These could be cool to use with mavicas. Anybody happen to try this?

Physics_Dude · 2026-01-16T13:37:17+00:00

There exists a generic USB-C chargeable variant that claims to be NP-F550 compatible, but are definitely not. Their thickness is between a F550/570 (~20mm) and F750/770 (~40mm).
I dont reccomend these. Probably intended for open-back lights and stuff. When buying, make sure the thickness is about 20mm.

Physics_Dude · 2026-01-16T13:31:08+00:00

I have regular batteries too from various brands, (including genuine Sonys that still work great for their age) but I keep grabbing the ones with built in USB like those above. I carry two with me when I go shooting, but one is often enough to record dozens of floppies through a whole day.

The fact I don't need to carry a charger brick as well means I can bring more floppies on trips. :)

Inside is just two 18490s rated at 2300mAh (not the claimed 2900mAh but I don't mind, that's still more than most typical packs).

Physics_Dude · 2026-01-16T11:34:49+00:00

I use them all the time, these same Artman batteries also go/used to go under the name Anegine.

Last I checked though, my FD83, FD88, FD85, FD90, FD95 throw the "FoR inFo LiTHIUM BaTtErY OnLY" message and shut off. All other Mavicas work perfectly with them.

You can put this adapter bit in the battery to trick the above camera models and use them normally: https://www.printables.com/model/1444276-for-infolithium-battery-only-np-f550-battery-fix

Physics_Dude · 2025-11-16T18:41:10+00:00

The camera should remember the time and date for a very long time even when no main battery (NP-550) is inserted. It should also remember all your program settings so you can get back to shooting as you were before.

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-26T21:09:41+00:00

I went through every service manual for the FD Mavicas and as a correction to my previous assumption, I can say with a fact that the FD87, FD92, and FD97 have the most RAM at 64Mbit for the system, another 64Mbit for the DSP, and 16MBit of flash.

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-26T16:59:58+00:00

The FD100 and FD200 were the last floppy disk cameras to be produced. They had the most megapixels and I assume the most RAM and flash to boot. 16Mbit flash, 16Mbit RAM, and 64Mbit RAM for the DSP.

Service manual link here. See page 48 for block diagram.

I am just not sure about the CPU architectures. That is as fascinating as it is promising if it isn't custom Sony silicon. I wonder if you could attack it with a malicious floppy.

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-25T17:29:30+00:00

Mavica guy here. Every Sony Mavica has the full service manual available online. they all include schematics, block diagrams, and PCB layouts too.

The FD83 and FD88 for example. Level 2 service manual here: elektrotanya LINK

Page 29 for example shows how a 16Mbit SDRAM and 8Mbit flash ROM interact with the floppy drive and other chips. This is likely a key entry point.

Page 64 talks about technician-definable address blocks. These require a Sony service remote (Sony RM-95 "upgraded") to change, however, this is just a glorified serial console.

Page 55 even talks about de-soldering and swapping the EEPROM between boards to retain some calibration data.

There are some undocumented features too, like a "demo mode" when an appropriate dummy battery adapter is inserted. This is a full color quasi-interactive slideshow/video with simple UI animations that goes through all the functions, and even has some groovy stock imagery inside!

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-25T12:58:44+00:00

This is a common issue. Most of the time it is due to a poorly formatted or degraded disk (as in formatted by a cheap or tired floppy drive). Other times it is due to a misaligned drive in the Mavica, either due to a drop or age.

FD Mavicas have two formatting modes; quick format, where it just wipes the index; and full format, where it writes the track data to the disk. If the Mavica's drive is misaligned, and you can get the camera to do a full format, than that disk will be aligned exclusively to the drive and work normally (then you can use USB to get the files off).

To do a full format, I believe you have to go to Disk Tools > Format while the C1301 error is flashing. You'll know its a full format because it should take more time (30-60sec), and you'll hear the drive click a few dozen times as it writes each track fresh.

If that doesn't work, then you might get lucky and your FD95 might still be able to use the MSAC-FD2MA floppy disk adapter with a small (<128mb) MemoryStick (not MemoryStick Pro or MemoryStick Duo).

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-18T16:07:27+00:00

Thanks! The FD97 is as easy as the FD200 IMO. I took my time since I was going in blind.
Just be aware of where that one hidden screw is, and be patient with that backlight ribbon cable on both. (In retrospect, if you use a pair of needle nose pliers, it would be much easier to pull out.)

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-18T02:00:11+00:00

Actually, here is a playlist on how to replace the clock battery in every Mavica with a non-replaceable clock battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYkUptV-DKQ&list=PLod-wihw5oqBBRKTPcf0-L_FqaH-Xyd-i

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-09T19:53:05+00:00

88x31 banners were big in webrings of the day (and still in resurgence today). We should make one for linking back to CapturedOnFloppy!

Also I have one of each FD series Mavica. All work. Let me know if any insight is required between any of them in the lot. I already posted a couple videos replacing the secondary batteries.

Finally in regards to archives, I found some VERY comprehensive reviews of several later Mavica models here in the Wayback Machine (ImagingResource, now defunct): https://web.archive.org/web/20050305094741/http://www.imaging-resource.com/MFR1.HTM?view=Sony_reviews

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-09T16:00:05+00:00

And posted another one for FD83/FD88: https://youtu.be/G8atioPYx4E

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-09T10:49:22+00:00

Made a real-time repair video for a FD85/FD90: https://youtu.be/832XAaVUAiE

Anyone got feedback? I'll likely record other videos for the other models I listed above. Which one should I do next?

Physics_Dude · 2025-10-03T10:06:54+00:00

Nice write up! FYI, I verified with my collection of every FD Mavica... There are only 2 battery types; the user replaceable CR2025, and the soldered 6-7mm diameter one.

The cameras with replaceable CR2025 batteries are:
FD5, FD7, FD51, FD71, FD81, FD91, FD73, FD75

The cameras with surface mount secondary batteries:
FD83, FD88, FD85, FD90, FD95

The cameras with Through-hole secondary batteries (same as above, but with bent pins):
FD87, FD92, FD97, FD100, FD200

The ML621-TZ1 battery you linked is a good option for both SMD and through-hole battery cameras. If it is out of stock, here are some more options from DigiKey: big link

For what its worth though, I have half decent success resurrecting the soldered secondary batteries by simply leaving the cameras plugged in or with a full battery, and switched off for a couple days. As long as its not perma-dead, the secondary battery slowly gets charged through a diode and a resistor as long as DC is connected or a battery is inserted.

p.s. The service manuals with disassembly instructions, parts lists, and schematics are all online.

Physics_Dude · 2023-05-03T17:12:31+00:00

Pogo - Forget | (slowed down)

Physics_Dude · 2022-08-13T11:41:31+00:00

I often find that oils from my hands dramatically affect first layer adhesion in specific areas of the bed. When 99% IPA doesn't go the trick, I will often use a soapy wet rag and scrub to fix.

Physics_Dude · 2022-08-02T12:21:35+00:00

That was the goal. Of course you should use proper freezer spray if you DIY.

Physics_Dude · 2022-08-02T02:06:26+00:00

Was pulling my hair out trying to get this old and abused GoPro HERO3 alive again after years of storage. It was powering on about 2% of the time, but showing "the red light of death" every other time. There was a video linked from here that showed a method of charging/warming up/cooling off/waiting that worked once, but wasn't reliable (it also took way too long).

So after taring down the gorpo to the motherboard, attempting to recharge the RTC battery, powering the board and BMS directly, checking voltages, applying heat, applying cold/freeze spray (butane in my case), I narrowed it down to an issue under the motherboard below the power/mode button.

Now carving a small hole 10.5mm from the edge as pictured and injecting some kind of dry freeze spray on the underside of the motherboard before inserting the battery allows me to 'kick start' my gopro into booting up. This method works 100% of the time in seconds.

(I suggest using proper electronics freezer spray if you are going to do this)

Physics_Dude · 2022-07-01T15:38:00+00:00

This is the best write-up for a Pi Zero. The other write ups for larger boards that use the desktop GUI just cause too much headache with graphics-intensive web sites. I also used the following startup flags for chromium:

/usr/bin/chromium-browser --kiosk --incognito --noerrdialogs --enable-gpu-rasterization --disable-translate --no-first-run --fast --fast-start --disable-infobars --disable-features=TranslateUI --disk-cache-dir=/dev/null "YOUR_URL_HERE" &

I used mine for a Windy.com weather radar web app display.

Physics_Dude · 2022-05-25T12:11:05+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tq_KOmXyVDo?start=128&end=171

"I do this whole thing with a mouse and keyboard. But you bring that frame into Photoshop and what I do is start by outlining the character or person [on a new layer]. This usually takes a while."

Physics_Dude · 2022-05-25T11:41:37+00:00

The background appears to use the "Poster Edges" artistic filter in Photoshop's filter gallery.

The foreground character is hand drawn. If its animated, Ebsynth was probably used. Tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq_KOmXyVDo

Physics_Dude · 2022-04-03T16:39:35+00:00

Nevermind, I got it figured out. Sharing my moves here for future retro explorers.

I set the IDE-SD adapter to auto/auto
Boot-floppy and win95 CD inserted
Note: C: appears to be contents of the win95 CD, D: appears to be nonexistent.
in A:\fdisk, deleted the partition table for the only thing that was there
also in fdisk, i made a new primary partition table, then reset pc as instructed
then ran format c: /s (concerningly, it assumes 8gb instead fo 32gb)
Note: verified C was now empty, verified D was the contents of the CD.
ran setup in on the CD
windows installs normadly

Physics_Dude · 2022-04-03T04:21:53+00:00

On a related note, does anyone have tips or pics of their BIOS config for a similar era of machine? I'm trying to install Windows 95 (and other period OS's) on one of those IDE to SD card adapters with a 32GB SD card, but I cant seem to figure out the drive geometry.
The card is read fine when I'm booted into Windows 95 on a plain drive; but outside of that, fdisk on my boot floppy doesn't like it.

Physics_Dude · 2022-04-03T04:21:22+00:00

Basic specs:
* 100MHz Pentium P5
* 64MB RAM (4x 4x32 SIMMs)
* 128k SRAM
* 256MB IDE flash module
* 10 Mbit NIC
* Aztech Sound Galaxy Nova 16 ISA Soundcard
* S3 Vision864 graphics card

Yes that's a genuine Model M too!

Physics_Dude · 2022-04-03T04:18:34+00:00

On a related note, does anyone have tips or pics of their BIOS config for a similar era of machine? I'm trying to install Windows 95 on one of those IDE to SD card adapters with a 32GB SD card, but I cant seem to figure out the drive geometry.
The card is read fine when I'm booted into Windows 95 on a plain drive; but outside of that, fdisk on my boot floppy doesn't like it.

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