FDSStick appreciation thread :)

[Raverrevolution]

Speaking of which, there used to be this long thread in the troubleshooting section about glitchy ram adapters and others thinking that certain chips on them would degrade or not work correctly.  I wonder if any of those troubled adapters got used with the FDSStick and/or if it's related to this.

[RoryDropkick]

You're right, if both fdssticks failed the same way, they're probably not the problem.  The only thing that makes sense to me is it's something with your ram adapter.  I don't think it's just a matter of V1 vs V2.  I've sold hundreds of these and nobody else has had this problem.

Single games always work for you?

They do work for me. That's why I'm trying to go down the list of what could possibly be wrong on my end. I hope it's not something dumb like "You've loaded your roms incorrectly using the program" haha.. And I own a disk system, so I know the ram adapter loads those fine. I own an AV Famicom also if that gives you any direction towards troubleshooting.

[karaokeninja]

Just got my FDSStick all setup and running. It's a beautiful tool! Works perfectly. Next, to get the RAM Adapter chopped up to make a cable to plug the FDSStick into my Twin Famicom's built-in RAM Adapter instead of redundantly plugging the external RAM adapter into my Twin Famicom's cart slot.

[RoryDropkick]

Ok, so a followup to my issue. My friend finally came into town with his ram adapter and we did a test. It appears that my Ram adapter, while not necessarily "bad" for normal disk use is not compatible with the FDSStick. His ram adapter however does work with both FDSSticks perfectly. I'm going to go and hunt down a new ram adapter right away, no skin off of my teeth really.

[loopy]

Huh. Interesting.  If you're willing to send it to me, I'll try and figure out what the issue is.  I could buy it off you or something if you want to get rid of it.

[RoryDropkick]

Huh. Interesting.  If you're willing to send it to me, I'll try and figure out what the issue is.  I could buy it off you or something if you want to get rid of it.

Sure, anything for research. PM me your address and I'll get it packed up and sent off.

[Great Hierophant]

I wanted to tell people that are looking to build a FDSStick to FDS Disk Drive Transfer Cable that HD Retrovision (the makers of the component video cables for the SNES and Genesis) made a Multi-Out AV Connector available for sale.  All 12 pins are populated, and each connector costs $4.00.  You still need to grind down the center nub, but at $8.00 and some time and cable it is still a reasonable price.  I think you could also use the connector for a Twin Famicom adapter cable. 

[toadhall]

I wanted to tell people that are looking to build a FDSStick to FDS Disk Drive Transfer Cable that HD Retrovision (the makers of the component video cables for the SNES and Genesis) made a Multi-Out AV Connector available for sale.  All 12 pins are populated, and each connector costs $4.00.  You still need to grind down the center nub, but at $8.00 and some time and cable it is still a reasonable price.  I think you could also use the connector for a Twin Famicom adapter cable. 

Very useful info! Thanks much! Was scouring the internet for a source of multi out av connector which all pins populated. I need it to build a Twin Fami adapter cable. Now to find the appropriate 12-pin header connector...

[Pikkon]

Helder over at assembler games sales the same connector but a dollar cheaper.
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/helders-modding-parts-systems-sales.51006/

[toadhall]

Helder over at assembler games sales the same connector but a dollar cheaper.
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/helders-modding-parts-systems-sales.51006/

Even better. Bought one from him.

[loopy]

Huh. Interesting.  If you're willing to send it to me, I'll try and figure out what the issue is.  I could buy it off you or something if you want to get rid of it.

Sure, anything for research. PM me your address and I'll get it packed up and sent off.

I fixed the loading bug.  The early FDS BIOS version was causing it.

There are several revisions of the board and the BIOS and the older ones seems less common. I have an early one (rough surface though) without the "programed by Takao Sawano" screen, FDSStick works though.

Strange that it still worked for you ... are you still using the old software without the game menu?

[P]

Ah yes I'm still using the old FDSStick and the old firmware and read-/write-software. Haven't upgraded anything yet. How many versions of the FDS BIOS are there and what's the difference between them?

[loopy]

There are 3 versions that I know of (2 for regular FDS, and Twin Famicom).  I don't know what functional differences there are.  They seem to work the same. There are small visual changes, a different font on the first two, and the Twin has a different title screen showing "FAMICOM" instead of "Nintendo".  Some code locations changed, that was the problem.  The early BIOS version must be quite rare, I've only received a couple of complaints about it.

The software works with all fdsstick versions, in case you didn't know.  You don't need to buy a new one to use it.

[P]

I see, it seems to be the same three variants on the Cutting Room Floor.

Hmm it seems that I have been mistaken. I was sure that I had the older RAM adapter when I tested this long ago, but I just checked it again now. It appears that I have the newer RAM adapter without shadows in the fonts and with the full DEV.NO.2 Takao Sawano message on the credits screen. Sorry for confusing you.

The software works with all fdsstick versions, in case you didn't know.  You don't need to buy a new one to use it.

Yeah I know, I just haven't gotten around to download the new software yet. Haven't played the FDS for some time either.
I might pick up the new FDSStick sometime anyway though, just because of the extra memory.

[jd213]

Edit: nevermind, I didn't notice in the instructions that you need to press the button twice for Side B, I thought it was once.  Sorry about that.

I just got an FDSstick from Tototek.  Whenever I need to switch a disk to Side B, it gives me Error 07.  It has done this in every game I've tried so far.
I've tried deleting the .fds files and re-loading them, but I still get Error 07.  Also tried using FDSStick_20160729.exe instead of the current version. 

Games that don't need to be switched to Side B seem to work fine.  Tried googling for this problem, but couldn't find anything.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do, thanks in advance.