my FDS - only 1 game out of 70 working !

[l0rd m0rd]

hi guys,

so i wanted to go to retro heaven. I purchased a famicom HK version and a FDS lately on Ebay. The deal was awesome, regarding that there are so few famicoms and FDS available in germany. The famicom itself works fine and it's already AV modded, jay! My problem is the FDS. Included in the auction were lots of FDS disks. However, it seems only one of them is an original nintendo disk, the yellow ones it the "nintendo" engraving. This game it pop n twin bee and it works fine! Well, sometimes the FDS gives an error 21 or error 22, but most of the time it works flawlessly. Problem is, it's the only disk that works!! All others give error 21 or 22. These disks are not the yellow ones and have handwriting on it ... So i checked the rubber belt of the system. It seems a bit worn out. I would have replaced it already if it wasn't necessary to import them from japan or great britain!! I also cleaned the read head, didn't make a difference.

Then I stumbled across an auction of a wholesale: 100 FDS disks, directly from japan. All of them are original yellow nintendo disks, just without cases. Guess what - bought it. I think the deal was awesome as well, having 100 FDS disks is quite amazing. Trouble is though - my FDS can't read one of them! Now it is still possible i guess the all these disks are to old, to dirty, maybe even empty. But i think it's more likely that the FDS is my problem.

What do you think? Why is pop n twin bee working and every other disk is giving me error 21, 22, sometimes 27 and sometimes A/B side error (with the correct "A" side inserted)?

Do you know where to buy a system belt in germany or an alternative product to use? What would you do next?

Cheers,
Simon

[fredJ]

You need to calibrate the FDS... of course...

[l0rd m0rd]

let's get more into detail what i've done so far,

i have ordered a replacement belt now, maybe it helps. I have calibrated the spindle mutliple times now following several different tutorials. I.e. this one http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=10767.15 and that one
http://www.famicomdisksystem.com/tutorials/fds-repair-mod/belt-replacement-adjustment/
AND every goddam youtube video available!!  I also tried to adjust the speed of the motor, which didn't change a bit.

I now discovered that on this video, the "skid" with the read head doesn't stop at all after it has slided back completely and the drive starts to read the disk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GblEmC93y3U#t=314
On my drive however, the skid and the motor stops for a short time after the skid has slided back.... is this normal or maybe this is the problem? How can i fix this problem? Could the motor be broken or something? After that it reads the disk / slides down the entire disk, then slides back again and starts reading again, shortly after that i get the errors, nr. 22 most of the time.

Last question - the little "felt" or "cotton" thing on the pressure arm is really messed up, falling apart and mabye even giving pieces of fluff into the drive. How can i replace this part, can it be ordered somewhere?

[fredJ]

Okay, you didn't say you calibrated it in your first post.

If it is the early FDS, expect a lot of work with calibration.
The early FDS have four little removable metal plates inside, when you remove the disk system.
Post Merge: January 03, 2015, 04:00:10 am

On my drive however, the skid and the motor stops for a short time after the skid has slided back.... is this normal or maybe this is the problem?

This is because of calibration problem.

Post Merge: January 03, 2015, 04:09:33 am

Last question - the little "felt" or "cotton" thing on the pressure arm is really messed up, falling apart and mabye even giving pieces of fluff into the drive. How can i replace this part, can it be ordered somewhere?

I don't think this should be the problem. But it is just a piece of cotton of some sort, maybe you can glue something on there.

[80sFREAK]

You need to calibrate the FDS... of course...

And lubricate  Seriously, someone bought "deal", which was described "lot of xxx discs JUNK". They are about 30years old. Don't expect 100% positive result from such a "deals".

What i want to say, it is not only "calibration", but discs themself.

OMG...

[zmaster18]

FDS calibration can take a long time especially when using unofficial disks. I have never used unofficial disks before, but I believe the FDS has to be calibrated one way for official, and another way for unofficial. You may want to consider just getting rid of these disks and starting over.

FDS calibration requires trial and error for some steps, and can be pretty friggin frustrating. I spent like 30+ hours on my very first one. Out of the 10 I fixed, some of them work right away if you're lucky. Maybe get an extra FDS just in case this one is impossible to fix.

[l0rd m0rd]

hi folks,

thank you very much for the feedback. I'm now waiting for the replacement belt. I'm planning lots of time for the calibration but i will do this after i've changed the belt, i'm still quite motivated about this! 

But as fredJ posted, my skid and motor stop before reading and this is caused by wrong calibration. Can you tell me in which direction i have to turn the gears / spindle to get this problem fixed? Or do i need to algin the motor speed? What's you experience with magnet head alignment? Do i really need a "precision micrometer caliper" to do this job or is there another way to orientate the correct distance with?

All disks from the wholesale are original nintendo disks an were not declared as junk! So i was quite sure that at least some of the disks will work and the deal still would be great. But i'm aware that these could be wrong expectiations. It's my money and this is my way to get rid of it.  I might buy 1-2 "tested" original disks for reference. I might also simply buy a new "tested" disk system but it's hard as hell to get one in germany or import one for a reasonable price. I think i will start a thread in the buy/sell/trade-forums. 

[fredJ]

If you buy 100 original disks, at least 90 of them should work. Even if declared as "junk".

Disks are surprisingly reliable. Unless they look physically damaged on the magnetic surface, I find they almost always work (sometimes they might be a bit tricky though, because of calibration reasons)

Unfortunately there is no simple explanation for how to fix your drive. If it is an early model, I would simply buy another.
btw, I sell calibrated disk units (only units) for replacement.

[zmaster18]

I'm sorry, I missread your post. I thought you said you had a bunch of unofficial white ones.

I bought the precision digital caliper a while back and thought it would help. I haven't been able to get much success out of it, however it does help you take fewer guesses when twisting the little screw. 

I also sometimes had the little head move back, freeze for a second, and then run again. Greasing up this whole assembly is crucial. Get rid of the orange earwaxy goop on the rails. Use WD-40 to clean, then use 3-in-1 oil on the rails and the axle of the spindle. When everything just glides perfectly together, you will get smoother readings. Make sure you clean and oil everything before attempting to calibrate.

Sometimes when you get the 'Black screen of hope', and then an error afterwards (21,22, or 27 I believe) it means you're so dang close. Just tweak your motor a little bit.

Try getting one 100% tested to work game first before you get another system. If this one doesn't work after tweaking the system, then move on.

The felt arm that came off is pretty important. With all the above problems, you should just get another cheap drive and start again. Maybe you'll get an easier one next time, as well as some goodies included! I think many of your 100 yellow disks should boot up at least. It is also possible to have someone else rewrite the disks for you, so hold on to them. You will probably get a bunch of disks that don't match the label though. You can also  unpeel the labels and reapply them on the right disk.

[l0rd m0rd]

hi guys,

thank you so much for your support! I'm also quite sure that the disks should work, few of them are a bit dirty on the outside but the others look really great! Thank you for reminding me to oil the system, i will buy me some an lubricate the mentioned parts. I'm quite confident now that i'm able to fix it, the only thing that really bothers me is the felt / cotton thing. How would you replace it? Which material should i use, and will a strong glue be enough to hold it there?! 

@fredJ sooo.. you are selling calibrated FDSes?? Amazing! How much would you charge for one ...? 

[fredJ]

the only thing that really bothers me is the felt / cotton thing. How would you replace it? Which material should i use, and will a strong glue be enough to hold it there?! 

Maybe cut a little piece of a dust cloth? i don't know..

Strong glue would probably work