Famicom Disk System - error 27 issue.

[guineapig64]

Hello everyone!  Sorry I haven't been on here for awhile, I've been kind of busy lol.  I'm back on here because I have yet another problem but this time it's with my Famicom Disk System.

I now have a working Famicom and it's the original Famicom that has a modified tv connection (it has the audio/video connection instead of the RF Switch connection) and it's been doing great.

I just got my Famicom Disk System today and right now I only have one game for it (Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2) and this game is a brand new never used copy when I got it.

Anyways, I keep getting the error 27 message that keeps saying "disk trouble" and I don't know why it keeps saying that and it sounds like everything is working fine.  So far I never got the game to work and it's a brand new copy so I'm really thinking that something may be wrong with the Famicom Disk System but I don't know what the problem is.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do?  I'm not very good when it comes to repairs since I'm not a very technical person so I may need suggestions that would be easy for me to understand.

[guineapig64]

I could probably try to clean the drive head but before I do that where is the drive head located and what should I use to clean the drive head?

[ericj]

Use isopropyl alcohol on a q-tip to clean it. You can also scrape off any gunk on it with your fingernail--pirate disks are notorious for leaving artifacts on the read head, although these usually result in Error 22, not 27. Error 27 can be caused from other stuff--misaligned spindle, broken drive belt, thin pressure pad or weak spring on the pressure arm, etc. Have a look at my site here.

[guineapig64]

I would like to let everyone know that my Famicom Disk System is now working.  Apparently the drive head needed cleaned and it started working after that.  Thanks for your help everyone!

[Parodius Duh]

A+ man, stick around! these dudes are the best around and always here to help!

[3Eyeboy]

If I had a defective Famicom or Famicom Disk System I'll send it to Xious or oooXXXooo, don't even try fix it yourself, it's imposssible, these guys have the "know how".

[guineapig64]

@3Eyeboy - If I ever have something happen to the point that I know I can't fix it or don't have the knowledge to do it then I would get it sent to someone on here that knows what they're doing, like Xious or oooXXXooo.

@MasterDisk, Parodius Duh - I'll be sure to come on here more often, I feel kind of bad for not coming on here for awhile since Famicom World is such a great website.

[Xious]

Good to see that it only needed a sprinkling, which is a lucky break, as this usually indicates a more serious fault. Err. 21, 22, 27 & 28 are all reasonably related, having to do with reading consecutive bits and correctly reading file header datum.

Usually 22 is the worst, and means a general inability to read continual data, but they're all in the same 'family' of problems, so I suppose there's no reason that a dirty read surface couldn't return Err.27, though I'd have expected it to throw a dual-code (shifting back and forth between 27 and 22 and/or 28). I have my own flowchart for diagnosis on most codes that I developed, but there are so many variables that nothing is ever a certainty.

The FDS error code system is truly all kinds of lovely.

[krzy]

I have encoutered identical error, then found out the culprit was power supply (9V 850 mA, switching power supply). After replacing it to 9V 4A it started to work.
No idea if some caps inside FDS needs replacement, or this switching power supply, despite being the same amperage as original one which has transformer inside, is a little to weak).