IC Memory Card : How to make it work with your FM-Towns computer or console (V1.0 2005/12/20) Introduction I have downloaded many free games on the internet for FM-Towns computers, but some of them don t fit on a single floppy disk. I have a Marty 1, so I don t either have a hard disk. So how can I test those little games? All FM-Towns computers / consoles have a PCMCIA slot, the best solution would be an IC Memory Card. It contains several megabytes of data, and could be an easy way to share files with a PC. The floppy drives are often dead on the Marty series, some games need to save data. An IC Memory Card could be a solution (most of the games ask a floppy access though). Warning! With this article, you won t be able to crush anything on your computer. If you re dumb enough to do damage to yourself (?!), your data or your hardware, it won t be my fault this time! In other articles : yes there are risks, but not in this one. Now you are warned : don t pinch your fingers with the PCMCIA slot. V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 1 / 10
Table of contents IC Memory Card : How to make it work with your FM-Towns computer or console (V1.0 2005/12/20) 1 Introduction 1 Warning! 1 Table of contents 2 What kind of PCMCIA memory card to use? 3 The PCMCIA slot 3 The cards 3 Make it work with your FM-Towns computer / console 5 The driver 5 Format and use 6 Make it work with your PC 7 The driver 7 Use the card 7 Transfer the files 8 Compatibility issues 8 Conclusion 9 The end 10 Nobody s perfect 10 Big thanks to : 10 Useful web links : 10 V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 2 / 10
What kind of PCMCIA memory card to use? The PCMCIA slot All FM-Towns computers / consoles have a PCMCIA slot. On the Marty models, you have a Type I PCMCIA slot. With further models, I don t really know, but I think the Type I has been largely used. As time passes, you will have more and more difficulties to find a fitting card (the Type I cards were the first produced in this format). The cards Bad news : not only do you have to find a Type I PCMCIA memory card, but almost all PCMCIA memory cards (even compatible with Type I) are useless with a FM-Towns : DRAM, Flash, with or without adapters, etc. The reason? All modern PCMCIA cards contain a logical interface, which emulates an ATA disk. The FM-Towns computers don t understand that. Only one type of memory card fits and works with the FM- Towns computers : the Type I PCMCIA SRAM memory cards. SRAM cards are linear memory cards. They were often used in laptops to extend the available RAM. The principle : a direct access (linear), the simplest way to handle memory. The ICM driver (we will see later what it is) accepts parameters up to 16MB, so I suppose you can safely buy a card up to 16MB. 2MB cards are often available (I got mine for 12), but the prices climb significantly with the capacity. For example, the 8MB cards are priced around $300! (about the same in ) I don t want to see the price for a 16MB one, it would make me cry V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 3 / 10
Another point to consider : some SRAM Memory Cards come with an option, the 2KB attribute memory. All the devices working with no attribute can work with the with attribute ones. You have to know that Windows XP and 2000 only provide drivers with this 2KB attribute. Some manufacturers still provide drivers for their cards, but make sure, when you buy a card, to be able to share data with your PC. Windows 98 still installs nicely on modern computers, and accept all kinds of SRAM cards. SRAM cards come with a battery. Some are rechargeable, some replaceable. Careful : old batteries have the bad habit to release acid fluids, which can destroy your hardware. Be sure to have a fresh battery inserted in the slot. It can be very difficult to change on some models! (Remember, don t pollute nature with old batteries : there are special containers for them) V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 4 / 10
Make it work with your FM-Towns computer / console The driver TOS 2.1 L51 : DEVICE=\SYS\TICM.SYS /U0 DOS 6.2 P3: DEVICE=\DOS\TMICM.SYS /U0 You have to insert the correct line for your system in CONFIG.SYS the syntax is the same but not the file name. Be sure to copy the file TICM.SYS or TMICM.SYS in the correct directory. You can find the drivers on several web sites (e.g. JCEC) Let your system boot. You should see something like this on the screen. If you don t have a hard disk (Marty series) the first available drive will be D: If you have one or more hard drives, the first available letter after them will be used. V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 5 / 10
Format and use Go to the directory where is TICMFMT.EXE (TOS) or TMICMFMT.EXE (DOS). Type in : TICMFMT [drive]: /S[size] where [drive] is the drive letter mounted above by the driver, and [size] is the size (kilobytes) of your card. Be careful : the utility doesn t recognize the size of the card, so you can enter crazy values, e.g. 16384 for an 8MB card, or 1024 for a 16Mb one. In the example on the left, we assume we have a 8MB IC Memory Card. You can use your card now that you have formatted it. You can, for example, copy a file and list the content of the card. It also works with the graphical interface! V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 6 / 10
Make it work with your PC The driver Start your PC. Insert the card in the PCMCIA slot. Wait for your system to detect the new hardware. Install the driver. See, on the left, the new card installed. Think about the 2KB attribute if your card doesn t work. Use the card You must format the new drive (fresh installation). You must select the FAT file system. Leave all the other parameters by default. Your new drive is ready! You can copy files on it. For example, a disk image and the utility to write it back to the floppy drive of your FM-towns computer / console. V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 7 / 10
Transfer the files Boot up your system. The files are here, good. Notice, the sizes and the dates are the same. It is not shown here (I tested it), but even the attributes of the files are kept (Read-only, Hidden, System, Archive). You can either format the card with your PC or with your FM-towns computer / console. Once formatted, insert the card where you want, copy, delete files, etc. Compatibility issues Windows seems to have problems, sometimes, with the newly-copied files (not appearing, sometimes truncated). If you also want to delete files, don t do it under Windows, but under TOS. Sometimes, after writing on the FM-towns computer / console, Windows doesn t recognize it at all. In this case you have to re-format it under TOS. The best way to go in my opinion is to format the card under Windows, I had fewer problems this way. I didn t test the card access with windows 98, maybe these issues don t appear with an older Windows system. I think that the handle of the 2KB attribute is the main reason for these issues but I suspect also the file system : I don t know if the FAT written on the card is FAT16 or FAT32. V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 8 / 10
Conclusion An IC Memory Card is the best way to share data between your FM-Towns computer / console. The cards to use must be PCMCIA Type I SRAM Memory cards. The cards are not cheap! Don t buy one under 1MB though, you couldn t transfer floppy disk images to rebuild fresh real floppies with your FM-Towns computer / console. There are compatibility issues with Windows XP and 2000, but with patience V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 9 / 10
The end Nobody s perfect If you found this article interesting (write me if you did!), or want to correct my English (which is not perfect, not my native language), or want to clarify technical matters (it will increase the version number of this document), feel free to drop a mail at this address : Parazythum@gmail.com Truly yours, Parazythum, The Big Bad Bug! Big thanks to : Ben from Tokugawa Corp the authors of UNZ for the FM-Towns emulator the guys from the UNZ BBS and the Tokugawa Corp Forums Useful web links : The Japanese Computer Emulation Centre (JCEC), nice page with tools for FM-Towns : http://www.jcec.co.uk MS-DOS and TOS boot floppy images to find the ICM driver (JCEC site) : http://www.jcec.co.uk/fmtownsgames.html UNZ, the nice FM-Towns emulator : http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/townsemu - good forum (BBS) but few people answer to messages in English Tokugawa Corp, you are already here! http://fullmotionvideo.free.fr don t forget their nice forums! BabelFish and Google Language Tools, with which you can translate from Japanese to English : http://babelfish.altavista.com/ and http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en - I don t speak Japanese!!! Sometimes it s really funny, the translation is weird (e.g. : CD-ROM lightning software instead of burning software ). PSI, a PCMCIA cards vendor with precious information : http://www.psism.com/sram.htm e-bay, you can find old PCMCIA cards there : http://www.ebay.com/ (look for PCMCIA SRAM ) V1.0 by Parazythum - 2005/12/20 Page 10 / 10