I finally got my mitts on an MGD1, and to my complete bewilderment, it doesn't have a connector to plug into the FC console, like my TGD6+ has.
Thus, I'm stuck wondering how to connect it. I presume I need a cable to plug into its back?
Does anybody have one, or maybe just the schematics to build it?
Are there any good technical docs on how to use it?
It's also black with an 8M on it, which I presume means 8MB of RAM, so I hope it's the right version that will work with the Famicom...
-Xious
Quote from: Xious on July 22, 2010, 03:44:45 pm
It's also black with an 8M on it, which I presume means 8MB of RAM
Probably more like 8 Mb, eight megabits or 1 MB. A whole megabyte for Famicom games is quite a lot.
133 is right. Also, the MGD1 doesn't connect to the Famicom itself, just the disk system for the Famicom. You plug the RAM adapter into the top if it. You can't play Famicom games off it (but I think you can play PC Engine and SFC floppy games with it along with the external additional drive). It can only read/write FDS disks via mgd.exe or mgdlinker.exe and a 15 pin to parallel port cable. It dumps disks in Bung format.
Aha!
I thought that it could also play Doctor Disk games on the FC and do disk-to-disk copying using disk tools like my TGD6+ does.
Do, it seems that I still need both of them...
Thank1!
-Xious
The MGD1 is the only thing that will dump and write game doctor games, though. ;) The MGD1 can also copy disk to disk working as a standalone unit, no copy program needed.
FDSLoader along with your TGD6 and a copy program can be used for writing .fds images. FDSLoader & a disk drive dump cable can be used for dumping disks (except game doctor disks) into .fds images.
Quote from: ericj on July 22, 2010, 05:14:01 pm
The MGD1 is the only thing that will dump and write game doctor games, though. ;) The MGD1 can also copy disk to disk working as a standalone unit, no copy program needed.
FDSLoader along with your TGD6 and a copy program can be used for writing .fds images. FDSLoader & a disk drive dump cable can be used for dumping disks (except game doctor disks) into .fds images.
How do I do a disk-to-disk copy with it? No software required = internal ability, right?
-Xious
Correct. The MGD1 has an internal ability to copy disks. IIRC, first plug the FDS RAM adapter into the MGD1, plug in the AC adapter to the FDS, then apply power to the MGD1. Insert a disk you wish to copy and the 7-seg display will start a clockwise spin (anywhere from 1-3 depending on disk size) and should end with |_| at the bottom--this is the ready to "write" display for the MGD1. Eject the disk you read from, insert the destination disk, and it should write (first series of clockwise spins) & verify (second clockwise spin series after brief stop). It will end with either _ at the top of the 7-seg display or a 3-segment upside-down U (cant remember which at the moment) in the top of the display if it's successfuly written. This upside-down U is the ready for "read" display. If it is unable to write to the disk, you'll get an error code (same as the FDS codes I believe), showing a flashing "E" first and then the associated code, e.g. "2" "7".
EDIT: This is incorrect. Revision forthcoming.
OK,
I discovered that running the FDS on batteries does nothing with the MGD1, but on wall-power, it seems to be working...or at least somewhat:
At first, a couple disks gave me spinning segment series, then an Error code. Then, after re-leveling the drive (all FDS hate being off-level and will spew error codes when they are leaning too far in a given direction.), when I start up the MGD1 and insert a disk, I get some status indicators as follows...
When i turn on MGD1, it gives the status light like this:
_
|_|
|_|
When I insert a disk, The MGD1 starts to read and gives status lights that look like:
_
|_|
|_|
...or, alternatively like this:
_
|_|
|_|
Do you know what causes this? What is the meaning for these displays?
I don't see any spinning segments, just an endless cycle of reading the disk, the drive clicking, reading the disk, etc. I tried a few disks, including various original Nintendo and Chinese disks, plus an original copy of SMB--and all of the disks fire up and load from this drive normally.
I'm not sure if it has issues with my FDS unit, or what these codes mean. Is there a list of MGD1 codes somewhere, or is this lost in translation?
Maybe there is some copy-protection mechanism still intact in the drive that I missed? I should search through my FDS units to see if I have a REV 1 PCB and swap it into this drive...however, I'm not sure if that is the issue here.
Can anybody confirm or deny that these codes are due to copy protection in the FDS and not something else? Thanks!
Update: I swapped out my modified Rev 3 power board for a Rev 2 that I had in a parts unit FDS, but no soap: It still gives me exactly the same readouts and I haven't a clue what they mean. I'm giving it 2-3 minutes to read the surface of a disk at present, before killing power to the MGD1; is that sufficient?
Could it be a dirty connection between the RAM-Adapter and the MGD1, or is something horribly wrong???
-Xious
For copying disk to disk, I can't get the MGD1 to work, it just reads disk 1 then asks for #2 and then throws an error code once it's inserted. Maybe I was mistaken that it could do this or was told it would and never tried it for myself. ???
Were you able to get it to work with the mgdlinker program?
Hmm...
My unit never reaches a point where i can swap disks: it just reads from the source indefinitely, so it is exhibiting different behaviour from yours Eric.
What do the status indicators on your MGD1 show?
I haven't tried to use Tomy's software yet, but it's next on my leist. I don't think I can use it with a USB adapter, so i have to set up a tower to try it out. I also have a couple 286 and 386SX systems to set up for use with MGD.exe at some point.
How long does it take (in standalone operation) before it prompts you to insert the destination diskette? It's possible that it isn't linking something about your drive when writing to it. What is the error code?
-Xious