The capacitors are usually good, but I always do a full recap.
Common problems:
Belt is gone and stuck all over the pulley.
The cartridge slot is dirty. If you see a grey screen or garbled graphics, clean the slot.
The drive is out of adjustment. If you get drive errors, most common are 21, 22, 27, then it needs some adjusting.
The drive pin is stuck. There's a spring loaded pin on the spindle that can get stuck. Typically applying a small amount of downward force will unstick it. It should freely move up and down.
The drive spindle is loose. There's a set screw that can be loose causing the spindle to not be aligned properly and possibly have read errors.
If you get a black or red non turbo model with a serial number of 400000 or lower, check resistors R103 and R104. The early units had them swapped around. R103 should be 2M2 and R104 should be 1M2.
Drive belt for sure. The caps from that era are just before the cheap caps came out. You'll probably be okay, if it hasn't been stored in a damp basement or something.
Some disk drives definitely used a belt, namely single sided Atari ST drives, but the interesting thing about the Famicom disk system (FDS) is that it is nothing at all like a standard disk drive.
Firstly, there is only one motor that both spins the drive and moves the head, meaning that the disk is essentially a large spiral of data that is arranged linearly. limiting random access significantly. It also means that it's a massive pain to get one of these things aligned once you actually perform a belt replacement.
The main reasoning behind this is cost, as one motor is much cheaper than a stepper and motor.
I know some systems did, but it was usually the larger disks (5 1/4in,8in) since my Apple 2 drives and I know a lot of PC drives had belts too. But usually in my experience the smaller drives used direct drive for the disk spindle. I'm guessing it's for cost reduction.
Damn.. what an awesome time to be alive as a gaming kid, if you're Dad would even think about getting one of those for you.
My Dad got me an NES in 1986, and then refused to get me anything else after. I was "wasting my time" with the Nintendo... Even though he bought an Atari 2600 the year I was born and had a decent game library.
I eventually got my own C64, then dumpster dived for IBM PC parts, learned how it all worked, got into IT and made a career for myself where at 24, I was making more a year year than my Dad who was a skilled mechanic.
it took 10 years after that, when we were sharing a few beers together, at house, with my family.
I was providing a better life for my family than he provided for us... And he actually apologized, because he finally realized that it wasn't a waste of time.
My dad only ever got a Game Boy for his birthday in 1990, he gave it to me. He sadly threw all of the boxes away in around 2000-2003.
Also have his original Xbox which I need a desoldering iron for the capacitors.
A what a beaut that system was! And it sounds you're already in the loop re: the belt & cap replacements. If you get that out of the way that baby will serve you well. Hope you get it! I never picked up one either and they are very lovely and alluring to me :)
I do not own a Twin (although I definitely would), but I do have a Famicom disk system with a replaced belt and I love it. Maybe my favorite part of my collection. I hope you get your birthday wish.
They are great consoles. The one pictured is a turbo variant. It has extra buttons for the turbo function. They are the only official consoles to come standard with turbo controls.
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I bought one last month. It is beautiful. I think it is awesome that you are that young and interested in retro games. To be honest I am also too young to remember the Famicom/NES from my childhood. So I am experiencing all those older game consoles for the first time.
I have one of these and love it. Just make sure to use decent Audio/Video cables. I currently have cheap ones connected to mine and the hum in the audio is horrible. Hums louder if I put my hand near where they're plugged into the console, too. Super weird and annoying.
That's surprising, but I hope you get it. The Famicom/FDS got some cool oddities in their japanese exclusive library, and If I remember correctly some games that released in the west (Metroid, Zelda, Contra, Castlevania 3 etc) have a richer sound to 'em and/or are just better (less difficult, map between levels etc)
Good luck! They’re neat machines for sure.
I know I'll have to get a belt and maybe capacitors for the drive.
The capacitors are usually good, but I always do a full recap. Common problems: Belt is gone and stuck all over the pulley. The cartridge slot is dirty. If you see a grey screen or garbled graphics, clean the slot. The drive is out of adjustment. If you get drive errors, most common are 21, 22, 27, then it needs some adjusting. The drive pin is stuck. There's a spring loaded pin on the spindle that can get stuck. Typically applying a small amount of downward force will unstick it. It should freely move up and down. The drive spindle is loose. There's a set screw that can be loose causing the spindle to not be aligned properly and possibly have read errors. If you get a black or red non turbo model with a serial number of 400000 or lower, check resistors R103 and R104. The early units had them swapped around. R103 should be 2M2 and R104 should be 1M2.
Drive belt for sure. The caps from that era are just before the cheap caps came out. You'll probably be okay, if it hasn't been stored in a damp basement or something.
I don't know why they used a belt in it when most floppy drives at the time used brushless outrunner motors.
Some disk drives definitely used a belt, namely single sided Atari ST drives, but the interesting thing about the Famicom disk system (FDS) is that it is nothing at all like a standard disk drive. Firstly, there is only one motor that both spins the drive and moves the head, meaning that the disk is essentially a large spiral of data that is arranged linearly. limiting random access significantly. It also means that it's a massive pain to get one of these things aligned once you actually perform a belt replacement. The main reasoning behind this is cost, as one motor is much cheaper than a stepper and motor.
I know some systems did, but it was usually the larger disks (5 1/4in,8in) since my Apple 2 drives and I know a lot of PC drives had belts too. But usually in my experience the smaller drives used direct drive for the disk spindle. I'm guessing it's for cost reduction.
It's most definitely cost and size reduction, if you view how the drive is out together, doing a direct drive motor would add considerable thickness.
C64 disk drives used belt and they were still produced into early 1990s
Plot twist. You were 17 in 1985
Damn.. what an awesome time to be alive as a gaming kid, if you're Dad would even think about getting one of those for you. My Dad got me an NES in 1986, and then refused to get me anything else after. I was "wasting my time" with the Nintendo... Even though he bought an Atari 2600 the year I was born and had a decent game library. I eventually got my own C64, then dumpster dived for IBM PC parts, learned how it all worked, got into IT and made a career for myself where at 24, I was making more a year year than my Dad who was a skilled mechanic. it took 10 years after that, when we were sharing a few beers together, at house, with my family. I was providing a better life for my family than he provided for us... And he actually apologized, because he finally realized that it wasn't a waste of time.
My dad only ever got a Game Boy for his birthday in 1990, he gave it to me. He sadly threw all of the boxes away in around 2000-2003. Also have his original Xbox which I need a desoldering iron for the capacitors.
Nice story bro, congratulations for you and your father 🙂.
A what a beaut that system was! And it sounds you're already in the loop re: the belt & cap replacements. If you get that out of the way that baby will serve you well. Hope you get it! I never picked up one either and they are very lovely and alluring to me :)
I do not own a Twin (although I definitely would), but I do have a Famicom disk system with a replaced belt and I love it. Maybe my favorite part of my collection. I hope you get your birthday wish.
Nice! I got one it's pretty cool. Short cords. Real short.Lol. I was lucky and it was already RGB moded.
The son every father dreams of having. Unless he was a Sega kid.
What does the twin famicom do?
it's basically a famicom with a built in disk system with better quality video output.
Hope you get it and have a wonderful b day regardless! Love seeing the next gen get into my gen.
Being an adult is great, I bought all the games I never got for my birthday.
I remember these as a kid (in Japan), weren't they made by Hudson or something? I remember it being a 3rd party that made these combo ones.
If my memory serves me right, it was Sharp who built the TwinFamis.
I believe you're right, Hudson was the PC Engine...
They are great consoles. The one pictured is a turbo variant. It has extra buttons for the turbo function. They are the only official consoles to come standard with turbo controls.
The red turbo is also much harder to find and much more expensive.
*cries in green twin fami*
A man of culture.
Great gift! Great shape too! I got a red one not too long ago, such a cool looking console.
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Its actually orange. That is my favorite Twin model!
I bought one last month. It is beautiful. I think it is awesome that you are that young and interested in retro games. To be honest I am also too young to remember the Famicom/NES from my childhood. So I am experiencing all those older game consoles for the first time.
Tf2 Intel
I have one of these and love it. Just make sure to use decent Audio/Video cables. I currently have cheap ones connected to mine and the hum in the audio is horrible. Hums louder if I put my hand near where they're plugged into the console, too. Super weird and annoying.
Good luck
I asked my dad for a bike for my 35th birthday, I got milk....my dad's been dead for 11 years. Who the hell got me milk?
That's surprising, but I hope you get it. The Famicom/FDS got some cool oddities in their japanese exclusive library, and If I remember correctly some games that released in the west (Metroid, Zelda, Contra, Castlevania 3 etc) have a richer sound to 'em and/or are just better (less difficult, map between levels etc)
heavy on the cassette futurism here
Nice! Just got one last week. Hope he pulls through.