Technical and Repair Assistance

[fredJ]

FWIW, they're quite common in Japan.
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n98663478
http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w63361528
http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e112115588

[Cheetahmen]

I could be wrong, but don't you just plug them into the port at the front of the console?

[UglyJoe]

I think he was referring to the internal wiring of the controllers.

[Spudman]

Thanks for the links fredj 

Sorry hows its wired on the inside  i have a box full of arcade stuff and abs boxes so would be nice to make one  only thing i'm worried about is would it work on my scopian 8 famiclone

[mrdomino]

Depends on how its controller ports are wired up I think. the Konami controller connects to the Famicom expansion port, and looking at pics of the Scorpion it seems to have two 15-pin ports on the front - the Famicom expansion uses the same kind of connector, so I guess its possible one of the ports might double up as both a standard controller port and an expansion port.

[Spudman]

Thanks mrdomino, i think i might try and find the track and field famicom cart like you say and get the controller nearer my birthday and save a few pennys for games 

[funkdoc]

So, I got an AV Famicom recently but it stopped turning on after a couple days.  Turns out that the guy sent me the NES AC adapter to use with it and I wasn't aware of how bad that is.

I just opened it up now and there are a couple suspicious-looking things - some caramel-colored goo in the upper-right corner (controller ports pointing toward me) that appears to trail a bit further toward the middle of the console, and some sticky stuff on the motherboard.  I can't get a very good look at any of the parts under the metal cover, but I'm not sure if that can be removed since it appears to be screwed on from underneath.  I figure there has to be some way to salvage this thing, but I'm very new to this and don't even know what all the parts are inside.

Any help would be appreciated!  I could try a webcam stream if you think that might help.  Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I should also mention that there was more brownish sticky stuff to the left of the motherboard.

[Spudman]

First thing to do is get ya self and power pack and start from there, chances are it might have fried the power regulator, its on the power/rf board, think the part number is 7808 but could be wrong, the power from the power pack goes through the power reg at 10 or 12volt and outputs 5v or a tiny bit over.

[funkdoc]

Do you mean a proper AC adapter, or something else?  If it's the former I've tried that, if it's the latter I have no idea where to find anything like that.

[ericj]

Check that the AC adapter works by either trying it on a known good console (try it on your NES if you have one) or test it with a DMM. If it works, check the voltage at the 7805 regulator (BTW, a 7808 regulator would output 8V, not 5V; 78XX outputs a Positive voltage--a 79XX outputs a Negative one; the last two digits are the output voltage). There's also a fuse on the power board that could have blown. You can easily bypass it with a wire or solder in a different one.

If you could post some pics, you could probably get better help.

[Xious]

I would guess that the start pad wore down, and he swapped the button over: i've seeen that before.

The 1-Player controller's 'Start/Select' button pads are identical t those on a NES. (So are the 2-player, save that it doesn't use the 'Start/Select' button pads because...well..you know.) You can buy a kit of new (reproduction) pads and replace them, which will also give you a spare cross-button pad and A/B pad.

Chances are, if you don.t already need to either restore or replace them, you will one day, so you'll have a new set as spares. Alternatively, often the pads are sold in sets for two USA controllers, so you can buy a set, replace your 'Start/Select' button pads and have a full set for later use on another Famicom if you need them, as 2x each 'Crosspad', 'Start/Select' and 'A/B' pads minus one 'Start/Select' pad equals a full Famicom set.

These replacement kits are all-over ebay and Amazon for under $10, which is a deal less than another controller will cost, and you never know what may or may not be working on that. If you JUST want a 'Start/Select' button pair, I can sell you s used one for $2 plus postage. In fact, i can sell you the 'Start' or 'Select' button by itself if you ever need just half of a pad.

I usually restore the pads on controllers with a special compound and a lot of practice. This is handy on SBFC units, were the buttons are almost always in need of TLC to prevent them from developing 'dangling tooth' syndrome. I restored a set on a Square-Button unit that I sold a while back and took photos of the 'after' part. I forgot to take photos of the 'before', as the buttons were detached from the pad assembly and I needed to re-build them. From the outside, and during play, you wouldn't know that anything was ever dome to them: They look perfect. You can see the restoration from the inside of the controller, as I also re-enforced them tl prevent them from breaking ever again. 
.
You may also want to clean your 2P microphone contacts and adjust the prongs; If you hear a buzzing sound, that's where it's originating. Anyhow, you have plenty of options Ig you want to reach me by phone, you can ring me at (+1) 260-FDS-DISK (260-337-3475) anytime. Feel free to peruse my very incomplete catalogue here. Take a look at the section marked 'System Restoration' and the one marked 'Custom /Modified Systems' to get an insight into the magic that I do over here.

Keep in mind that I have (4,164) photos in that on-line catalogue, out of over 275,000 items in stock, about 10,000 to 12,000 of which are Famicom-related. As I generally take multiple photos (views) of every object in the catalogue, we can cut the number of actual items u there by 50% to (2,082) items, and drop that by 200 for photos of non-inventory stuff, like the NESpander and stuff from my private collection. That means that a mere 0.7% of my inventory is actually represented in the catalogue at this time. Of that, only 8% to 10% of my Famicom inventory is up there. If you don.t see it, ask. I probably have it; or can get it if it's out-of-stock.

I used to have a printed catalogue with over 50,000 items in it, but it's fifteen-years out of date, so I started fresh and it'll take a very-long time to get everything on-line..or as much as is humanly possible and feasible.

[funkdoc]

OK, my brother got some pics of the fried Famicom, can only do a couple per post so it'll be a couple more in a row...

EDIT: Won't let me post any more since these 3 add up to around 1mb...what?  Hopefully this should be ok for now.

[Xious]

Crap i didn't know they needed there own controller  wonder if i can make one 

Thanks for the info mrdomino 

Well here's a pic of the controller, wonder how it's wired


Post Merge: July 04, 2011, 02:23:57 am

They don't need the controller, but they play better with them. these controllers simulate the arcade set-up and were also included with the Atari, Apple and other home versions, though the non-FC controller is bigger, blue and had more arcade-like buttons.

--

I really hate this thread... I reply to a technical question in another thread, and that thread is post-merged into this mess to the point where it makes no sense. This is why I think FW would benefit from a Technical Support & Discussions forum section, where people could maintain individual threads on subjects to which other people reply without making it entirely unmanageable.

I rarely even read this thread because it gets far too confusing to follow with so many questions and unquoted replies plus post-merges with no quotations. It's simply impossible to follow in any linear manner.

Additionally, once a post is merged here, the people asking questions often think their post was removed, or can't identify the replies to it; and people who might search the forum for a reply to their question before posting it tend to ignore anything in this thread, which creates more help topics in the main forum, that get post-merged, and the problem escalates.

I just don.t understand the motivation/logic of having one long, confusing thread rather than a separate forum panel with organized threads on individual topics. The common stuff (like PSU questions and solutions to damaging your system) can even be sticky-topics that way. I've asked for this before, but had no real satisfactory response on why it doesn't exist. 

[funkdoc]

Solutions to damaging your system?  What kind of info would be included in this sticky?

My situation is a bit unique - I'm supposed to play Wai Wai World on a Japanese stream a week from now, but I am not sure how to go about repairing the Famicom (see pics and my previous posts above).

EDIT: That converter I received is actually an FC->NES one so never mind there.
Post Merge: July 09, 2011, 04:45:17 pm
OK, an update on the fried AV Famicom from page 97:

There's a local game store that does repairs, and we replaced the voltage regulator with a fresh new 7805 from Radio Shack.  However, it still won't turn on at all.  We had also looked at the capacitors, and none of them were leaking.  On the plus side, he didn't charge me since it isn't working - very nice guy and cool place he has!

So, where do I go from here?  Would love to get this fixed ASAP, since I'm supposed to speedrun Wai Wai World on stream in a week and am also borrowing someone's Japanese Castlevania 3 cart to do a speedrun for SDA...

EDIT: A friend of mine who's familiar with these things thinks it might be an issue with the board itself since there's sticky stuff on it.  Any ideas there?  Also, someone else said if there's a fuse it's blown - does the AV Fami have anything like that?

[Lum]

Hey. Can anyone who owns my version NES->FC adapter test Mega Man 2 US on an AV Famicom? It seems the game is glitching upon viewing the stage select screen. Normally crashes after a split second. But there's just enough time to accept controller input. Pressing start on in the middle resets the game. Attempting to enter a stage begins the sequence then near immediately crashes.

Just showing pictures to best spell out the combo in question.