A Kind of Magic

gdemu 53 Comments

There haven’t been any photos on the blog lately so here’s one:

The big green thing is called Grey Tower Wizard – or Wizard in short. It’s a prototype obviously but the final product won’t be much different. What does it do?

Well, for one it’s a working FM Towns ODE – I mean it works on my gen 3 at least but hopefully it’ll also work on other tower models:

  • gen 1 – MODEL 1 and MODEL 2
  • gen 2 – 1F, 2F, 1H, 2H
  • gen 3 – 10F, 20F, 40H, 80H
  • gen 4 – TOWNS2 CX

If you have gen 1, 2 or 4 please contact me, I need some photos. You’ll need a screwdriver and general knowledge on how to disassemble your unit. I can help with that but you still need the skills. I’m also interested in photos of the UX and UG models since I have no idea if those use tower or desktop CD drives.

Anyway, the Wizard is meant to be mounted inside the case, there’s empty space for it right on the back side of the front panel assembly. This way you don’t need to remove your CD-ROM, no matter if it works or not. In fact if it does work you can still use it, connect it like you see on the photo and the jumper on the bottom selects which device will be used – ODE or CD-ROM.

Does it mean you can use both at the same time? No, and also switching between them requires a power-off, but all you have to do is move the jumper. I might change that to a small switch. Also, that doesn’t allow you to rip CDs directly to the card with that setup, not that you would want to use Towns CD-ROM drive for that purpose, trust me.

There’s a catch though, I was unable to find the very unique connectors that Fujitsu used on these drives so soldering is required. There are a few ways that can be done, depending on whether or not you actually want to keep using the CD-ROM (if it works). Wires can be soldered directly to each PCB or original CD-ROM connectors can be carefully removed and replaced with modern ones.

You can also spot 2 yellow holders for CR2430 and CR2450 coin cells – these are optional but can be used to replace the (usually dead) battery pack in the tower. That requires soldering another 4 wires to the PCB (once cut from the original pack). This way time and HDD settings will not be lost each time, very useful if you use HDD (or SCSI2SD emulator).

53 thoughts on “A Kind of Magic”

  2. Hi gdemu,

    I have a gen 4 Cox model and a gen 2 model as well, what do you need?

    ________________________________

  3. You have been mailed .. I have a gen 4 CX model.

    I can take whatever pics you need.
    I will gladly help beta if you need.

    Also UX UG models use desktop drives. I have (2) desktops when your ready for that.

  4. Thank you for sharing development photos like this. I initially watched the blog because I kept up with the Phoebe development and I truly appreciate the work behind the scenes as I’ve discussed with you before. Literally the magic behind the curtain.
    If I can grab an ODE I’ll definitely find a tower model for it. Would be a superb restoration project 🙂

  7. I don’t have one but that’s great you’re getting other mods on your list checked off. Would be awesome to get that sega cd ode if it’s on your every time try list!

  8. SO I see in the pic you have a Socketed 486??

    The Grey towers have 386 processors and only the early towns came with a socket.

    Did you do the socket yourself or does the Gen 3 comes with a socket?
    How does it run with a 486? is that a 33mhz?
    Did you change the crystal? If so what crystal you using?

    • I’ve desoldered the 386 and put in a socket. So now I can use both original 386 and DLC/SXL CPUs. You can’t really change the clock unless you overclock the whole system, so I left the original 32MHz crystal in. This particular CPU doesn’t have clock doubler either (but I have some that do).

      • What seems to be the compatibility and stability with the 486?

        DO you have a 386 20MHZ chip on hand? If so wondering how that runs over the 16mhz. Many games have a Fast mode was wondering if you need 486 to enable that or if the 20mhz 386 would be all you need? I know the ug/ux models have the 20 mhz cpu but they are desktop like models, so likely not gonna work with wizard as the ribbon interface is different from the pin header that the desktop uses to interface the CD Drive.

        Also what did you use to desolder the CPU from the MOBO and do a socket? Use a desolder gun and braid or was it all by hand? I am not sure I am ready to jump that far yet. But I did desolder many CPU and PPUs from systems like the NES and Famicom and can do so with ease. I also have a hot air machine and have removed and remounted surface mount cpus like the Marty CPU you did.

        I love the idea of the COIN BATTERIES on the ODE.. that is amazing. I just changed mine, using (2) 2032’s to keep my HDD settings from dying, but this will be welcomed.

        I also love the switch IDEA.. Great idea for swapping between ODE and CD ROM. a simple switch will be great and perhaps you can do this. But on the TOWER the one screw that allows you to take apart the whole case has a simple CLIP covering the screw. WOuld be awesome if you did a switch on a 3D printed part that snapped in the palce of that screw cover. There is room to run (2) wires down into the case and then use a pin header to plug into the WIZARD for switching the CDROM and ODE.

        Taking the side off the case is SO SIMPLE that laving the SD card inside and having to open the case to take it out to add games is not a big deal.

        I emailed you – I can supply pics of the Gen 4 model I believe. I also would love to help beta test if possible when you have betas ready. Just like you did with Doc Brown.

        I have other Towns systems as well. I can also ship you a desktop MOBO if you need it – let me know.

        Cant wait to wield the power of the wizard. I roll a 1d20 and it will be a critical hit!!

  9. Pretty cool, and very interesting! I have a working FM Towns II CX20 tower if you need pics of that specific model. Hoping to get my Docbrown installed sometime this week and mess around with that. Hope to hear more info on the Wizard soon!

    • I need to buy a desktop model but I don’t have any space to store it (keep in mind I can’t just put it in some storage room, I have to be able to access it freely).

  11. Cool news, happy to help you. I have a FM Towns Model 2 and FM Towns II Model CX-40

  12. By the way, that is a very flexible design for PCB the logic analyzer cable (IDE) connects to. Definitely can use it for multiple systems 🙂

  13. I have the desktop FM Towns II – MX, do you have plans for it?

  14. Just on the right time.
    I have just finished on restoration my CX20.
    I recaped the whole machine, replaced the PSU with an ATX (Powerswitch and Softpower stil working) but it has a dead CD-Rom. I think i couldn´t get the CD Rom working
    So the GDEmu fpr FM Towns is a good thing to complete the FMT.
    In the moment i am trying the YSSCSICD.SYS driver from ysflight.com to get some games to work.
    So if you need some Pictures or other infos (but i am a noob with less soldering skills) i would like to help.

  15. I’ve FM-Towns-2 & FM-Towns-2F models. I can provide pictures if needed and also willing to participate possible beta testing. Soldering is not an problem.

  16. Would be awesome after this to make a FM Towns Car MARTY ODE as well..

  19. Can’t wait until this one is available. My FM Towns is waiting eagerly.

  20. Excellent news, makes it’s worthwhile me continuing to buy and dump all the FMT discs.

    would love to enter talks with @gdemu re: testing and compatability

  21. I am so excited to see this progressing. Thank you!

    I have a fully functional Towns UG-20 if you’d like information about the drive or anything else. Just let me know.

  22. Hi all,

    Looking for email address to contact for latest firmware link (Phoebe).

    Thanks

  23. Hi gdemu,
    I asked this question (I just wanted to ask a question did you ever explore the FM towns Marty expansion support? sorry if this is something you have already answered or spoken about already.)

    in September last year and at the time you must have missed it so I thought I’d ask again 🙂

    Kind Regards,

    Stephen Dalzell.

    • There is someone in Asia who makes add-on cards like SCSI controller or RAM expansion but I haven’t these in quite a while. I’d love if they shared some info, like the exact connector model or maybe even the pinout – otherwise it’s a full-time project for me and I don’t have any time ATM.

  24. Hi, I was wondering if there’s a rough ETA for the new GDEMU firmware which would fix the Code Veronica glitch, D2 disc switching, and the Skies of Arcadia intro. Thanks!

    • im waiting for that too. to give my x english patched version a go on real hardware. but when its ready it will anounced. all we can do now is wait.

  25. A general CD emulator for PCs (either IDE or SCSI) would be incredibly great btw.

  29. Hi
    I have a 20F fully working
    Nice to see what your playing with
    Cheers

  31. How long should I wait for phoebe?And when the Sega Saturn ode can ship to China?Thank you.

    • Shipping to China is still not possible, especially now that you are blocking flights from other countries. I have no idea when these restrictions will be lifted.

    • Phoebe has Two jumpers. When you order your supposed to know the TYPE of system you have when you order TYPE, 2,3 or 4. He sets the jumpers for you as they need to be soldered. . If you just order a Random type and do not have the proper system, you need to DESOLDER the jumpers than then resolder them to work properly. This is simple to do if you know how to sue desolder braid and a soldering iron with 2 blobs of solder connected together. His page above shows the 3 types and their jumper configurations. Solder the right configuration for both jumpers, install into system and enjoy.

  33. GDEMU .. any invoices go out yet for Phoebe?

    Status for UK orders? Able to ship there or we still waiting?

    Thanks!!

  34. @GDEMU, any shipping g updates to Italy? We have relaxed some stuff here. Just wondering.

  35. Any News about Wizard for the FM Towns ?
    When can we order it ?
    Meanwhile 2 FM Towns are waiting for CD Rom replacement.

    greets Markus

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