Long time lurker, first time poster. Blah blah blah.... I have a FDS and of course the belt is dead (one of these days someone is going to find one with a good belt and they're going to die from shock). Is there still a place where you can order replacement belts? Ocasionally I see auctions on ebay which state that they have a new belt so they must be getting them from somewhere! Tempest
Hi, welcome to the board Where in Michigan are you from? I think Nintendo stopped repairing FDSes in 2003, but IIRC nintendomad (a member of this board) can fix 'em.
I've got a lot of experience modding the drive, replacing belts, fine tuning the motor and realigning the drive head as well. Don't ask me where to get the belts though.
I've seen hou somewhere before, Tempest....Atariage, right? I mostly lurk there, and post here. Welcome!
Yep that's me. I'm the prototype and 5200 board moderator. Novi. It's a burb about 45 min. outside of Detroit. Modding the drive how? Even if I find a belt, am I just better off getting one that's 'guranteed' to work off ebay or can you or someone on this board repair it? I hear it's a beast to fix. Also, I need to build an adapter to use it with my front loading NES (I hate those nasty top loaders). What's the best way to go about this? I suppose I could use a regular Famicom->NES adapter, and stick a few game genies on the end for length, but I want something that looks better and is a bit sturdier. Has anyone attempted to build such a device? BTW a bit off topic, but I recently won a Famicom Basic Keyboard unit (came with the cartridge and manual). Is the keyboard compatible with the US NES or do I have to get a real Famicom to use it? Tempest
Modding the drive as in giving it the abillity to write. I have no experience fitting FDS RAM adapters into NESes, my god will that be ugly I don't believe you will be able to use the Family Keyboard as it uses the Famicom's expansion port which is not available on a NES. The bottom expansion connector MIGHT provide you access to the lines you need but probably not. You'll have to consult someone that knows something about NES hardware... Haven't owned a NES myself since elementary school :\ IMO, the best solution for FDS on a NES would be to get a cheap ass game, like Mario/Duckhunt. Saw off the ROMs, keep only the lockout chip, make sure all the traces are cut comming from the cartridge's connector. Open up your RAM adapter, desolder the 60 pin connector. Get some IDC ribbon cable, solder the RAM adapter's connector accordingly to the NES game's connector, and be sure to take the lockout chip into account. You should probably then glue the board down or tape some paper around the FDS adapter's PCB so that you don't short anything. You can then drill a small hole in the cartridge (probably best where the front label is) and stick the RAM adapter's cable out. Then you have a 72 pin catridge RAM adapter
Yeah I'm not sure if that port will work. In fact I've never seen anything use it. I wonder if it has all the lines? This is pretty much what I had in mind. However I think this is beyond my abilities. Tempest
