Drive power on the FDS?

Started by boye, March 11, 2020, 07:21:16 pm

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boye

Is the drive on an FDS powered at all times when the power on the FC is on, or is it only poered when the drive is busy?
Can't find the FDSLoadr PC program? Get it here. It took me way too long to find.

P

As I understands it, it only uses power when the RAM Adapter orders it to access (read or write) the disk. The eject switch seems mechanical too so no power is needed to eject a disk either (unlike some CD drives for example). It has its own power supply (batteries or AC-adapter) so it does not get power from the Famicom. The cord is just for data communication.

boye

So does it receive power whenever it has a power source connected?
Can't find the FDSLoadr PC program? Get it here. It took me way too long to find.

P

March 16, 2020, 04:02:42 am #3 Last Edit: March 16, 2020, 01:56:38 pm by P
Yes, but it doesn't draw power unless its driven, and it must be connected to the RAM Adapter and the game or BIOS must send a request to the disk drive for reading/writing or whatever, for it to be driven. After loading a level or whatever it doesn't draw any power while you are playing until you reach the next point in the game where it needs to load, or if you save the game.

For this reason batteries lasts a very long time.

If you are worried about leaving the batteries in the drive I'd say it's best to remove them if you are not playing for a long time, not due to discharge but because of the risk of leaking batteries which can damage the hardware.
If you are using an AC adapter I say unplug it after each play session. That goes for the Famicom's AC adapter as well.

boye

I'm working on an SSD alternative for the disk drive inside the FDS, and I need to know if it can use power even when the RAM adaptor isn't reading.
Can't find the FDSLoadr PC program? Get it here. It took me way too long to find.

c0op3r

Quote from: boye on March 16, 2020, 01:02:48 pmI'm working on an SSD alternative for the disk drive inside the FDS, and I need to know if it can use power even when the RAM adaptor isn't reading.

Why?

there is already the FDSstick:

Link to FDS stick

boye

You could be able to keep the FDS (the "red box") while replacing the drive, for example, if the drive was broken, but you did not want to let the whole system go to waste. Basically, it would be the FDS equivalent to the GDEMU.
Can't find the FDSLoadr PC program? Get it here. It took me way too long to find.

P

Well the FDSStick IS an FDS equivalent to the GDEMU. It's just that it uses its own flash system instead of using SD cards.

So the question is how your SSD alternative will be different from an FDSStick. If you need to keep the diskdrive (red box) then I guess it connects somewhere on the inside and uses the diskdrive's power supply.

boye

Yeah. the reason that it would exist is so you don't have to throw out the entire FDS, as I said earlier. IT could also work if you wanted to use FDS roms on a Twin Fami without getting a RAM Adapter. That and it would be a fun hobby project. So, basically, the SSD would need to be powered when the drive isn't accessed to select the ROM, and to eject and flip the virtual disk.
Can't find the FDSLoadr PC program? Get it here. It took me way too long to find.

P

Not to discourage your project or anything, but it's not like you have to throw out the disk drive (and you shouldn't) if you use something like the FDSStick. The FDSStick can work with the RAM adapter or the disk drive (with a special cable) for doing different things. With the disk drive it can read and dump disks for example. It can also be used with the built-in RAM adapter in the Twin, but it requires some special cable for that too I think.

The FDS disk drive uses the power supply for things like the motor. But for the actual communication with the RAM Adapter, I think it uses the 5 V in the RAM adapter cable. Otherwise the FDSStick wouldn't work since it requires no external power source.