Hi, I would like to know if thwrw is any chance to connect a pc floppy drive 1.44 MB 3 1/2" to a MSX DPC-200A.

I'been searching on Internet and I found some information but I'm not shure how to do it.

Mi MSX computer has a Bus expansion connector with 50 pins (i have the pinout complete) where I supouse the floppy drive must to be connected. The point is that I have no idea if there is necesary an interface to connect it or what...


There is anyone that can help me??

Thanks a lot!!

PD: excuse my english.. is not my natural language..

It is not possible to connect a PC straight to any MSX without the use of a floppy drive interface. These are very diffcult to obtain! If I was in your position I would check ebay for any MSX disk drives.

No, you can't but... you can to buy here at Argentinia a regular DPF550 (5 1/4) floppy drive, and to connect a 3 1/2 drive as B: just doing a special flat cable.

I already have one.

And you can to Convert that DPC200A (msx1) into a TCP310 (msx2) just adding some extra-chips, buyable everywhere. Because it already has the VDP9938 but the roms are msx1, and for enable the RTC clock, extra RAM there is lack of some minors components.

Thanks for your answers!! I will try to get a DPF550 and do what you says.

I'm intrested in convert mi dpc200a to a tcp310, do you have the info about materials and how to do it??

Thanks a lot!!

if you opens your DPC200A , you will see an MSX2 motherboard because TELEMATICA when was diying economically just use all the pieces that lefted and ensambled MSX1 with parts of msx2 limiting the last batch. in the following way

Use 2 chips of RAM instead 4. (so you gets only 64K instead the 128K)
Use one MSX1 ROM instead the 3 needed for MSX2 turbo+.
As the mother is msx2 they wasted including in it the v9938 with two RAM chip or something instead 4 chips.

Also the s1985 core is not completed wired with all its electronics parts...
last the quartz cristal for the RTC oscilator and the passive parts.

Also lacks the battery's circuit for maintain the internal SRAM of the s1985.

As, we have the original electrical scheme of the TPC310 anybody can easily to see which parts lacks and to buy those... the hard part y to gets the memory chips, but if you are smart you will found those in olds VGA cards (the first generation of those) in olders 8086/186/286.

At this moment i'm in front of my msx motherboard and I can see what you say about the missing parts...
I've found where I should place the memory chips, the battery, and the sub-rom and Acc. (I supouse that those are the other two rom chips).

I've a few questions about this.
1) The rom chips, do I have to load some program on it?? qhere can I get this program?
2) The complete scheme of the tpc310 is avaiable on this page??
3) On the other side of the motherboar I see some wires (maybe correcting some board mistakes) conecting a 64 pin chip (there is a heat sink on it so I can't see the code) to a 74ls04 chip. This is normal, or this is an Argentinian improvement??
4) After installing all the componentes missing, do I have to do anything else?? (like flash the ROM, reload a new operative system, etc)

flyguille, could you make a complete hardwareconfig.xml file for openMSX for this particular DPC-200A? It soiunds like a funky machine! Or, please just give us the complete machine layout or techincal manual We also need the SHA1 sums of the ROM images, of course.

Yes you suppose ok.

In this site I uploaded a zip containing all the electronic schematic of the TPC310, also is available the ROM images, offcourse you needs to BURN the ROM chips with the BIOS...

The current bios that you has, is of a MSX1, MSX BASIC 1.0 english version. (but I not remember if the DPC200A has spanish Keyboard with Ñ or just the english one? which is?... anyway you needs the 3 ROM chips and also to remple the one that you has.


Layout? it is like a TPC310 with the s1985 but its RTC is disable (not runs, dead dead) and SRAM is not able to work (IIRC).

Has the mapper offcourse, but only for 64KB RAM mapping.... at slot1

is nothing in SLOT3-0 (as there is no ROM plugged)

the external SLOT3-1 is like TPC310.

SLOT2 the only one cartridge slot

no internal FDD....

normal printer, sound, v9938 but only 64KB (can you confirm if is only 64K VRAM?) oh, shit there is no msx2 logo, well, just tell us if there is 2 RAM chips or four near (at a side) of the VDP (that one that has heatskin) and which number code has printed.

The DPC 200A (at least the one y have) has spanish keyboard (with Ñ).

According to the box, the caracteristics are:
32 KB Rom
64 KB Ram for programming
16 KB of video Ram

At the right side of the VDP there are only two ram chips (TMS4416-20NL) placed under labels U5 and U7, the U4 and U6 places are empty.
Other empty chips places are U12 (sub-ROM label) U16 (Acc. label), U11 and U15 (chips betwen these are GM71C464-10 so I supouse all will be the same).

I guess it has only 16kB of VRAM, or not?

mnaddeo: I need much more details, but flyguille gave me enough info, I think.

I am from Rosario, Santa Fe, Arg.

and have a friend that has done the conversion to MSX2 here in Rosario

Also is other in bs.as...

Yes that means only 16K so MSX2 screens mode are really not usable escept by screen4 but as BASIC is 1.0 you can't set screen 4 from BASIC (is like SCREEN2 but allows up to 8 sprites in one horizontal line and the sprites can have one color per line instead per shape.

There is a screen 5 viewer by NYYRIKKI Works fine on 16kVRAM, but to see the whole picture, you have to scroll a bit.