eightbit

That is the video I initially followed and it tripped me up, since it is not the proper way to align the head. The proper way was found from this video: Following this I got it working first shot. The other video with the "new method" yielded disk errors after following it to a tee.

I would suspect (at least I would hope at over $200) that the newer Everdrive Pro can handle FDS properly. I don't have one of those to test nor do I have the funds to pay for one...so this FDSKey is more than adequate

The belt is not hard to change...it just takes patience. It took me around 2 hours as I wasn't familiar with it. Then I found a video that cleared that up. I posted about that in another thread.

Well, I know when I owned an Everdrive for the Famicom previously it really did not do a good job of emulating the audio on FDS games. I can't say if that has changed with the Pro models as I do not own any of them at all so maybe someone with a Famicom ED Pro can chime in and let us know. All I can say is owning an actual FDS (Twin Famicom) and knowing how the games load, this is literally a "Gotek" of what that experience is. I think the Everdrive is emulating (excuse me if that is not the proper terminology) the FDS when it is loading games. All I know is that the older model I had was horrible with the sound...knowing what the FDS games should sound like. I'd expect that to not be a thing with the Pro versions especially at their cost. But if all you want to do is accurately play FDS images on a FDS system you own I can't imagine you are going to get any device at this price point that can do it. Under $50? Now isn't that nice If you already own a FDS it is for sure. My post is kind of pointing at folks who already own one like me and are looking for a cool device to use with it. BUT, that doesn't mean someone like yourself who doesn't own an FDS shouldn't seek one out. I am gauging my experience on an old Everdrive. Since you have an Everdrive can you confirm your FDS games don't sound as horrific as these did for me a few years ago by watching this video? And if not, what ED model are you using currently?

So, I recently replaced the belt in my Sharp Twin Famicom which was quite a major achievement...for me at least. Then I went out to try to get some of the games on Famicom Disk that I wanted to try. And then I realized something. Some of these games are ridiculously expensive, and that is if you can find them at all! I started researching if there were some sort of "Gotek" for the FDS and as it turns out there is. Probably nothing new to folks deep into the Famicom world, but I figured I would give it a try. I ordered these two items on Aliexpress and I thing it came up to around $45 total at the time of my purchase: First, a cable needed for the Twin Famicom in my case: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806564110548.html And then the unit itself: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805704857691.html After some time waiting they both arrived today and man am I glad I made this purchase. I did have to update the firmware for the key itself which was stupid easy. And then I was off to the races. Everything is controlled via the navigation on the stick, from navigating folders and so on to going in and adjusting settings. It is really quite advanced. Nice little FDS animations when things are loading and flipping sides on disks. The screen is MIGHTY small which is really my only complaint since I am getting old and going blind. But otherwise what a nice presentation. Here is the project page for this device BTW: https://github.com/ClusterM/fdskey And a little demo of it in action from Youtube that I found: I have no affiliation with any of these people or the Aliexpress seller (other than the fact that I can recommend him as I actually got my stuff..hah!) but I can absolutely recommend this if you have an FDS. I grabbed the English translation pack of disk images found online (Google it, I will not share the link or files of course) and it's going to be mighty cool to play through the original Zelda FDS game translation! I will mention if you have a Twin Famicom like I do and you grab one of these make sure you are on firmware v1.3. This shipped to me with v1.2 and it would disk error on loading half of the games. I grabbed the latest v1.3 which surprise surprise was updated for Twin Famicom support: https://github.com/ClusterM/fdskey/releases Popped the FDSKey.bin on the root of the microSD and powered on the console with it connected while depressing all four buttons. The upgrade went smoothly and even provided an option to delete the update file after completion which is nice. While I am still getting into the settings there are many. Stuff like turbo speed for loading games, allowing the key to start at the same directory you last left off after power cycle, some saving options like "backup + over right" which keeps a backup of the disk unaltered and saves to the altered copy of the disk, and something called "everdrive like" which saves the game in the method of how an Everdrive does it (Everdrive compatible saves format). All of the settings and their explanations are on the GitHub link. Really nice device for the price I will say.

If you make the hole REALLY big you can just shake the card out if it ever falls in!

I think it's not going to be easy to obtain those types of movies due to the legality of the thing. Unfortunately my computers are not super powerful to begin with. My main machine is a core i3 from 2013.

Its ironic that you need a somewhat powerful modern machine in order to encode movies that will play on a VCS I hope people do share some things that they encode.

This may have been asked before...but I couldn't find it. Is there any way to encode videos that Moviecart likes without using TouchDesigner? I run Linux on my primary system. I tried installing Windows 7 and Windows 10 inside of Virtualbox and then Touch Designer inside of that with basically no success. The latest version does not want to install in 7, but will install in 10. But, it will not launch due to the lack of Vulkan in the virtual environment. I even tried older versions of TD in the Windows 7 environment and got one to launch but it doesn't display correctly. Really don't want to install Windows on this machine just to make some movies

I like the FM and it is unique, but not growing up with it here in the USA I am must more nostalgic for the PSG sound. But, that said I do have a Japanese SMS with the FM unit integrated. If you play any FM capable game in it you get the FM sound which can be a blessing or a curse depending on what you like. It will not give you the option to play with it off. What I ended up doing in order to play the games without the FM was to hack the roms that included FM so that the console will play them with PSG. I play those through a flash cart. I also had to hack some games to display in english but that is something else entirely

I was going to post a "power bar" when I ready the title, but I am way too late...lol. Anyway, to be serious, I've used this for a few years now: https://www.harborfreight.com/12-outlet-super-power-strip-96737.html It is plugged into a surge protector which ends in the wall. Never had an issue. And, it fits all of those beastly bricks...even the Colecovision!

I got in literally in the last second. Placed the order, came back and sold out. Makes up for how PO'ed I was when I missed it last time around This is going to be fun to tinker with. Thanks for making it!

Like I said, there is no comparison to the Ultimate II+. I have had them all. I currently also have a BackBit Pro (actually three of them) and while it does a great job for the most part it has nowhere near the compatibility of the UII+. The compatibility of the UII+ is basically what you would get with real floppies and real disk drives. And cartridge images too. And so much more. And, it has the REU built in. You might think "I'll never use that"...but, once you do you will realize how you can never do without it If I were you I'd keep an eye on Gideon's page and buy it when it becomes available. Since he moved to the Lattice FPGA (the "L" in the name now) there has been no issue acquiring parts and he has restocked multiple times over the past weeks/months. And, when you do order I would suggest to add the tape cassette adapter to the order as well. Its cheap enough and might as well when you order the UII+ right then and there. Then you will have the .tap compatibility as well. With that setup you pretty much don't need anything else. At least I don't! EDIT: You can actually just order it now on "backorder" and it will ship when stock arrives...which according to his page should be any time now. I would just do that. I have ordered from him many times...never an issue.

And, it is the most feature rich cart to date. Nothing in my opinion comes close to it and its features.

The Ultimate II+ L is the latest model and Gideon has been consistently in stock up until maybe last week: https://ultimate64.com/ More coming in a few weeks. This is the latest and greatest version. (UII+L)