Hi Folks,
I'm new to this forum and my MSX knowledge is limited, but some folks mentioned you guys are *the* experts on this stuff, so I figured I'd give you guys a shout.
I have been researching methods to back up Famicom disks, which were basically quickdisks, just a bit longer in casing. After scouring hundreds of Japanese sites and doing terrible translations of various snippets I could find, there was ample hinting that the MSX QuickDisk drive can back up Famicom disks. What I could not figure out is how. Does one need special software? Is the FDS disk inserted into a standard MSX QD drive (with mod to allow for the case extension)? Is an FDS unit (or its innards) connected to the MSX QD drive? Are the file formats so different this is impossible w/o special software, or can the MSX do a raw dump, formatting be damned (if so, it would be GREAT to dump all my Roland synth disks too for preservation!)?
The same hinting was indicated for the Sharp MZ-1500 and other QD-enabled MZ systems (I think there was only one or two others anyway). I even saw a picture of an FDS drive connected to an MZ-1500, but they never showed the connection, just the fronts of the units with a caption.
I own a Turbo R system and MSX QD drive (originally bought both just to experiment with the QD stuff and eventually get some great games). I also have the MZ-1500, in case there's any experts here on that sort of thing.
Also, I must shamefully admit that I know almost NOTHING about BASIC, and therefore how to command an MSX. Many have said it is not much different than DOS, only with completely different commands (HA!). If someone knows a newb tutorial on MSX commands, that would be awesome. Also, how versatile is the MSX at calling info from the QD drive (treating it as any cassette, hard drive, or floppy disk)?
Any help, advice, theorizing, or discussion is most welcome.
Thanks very much!
-Rob



