, so there is no way to know if the disk drive is working or not (likely it will also have a broken drive belt, but we don't know that yet).
If it behaves like no cartridge is inserted it most likely just a case of bad contact. RAM Adapters don't just go bad so easily so I think you probably just have to clean the cartridge connector on it and possibly in the Famicom. There are countless threads about cleaning with isopropyl alcohol and bunch of cotton swabs, an old toothbrush, a piece of cloth and other methods if you look around. Let it dry before turning on power again.
If it's working the RAM Adapter should work regardless if you have a disk drive connected or not. You should see the screen with Mario and Luigi and hear the FDS intro jingle.
Thank you for the reply! Meant to follow up earlier, but it was indeed the RAM adapter. After cleaning things work perfectly!