Technical and Repair Assistance

[cadethian]

Hi, I'm a little new, but my famicom just came in the mail today (games aren't here yet though)
Anyways, I was looking it over, and I hooked it up to the TV without a game just to see what it did. It's certainly sending a signal, so that's good.
I noticed however that the reset button is like a rock, it won't budge in or out. I'm just wondering if this is normal and pressing down on it will still reset the game, or if it's jammed and needs to be fixed. If it is jammed, do any of you have tips to unjam and fix it?
Also, the games I got are Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 3. Those save their games, and I know the american NES games need you to hold reset while you turn the power off. Is it the same for the Famicom?
Thanks for your help.

[133MHz]

Yes, it's jammed. The best solution would be taking apart your Famicom, removing the Reset button, cleaning it and putting it back together. If you don't want to do that, you can try spraying some contact cleaner around the button to loosen it up.

As for the "Reset before powering off" issue for battery-backed games, I know that the Famicom handles its System Reset differently than the NES (NES blanks the screen during reset, Famicom doesn't and garbage is displayed) but I don't know how that would apply to battery-backed games. Just to err on the side of caution I'd recommend following the same advice.

[cadethian]

I opened it up, and I discovered what the problem is. The actual button on the circuit board is fine, but the red plastic button piece you actually push on is like glued into the frame. Any suggestions on prying it out?

[133MHz]

Decades of dirt and dust made its way between the red button and the casing, literally gluing them together.
Try to spray some contact cleaner or rubbing alcohol in the space between the button and the case to loosen it up.
You may also try WD-40 but take care of cleaning the residue afterwards.

Once it frees up, remove it and clean the area with an old toothbrush dipped in rubbing alcohol or similar cleaner. Once everything is clean, let dry and reassemble. Applying a small amount of grease would be a good idea.

[cadethian]

I've been trying that stuff but it's still not budging. Probably because the rubbing alcohol can't soak into where it's needed because the gap isn't big enough. It's like the button is stuck to 2 sides, so the other 2 sides have a little gap, but the stuck sides have no gap. I've tried everything short of taking a hammer to the stupid thing -_-

[manuel]

Have you taken everything apart? If possible, let the part in question soak in water for a night. Maybe this can loosen it enough.

[toredauei]

I couldnt find any other question like this on here but its very probable that I overlooked it so please forgive me if I have

I have a NES toploader and will shortly have a 60->72 pin converter. Is it possible to use a FDS with this set up or not? If it's not possible what would I need to make it work?

[son_ov_hades]

Yes it will work, I asked this when I first came around here  . The only problem is you won't get any of the additional sound channels.

[toredauei]

ahh but it will keep me from buying another piece of hardware in addition the FDS so that is a huge plus to me Thanks!

[shmuper1988]

All right so I finally got my famicom to work on a pal widescreen tv............................................
..........................................................
................. but it has no sound or color 

now there are two options from what I researched on forums (barely found any that covers working it in the uk)
1 ) av mod your old famicom (however not keen on this 1 as I dont wana ruin the authenticness of the 1 I got, also supposidly that doesnt help with the color either =/)
2) buy a AV famicom (which surprising is HARDER to find than the old 1983 1...wow O_o, not to mention the ones I saw on ebay where like £90+)

now the subject wasnt covered in  depth and as this 1 seems to be the largest ( or most active I suppose) forum covering the famicom are these two options really the only ones I got?? any local  ukers ( or from euorpe) able to give a final word on it? ( I know it was sorta spelt out on the other forum but... before I blow big cash or wreak my famicom I guess I would prefer to see if there were more options???)

[133MHz]

Those are your only options. Have you played with other import consoles on your TV? Most modern European TVs can display NTSC signals in color but only through the AV inputs, not through the aerial connection (which is why your Famicom only displays in black and white) also the sound carrier frequency is different (which explains why you have no sound).

By AV-modding your Famicom you'll get full color and sound if your TV supports NTSC, and if not you can buy a NTSC to PAL converter box to get a color picture.

If you're not good with soldering and building small circuits I recommend that you get an AV Famicom. No fuss, just plug it in and play.

[shmuper1988]

lol....actually the famicom is my first import console I've just recently bought say june/july, so you can see why I am still abit clueless...  ( just starting collecting retro/import consoles and games so thought I would start with the famicom )
but yea I will try what ya said thanks for the help ^_^

[133MHz]

First you need to find out if your TV supports 60Hz NTSC, either by reading the User Manual or by setting your DVD player to NTSC and seeing if it plays OK on your TV.

[Rob64]

Ok, here is the situation for my FDS:

Got it boxed with manual and hand bills, but no ac adaptor came with it. So I did batteries the night I got it. Yesterday dad gave me a universal ac adaptor which allows me to controll the amount of DC I need to output to the system. C batteries are 1.5 volts, so times 6 equals 9. I set the DC output to 9.

It works... for the most part. For some reason I get even more static than usual on this game which includes fuzzy vcr tape type of lines. They go away when the game is paused but comes back when unpaused. And sometimes the static affects the overall brightness of the game.

What I would like to know is this: WTF is going on?! Is it all because I'm not using the official adaptor? Is it my tv? what is it?

If it is my tv, I'm not too worried because I'm planning on not taking it since it messes with the music on my SNES.

[133MHz]

Yes, it's possible that the AC adapter is the culprit. If the adapter is being overloaded or its filtering is poor it will cause video interference and/or a buzz in the audio. I assume it loads games fine and that you don't get these symptoms when running on batteries. I suggest you to continue using batteries since they last for quite a long time.