Sony HB-F1 II.

Por Tupin

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29-11-2009, 00:08

I just bought one of these during Rising Stuff's online Black Friday/weekend sale, with 14 games and a joypad for $120. The 14 games it comes with are hit or miss, but there are some good ones. I wanted to use WAVer to download games from the internet and play it directly to my MSX, but it doesn't seem to work, any suggestions?

Oh, and what does the HB-F1 II have in way of ports? RGB? Centronics parallel? What does it's cassette connector look like? Is there anything else I should know about this model?

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Por RetroTechie

Paragon (1563)

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29-11-2009, 05:58

May I ask why you're wondering what it has in terms of connectors? Do you have the machine at home now, or not? Question (I assume yes since you're indicating WAVer doesn't seem to work)

As for RGB, you can use the same DIN cable as used for Sony HB-F700, HB-F9P, various Japanese MSX2+ machines and (presumably) Turbo-R. Video timings are NTSC ofcourse, and the machine starts with 60 Hz screen refresh (which should be fine for US users). And then there's the various Japanese aspects: all the weird key symbols, Yen sign instead of backslash, 100V AC input, stuff like that. If you use the machine regularly, then after a while you might not notice these anymore.

Oh yes, how to run stuff - some options: SD or CompactFlash interface (superb, but probably hard to obtain in the US), SCSI harddisk (big, noisy, requires MSX SCSI interface), external floppy drive (slow & clumsy for transferring files), real carts (easy but inflexible, expensive), MegaFlash SCC (to be programmed on another MSX?), NoWind USB interface, and yes... tape interface Tongue Basically: pick the most versatile/easiest of these you can get your hands on.

Oh btw. main RAM is only 64K in this machine, and (as far as I can tell for the HB-F1 II that I myself have) that's not a memory mapper. So an external memory mapper might be a useful add-on depending on your use of the machine. Note that the internal RAM should be easy to mod into a mapper, and expand to 256 or 512K. Which would make this machine much more useful (planning to do that on my specimen one of these days).

Por Tupin

Supporter (11)

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29-11-2009, 06:53

Actually no, I just ordered it and was wondering about the connectors. As for WAVer, I was just trying to convert files, but it doesn't seem to work with most games. Can you post a picture of the back of the machine?

I want to use this machine for playing games, mostly. How exactly would I go about mapping the memory? Sorry, I'm new to all this. Tongue

Por RetroTechie

Paragon (1563)

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29-11-2009, 20:21

Sorry no pix (my camera is out for repair), but I'll list them here.

Looking at the back, from left to right: 2nd cartridgeslot, tape connector (8 pin DIN, probably standard pinout), a screw to connect the machine's chassis to ground, printer port (MSX standard), RF channel select switch, 3 x cinch for RF TV signal, composite video and audio out, RGB (8 pin DIN, same pinout as other machines), low voltage AC power in, and on/off switch. Btw. power comes from an external brick (with 100V AC input) but -unfortunately- uses a custom 3-pin connector. All connectors are clearly marked.

Also note there exists a small joystick you can screw in the middle of the cursor keys, and eg. play games that way. In the bottom of the case (next to the battery compartment) is an opening where you can store that joystick when you're not using it. Unfortunately that thingie was missing on mine... Crying

How exactly would I go about mapping the memory? Sorry, I'm new to all this.
In that case: forget about it, I was talking hardware modification(s). Hannibal Read: see if you can find an external memory mapper of >= 256K.

Por Tupin

Supporter (11)

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30-11-2009, 00:59

Where would I find those? Oh, and is there also a joystick port on there?

I guess I'll just be using cartridges, I don't have a cassette cable, I guess I'll track down one of those interfaces that allows me to put programs on an SD/CF card and run them.

Por RetroTechie

Paragon (1563)

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30-11-2009, 17:12

Ofcourse there's joystick ports, 2 of 'm like on any other MSX. Also used for mouse or paddle controllers.

If you're just using cartridges, the built-in 64K is more than enough. More RAM is only needed if you want to run cracked games from disk, or do serious stuff like use a RAMdisk, run MSX-DOS 2, graphical user interfaces (HiBrid, Ease), a filemanager like Multi Mente and so on.

External memory mappers occasionally pop up for sale on sites like eBay. Common sizes are 512K or 1 MB, and they usually go for anywhere from 30~70 Euro's depending on type & size. If you want one, you might try a request on the 'trading & collecting' section of this forum.

Por RetroTechie

Paragon (1563)

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04-12-2009, 21:39

External memory mappers occasionally pop up for sale on sites like eBay.
Like I said... for example this one. Not an especially attractive type (or large RAM size), but it would do.

Por Tupin

Supporter (11)

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09-12-2009, 03:19

Is there any sort of limit to what can be loaded via cassette? I converted a couple of games files via MicroWAVeRunner, could I do this with any game?

Por Tupin

Supporter (11)

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13-12-2009, 00:45

Just got it today, its awesome! It even has the joystick that goes in the keyboard. As for WAVer, I have a cassette cable that is a 5 pin DIN, one that is for a Tandy. It fits in the port, but I can't get the loading to work. Am I supposed to load it directly from my computer? Because I have a cassette player and blank cassettes that I was using.

Oh, and it is missing one key, the "1" key. Not too bad, I'd say.