philips nms 8035 360 kb help

Rookie (25)

26-08-2016, 09:50

hi everyone, i know that most rom images are 720kb . is there a way to play those games on the nms 8035 ?
don't know if the drive MUST be swapped for a 720 kb one , but i prefer to avoid this
thanks!

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Van meits

Scribe (6542)

26-08-2016, 10:29

The easiest way is to get yourself the MegaflashROM SCC+ SD (and in your 8235 case the version with the 512kB RAM expansion). You won't need to open the MSX for that. It's a cartridge in which you can put 1 or 2 µSD card(s) up to 4GB per partition. That's quite a lot more than 360kB You can flash the DSK files which are stored on the µSD card to the cartridge's internal flashROM. You can flash up to 9 disks at the same time.
So in stead of replacing a 360kB diskdrive for a 720kB one which is still a diskdrive and therefore slow and limited, you get 9 virtual 720kB diskdrives in stead.

I think you'll like it

Van hamlet

Scribe (4106)

26-08-2016, 11:14

The megaflashrom will open a whole new world for your MSX. With such a device you can also copy files to your 360k floppy.
Also there are some 360k images, I found a collection for my SVI 738.

Van hamlet

Scribe (4106)

26-08-2016, 12:39

Found it. This contains a collection of MSX1 games on 360kB images.
http://www.msxarchive.nl/pub/msx/games/svi-738/
You got to get it to a 360k fdisk, that´s not easy. Nowadys modern PC drives only feature 1,4mB or 720kB.

Van meits

Scribe (6542)

26-08-2016, 14:26

if you format the disk on your MSX, the PC will work with it. The biggest challenge is finding a PC with a 3.5" diskdrive

Van Lord_Zett

Paladin (807)

26-08-2016, 15:02

most pc drives normal or by usb does not work with 360k. even if the tell the do it will try to write ad 720k.

so better option is a sd reader for msx

Van Wild_Penguin

Hero (644)

26-08-2016, 16:26

There's probably not that much I'm saying here that hasn't been said already, but in any case:

Some USB floppy drives will always assume 1.44MB (HD) disk, despite the hole not being present. Such drives will not even support 720kb (DD,DS) disks.

It may be possible to use the 360kb drives on a PC drive (USB or regular) that is known to support 720 kb disks, if you format the disk on an MSX first. But if this will work, will also depend on the OS, and these floppy disk formats are ancient (not being in use for ~30 years) so the support might just not be there in modern OSes anymore....

If the 720kb disk images ([nitpick] they are not ROMs, btw [/nitpick]) are in standard FAT format, it may be possible to open them (on a PC) and move the files onto a 360kb disk image (if they fit) and write that image onto a 360kb floppy. This will not work with most proprietary software disks - and with bootable MSX disks, there may be the hassle with the wrong boot sector (there are several ways to fix that, though). I believe that back in the day, most people that needed to use their floppy drive, changed it (or at least wanted to change it) into a 720kb drive, just because 720kb disk drives are much easier to work with, no only because of the reasons I mentioned here.

So in any case there's the chain: (PC) OS -> PC_diskdrive -> write ( and then -> read on msx drive)... any of these can fail, and that's just too much variables IMO that can go wrong, despite it being possible. I wouldn't put too much time and effort in it, and recommend to just get the MegaFlashRomSCC+SD thing =). It will be waaay easier and fun to work with than real (720kb) disks ever will be.

Van meits

Scribe (6542)

26-08-2016, 18:21

Lord_Zett wrote:

most pc drives normal or by usb does not work with 360k. even if the tell the do it will try to write ad 720k.

so better option is a sd reader for msx

I tested it with an internal PC drive in (you guess it) a PC (running XP). Formatted a disk to 360kB on my MSX, put it in my PC, copied a file to it, put it back in my MSX and there was the file. Readable and all.

The latter is ofcourse very well remarked. Just go for SD and be rid of that magnetic legacy stuff which will most certainly fail you sooner or later.

Van hamlet

Scribe (4106)

26-08-2016, 19:38

This is sure not part of the topic, but I use my disks anyway. As I wrote in another thread, disks have some avail:
They are BIG. I can write notes on them. On micro SDs I can´t.
I hear them responding. The´re talking to me.
I can see flickering LEDs when they working.
Most of the disks are readable after 30 years, except the HD ones.
It keeps a ROM slot free (with a build in drive, of course).
There are not so much files on it.
Ease to swap, I know which one is in the drive, easy to save on it, easy to autostart.
It´s wonderful to collect the original disks in a tray.
It needs time, but what are you expecting on such old hardware?
Last weekend I gamed on my C64 with an old friend. I was amazed how quick the MSX disks where, compared to the 1541
(if you´re not using a HB700.)
I got a lot of software stored on 360kB floppies, I also got a 8235 and before that a HBD50.
And yes, I use cassettes as well. And SDs of course, too. And ROMs. For small BASIC prgs I use the HBI55. I don´t use Quickdisks, because I didn´t have a device.

Van Lord_Zett

Paladin (807)

26-08-2016, 20:24

i use my hbd50 to and my vg8235, but putting things on disk i use my sd cf or nowind as pc to msx

Van mfeingol

Champion (293)

27-08-2016, 02:12

Out of curiosity, do the audio issues the MFRSCC+SD has with Philips 8250 machines also happen with 8235s and 8245s?