Hi everyone! I'm new to the PC9801 scene and after reading several good articles on these message boards I still have a few questions left which I hope someone can answer. This isn't game related but rather software used in Japan's motorsport. I recently bought an dedicated EPROM pogrammer to reprogram the ECU of my car. When it arrived it came with 4 3.5" floppy's and a manual stating I need either a NEC PC9801 or EPSON PC286 to use the included software. After googling these terms and reading some interesting topics here I decided to see if any of my (all windows based PC's) floppy drives would be able to read the data to back-up. (I'm aware now I need a 3-mode drive) Unfortunately I have no such luck, various operating systems give various faults. I don't have a actual PC98 machine (yet) Here's what I've tried so far: Dell Optiplex GX270 with windowx XP 32 (No 3-mode available in BIOS) MSI K9mm-V with windowx XP64 (1.2MB available in BIOS but only at 5,25" drive) MSI Sniper M5 (USB floppy only) These are the drives I've tried so far between the various PC's: USB Toshiba PA3109U-1FFD Mitsumi D359T5 Mitsumi D359T6 Sony MPF420-1 NEC FD1231M TEAC FD235HG-C629 Software: Omniflop w drivers & registration Disk Immage 13B VIA 3-mode FDC drivers Disk Image 13b with internal & external drive gives an exeption C00000014 when I try to read the disc on both 32 and 64 bit systems, it's like it doesn't even recognize there's a disk in there. Formatting a IBM 3.5 1,44MB floppy to 1.2MB works fine under the command prompt so that showd at lease the USB drive is 3-mode compatible right? Omniflop claims to recognize the floppy but then when I try to safe the data it throws and error about the disk not being formatted. (only in 32bit versions, winx xp 64 bit gives an error when testing the installation) To be honest I have no other evidence the disks are in fact 1.2MB but standard MS windows won't read them. They could be a different format altogether. My questions are then as follows: Do I need a PC with 3-mode support in the BIOS (I assume only for the internal drives, not for the USB one) for the USB drive, would I need any special drivers? (like with omniflop you need to install a 3-mode FDD or FDC driver) If everything else fails I might just get a PC9801 from Japan, I assume all PC9801/PC9821 with 3.5" floppy's will then recognize the disks in that case? (The manual also states the PC9801N & 9801NS laptops can be used to give you an idea of the vintage) Any help would be much appreciated!
are you chipping an old toyota ECU? anyway give this a try to extract the data if you are trying to run it through an EMU. http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/writing-and-reading-pc9801-disk-images-for-real-machines.42533/
Yes indeed, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) made an adjustable ECU with a programmable EPROM. I have a programmer available on my IBM windows machine but I have no way to interpret the data as it's just a hexadecimal .BIN file. The software from TRD (I don't really need to use their dedicated programmer I think) would help me interpret that at the minimum. The guide in the link was one of the first I tried but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working in my case. (I have no option in the BIOS to select 3-mode FDD) Even with the Toshiba USB FDD (Really a 3-mode TEAC in a Toshiba case) I get errors. One of the disks already got damaged trying various options so to prevent the same happening to the other disks I'm looking for a sound way to rescue this data (from the intact disks). Maybe I just need to buy a 98Note for this purpose, I already have parts shipped over from Japan on a regular basis.
I would go with that. It seems to be the safest option. On top of that it's worth it if your gonna be using it to write maps to your ECU. Tuning is never once and done lol. I wouldn't even use an emulator to burn those chips. Please tell me your're using an old TRD ECU for a 4AG build. Old 4AG tuner here
Indeed, I've got a few TRD Multi-ECU's here that I want to take a closer look into. Also got some ECU's with Techtom daughter boards but those are for more engines then just the 4AG ECU's. The Multi-ECU could be set up for 2E-E, 2E-TELU, 4A-GE and 3S-GE, simply by different DIP settings.
that is mean!!!. I've built a few 3sgte's and 5s strokers on top of a bunch of different 4ag-7ag configs. i'm Puerto Rican so i'm sorta obligated to love Toyota. can't afford to get another hatch after mine got wrecked into, so i've been outta the game for about 5 years. i bought my 3rd 86 back in 2008 for 1700, can't even get lucky to find a deal like that anymore :/ i would love to see that multi ECU!
Well, I've got a few that are truely for various engines but I've also one for the Japanese Toyota Starlet with the 2E-E engine. I've got it up for sale as I've already extracted the ROM image. https://www.facebook.com/groups/401...621313808042083/?sale_post_id=621313808042083
that has to be the oddest ECU i've ever heard of, was there a series where they raced those Single cams? i mean i know the turbo one has some get up, but just standard EFI? does it encompass all 2E engines? anywho nice pieces for sure!
I guess they did, as it's also a part number in one of my TRD part catalogues but the rest is all in Japanese of course . Anyhow, back to the PC9801, would I be fine with an PC9821 notebook instead or are there chances the software won't work on them? Any thoughts on a notebook version to look out for?
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/pc-9821-pc-9801-primer.37914/ Looks like that's a great option to run 9801 based software. I'm not too familiar with the versions that were released, but it seems you should be fine.
To red and write 1.23mb PC-98 floppies you must : - find a 3 mode USB drive : Sony PCGA-UF5D and Teac fd-05hg (only "HG" version) are certified to work and support 360rpm read and write. In the case of Teac fd-05hg, packaged in USB you must care of the controler. I have a Teac drive with USB enclosure, his USB controler is a Mitsumi who don't support 3 mode. Don't forget the drive AND the controler must support 3 mode. - alternatively you can get a slim drive like Teac fd-05hg and use an adapter to hook the slim floppy drive to your motherboard FCD. The JM215a adapter. Don't forget to enable 3 mode in your BIOS. - Under Win XP or 2k to format a 3'5'' floppy at 1.23mb with the command 'format a: /a:1024 /t:77 /n:8 /u" works. Il your plan it is only read the disk, a Sony PCGA-UF5D drive hook to win7 (ou win10) may be good.
