SNES copier not working

[atreyu187]

So I bought a copier from Cornelius here and it was supposed to be working and I trust him as he is a good guy and I have had a few transactions with him. Well once I got the copier it kept saying "NO DISK" no matter what I do. I have loaded a cart into the RAM in order to try the hyper function out (real time saves) and that works. I have even tried new floppies (this is number 7 today with no luck :-/) Now I was hoping someone here could help. He told me he had the same problem he thinks but can't recall and said InsaneDavid here helped him through it to get it working, well I haven't heard anything from him back on my PM so I am asking you all. I can't find any info on this darn thing anywhere.


UFO Super Drive PRO 6 Hyper version 63 mbit of RAM. Any ideas would be great!!

[Vlcice]

Do you have a power adapter plugged into the copier? If I recall, the "no disk" error is fairly common when there's no power adapter attached.

[atreyu187]

Yep I have the power adapter attached as it won't even cut on without the adapter plugged in the copier.

[staxx]

You may want to check for a loose floppy cable inside the unit.

[Thrillo]

Sounds exactly like the weird problem I'm having with my Super UFO Pro 7: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126075

Try a different SNES.

[skaar]

These are floppy drive issues, right? You've tried different brands of disks? Is the drive replaceable? Drive could have been damaged in shipping...

[madman77]

Could be the floppy drive. Could be the cable. Could be the disk controller chip.

[atreyu187]

Ok I got some different results now. I got a Sony drive to respond but now it says "READ ERR" any ideas on this?

EDIT

Gonna see if I can buy a SNES as I have a SNES 2 and maybe that is the problem. I was told it would work. :-/

[Cornelius]

I'm sorry you are having problems. I think I've told you anything I know that might help, but I went back and dug up the initial thread I had on it in case it jogged my memory: http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112786&highlight=amini.

I did get write errors initially (don't remember READ ERR), but I decided that the unit is very sensitive to movement, and I imagine it would be worse on an SNES2. I was able to seat it well, and put it on the floor and no longer got the errors.

Was the disk drive access light coming on? Staying on all the time, or working like it should? The only thing different I can think of is that I used an SMS power supply and I believe you are using a Gen1 supply. If anything, I'd think the Gen1 supply would be better, but I'd still double or triple check that it is outputting the voltage it is supposed to and with plenty of amps (>1).

[Cauterize]

This sounds all too familar. Quite a few of my SNES copiers (and one of my Gen/MD) copiers have begun to fall to this fate. I was beginning to wonder if the magnetic parts were interfering with the unit...

Anyways, your best bet is to make use of the parallel port on the back of the system!
Get Ucon64 set up and start streaming your ROMs from you PC. Its so much easier and quicker! However, dont ask me on this matter if you have anything above Windows XP :P I ended up using an old spare computer to stream the ROMs!

[JohnnyA]

I never had much luck getting copiers to work on the SNES2. Also, maybe you're using the wrong format rom. Dunno what kind of error that would throw.

[atreyu187]

Well I am using the ROM's that he gave with the SNES that worked before. I even went out and go a new PSU to meet the specs precisely and to no avail. I also tried it on a SNES 1 and still it doesn't work. As for streaming ROM's I have a laptop and don't have that port o my PC. I am just going to trash it and call it a loss as I have tried 7 different floppy drives and all but one give me "NO DISK" and the other gives me "READ ERR". I have tried three different SNES's now as well. 2 original SNES's and 1 mini SNES. I even took the power wire off of a floppy drive resoldered it to the copier and tried a new ribbon. The copier is just shot and couldn't come at a worse time as I have no job and no income :-/

[Cauterize]

Ive tried numerous floppy drives in a Super Wild Card and all give varied outcomes, ive not yet had a different drive other that the one supplied to work within it.

Check the back of your laptop for a Parallel Port, if there is one there then youre in luck.

[atreyu187]

There isn't :-/ Is there an adapter that would fit into my PCMIA slot? And where would I get the cord from?

[Cauterize]

There isn't :-/ Is there an adapter that would fit into my PCMIA slot? And where would I get the cord from?

If there isnt a Parallel port already on the motherboard, I wouldnt attempt trying to get an external one to work with it. Ive been through about 5 different parallel port cards for the PC to try get them working on my new PC, however all of them lack the ability to change the Port mode despite saying they can on the box.
Usually you set it to EPP in the BIOS when you boot up your PC, however when its a PCI card, you just dont seem to be able to change anything :-S

If you find an old computer lying around at work or a friends etc, i suggest giving it a go on that.

[madman77]

Ah, it's a UFO, I don't know as much about those. If the SNES boots up to the UFO menu, it should work on that SNES. I've had mixed results with certain combinations of other copiers and other SNES units. Even on SNES model 1s, the compatibility varies. Does the UFO have a menu to format disks? See if that will work.

I haven't used floppy drives on my copiers for years, the best bet is to get an older laptop w/an LPT port when you have some cash. Floppies take ages to load.

Edit: Avoid PCMIA/PCI/whatever LPT cards. They generally don't work with copier send utils.

[atreyu187]

Nope it won't format I have tried. I will get an old laptop one day I guess.

[Joe West]

hey if it's not working, sound like you should get your money back, he said it was working, he didnt sell it as-is.............

[atreyu187]

Well it is working just not the floppy drive. The RAM and ROM work and to buy a floppy exactly like the one that was in the copier runs at least $30 on Feebay the only place I can find one. Now that is is outrageous so I will keep an eye out for one till then I got a few carts to finish.

[megasdkirby]

Nope it won't format I have tried. I will get an old laptop one day I guess.

I'm pretty sure you can purchase a tower/desktop for very cheap.

A nice Pentium III 1Ghz with 512MB of RAM is dead cheap now. And in most cases, they still have the LPT port.

[atreyu187]

Simply do not have the space for a tower here. I will just look for an old laptop and figure it out.

[staxx]

I am wondering if it's the first series of UFO copiers that have a high failure rate. That is why it failed a long time ago and people bought the Game Doctor instead (now those I recommend)

[Thrillo]

Do you know the models of the SNES 1s that you tried?
My UFO only completely works with the newer revision, which has the sound CPU located on the mobo, whereas my older model (the one with the seperate sound board) gave me the same problems you have. Makes no sense, but that's how it is.
I wonder if it's some sort of grounding issue...