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Fujitsu FM Towns Marty

The first 32-bit games console (February 1993, Japan): it's an FM Towns repackaged as a console, with a built-in CD-ROM drive — released before the 3DO and the PlayStation. 386SX based, compatible with part of the FM Towns library on CD. Repair: CD drive, battery, recap.

FM Towns Marty

FM Towns Marty — photo by Evan-Amos, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).

Identification

Model Year Note
FM Towns Marty (FMT-Marty) 1993 CD console, 386SX @ 16 MHz, 2 MB RAM
Marty 2 1993 revision (case/price), same specs
Car Marty 1994 in-car variant (navigation) — a curiosity
  • CPU: Intel 386SX; sound FM (YM2612) + PCM (RF5C68); hardware sprites.
  • Media: CD-ROM + a 3.5″ floppy slot (external/optional per config) + cards.
  • RGB output (SCART possible) — crisp as-is.

Repair (technician)

  • CD-ROM drive: loading belt, aging laser → optical clean; an ODE alternative for preservation (see ODE mods).
  • Recap: PSU and board electrolytics → Recap.
  • Battery (CMOS/RTC) that leaks → remove/replace, repair traces → backup batteries.
  • Controllers / connectors: contacts, cables.

Common faults

Symptom Likely cause Lead
CD not read belt / laser Optical clean, belt, ODE
Instability PSU/board caps Recap
Wrong clock / corrosion CMOS battery Remove, repair traces
No picture RGB / PSU Check RGB cable, recap

Procedure — a dead console, step by step ✅

What this adds

Ordered for a console, not for an arcade board: what kills these is almost never the CPU. It is, in real order, the power supply, the capacitors, the drive or the cartridge slot, and only then the logic. → PCB diagnosis

1. The power supply. Two cases, depending on the machine. External brick: ⚠️ read the marking on the machine, next to the socket, and check the adapter against it — voltage and polarity. A centre-negative machine fed centre-positive loses its fuse, sometimes its regulator; do not trust a third-party label or a generic tip. Internal supply (the machine plugs straight into the wall): mains is inside the shell. Unplug, wait, and confirm the large capacitors are discharged before touching the board. Either way, measure under load: a failing supply holds its voltage until it is asked for current.

2. The fuse. Many of these machines have one right behind the socket — it is the part designed to die. Test it in continuity, out of circuit. A fuse that blows again is a short, not a fuse problem.

3. Capacitors. On most machines of this age this is the default suspect rather than a last resort — leaking SMD electrolytics eat the tracks underneath before they give any other sign. ⚠️ Not all of them are like that: some carry very few and are not recapped on principle. Read what this page says about it before reaching for the iron. → Recap

4. The drive. On this machine it is the dominant failure point. In order: does the tray move, does the disc spin, is the lens clean (cotton bud, isopropyl alcohol, no pressure), do the rails slide freely. A laser that no longer reads gets replaced; the gain pot is not something to tweak blind — that is the move that finishes off a laser that was still good.

5. Video output. Isolate the machine from the display: another cable, another TV, another input. A sizeable share of "dead consoles" are a dead cable, or a display that will not lock onto what this machine outputs — see the video section of this page for what that is.

6. Still nothing. Now, and only now, the logic: rails on the board, reset, clock, bus. → PCB diagnosis

Modernisation & mods — what to buy, how

  • CD → ODE 🟡: an optical-drive emulator (images from SD/USB) → removes the tired laser/belt; image your CDs while they still read. FM Towns solutions (the Marty shares the architecture) transpose. → ODE mods.
  • Native RGB video 🟢: the Marty already outputs RGB → SCART cable then OSSC / RetroTINK or RGB2HDMI for crisp HDMI. No internal mod.
  • External floppy: the Marty also handles floppy (FM Towns compat) → a Gotek / HxC (drive emulator, images from USB/SD) replaces a dead drive.
  • RTC battery 🟡: replace with lithium + diode (no recharge) to avoid leakage; preventive recap of power/audio stages.

⚠️ Do not host games/BIOS — method only.

See also

Sources & attribution

Review & corrections

How this space is used

Spotted a wrong value, an outdated procedure, a chip reference that does not match your board? Say so here, with what you observed (model, board revision, serial number, measurement). Every report is cross-checked against a source before anything changes — an unverifiable correction is published as “reported by …, not cross-checked” rather than silently applied.

Reading is open to everyone; posting requires signing in with Discord. Reports from the wiki's declared reviewers are handled first; anyone else's are read too, but go through a human before anything is changed.