Hello, I could not find anything to help me with this on google so I registered here just to ask this:
My Famicom Disk System came in the mail 4 days ago. I took it out of its box, plugged it in to my Famicom and stuck a game in...only to receive a "Now Loading" screen and a continuous buzzing sound from my disk system. Confused, I looked on google and found it was most likely my belt. I had gotten the Disk System on eBay claiming the belt was replaced with a new one so I was intrigued to why my game wasn't working. I opened my system up and got to the belt and found it was not replaced. This belt was mangled, ripped in half, but most importantly, the belt is stuck to the white gear in the system. I can remove some parts and then other parts almost seem like they are melted on and when I touch it black marks get on my hand. My question is what can I do to effectively remove the sticky belt off of the gear? Any household tools I can use or any cleaners I can wipe it off with so when I replace it everything can go smoothly? Also I'm sure I'm going to have to recalibrate the system so any tips on that?
Who was the seller?
Re cleaning off the melted tar residue, I use lots of cotton tips and isopropyl. It takes a while but it will come clean eventually, just be sure to dry everything off thoroughly before fitting the new belt.
Re calibration, there are a few guides floating around the place that will help get you started. This is a good one: www.famicomdisksystem.com/tutorials/fds-repair-mod/belt-replacement-adjustment/
The seller is yan_0725_japan
I have plenty of cotton tips and I'm sure isopropyl will be easy to come by as well. I'll look for it next time I'm out. I have plenty of common sense so not only will I make sure it's thoroughly clean but I will also make sure it's dry before trying to use it. As of now I do not have my replacement belts, nor do I know when they are coming in the mail so all I can do is wait until I'm able to replace it. I will look at the calibration guide so thank you for supplying it :D
I'll update on this when I get my belts or when I clean the gear. Anything else of value or any helpful tips I should know about for the future?
You will need a variety of disks to ensure the system is properly calibrated. It's not uncommon for the system to read some disks fine but then struggle to read others at all.
Before adjusting anything, test the system first (after fitting the new belt) to see where you're at. I wouldn't adjust the head position screw unless absolutely necessary/or if t's been interfered with by the previous owner.
I've found that the spindle hub and motor speed adjustments to be the most useful. Start with the spindle hub and fine tweak the motor speed until you get it reading at least 4 different disk games.
Don't over tighten screws when reassembling and don't lose the springs that hold the disk carriage down!
It will all make more sense as you perform the task, if you get stuck come back here and ask for help. :)
I always wondering, why do you have to touch spindle. And motor... Well, if someone "calibrated and lubricated" motor before and failed, that can help.
In this case melted belt shows, that noone put hands inside the disk unit.
In my experience, if you just fit the new belt and reassemble the FDS seldom reads all disks. It will usually read some games but not all, but if you tweak the spindle and motor you can get it reading all of your disks.
You probably would not believe, but YOU DON'T HAVE TO TOUCH SPINDLE. If you will have look on design of disk drive, you will understand why.
Well I still can't work it out lol. :)
I can only do what I know, which is to adjust the spindle when it's not reading disks. Until someone that knows more wants to share the magical solution I will have to stick with tuning the spindle and motor speed.
There is no magic. Spindle is not worn out, why do you have to touch it? Spindle and sleeve bearing is probably most tough part of the disk.
The position of the spindle seems to matter. I've tested this by rotating it at different spots, it only reliably reads disks when set at a certain position.
No more than moon phase. How long it took to adjust spindle?
About 3 seconds to adjust spindle.
So if the spindle doesn't matter, than what does? I.e. what do you need to do if you fit a new belt and it's not reading disks?
Adjust the head. That's all.
You mean this thing?
(http://www.famicomdisksystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/spindle_head.gif)
That's what I've been referring to.
Yup, and that's only the thing. I don't know, who first brought idea to adjust spindle, but it's kinda weird. Keep in mind FDS was in mass-production.
No, no, magnetic head.
Hang on, a bit of confusion here.
The thing I pictured above is the thing that I tend to adjust, so you are saying don't adjust this but instead adjust the magnetic head?
If so, is this the thing you mean?
(http://www.famicomdisksystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Caliper-loc.gif)
So adjust the position of the head via the spring loaded screw?
Exactly. Even without caliper.
Got it, thanks. :)
Not sure about calibration and all that, but I DO know about those damn belts. YES, I STILL have flashbacks to the nightmares working on the Turbo Twin.
What I did take off as much as I could and for whatever was stuck, I wiped the area down with a Q-Tip dampened with rubbing alcohol, and the used a jeweler's flat head screwdriver(if you have a screwdriver set, it's usually the flat head you use for smaller electronics) and hold the edge down and slowly turn the gear. It should take a lot of the gunk off. Then, clean the area with alcohol dampened Q-tips. Rinse and repeat. When it's done(there's going to probably be some staining from the black rubber, but this is normal. As long as there is NOTHING that the new belt can stick to), just let it air dry for about a half hour to an hour, then install the belt.
I would add that you should only adjust the head after you're damn sure that the FDS is correctly put back together. And only use very small increments, then test/re-test. If you don't do both of these, you'll probably never get it working again. Ever. ;)
Quote from: ericj on September 12, 2012, 09:09:14 am
I would add that you should only adjust the head after you're damn sure that the FDS is correctly put back together. And only use very small increments, then test/re-test. If you don't do both of these, you'll probably never get it working again. Ever. ;)
Let's call'em "steps" ;)
So, feeling productive while waiting for my belts to arrive in the mail last night I decided to try giving the cleaning process a go. I took three pictures of the progress: First picture is not cleaned, second is more clean, and the third picture is pretty much the best I can do with it. I was surprised how easy it was to clean though, the rubbing alcohol and Q-Tips worked wonders. There's still plenty of black smudges in some places but I'm sure its as best as it can be. It's as smooth to the touch as I can get. I'll probably try cleaning it again when I replace the belt to make sure I got everything but here's the pics
(http://i.imgur.com/ojl21.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/IM4VM.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/aIMym.png)
So far I can say thanks for the various help. I got a lot more responses on this thread I ever hoped to get so once again thanks :D ;D :D
Looks good, easy part is over. :)
You should be fine though, plenty of people here to help out if needed. Keep us posted on your progress.
That's about what mine looked after I cleaned the head on the old Turbo Twin(the last pic), although the belt was more melted than that. But, still, alcohol and Q-Tips are anyone's best friend.
Alright, so update:
I got my belts in the mail. I put a belt on very easily and I test a game..doesn't read it at all. No more buzzing sound on my Disk System though, so that's good. I test with a few more games and stil no loading at all but no buzzing. I take it back apart and mess around and got it to spin. I'm able to put the game in now and have it spin the belt and gears and stuff only to get the 21 and 22 errors. After looking it up on this site I found what the problems are but I'm at a loss at what I can do to fix it. So far I've tried calibrating..but I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right or if the calibration itself isn't the problem. I'm aware the other method has to do with turning this screw very carefully correct?
As of now can someone recommend me what my course of action(s) is for this? It says on this site error 22 could possibly be caused by the belt slipping off the motor pulley, on my disk system it (the belt) I believe is like that but it spins completely fine. I heard on this post about changing the motor speed, I have looked into this but as of now I haven't tested it. I will be trying that as well. Am I going to have to adjust this caliper head thing, and if I do any tips? I feel like I jumbled my questions up so to sum up my questions here I go:
Getting 21/22 errors, tips for fixing?
How to adjust the spindle for calibration?
Do I need to adjust some screw head?
Any specific directions for adjusting motor speed? I know where it is and what to do with it I just need directions on how to do it right
Belt doesn't seem like its down on gear all the way? When the belt moves no matter what it always gets pushed back up, any reason why?
Also I have 6 games, and I have been testing all 6 so it isn't just one game that isn't working. Thanks again
I find most of it is just trial and error, making small adjustments and testing each time until you finally reach a point where it is reading disks. You'll know when you're getting close by watching the drive and listening to the sounds that it makes. It should move smoothly and read the game in one pass.
Re the drive speed, in my experience it usually has to be set to a slower speed, which you do by turning the screw to the right. Just make very small adjustments and test.
For now I would try to get things working via the head position screw, and the motor speed if necessary.
Quote from: Frank_fjs on September 21, 2012, 06:50:22 pm
I find most of it is just trial and error, making small adjustments and testing each time until you finally reach a point where it is reading disks. You'll know when you're getting close by watching the drive and listening to the sounds that it makes. It should move smoothly and read the game in one pass.
Re the drive speed, in my experience it usually has to be set to a slower speed, which you do by turning the screw to the right. Just make very small adjustments and test.
For now I would try to get things working via the head position screw, and the motor speed if necessary.
All right, I am going to acquire a flathead for the motor and do what I've been doing before addon as I get home. As always, I'll post my results with it. Since my schedule is free I have hours to try and get something out of this so I'll be sure to post back soon
belt slipping: you didn't clean the small wheel entirely. If it slips upwards: clean the upper part of it. Get all the black stuff out.
You say you have tried to calibrate but you don't seem to have done anything?
Spindle hub adjustment is explained at http://www.famicomdisksystem.com/tutorials/fds-repair-mod/belt-replacement-adjustment/ It's not 100% accurate but good enough.
Motor speed is not what you should focus on.
The caliper head screw doesn't always need adjusting. PM me for details.
Quotespindle calibration
oh lol, please not this shit again.
Ask yourself have you ever seen anywhere adjustment screw non-loaded with spring?
Alright, hi again all. After tinkering on and off for a couple days I've got my progress to share. When I first started the thread I was receiving errors 21 and 22 on my disk system. My games would try to be read, then it will stop for a second, and continue going again until it got the 21 or 22 errors. With the 23/27/28 errors my game reaches a black screen before it stops ad starts again. Should it be stopping or should it go through reading the disk without any stops?
Now with what I've done I've managed to keep it a consistent 27 or 28 errors and sometimes error 23 as well. Checking the forum I found what each error stood for, so I kind of have an idea on what I'm supposed to do. The specific errors I'm getting is err. 27, err. 28, very rarely err. 23, and sometimes err. 07 even if I'm on side A of the disk. The games themselves will end up getting to a black screen for a good 5 seconds before the errors come up so I know I'm getting somewhere. Also..motor speed, how fast or how slow should it be? Tips on that? And one last thing..is there anything I can clean other than the rectangular metal piece on the drive, could anything else dirty be causing problems if it isn't my disk drive? Thanks again.
Edit: I also wanted to say thanks for the people posting advice..some of my questions on this post here have been answered to an extent and I didn't realize it so excuse me if some questions I asked were already answered by a few people, the clarifications will help though :)
Quote from: Plep on September 25, 2012, 10:24:43 am
Alright, hi again all. After tinkering on and off for a couple days I've got my progress to share. When I first started the thread I was receiving errors 21 and 22 on my disk system. My games would try to be read, then it will stop for a second, and continue going again until it got the 21 or 22 errors. With the 23/27/28 errors my game reaches a black screen before it stops ad starts again. Should it be stopping or should it go through reading the disk without any stops?
Now with what I've done I've managed to keep it a consistent 27 or 28 errors and sometimes error 23 as well. Checking the forum I found what each error stood for, so I kind of have an idea on what I'm supposed to do. The specific errors I'm getting is err. 27, err. 28, very rarely err. 23, and sometimes err. 07 even if I'm on side A of the disk. The games themselves will end up getting to a black screen for a good 5 seconds before the errors come up so I know I'm getting somewhere. Also..motor speed, how fast or how slow should it be? Tips on that? And one last thing..is there anything I can clean other than the rectangular metal piece on the drive, could anything else dirty be causing problems if it isn't my disk drive? Thanks again.
Edit: I also wanted to say thanks for the people posting advice..some of my questions on this post here have been answered to an extent and I didn't realize it so excuse me if some questions I asked were already answered by a few people, the clarifications will help though :)
The games should not stop reading, at least not on first reading before you see the Nintendo text. You will see the Nintendo text on the first reading.
Motor speed: if 10 is max clockwise and 1 is max counter clockwise, I would set at 7. It depends because some drives are slower. Probably mechanical reasons from age. But motor speed isn't super important as long as it isn't too fast or too slow.
2 Plep are you sure, that your disk is readable? Also can you provide short list like this
-disk xxx gives err aaa, bbb, ccc
-disk yyy ....
-disk zzz ....
The point is - err.27(err.28???) is CRC error
err.07 is obvious - wrong side( or wrong header)
err.23 - can't read second block. Could be also damaged disk
If calibrators-lubricators want to adjust motor speed, they need one the the follows
1)official Nintendo (or whatever the name for it, used in repair centers) disk
2)stroboscope(in this case, someone else with working unit must have stroboscope)
Also with stroboscope you can check tolerance for motor speed.
Quote from: 80sFREAK on September 26, 2012, 07:56:43 am
2 Plep are you sure, that your disk is readable? Also can you provide short list like this
-disk xxx gives err aaa, bbb, ccc
-disk yyy ....
-disk zzz ....
The point is - err.27(err.28???) is CRC error
err.07 is obvious - wrong side( or wrong header)
err.23 - can't read second block. Could be also damaged disk
If calibrators-lubricators want to adjust motor speed, they need one the the follows
1)official Nintendo (or whatever the name for it, used in repair centers) disk
2)stroboscope(in this case, someone else with working unit must have stroboscope)
Also with stroboscope you can check tolerance for motor speed.
Actually I can verify my system works and my disks are in fact readable. Last night I managed to get every single game of mine to load.
Metroid - worked
Doki Doki Panic - worked
Castlevania 1 - worked
Zelda II - worked
Zelda I - worked
Mario 2 - worked
Othello - worked
The last configuration I had of the disk system 6/7 games worked. Mario 2 wasn't working but at least I was actually able to play every game I threw at it at least once yesterday. I sort of messed up my configuration trying to get Mario 2 to work and as a result my games were back throwing 21 and 22 errors...but now I know what to do and what not to do. From not having belts to getting them, to getting errors to getting all the games to work at least once was pretty exciting..now I just have to start all that stuff over in order to get the games working again ???
Glad to see you made some progress. It's just one of those things you have to dive into for yourself and learn via trial and error.
Yeah, tell me about it. From the beginning I tried wrapping my head around so many different things I really didn't know where to start. It was kind of overwhelming but all the things I tinkered with I truly know now that this thing really comes down to trial and error and just checking over and over
I'm not confident enough to say I got all this figured out, but I'm definitely pretty confident in being able to get all my games to work soon enough. I think I got everything I wanted to our of this thread. Thank you all who helped with advice, you have all helped me in ways I would've never expected :) :) ;D
Looks like happy end :)