Technical and Repair Assistance

[Nightstar699]

hi orbitmint.

for anyone who could help, this is the EXACT system hes talking about

[133MHz]

Check the AC adapter first. Famiclone AC adapters are notorious for being substandard quality and they tend to break for no apparent reason.

[Drakon]

a lot of systems do that.  Chrono trigger has a bar at the bottom of the screen.

[zzoreil]

Hi there,

I have a problem with a Famicom Disk System and i hope that someone here could help me.
Let me describe what happens :

First my disk system wasn't able to play games. When I tried to play a game, the loading screen did appear but nothing happened. I could hear a nooise that sound like the motor's rotating.
I thought naturally at the belt, and indeed, there was no more belt inside. So i bought a new one, and replaced it. I was very precautionous.

But now I have a new problem : when I put a game into the disk system, I have this error message : "battery err.02" wich significates that my disk sytem is unplugged.
But it's pluged and my adaptor works fine (tested on another system). I also tried with batteries but the result is the same.

So i ask the community, does someone also face this problem? What can I do? I guess I've done something wrong when I reassemble the system because I didn't have this problem before changing the belt and I could hear the motor working, but I don't see what. I used a continuity testor but all seems to be alright.

It's hard to have this system i never played and not be able to play with!

Thank you for reading and helping.

(PS : excuse my bad english, i'm european but this forum is the only one where i guess i could have answers)

[133MHz]

Maybe the data cable came loose when you replaced the belt (the cable that connects the power board with the disk drive mechanism, inside the system). Tighten it up on both ends and make sure it's plugged in the right way around.

[zzoreil]

It's interesting, I d'ont paid any attention to this. But i'm not sure to see exactly what cable you mean. Did you have a pic or a link to a picture that show this cable in particular? What color is he?

I'm gonna check it tonight. Anyway it's probably a problem between my power supply and the disk drive mechanism : the power don't arrive to the mechanism, there must be something wrong.

What you call power board is the PCB under the battery case right?

Thank you for trying to help me.

[phatphunk]

There's only one cable that connects to the drive unit itself. It's a ribbon like cable with a huge connector. That cable also supplies current to the drive unit.  I wish I can bust mine open and show you the pic but it's rather late now. You will definitely need to remove that cable before opening up the drive unit.. So I'm sure you have removed it before and put it back in. 133Mhz could be right, the cable might be loose or connected incorrectly.

[ericj]

Also check that you didn't knock one of the wires off the motor. I'm not sure if it will give you the same error, but I had to resolder both of mine after replacing the belt.

[133MHz]

this cable in particular, What color is it?

Lots of different colored wires.

What you call power board is the PCB under the battery case right?

Correct. The disk drive mechanism is the other thing there. The data cable is the one joining them together. The cable can be plugged in upside down by accident. Also check out ericj's suggestion. It's easy to break out those fragile wires if you're moving stuff around.

[zzoreil]

Hi.
I didn't have time last weekend but perhaps tonight.

So the supply cable is that wire i had to remove to change the belt. Indeed the connector is huge but i removed it very carefully. There"s one pin missing but i saw pics and video where this pin is always missing. It seems to be normal. Does the cable have a way to be connect? If it's that i'm gonna invert the way he is plugged.

For the 2 wires off the motor (the white and red right?), it seems to be okay and i had prevented them from too much tension while changing the belt.

I'm gonna check the way my wire cable is plugged, it could really be that...

By the way, i really thank you all for helping me, great community! I'll tell you what will happen.

[zzoreil]

Unfortunately, the wire cable was plugged in the right way. I plugged it upside down, and then nothing happens when i introduced a game in the disk system (the start screen stay normal with luigi and mario running around).

But when i plug the cable in the right way i have the message error.02 when i put a game. So i guess that the power board and the mechanism are still communicating.  But in what way? Power Board to mechanism or only mechanism to power board?
Is it possible that informations go through the cable and not the power?

By the way i hope that this statement will help me to locate the problem.

[lasersamurai]

Hi, I have a famicom and never tested it as I don't have the power adapter but there are 2 very strange things I would like to know about before I get anything for it. These 2 strange things are a cord coming out the TV <--> Game switch and a TURBO cartridge thing sticking into where a cartridge should go. I took the Famicom apart to try and take this beast off but i've had no success.After looking on the internet for this Turbo cartridge thing I have found nothing here are some photos I have taken. If anyone knows anything that would be a great help.

Thanks,

Lasersamurai

The Famicom looked on from the front.


The Turbo adapter thing:


The turbo adapter with it's top off:


Back of the Famicom with the cord:

[nintendodork]

That cord is probably there so you can just plug that in instead of having to use the Japanese RF switch.  You may want to experiment to see what channel you get a picture on when you do happen to get it up and running.  The device on the top is strange, since you said it won't come off.  I would think it's something like a Game Doctor, but I guess you can't be sure until you actually try playing some games on it.  It's strange that it won't come off at all though.  Is there any way you can open the Famicom itself and see what the inside looks like?  Or is the device on top restraining you from doing so?

[133MHz]

I swore I already replied to this post but apparently I never did . Nintendodork is on the right track. It seems that your Famicom has been AV modded, with the video output on the (former) RF Switch jack and the audio output on the RCA cable coming out of the system (or vice versa). Try to hook it up to the AV inputs of your TV and see if you can get a picture. If nothing happens or you get a loud buzzing sound, try reversing the leads. If all else fails, try dork's original suggestion.

As for the TURBO thing, it seems to be a plain cartridge slot extender. The board seems awfully simple and unpopulated, the LED being the most sophisticated thing you can see on it.

[lasersamurai]

I've opened the Famicom up and when I try to take the motherboard out The end with the cartridge slot refuses to come out so this TURBO device is stopping it in some way . I doubt it will really impede anything though XD it just looks ugly.