Famicom World

Family Computer => Technical & Repair Assistance => Topic started by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 01:14:31 pm

Title: Famicom Disk System Issue(Videos Added)
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 01:14:31 pm
I got my stuff in from 80sFreak today and everything seems in order. Except for an issue that I cannot seem to pinpoint. I set everything up as normal and Zelda seemed to work fine. But, when I popped in my copy of Mario 2, he had a block for a leg. Reset, same thing. After a couple of reboots, it finally worked. But, after a while, I'd still see some graphical glitches. I thought it may be that I'm running the system on cheap batteries, so I took them out and used the AC Adapter. Same thing. I took the RAM adapter out, and put it back in. It worked fine then, but after a couple of reboots, same thing. Same for my copy of Pro Wrestling. You'd go to the wrestler select screen and my player would have no upper body. Same steps as above eventually it worked. But, my copies of Zelda 2, Metroid, Nazo No Murasame, and Zelda seem to work fine. Although, my wife claimed that she saw a small glitch when Samus was falling down, but it's a brand new disk, so I doubt it. I didn't see it and I played it for 20 minutes straight. All I saw was the same glitches and slowdown as you would on an NES cart of it.

I know Mario 2 and Pro Wrestling are single sided and the others are double sided, but there is nothing on the other side of the problem discs, so they've never been re-written. I tried all the carts that I got with the system and they work fine, so I don't think it's the system.

What exactly is it?

Videos added. The first one is something I saw on the BIOS that I also saw in a cart, but I don't know if that's a problem. But the Pro Wrestling and Super Mario Bros. 2, I know ARE real problems.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44664017@N05/7909716418/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44664017@N05/7909716418/)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44664017@N05/7909749160/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/44664017@N05/7909749160/)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86344528@N05/7909832622/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/86344528@N05/7909832622/)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86344528@N05/7909839190/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/86344528@N05/7909839190/)
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: HokusaiXL on August 29, 2012, 01:16:35 pm
Sounds like you need to clean the cart slot and the pins on the ram adapter.  Seems like the games themselves are running fine.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 01:22:24 pm
He said that everything was clean before it came here, so I don't know if that's it.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: HokusaiXL on August 29, 2012, 01:24:01 pm
That doesn't mean the cart slot on your fami is clean.   Still, give it a try, it's not like it'll hurt the systems.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 01:29:34 pm
I think both were. But, how would I go about doing that anyways? A Q-Tip with alcohol like the NES right?
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: HokusaiXL on August 29, 2012, 01:39:43 pm
Yeah, and an emery board or paper board based finger nail file to clean the cart slot it's self.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: ericj on August 29, 2012, 01:51:31 pm
It definitely isn't a problem with the disks, but rather the cart connector/RAM adapter connection.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 01:51:31 pm
I did just try using a Q-Tip with some alcohol. No luck. Same as before. It did have some black shit on the Q-Tip, but not that much. Do you think it could be a bad RAM adapter or disk going bad? I don't have a Disk Checker here to tell.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: ulera on August 29, 2012, 02:26:05 pm
You live in us? If you ship your ram adapter to me I can test it with my setup.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 02:33:04 pm
Yes I do. How much would it cost to ship? I'm sort of low on funds as this lot blew my money out of the water.

Post Merge: August 29, 2012, 02:56:09 pm

Just found this:

http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=5590.0;wap2 (http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=5590.0;wap2)

This is basically my problem except my RAM Adapter is clean. Think I might have a bad disk? If so, could it be re-written?
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: ulera on August 29, 2012, 03:02:35 pm
If you can fit it in a flat rate box probably $5
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 03:04:58 pm
So, ten round trip, right? I'm trying to figure it out from here first. It doesn't seem to glitch with anything other than Mario 2 or Pro Wrestling.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: 80sFREAK on August 29, 2012, 03:55:45 pm
Hmmm... it's kinda strange. so official disks working fine, but re-written?
1)all games, that came with Famicom working fine, so cart slot in Famicom is fine
2)boot up screen on FDS...
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 04:15:22 pm
No. Those are official. I bought them from eBay and they were complete with booklet, outer box, and everything.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: 80sFREAK on August 29, 2012, 04:24:44 pm
Based on your answers, it is not a problem of slot/RAM adapter/red box, but most likely "weird disks".

Post Merge: August 29, 2012, 04:26:53 pm

Quote from: ericj on August 29, 2012, 01:51:31 pm
It definitely isn't a problem with the disks, but rather the cart connector/RAM adapter connection.
That said a person who rewriting disks :) Oh, man...
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: Frank_fjs on August 29, 2012, 06:12:20 pm
Do you ever see garbled graphics on the disk system bios screen? If so, I'd be inclined to believe it's the RAM adapter.

Just to clarify, how many disk games do you have and how many of them exhibit a problem?
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 06:17:54 pm
No garbled graphics on the BIOS. Just those problems with the two I mentioned.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: 80sFREAK on August 29, 2012, 06:20:49 pm
Ok, make long story short.
AFAIK boot screen does not have glitches in graphicis and 6 disks tested
4 working absolutely fine, 2 of them came not from me
2 disks which have glitchy graphics came not from me, but from the same seller
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: Frank_fjs on August 29, 2012, 06:27:04 pm
Yeah, it does appear that you might have some corrupted disks. Just one of those things, disk media is highly deteriorable.

Post Merge: August 29, 2012, 06:38:25 pm

P.s. you should invest in a Famicom Disk Cleaner. It should only set you back $20 to $30 and can help restore dirty/dusty disks.

I used mine to fix some disks I had that wouldn't work reliably, and also recommended one to someone else here who was having problems with a few disks and it fixed his issues as well.

You can usually find them a little cheaper, but here's an example of one: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NINTENDO-FAMICOM-DISK-SYSTEM-CARD-CLEANER-SET-FDS-BRAND-NEW-/140820445779?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c98d7a53
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: ericj on August 29, 2012, 06:43:12 pm
It could be the disk media, but I'm still inclined to think it's something else since I've seen this using FDSLoader when the RAM adapter or Game Doctor wasn't seated well.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 06:54:47 pm
So, from what I gather so far, the general consensus is that the disks are bad? I'd like to know so if it is, I can get a replacement or my money back.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: 80sFREAK on August 29, 2012, 06:57:41 pm
Most likely yes and corrupted very weird way - CRC is ok, but graphics have glitches. Maybe it's just some dirt on disks as Frank_fjs suggested. Hard to tell remotely.

P.S. FDSloader... i think i should start a thread full of science and technical data to bust some myths
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 07:22:13 pm
If I pick up a cleaner, which I want to do, how would I use it? Anyone have any instructions in English?
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: Frank_fjs on August 29, 2012, 07:27:15 pm
Simple to use the disk cleaner, just insert a disk, shut the door and turn the dial. This rubs the disk against a cleaning pad and removes any dust/grime from the disk surface. Once the pad becomes dirty, you can wind it on to reveal a new clean surface.

It will make more sense once you have it in your possession.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on August 29, 2012, 08:33:15 pm
Talked to the seller. He's sending out replacements today. Now, let's hope for the best...

Post Merge: September 01, 2012, 05:33:04 pm

BUMP! Videos added!
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue(Videos Added)
Post by: L___E___T on September 09, 2012, 12:04:00 pm
It'll be interesting to see what happens here in the end.
Title: Re: Famicom Disk System Issue(Videos Added)
Post by: JohnnyBlaze on September 09, 2012, 01:29:39 pm
Long story short, ulera and me are going to exchange RAM adapters and I'm giving him my extra complete copies of Mario 2 and Pro Wrestling with mine.