Famicom Disk System (FDS) errors

[Dr.Wily]

It is the Battery error meaning it isn't getting current from the AC or Batteries.

I've tried brand new C batteries as well as an AC adaptor.  I've pulled the board out and hooked everything back in.

Still get the same error.  The board doesn't appear to have been burnt or anything; the system is just not getting power.

Same problem for me. RAM adaptor works like a charm with FDS loader, but when I plug it on the FDS drive I have an error 2. With or without disk in drive. The loading screen comes up immediately after RAM adapter is plugged to drive and quickly after I have error 2. Sometime it loads "something" but nothing happen, the drive load in loop and ejecting disk don't stop the motor.

[Xious]

I would say that, given that description, you have a damaged or broken switch on the analogue board; probably the head-return switch. Alternatively, the head wire may be hitting the battery tray, preventing it from fully-engaging the switch.  


FDS Error Code Translations (by Flashback V.E.)

00-and-10-Codes: These are drive start-up problems.

Err.01: The disk card is not fully seated. Your card-carrier tray may not be entirely engaging, and may be missing sprigs, or require cleaning, etc..
.
Err.02: Power not coming through; battery box not wired, or Power Board board not energized, or drive mech not properly connected to Power Board. Occasionally, this can also be caused by the belt slipping off the motor pulley as well; or by use of an improper or worn belt or band in its place.

Err.03: Disk is write-protected.

Err.04: (Anti-piracy) File mismatch (manufacturer ID)
Err.05: (Anti-piracy) File mismatch (game title ID)
Err.06: (Anti-piracy) File mismatch (game version ID)*

*I had problems with two 'Hikari Shinwa: Palthena no Kagami' disks. I had overwritten the front side of my primary, original game disk (that had my excellent game save files on the reverse) with that of a bad disk; I was trying to do the reverse (restoringthe bad disk with my good one), and I ended up corrupting Side-A. I figured it was no problem, and wrote both from a third copy, and then all hell opened up, as my original disk was V1.0 (or something like that) and the third disk was a later version (e.g. V1.1).
             The front would load, and when I flipped it over, it became an error-nightmare because of a version mismatch. In the end, I had to wipe my save files and restore the disks from the third copy. Lesson-learned: Do not use half-a-disk for a backup! Always back up both sides (or all four, for multi-disk games)!

Err.07: You have inserted a disk that is either blank, or is the B, C or D side of a multi-disk game. Eject it and flip it over. For multi-disk games, check to see what side you should be using. if the other side of your disk is a single-sided game, such as 'Super Mario bros.', then its reverse (giving the Err.07) is blank.

Err.08: Similar to Err.01. No disk in drive, but insertion switch is engaging; possibly also disk not fully seated. Switch may be damaged.

Err.09: ?? Not disk No.2?
Err.10:  ?? Not disk No.3?
Err.11?:   ?? Not disk No.4?

Err.12-19: I don't think these exist, but it is possible. I may check a dis-assembly of the FDS BIOS for them sometime.

20-Codes: These have to do with properly reading data from disks.

Err.20'Screen data differs'; I am not sure about this error, or its description. I presume it is actually a block error of some kind, based on how it is categorized numerically.

Err.21: Index Spindle<-->Motor and other calibrations off. Drive cannot read initial disk header file.

Err.22: Flow of data is not correct, or is simply not happening*. Data may be garbled, or out of sequence, etc.. This can be caused by:

• Improper Index Spindle & Motor calibration
  
• A bad (or dirty, or not connected) Read Head
  
• The Analogue Board switches not engaging, or not engaging correctly.
  
• A mis-seated Disk Card
  
• A blank A-Side disk, or a blank disk in general.
  
• A dead disk...or a Game Doctor Disk!**
  
• A disk with MIDI sequences on it, or word processor files.
  
• The belt slipping off the motor pulley; or a bad, worn or improper belt or band.
  
• Possibly other things...
  *Essentially, this means that the lights are on, but no-one is home. The FDS senses a disk in the drive, but can' make any sense of the data on it. If there is a problem with the Read-head assembly, then the drive may also think the same thing, as it is trying to read a disk and it can't make any sense of the data because it sees nothing.
  *Game Doctor Disks may give this error if you do not have the correct GD attachment. They will assuredly give an error of this type if you try to read them without a GD device, although other errors are also possible in this situation. This is common for pirate disks out of China.
  
  Err.23: Similar to Err.22 in terms of index spindle-alignment. This is a problem with the index-spindle & motor calibrations and occasionally means you are closer to proper alignment, although this is not always the case.
  
  Err.24: Disk media is damaged. (This is the only way I have ever seen this!)
  
  Err.25: Disk media problems?
  
  Err.26: Disk media is probably damaged. I see this almost entirely when reading from or writing to disks with a dimple or bend in the Mylar. It is also an error when writing to a disk using a 3206 drive, or with a PWR-03 or later) Power Board; essentially, the drive throws an error due to the copy protection. If you have a later drive with the write-protection circuitry, you will likely see this error quite often if you try copying disks.
  
  Err.27: Index Spindle<-->Motor and other calibrations off. Drive cannot read initial disk header file.
  
  Err.28: Similar to Err.22 and Err.28 calibration problems. Usually, this means you are closer to proper alignment, but this is not always the case.
  
  Err.29: Spindle-alignment problems?
  
  
  30-Codes: These are regarding disk file problems, reading and writing.
  
  Err.30: Disk is full; cannot save.
  
  Err.31: The number of files on the disk does not match the declared (expected*) number of files.
  *This is another anti-piracy measure: There is an index file with game declared number of files that should be on the disk. When reading the data, if the number of files on the disk does not match the declared number of files then the programme throws an error message; possibly with in-game 'Don't Pirate Me.' text..
  
  Err.32-39: I don't think these exist, but it is possible. I may check a dis-assembly of the FDS BIOS for them sometime.  
  
  Err.40: I don't recall off-hand, but it may be noted in my book. I think it is 'Disk data still in memory.', or something along that line.  

[jpx72]

Just to add to your nice post, err.02 also means the motor is being slowed down by a wrong/old belt and thus reporting a power failure error

[Xious]

i wanted to make this my 1,000th post, but No. 999, or something like that was clos enough. I had a post or two post deleted when an author deleted his thread, which dropped this down just as I was writing it.... I had intended it to be a special 'Post-1,000' revelation.

Now that you mention it, yes, both Err.02 and Err.22 can both be caused by belt slippage. I'll edit the original post to add these.  

@ Mods: This thread should be moved to the Tech Topics board and stickied, if you please, unless you prefer that I re-post my list there and then you can simply sticky that, ensuring it is at the top of the thread. .

P.S. I posted a thread int he tech area, with the details on my post in this thread. Please sticky that... I think that this thread has too much clutter to go over there, and I am willing to either delete my post in this thread, or leave it alone, at the discretion of the mods.

[pirate_master]

The UNDEFEATED Rutgers.

Hahaha, lol.

It is hard to imagine that Rutgers would go undefeated through 9 games today. Although, this year wasn't so bad I suppose.

Also, need help with Error 21 and 22.

[Xious]

You have a spindle index + motor calibration problem. I think I covered this for you in another thread, and would request that you please keep technical help requests to the tech support boards, and I also suggest trying the search feature, as this topic has been discussed many times, which is why some of us aren't answering you in detail.