New MSX Single Cartridge Adapters

For MSX machines with cartridge ports that deviate from the standard, repair Bas has come up with an easy solution to convert those to standard cartridge ports.

The MSX hardware was designed with a certain standard in mind, for most machines this works perfectly. However, some machines have a slightly different configuration. Whether it is memory, storage or slot configurations. There are a few systems that have the external cartridge port itself designed differently to fit only a certain kind of cartridges and not the regular, or standard, ones. With the new adapters from MRC user repair-bas, this little annoyance can be solved fairly easily.

The Dutch MSX hardware specialist Bas Kornalijnslijper (repair-bas) has two new adapters for sale, both to convert brand-specific slots to regular, standard slots. There's an adapter to use standard cartridges on the second port on MSX-computers like Toshiba HX-10, Sanyo MPC-100, SVI 728, Goldstar FC-200, and others that have different configurations. And another adapter to use standard cartridges on the back slot of different Yamaha MSX-Computers.

The price is € 17,—, and that includes shipping worldwide. Get in touch with Bas using his Facebook account, or by dropping an e-mail, to get your hands on this simple but effective piece of hardware.

relevant link: repair Bas his (Dutch) web site
relevant link: Bas his YouTube channel, full of handy tips

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Comments (19)

By Briqunullus

Nemesis (666)

10-10-2021, 19:00

Will it be available at Nijmegen? I'd happily take one for my SVI 728.

By defdanny

Scribe (390)

10-10-2021, 21:16

Hey Bas, great to see that you started a Youtube channel!
Its the new "Ifixit.com" for MSX!

By Emphy

Resident (59)

11-10-2021, 07:01

Is there a comprehensive list of compatible models and/or what to check for in one's MSX to see if it will work?

As I understand things, different brands could be using a different pin layout for that io port, so one would want to be sure of compatibility before connecting it.

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

11-10-2021, 10:16

@Emphy Consult the wiki pages for the connectors:

By ray2day

Paladin (743)

11-10-2021, 18:10

Nice adapter and great YouTube channel Bas!

By gdx

Enlighted (6215)

12-10-2021, 09:36

About the HX-10 I think it is better to make an adapter like the one below or fully with a flat cable if possible because the video connector and cable should probably be obstructing the cartridge. The adapter I made obstructs a bit le cable, although there is a bit more space.

https://hansotten.file-hunter.com/do-it-yourself/second-slot...

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3956)

12-10-2021, 14:14

FC-200 and HX-10 (according to our wiki) have incompatible pinouts on their respective expansion bus so how this adapter will work on both is beyond me. I don’t think it can work on both and as such be careful before using it on any machine that has not been confirmed.

By gdx

Enlighted (6215)

12-10-2021, 14:46

MSXs list from the article has been added by hansotten. Before using it, first check the loaction of SW1, SW2, VCC and GND pins. It's the minimum to do.

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

12-10-2021, 15:46

sdsnatcher73 wrote:

If I understand the wiki correctly, isn’t the pinout almost always the same with the only difference being the position of the key(s) on the connector? Which I assume is absent on this adapter so it can be inserted both ways, and as such care has to be taken as Bas mentions in his Youtube video (“let’s try another game, a more common game” haha). Going by Bas’ usage instructions, regardless of the keying as long as both the adapter and cartridge are inserted with the label on the top, it is always oriented correctly.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3956)

12-10-2021, 15:46

The wiki specifically mentions the output as being odd or even. Odd meaning the pin 1 is on the top of the extension bus, even means the pin 1 is on the bottom. The FC-200 is listed as even and the HX-10 is listed as odd, those are definitely not compatible (unless I completely misunderstood the wiki).

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

12-10-2021, 15:52

The odd / even refers to whether the even or the odd pins are on the side of the key(s). See the caption at the top of the images. The key could be at the top or the bottom of the connector of course, so the key position says nothing about the orientation of the connector. I presume from Bas’s video that he’s only seen machines with the pinout such that facing the adapter to the top is the correct orientation.

Nevertheless, I agree one should be careful when using it to avoid damage due to incorrect orientation, and that it’s best to get confirmation of the correct orientation for your specific machine model before use. When uncertain, confirm 5V and ground connection with a multimeter before inserting a cartridge, or ask Bas or someone on the forums.

For obvious reasons this universal adapter can’t include model-specific keying, nor a moulded socket on the cartridge side probably for cost reasons (and also not so useful since you already have to observe orientation anyway), for that you’d have to make a replica of the manufacturer’s original adapter such as the Yamaha CA-01.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3956)

12-10-2021, 15:54

Yeah I am reading those but apparently I understand them differently.

Even:

Odd:

The view in both images is the same, the location of the even and odd numbered pins is what changes. The keying issue is completely different.

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

12-10-2021, 16:02

But the pinout table says “The below table lists the Pin-out of the BUS connector with even-nubdered pins to the polarizing key side”, so I presume for the odd-numbered pins to the polarizing key side the pinout is such that relative to the connector pin numbering it is swapped, but their physical position is the same?

Anyway I suggest if in doubt to take a multimeter in hand to confirm it . But if Bas says it is compatible with those models, and to always use the labels-up orientation, I would assume he has tested and confirmed it at least for those models mentioned.

By Pencioner

Scribe (1564)

12-10-2021, 16:29

They are incompatible because the pins are mirrored between both connectors, so doesn't matter if you just turn cartridge or cable 180 grades (change back with front) you will not get pins at the same places as with mirroring. I played around with that issue when i
1) tried to understand if 8bits4ever sloexpander could be connected to HX-10 - no, they are incompatible, you don't connect expander to HX-10 if you don't want to go bad
2) bought some IDC 50 pin to card-edge cables to use with 8bits4ever cartridge with no buffer from expander to use as extender (similar to MSX-FLEX which was developed by Alexey one year later after that) but those were incompatible with this cartridge but compatible with HX-10 (so now i use one of them for HX-10 as second slot and it works fine)

By Repair-Bas

Paragon (1175)

12-10-2021, 22:14

Hello

Strange, because i tested all.
But how it is now, it works on the sanyo.

But on the goldstar it works now with a little change it works now
Tomorrow i will test it on a toshiba.
There are 2 two types within a few, odd and even.

Thx for helping me

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3956)

13-10-2021, 05:33

Yeah the problem is also the info on the wiki (as wikis are) is unconfirmed. No one will intentionally put misinformation there (some exceptions aside) but sometimes assumptions are made. For example the Sanyo’s and Goldstars, have all those machines been tested? Or did someone assume if the MPC-100 I tested is even, all the other ones must be as well. That may sound logical but with these kind of situations it’s better to be certain (maybe with some help of the community we can improve that part of the wiki?).

By Repair-Bas

Paragon (1175)

13-10-2021, 07:58

It is working now.
Toshiba & goldstar are the same.
Svi and sanyo are the same.

These are the most common systems.

So problem solved.

And the list with different models has some errors.

Thanks everybody

By gdx

Enlighted (6215)

13-10-2021, 09:49

This is a picture of the Toshiba HX-10DP:

This is a picture of the Sanyo MPC-10:

It is noted the same on the MPC-6 board.

We can't see the tracks on these Sanyo boards but the ODD pins and even pins numbers are reversed compared to the HX-10 whose pinout is confirmed. It would be surprising if it was finally the same pinout but if you can check, do it. MSXs often holds surprises.

By Emphy

Resident (59)

14-10-2021, 08:38

There's a new video on repair-bas' channel. It looks like there will be a ribbon cable added for the hx-10 that corrects the pinout.

New MSX Single Cartridge Adapters

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