Famicom Disk System

What You’ll Need

• Famicom
• Fully Write-Modded Famicom Disk System
• FDSLoader PC to RAM Adapter Cable
• PC w/ Parallel Port Running DOS
• FDSLoader DOS Software
• Blank or Destination FDS Disk
• Disk Keeper Copy Utility on FDS Disk

Preparation

• Download the FDSLoader program. Create a folder for this program to be placed. A good place would be in your C:\ drive in a folder called FDS. The shorter the file path, the quicker it will be to access the program through DOS.

• Place your .fds formatted images in the same folder as the fdsloadr program. Images must have a valid 16-byte header for FDSLoader to open them successfully. You can test the .fds images in an emulator. Right click on each image and select Properties to make sure “Archive” and “Read-only” are unchecked. It’s also a good idea to name the images in 8.3 format so it’s easier to load them with FDSLoader (e.g., mariotwo.fds).

• Ensure your PC’s parallel port is set to EPP and IRQ 7. This setting can be changed in the BIOS, which can be accessed during boot-up in the Setup menu.

Disk Writing Steps

Step 1

Connect the Famicom along with the FDS drive to your television. Power on the Famicom and insert the Disk Keeper disk.

Step 2

Connect the FDSLoader cable to the parallel port on your PC. Boot your PC into DOS.

Step 3

Load the image you wish to write in FDSLoader.

Here’s an example of how that would work if your FDS images and FDSLoader program are saved at: C:\FDS. In this example, the .FDS image will be called mariotwo.fds.

At the command prompt, enter: CD C:\FDS and hit the ENTER key.

This will take DOS to the FDS folder on your C:\ drive.

Next, enter: FDSLOADR MARIOTWO.FDS and hit the ENTER key.

This will load the mariotwo.fds image in FDSloader. It should look like this:

Now, the image is ready for the Disk Keeper program to read it.

Step 4

On the Famicom setup, eject the Disk Keeper disk once it loads so it will not be accidentally overwritten. It’s a good idea to snap off the write protect disk tabs on your copy utility disks. Even if your copy disk ever needs re-written, a small piece of tape over the write protect holes will allow this to be done.

Step 5

Disk Keeper will prompt you to Please Set Gamedisk. The “Gamedisk” will be the .fds image from the FDSLoader program.

Step 6

Connect the FDSLoader cable to the RAM Adapter. The status bar in FDSLoader will highlight as the image is read.

Step 7

Disk Keeper will only read half of the image for most games before prompting you to Please Set Blank. The blank can be any disk you with to write the image to, and doesn’t necessarily need to be a blank disk. Insert the blank disk into the FDS drive and Disk Keeper will write the image to disk.

Step 8

Disk Keeper will then again prompt you to Please Set Gamedisk. Unplug the RAM Adapter from the FDS drive. Hit the ESC on your PC and use the right arrow key to re-enter the command line text in FDSLoader. Hit the ENTER key to reload the .fds image in FDSLoader.

Step 9

Reconnect the FDSLoader cable to the RAM Adapter and the remainder of the image will be sent to the RAM Adapter to hold for writing. Disconnect the FDSLoader cable from the RAM Adapter once this has been completed.

Step 10

Disk Keeper will again prompt you to Please Set Blank. Plug the RAM Adapter back into the FDS drive and the remainder of the image will be written to the disk. Once the disk has been successfully written, Disk Keeper will display END. Once the disk is ejected from the FDS, Disk Keeper resets itself and is ready to begin the process again.

If your FDS image has more than one disk side, repeat the process for each side. In FDSloader, once the image is loaded, use the number keys to select the disk side. E.g. 1 = Side A, 2 = Side B, 3 = Side C, etc.