Disk Writer BIOS dump?

[boye]

They may be wired differently.
Also, since Sky Skipper was dumped, we shouldn't lose hope that the Disk Writer BIOS will be dumped.

[P]

They probably looks like NES carts because Nintendo reuses molds and parts for several things. Famicom Box also used NES cart looking carts, but they won't work in a NES. Neither the Famicom Box nor the Disk Writer are sold to individuals but to hotels and lended to stores, so there is no real risk in customers mixing carts up.

[80sFREAK]

Just do it(c)

[80sFREAK]

Ummm... and what's inside? 

[P]

修理 (shuuri) means repair, so I guess it's some kind of service cartridge for some kind of Disk Writer. But it sounds strange that these old systems saved stuff that could go wrong and had to be repaired by software instead of just rebooting it. The shuuri III label might just be a strange way to write revision number 3 of the BIOS for bug fixes.
I'm just shooting in the dark...

Did these carts really boot the Disk Writer BIOS on a Famicom when they still worked? That would prove that the Disk Writer was a normal Famicom with some special stuff. No attempts to dump them? If we are lucky the ROMs are still OK.

I have a feeling I've seen pics of these before on the forum and forgot about them.

[boye]

Both broken unfortunately, but here they are.

Try cleaning the cart really well.

[80sFREAK]

P, probably just marked bad/broken carts to fix/send them for repair later. Also, remember, FDS BIOS have memory testing routine and these carts "diagnostics" might be related to calibrating disk drive.

[P]

So you mean the cartridge itself is on repair??

And why can't just these diagnostics be in the DW BIOS instead of on a separate cartridge?
The labels aren't helpful, they just say EEPROM Pack and Disk Writer, so they could contain anything.

[boye]

So you mean the cartridge itself is on repair??

And why can't just these diagnostics be in the DW BIOS instead of on a separate cartridge?
The labels aren't helpful, they just say EEPROM Pack and Disk Writer, so they could contain anything.

I think that test mode was only for the RAM Adapter itself, not the drive.

[P]

Sure, but I don't see how the RAM Adapter is related.

[80sFREAK]

togemet2, thanks!

So you mean the cartridge itself is on repair??

And why can't just these diagnostics be in the DW BIOS instead of on a separate cartridge?
The labels aren't helpful, they just say EEPROM Pack and Disk Writer, so they could contain anything.

2C33 chip have built-in mask ROM with BIOS. You can utilize same chip in the Disk Writer, by disabling existing BIOS, keep only registers avaliable. In this case you will have E000-FFFF for your Disk Writer PRG and CHR on the "green cart".

Same "window" you can map removable carts.

[P]

I see, in that case if the 2C33 chip is in there, the FDS audio is also available for the Disk Writer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNl8gEk5iAo
The program certainly looks and sounds like it's Famicom software, and the music seems to do sounds that I'm not sure the APU can do alone.
In this demo when Mario is carrying the yellow disk and Luigi is carrying the yellow NES-like cartridge, the message reads: "please insert softpack and disk-card" so that's pretty much proof that the yellow carts contains the software.

These aren't test cartridges, and actually held the BIOS at some point, but they are totally broken. Sorry to disappoint.

Do EEPROMs just break like that? And if they are broken how do you know the contain the Disk Writer BIOS?
I understand it's not yours. Just make sure to let us know if they are ever examined or dumped or something.

[P]

Thanks for this information. Yeah I've seen that manual in auctions. Hopefully it'll get scanned some day.