Fujitsu FM Towns (& FM Towns Marty)¶
The first consumer computer with a built-in CD-ROM drive (1989): a 386 base, hardware sprites and FM + PCM sound → impressive arcade ports (After Burner, Galaxy Force). Spun off as a console, the FM Towns Marty (1993). Repair: CD drive, recap, battery.
FM Towns (à gauche) et X68000 — photo by htomari, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
Identification / models¶
| Model | Year | CPU | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| FM Towns Model 1 / 2 | 1989 | 386 @ 16 MHz | built-in CD-ROM (a consumer first) |
| FM Towns II (UX/CX/HR/MX…) | 1991-93 | 386/486 | faster iterations |
| FM Towns Marty | 1993 | 386SX | console (FM Towns base) → CD games |
Architecture¶
- 386 CPU (486 on later IIs); hardware sprites + planes; YM2612 (FM) + PCM (RF5C68) sound — close to arcade sound.
- Built-in CD-ROM (caddy type) + a 3.5″ floppy drive.
Repair (technician)¶
- CD-ROM drive: caddy mechanism, loading belt, ageing laser → optical cleaning; an ODE alternative for preservation (see ODE mods).
- Recap: PSU and board electrolytics → Recap.
- Battery (CMOS/RTC) leaking → remove/replace, repair traces → backup batteries.
- 3.5″ floppy drive: mechanism → clean / Gotek.
- Marty: a console → same points (CD, recap, battery) + controllers/connectors.
Common faults¶
| Symptom | Likely cause | Lead |
|---|---|---|
| CD not read | belt / laser / caddy | Clean optics, belt, ODE |
| Instability / crashes | PSU/board caps | Recap |
| Wrong clock / corrosion | CMOS battery | Remove, repair traces |
| Floppy not read | 3.5″ mechanism | Clean / Gotek |
Modernisation & mods — what to buy, how¶
Leaking RTC battery + recap
Remove/replace the RTC battery (it leaks and eats the board) → lithium + diode (no recharge), clean/repair traces. Recap the PSU and board. (The Marty shares these points.)
Modern storage
- CD → ODE 🟡: an optical emulator replacing the caddy CD drive (aging laser/belt) → images from
SD/USB. → ODE mods.
- SCSI → BlueSCSI / SCSI2SD 🟢: FM Towns with SCSI accept an SD card as a SCSI disk.
- 3.5″ floppy → Gotek + FlashFloppy 🟡 (.bin/.d88 images).
Video - RGB output switchable 15/31 kHz per software 🟢 → SCART/VGA then OSSC / RetroTINK or RGB2HDMI for crisp digital.
⚠️ Do not host games/BIOS — method only.
See also¶
- Sharp X68000 · NEC PC-88/98 · ODE mods · Recap.
Sources & attribution¶
- Photo FM Towns (à gauche) et X68000 — htomari, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FM-TOWNS_and_X68000.jpg
- Wikipedia — FM Towns (386, built-in CD-ROM, sprites, YM2612+PCM, Marty) — CC-BY-SA — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_Towns
- Established FM Towns community knowledge (CD caddy, recap, CMOS battery) — synthesis.
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.