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Sony HB-10

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Sony HB-10
Sony HB-10P
HB-10P, the European version, with the Spanish keyboard layout (it has an Ñ key)
Specifications
ManufacturerSony
TypeMSX home computer
ReleasedLate 1985 (Japan); 1986 (Europe)[1]
Intro price¥34,800 (Japan); £89.00 (UK)[1]
CPUZ80A (NEC µPD780C-1 or Sharp LH0080A), 3.579545 MHz[2][3]
Memory16 KB (HB-10); 64 KB (HB-10B, HB-10D, HB-10P)[1]
StorageMSX cartridges, cassette[2]
DisplayTMS9118NL (HB-10); Toshiba T6950 (HB-10B, HB-10D, HB-10P); 16 KB video RAM[1]
SoundPSG inside the Yamaha S3527 MSX-Engine[1]
PowerExternal AC-HB1 series adaptor[4]
Dimensions384 × 65.5 × 237 mm (HB-10P/10B)[2]
WeightAbout 1.9 kg (HB-10P/10B)[2]
OS / Firmware—
Model no.HB-10, HB-10B, HB-10D, HB-10P

The Sony HB-10 is an MSX home computer that Sony sold in Japan from late 1985, and in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain from 1986 as the HB-10B, HB-10D and HB-10P. It was Sony's third series of MSX1 machines. It keeps the case style of the HB-101 and HB-201 but drops their built-in Personal Databank firmware and their pause and reset buttons.[1] The Japanese HB-10 was first shown at the Japan Electronics Show in October 1985 and was sold at ¥34,800 with a BASIC tutorial book and the Lode Runner cartridge.[5]

The HB-10 runs from an external AC adaptor that supplies both a DC and an AC output through a connector of Sony's own design, and the board makes its +5 V, +12 V and −12 V rails from those two outputs.[4][6]

Models

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HB-10 versions (MSX Resource Center)
Model Market Keyboard RAM Video chip Video and audio out Adaptor
HB-10 Japan QWERTY with kana 16 KB in slot 0 TMS9118NL RF, composite video and audio AC-HB1 (100 V)
HB-10B UK (also sold in the Arab Emirates) QWERTY with £ key 64 KB in slot 3 T6950 RF, 6-pin DIN AC-HB1B (240 V)
HB-10D Germany QWERTZ 64 KB in slot 3 T6950 RF, 6-pin DIN AC-HB1D (220 V)
HB-10P Netherlands, Spain QWERTY with £ key, or with Ñ key in Spain 64 KB in slot 3 T6950 RF, 6-pin DIN AC-HB1P (220 V)

[1][4] The Japanese HB-10 was made in red, black and pale grey; the European versions are black.[1] The HB-10B is the HB-10P with a 240 V adaptor.[7] The German HB-10D was also sold in the Netherlands in 1989, when the German company HSH cleared its remaining stock at ƒ349.[8]

Hardware

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The electronics are on one main board, the PU-37, and the keyboard connects to it by a flat cable.[9] Most of the MSX logic, the PSG sound generator and the input and output interfaces are inside the Yamaha S3527 MSX-Engine, so the board carries few other chips.[10]

The HB-10P/10B service manual lists these chips on the PU-37 board:[3]

  • IC8: Z80A, Sharp LH0080A or NEC µPD780C-1 CPU
  • IC15: Yamaha S-3527 MSX-Engine
  • IC5: Toshiba T6950 video controller
  • IC6 and IC7: MB81416 video RAM
  • IC10 and IC11: MB81464-12 main RAM
  • IC12: MSM38256-78RS MSX-BASIC ROM
  • IC1: µPC7805 (+5 V); IC19: µPC78L12 (+12 V); IC20: NJM79L12A (−12 V)

The Japanese HB-10 has the TMS9118NL video chip and 16 KB of RAM. Niga reports that the Japanese and PAL boards are the same design, with the parts that make the 64 KB version left out of the 16 KB machine.[10][1] The T6950 in the European versions does not support some undocumented features of the TMS9918 family.[1]

Power

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The AC-HB1 series adaptors all give DC 6 V at 900 mA and AC 16 V at 160 mA. The input voltage and mains plug vary with the market. Sony's AC-HB3 adaptor looks similar but has a different connector and different outputs and cannot be used in its place.[4] Inside the adaptor, the DC output comes from a centre-tapped winding through two RU-4A rectifiers and a 330 µF 25 V capacitor, and the AC output has its own winding and a 200 mA fuse.[11] In the computer the DC input passes through the operate switch to a 10,000 µF reservoir and a µPC7805 regulator for +5 V. The AC input is half-wave rectified twice, by D1 and D2 on the PU-37 board, to feed a µPC78L12 for +12 V and a µPC79L12 for −12 V.[6] Niga notes that the ±12 V rails go only to the cartridge slots.[10]

Known problems

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  • The 64 KB versions show part of their RAM in two slots at once (the port A8h mirror). Badly written software that keeps system variables in the mirror can crash. There is a typed workaround and a two-point board modification.[1]
  • The /RESET line to the cartridge slots passes through a diode with no pull-up. With a cartridge fitted it sits at about 3 V instead of 5 V, and cartridges with mappers, slot expanders or disk and SD interfaces misbehave.[12]
  • PSG chords distort because the mixing resistors are the wrong value.[12][10]
  • Niga's Japanese HB-10 gave no picture because its TMS9118NL had failed.[10]
  • The original AC-HB1 adaptor is hard to find, and its connector is proprietary.[4][10]

Details, measurements and fixes are in the Sony HB-10 Troubleshooting Guide.

Documentation

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  • Sony HB-10P and HB-10B Service Manual: Sony's 61-page service manual for the European versions and their adaptors, with schematics, board layouts, the clock adjustment and full parts lists. It does not cover the Japanese HB-10.

Repair guides

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For general advice on electrolytic capacitors see Capacitor Failure Symptoms.

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Sony HB-10, MSX Resource Center wiki—link(accessed 2026-10-21) Series page: model table (HB-10, HB-10B, HB-10D, HB-10P), year, prices, CPU, RAM, video chip, S3527 MSX-Engine, AC-HB1 adaptor, slot maps, connections, the port A8h RAM mirror and its fix, the 16 KB to 64 KB upgrade and the PSG resistor change.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sony, HB-10P/10B, AC-HB1P/HB1B Service Manual, part no. 9-975-599-01, 1985 (File:Sony HB-10P HB-10B Service Manual 9-975-599-01.pdf), specifications, page 1-16: Z-80A at 3.579545 MHz, 64 KB RAM, 16 KB video RAM, 32 KB MSX-BASIC ROM, T6950 video controller, 74 keys, power 220 V (HB-10P) or 240 V (HB-10B), 7 W for the main unit, 384 × 65.5 × 237 mm, about 1.9 kg.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sony, HB-10P/10B service manual (File:Sony HB-10P HB-10B Service Manual 9-975-599-01.pdf), IC supply table on page 5-10: reference numbers, types and +5 V, +12 V and ground pins of IC1 to IC20 on the PU-37 board.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Sony AC-HB1, MSX Resource Center wiki—link(accessed 2026-10-21) Adaptor versions by region (AC-HB1 Japan 100 V; AC-HB1B UK 240 V; AC-HB1D and AC-HB1P 220 V), proprietary connector, outputs DC 6 V 900 mA and AC 16 V 160 mA, not interchangeable with the AC-HB3.
  5. ↑ Sony HB-10, MSX Resource Center wiki—link(accessed 2026-10-21) Japanese model: first shown at the Japan Electronics Show '85 (17 to 22 October), AC-HB1 adaptor, bundled BASIC book and Lode Runner, ¥34,800; localised versions.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sony, HB-10P/10B service manual (File:Sony HB-10P HB-10B Service Manual 9-975-599-01.pdf), PU-37 schematic, page 5-12: inlet CN11 (DC IN, AC IN, GND), operate switch S901, C1 10000 µF 25 V and IC1 µPC7805 for +5 V; D2 (10E2), C4 220 µF 35 V and IC19 µPC78L12 for +12 V; D1 (10E2), C3 220 µF 35 V and IC20 µPC79L12 for −12 V; C28, C35, C29 and C30 on the outputs.
  7. ↑ Sony HB-10B, MSX Resource Center wiki—link(accessed 2026-10-21) UK version: same as the HB-10P apart from the AC-HB1B adaptor (240 V input); £89.00; also sold in the Arab Emirates.
  8. ↑ Sony HB-10D, MSX Resource Center wiki—link(accessed 2026-10-21) German version with QWERTZ keyboard; remaining stock sold in the Netherlands by HSH in 1989 for ƒ349; AC-HB1D adaptor.
  9. ↑ Sony, HB-10P/10B service manual (File:Sony HB-10P HB-10B Service Manual 9-975-599-01.pdf), disassembly, pages 2-1 and 2-2: five case screws, the keyboard tape cable, the shield plate (three screws), nine screws on the PU-37 board, connector CN2, the screw holding IC1, and six plus 21 screws for the keyboard unit.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 SONY HB-10の補修と改造– Niga, にがMSX—link(accessed 2026-10-21) Repair and modification of a Japanese HB-10: S3527 MSX-Engine, µPD780C-1, 16 KB RAM, TMS9118NL; no-picture fault traced to the TMS9118NL; system ROM pin 1 is an active-low chip select; 64 KB upgrade parts (C43 390 pF, C53 100 pF, R62 47 kΩ, Q4 NPN, R61 moved from N to P); RAM mirror fix; /RESET diode; PSG level fix with R15 and R22 and measured waveforms; the original adaptor is hard to find and the FS-A1 adaptor does not fit.
  11. ↑ Sony, HB-10P/10B service manual (File:Sony HB-10P HB-10B Service Manual 9-975-599-01.pdf), AC adaptor schematic on page 5-17 and parts list on page 7-9: T1 with a 133 °C thermal fuse, F1 and F2 T1.25A 250 V, F3 T200mA 250 V, D1 and D2 RU-4A, C1 330 µF 25 V, C2 0.33 µF film, C3 and C4 0.022 µF.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sony HB10 / HB20 Hardware issue + fix, MSX Resource Center forum, 11 March 2017 to 30 May 2020—link(accessed 2026-10-21) ericb59: /RESET at 5 V without a cartridge and 3 V with one, fix with a 4.7 kΩ pull-up; sd_snatcher: replace the diode (D22 on his HB-10) with 100 Ω, which also removed video noise on his HB-10; R22 is 10 kΩ where 1 kΩ is needed, causing PSG distortion, with R15 then changed to 4.7 kΩ; fragile tracks; thermal paste on the 7805; ericb59: port A8h fix on the HB-20 by lifting pin 9 of the 74LS08 and adding 4.7 kΩ to pin 14.


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