Family Basic Question

Started by MegaSilverX1, January 12, 2021, 04:08:39 pm

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MegaSilverX1

Hi,

I recently purchased a Family Basic cart and Family Basic keyboard seperatly from two different sellers. The Family Basic cart arrived today and for some reason my AV Famicom doesn't want to read the cartridge. It just shows a solid blue screen when I power the console on with Family Basic inserted like the pins are dirty even though I cleaned them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. So my question is, does the Family Basic cartridge only work when you have the keyboard plugged in? I would find that odd if that was the case since I can at least see the title screen with other games like Mario Paint and Gumshoe without having the required accessories plugged in. I'm assuming either one of the pins is a little rusty or something got damaged during transit but the package it came in showed no signs of that happening.

UglyJoe

Won't boot at all without the keyboard plugged in.  Mine goes to a gray-screen instead of blue, though ;D

MegaSilverX1

Quote from: UglyJoe on January 12, 2021, 08:41:31 pmWon't boot at all without the keyboard plugged in.  Mine goes to a gray-screen instead of blue, though ;D
Thank goodness. I was concerned the cartridge was bad or something. After a bit of wiggling around in the cart slot I was able to get a light grey and darker grey screen. So now I just need to wait for the keyboard to arrive. Hopefully it won't get lost in the mail.

Thank you!

P

Yeah it's kind of weird, but the game seems to check if the keyboard is plugged in, and deliberately doesn't display anything if it isn't (the color you see may differ depending on your Famicom and maybe the AC-adapter). This has fooled me too in the past that the cartridge had died.

Family BASIC V3 at least shows an error message that tells you to plug in the keyboard.
Lode Runner also detects the keyboard and only allow you to access the save menu in edit mode if it's plugged in.

MegaSilverX1

So the keyboard arrived yesterday and while it can read and write to cassette tapes fine, when I try to use Family Basic pretty much all of the keys except for a few random ones like ¥, [, and @ don't respond. The listing didn't mention that it was untested; the condition was described as B+ which I can agree with at least cosmetically since the keyboard looks great, no yellowing or dirt. Functionally however, yeah...it's pretty useless for Family Basic. I'm wondering if a connection got damaged or loosened during shipping since I find it hard to believe that 95% of the keys don't work because all of the switches under them broke. The box is shipped in looks very nice still after traveling overseas and it was packaged well. Perhaps it being exposed to the cold during shipment did something?

I messaged the seller last night about this problem but they have yet to respond.

UglyJoe

Quote from: MegaSilverX1 on January 14, 2021, 06:32:46 pmwhen I try to use Family Basic pretty much all of the keys except for a few random ones like ¥, [, and @ don't respond.

Try slapping the modifier keys a bit to see if any of them are stuck (both shift keys, GRPH key, CTR key, kana (カナ) key).  I can't recreate your issue exactly, but some of those modifier keys will stop the others from working on that "COMPUTER/OPERATOR" menu thing that boots up.

MegaSilverX1

I messed around with the modifier keys and things are still pretty much the same. I noticed that when I press the kana key it changes the blinking white box in the OPERATOR box where the text you type appears to a line (like an underscore_), but when I press the kana key again, it doesn't change back to a white box. Also after I press the Return key to get to the COMPUTER/OPERATOR menu, the Return key stops working and will only work if I press it while holding down the Shift key. Gotta say, I wasn't expecting the keyboard to be the troublesome part in the Family Basic set up; the Data Recorder I thought was going to be the finicky device to use, but its been mostly easy to get to work and load created levels in stuff like Arkanoid II.

P

It almost sounds like the wires are incorrectly connected. You are not using an adapter or extension cable or anything?
Maybe some of the wires or pins are making contact to each other, or some connections are just dirty.

MegaSilverX1

Quote from: P on January 16, 2021, 11:19:55 amIt almost sounds like the wires are incorrectly connected. You are not using an adapter or extension cable or anything?
Maybe some of the wires or pins are making contact to each other, or some connections are just dirty.
I'm not using an adapter or extension cable. I did check the AV Famicom's expansion port and the keyboard's cord that plugs into said port and both looked clean. I even used the Family Computer 3D System's pass through expansion port to see if that'd do anything but it didn't. Regardless, I am moving forward with the return process even though its been more of a pain than I was expecting. I'm gonna miss the Family Basic manual it came with; that book would've been a handy reference tool to have if or when I get another (hopefully functional) keyboard to try out Family Basic in the future.

UglyJoe

Quote from: MegaSilverX1 on January 17, 2021, 06:54:18 pmRegardless, I am moving forward with the return process even though its been more of a pain than I was expecting. I'm gonna miss the Family Basic manual it came with; that book would've been a handy reference tool to have if or when I get another (hopefully functional) keyboard to try out Family Basic in the future.

Bummer.  I've never heard of the keyboard acting like yours, so really does sound like something is wrong with it.

Regarding the manual, it's not quite the same as having it in-hand, but we do have a translated version of it hosted here:

Family Basic Manual (Translated) PDF
Manual Translation Thread

P

Yeah it seems you were unlucky. The keyboard is one of my favorite accessories for the Famicom so I hope you find a working one. Good luck!

Jono1874

Quote from: MegaSilverX1 on January 14, 2021, 06:32:46 pmSo the keyboard arrived yesterday and while it can read and write to cassette tapes fine, when I try to use Family Basic pretty much all of the keys except for a few random ones like ¥, [, and @ don't respond. The listing didn't mention that it was untested; the condition was described as B+ which I can agree with at least cosmetically since the keyboard looks great, no yellowing or dirt. Functionally however, yeah...it's pretty useless for Family Basic. I'm wondering if a connection got damaged or loosened during shipping since I find it hard to believe that 95% of the keys don't work because all of the switches under them broke. The box is shipped in looks very nice still after traveling overseas and it was packaged well. Perhaps it being exposed to the cold during shipment did something?

I messaged the seller last night about this problem but they have yet to respond.

I had my keyboard act exactly like you're describing on one of my Famicoms. It turned out that the solder joints on the 15 pin connector on the Famicom needed to be reflowed. It fixed the problem right up.

Your keyboard is probably just fine.

P

That's what I thought, bad connection. I didn't think about reflowing though.