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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:08 pm Post subject: Game Doctor SF3 problem |
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Sorry, I posted this in the wrong forum, but I'll try here instead.
I bought a Super Famicom and a Game Doctor SF3 from a shop in Hong Kong about a year ago. It included an AC/DC adapter with two connectors, output: DC 10-12V 2000 mA - 50/60Hz negative center, and a floppy disk.
I tested it in the shop, and it all worked.
However, when I returned home, it didn't seem to work anymore. The power led of the console lit, but no response from the Game Doctor. 2 times (out of maybe 50), the floppy drive started clicking (like on an Amiga, searching for a floppy disk?), but I got no output on the tv.
I tested the Game Doctor on a normal European PAL SNES, but of course it didn't work there either, and European game carts didn't work on the Super Famicom.
On my most recent trip to Hong Kong, I decided to buy one more Game Doctor SF3 and a game (Super Mario World) to check whether the problem was my Super Famicom or the Game Doctor.
After some cleaning with alcohol, Super Mario World works great every time. However, neither the old nor the new Game Doctor works.
I have tried using one more AC/DC adapter, 9V DC 500 mA negative center. I'm using that for the Super Famicom, and it works great, but even though I dedicate the aforementioned adapter to the Game Doctor, nothing happens.
I have tried both Game Doctors with all combinations of the two adapters, but no luck. I have tried holding R on the controller while booting, but no matter what I do, all I get is a black screen.
The only sign of life I have gotten from the Game Doctor is the clicking from the floppy drive, which I got again today. But still no output to screen.
I tried to "wiggle" the connector a bit, and I got some blocky patterns, but nothing readable or resembling graphics.
I can see that the Game Doctor SF3 has a wider connector than the Mario game cart. Could it be that the wider area of the Super Famicom's connector is dirty or damaged?
Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any tips would be highly appreciated. |
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madman
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 598
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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Does each SF3 have a different connector piece between the SF3 and the SFC? I have one connector for one of my SF7s that is very picky and needs to be seated just right in my SNES in order for the doctor to come up properly. It's highly unlikely that both SF3s are bad. Do you have a friend with an NTSC SNES/SFC that you can try the SF3s on? |
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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, each of them has a separate connector piece. I have checked with a multimeter that one of them leads signals correctly.
I hope that both SF3s aren't broken. The first one was tested before I bought it. I doubt the second one a bit more, but the seller said it's from his personal collection. And I could return to the shop and complain if it wouldn't work. (I'm quite often in Hong Kong).
My main problem is that I don't have any friends with an NTSC SNES. The few I know have PAL SNES. I do, however, know SFCs for sale in Hong Kong for about 30 USD. And I see that they are cheap in Japan on eBay. Should I just buy one more SFC?
Is there any way to clean the connector of the SFC itself? I know that I can clean the carts with alcohol.
Another thing: The floppy which followed the first GD is 1.6 MB format. I can see that it's almost full, but I cannot see any files on it in Windows XP. I managed to find and download the 16READ.COM application, but that didn't seem to help. Do you know how to see the contents of the floppy disk? |
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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:24 pm Post subject: |
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I will buy one more AC/DC adapter tomorrow. I see from the GD7 manual that it wants 10V 1.5A centre negative. I guess that 12V 1.5A should be ok?
Do I need to insert a floppy or cart in the GD for it to display something?
Is the SFC supposed to display anything without a cart or GD inserted into it? If I just turn on the SFC, I just get a black screen. |
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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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I noticed one more thing.. When the SFC is turned off, the power LED is off.
But if I turn it off with a GD3 connected, the power LED is lit, albeit very dim. Maybe 10-20% lit. |
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madman
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 598
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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Your standard 9v, center negative should work fine. I think I use an old Genesis (Mega Drive) supply. The GD should come up with a menu without any floppy or cart inserted. The SFC will just show a black screen if you power it up without a cart inserted. You should be able to clean the SFC's connector with alcohol as well. As for the power light glowing when it's off, I don't remember if I got that or not. I wouldn't doubt it.
As for reading 1.6m floppies under XP, I'm not sure. I haven't used one of those 1.6m formatted floppies since Win95. |
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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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It's alive!
It works after some cleaning of the SFC connector.
I don't dare to unplug the GD to check if the other one works.
Thank you for your help! |
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rbudrick
Joined: 26 Mar 2004 Posts: 373
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Ah, the old cleaning....always the first thing you should check.
-Rob |
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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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My face is red. It's been sitting there for a year, and I bought 2 Game Doctors. |
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rbudrick
Joined: 26 Mar 2004 Posts: 373
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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A year?! Wow. Didn't mean to rub it in, heh heh. LOL
-Rob |
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madsjm
Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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madman
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 598
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 12:11 am Post subject: |
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Glad you got it working, must've been a really dirty SFC! You may want to take the GD3 connector out and clean that again, stick it back into the SFC with some alcohol still on it and repeat the process a few times. That should help get the dirt that you can't reach in between the card edge connector within the SFC. |
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didekmiu_
Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 10
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Hi there, I had the same problem.. I cleaned up my GDSF3 for hours then I pulled it apart and wired in a second 5v (7805) Regulator to be used only for the floppy drive.
Because before I had this regulator in place, when a floppy needed to retry a read it would dim the power LED and I knew it wasn't healthy, sometimes it even caused memory to lose contents or just hang the system.
It now works fine and the drive never gives read errors. |
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rbudrick
Joined: 26 Mar 2004 Posts: 373
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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The way I clean female edge connectors is with an old toothbrush and some rubbing alcohol. Hold the system upside down while you run the brush back and forth soaked with the alcohol. Put a couple paper towels down to soak up the inevitable drips. When done, let dry (or just put it in front of a fan for a miute...alcohol evaporates fast).
-Rob |
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