@RetroRepair When you turn on the sega cd it asks you to put in a cd. So I put in the cd. It begins to spin the cd for a few seconds but then stops. Though on a rare occasion it will keep spinning the cd but won't do anything. The sega cd acts like I didn't put a cd in at all. The motor that moves the lens across the cd seems to work and the lens bobs up and down. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
@communistrecords It sounds like the laser is on the way out. If you check my Saturn laser repair video, that should give you an idea of how you might be able to get a bit more life out of your Sega CD.
@RetroRepair Darn. Speaking of the laser, would the dial that controls the lasers strength be directly on the laser's board or can it be located in other places?
@communistrecords Looking around it seems there should be three pots to adjust. Only make VERY small adjustments to the right pot as this is the laser power. Make sure you have the right pot before you start making adjustments though as you can outright kill it if you are not careful. Always make a note of where you started and if possible mark it so you can put it back if nessecary. Before all of this though it's an idea to try a cd lens cleaner, you may just have a dirty lens
And the PSX locking mech has the issue that it falls apart after N disc swaps.. people that used AR carts to play imports/copies will know what I mean.. neither mech is better than the other.
@donpalmera I'd say the PSX spindle is much better, you must be talking about the ceramic based spindle which didn't hold up too well but then even that would work for years if you didn't yank discs off it mid spin. Later models used plastic/metal spindles which were much more durable.
@RetroRepair I had to google up a picture of the 900x mech to confirm it's the crappy thing with captive ball bearings. I've seen 900x assemblies with a captive ball bearing missing.. spring loaded plastic retainers ala all modern laptop cd drives are better. If you replaced the rubber ring in the CD32 mech with one from a dead CDROM it would have solved it ;).
@donpalmera Never seen that myself but I'll take your word for it. I'm happy with this anyway. I still recon it's better than the lid mech though. I actually don't have any other spare drive with that rubber gromit in, they are all the clip type so it was a no brainer.
If you do the PS1 mod and open the drive door while the PS1 is spinning the disk you will see the disk wobbles like this in the PS1 as well, must be something todo with the spindle, the Sega Saturn does the same as well.
@kreeddem I actually think they are suppose to slightly wobble because the way CDs are read depends on several conditions, I knew how it worked once upon a time. I did bend the spindle shaft slightly though ^_^
Nice to keep in mind, thanks for the video! I'm still hoping to get one of these someday, but being in the US it's a bit of a pain. I have the PAL video issue sorted out, just need to source a system... and hope that its disc drive works :)
Great idea! I was looking at an Amiga CD32 on ebay not that long ago. It had a disc read error just like yours. I might have gone for it if I'd seen this video!
@RetroGameTech No problem man, CD units can have all sorts of problems both mechanical and electrical. Spares for these things are pretty common anyway and there's not much to them. I'd just grab an untested one! Great channel you got there btw -_^
I saw one of these today for $70. I still can't believe how long these old CD based system have lasted, but that's because things were built better in the 90's unlike today. They are also easier to fix. Great job man!
@KITT171 Too true man, things are a bit too compicated these days unless they have a simple issue. Take the 360 for example. Most "repairs" on those are more like voodoo magic and wishful thinking!
Great video! I live in the States, but I'd love to own a CD32 if I could get a Commodore monitor that accepts PAL video signals, and any power converters/stepdown converters.
@dave4shmups Actually, you can use a normal Amiga PSU with a 4 pin DIN on the end or any PSU that gives you 5v and 12v at the right amperage. The video might be an issue for you though since though you can hold a mouse button on startup to select 50/60hz, your TV still might have an issue as it won't be true NTSC.
@RetroRepair you need -5v too otherwise you will get really shitty sound.. unless the CD32 uses a different power brick to all of the desktops. The PAL/NTSC select thing in kickstart 3 machine doesn't fix everything for NTSC users AFAIK..
@RetroRepair yup. It appears that the CD32 only needs 5v/12v. Learn something every day... I guess the best (but expensive) option for NTSC region people is to get an Indivision for the CD32. But you might as well get an A4000 at the same time with that route.
Second time the charm :) Very nice fix. Just have to remember some of the PS1 models have ceramic disk on the base of the spindle which is really REALLY brittle to take off. Noticed this when my old PS1 had lost 2 out of the 3 metallic balls that clip the disk on place and I had to pry the old spindle off to replace it.
@Polaventris Yes this is very true, I had this happen back in the day to me as well. Probably because I disc swapped a lot! I guess it's no real loss if you break one though, there's plenty out there and any portable CD player will have the same spindle.
You wouldn't happen to know how to fix a model 1 sega cd would you?
communistrecords 3 weeks ago
@communistrecords It depends on the fault? What's wrong with it exactly?
RetroRepair 3 weeks ago
@RetroRepair When you turn on the sega cd it asks you to put in a cd. So I put in the cd. It begins to spin the cd for a few seconds but then stops. Though on a rare occasion it will keep spinning the cd but won't do anything. The sega cd acts like I didn't put a cd in at all. The motor that moves the lens across the cd seems to work and the lens bobs up and down. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
communistrecords 3 weeks ago
@communistrecords It sounds like the laser is on the way out. If you check my Saturn laser repair video, that should give you an idea of how you might be able to get a bit more life out of your Sega CD.
RetroRepair 2 weeks ago
@RetroRepair Darn. Speaking of the laser, would the dial that controls the lasers strength be directly on the laser's board or can it be located in other places?
communistrecords 2 weeks ago
@communistrecords Looking around it seems there should be three pots to adjust. Only make VERY small adjustments to the right pot as this is the laser power. Make sure you have the right pot before you start making adjustments though as you can outright kill it if you are not careful. Always make a note of where you started and if possible mark it so you can put it back if nessecary. Before all of this though it's an idea to try a cd lens cleaner, you may just have a dirty lens
RetroRepair 2 weeks ago
Clever stuff dude nice job, who minds it being a bit bent!
futurematt5 1 month ago
@futurematt5 If it works, screw it!
RetroRepair 1 month ago
lookin good there man, Ive done this as well to avoid that whole top meets bottom garbage. works really well especially on pce duos as well :)
lukemorse1 1 month ago
@lukemorse1 Yeah I recon it'd work for just about any top loader. Does the PCE Duo have this problem too then?
RetroRepair 1 month ago
@lukemorse1
And the PSX locking mech has the issue that it falls apart after N disc swaps.. people that used AR carts to play imports/copies will know what I mean.. neither mech is better than the other.
donpalmera 1 month ago
@donpalmera I'd say the PSX spindle is much better, you must be talking about the ceramic based spindle which didn't hold up too well but then even that would work for years if you didn't yank discs off it mid spin. Later models used plastic/metal spindles which were much more durable.
RetroRepair 1 month ago
@RetroRepair I had to google up a picture of the 900x mech to confirm it's the crappy thing with captive ball bearings. I've seen 900x assemblies with a captive ball bearing missing.. spring loaded plastic retainers ala all modern laptop cd drives are better. If you replaced the rubber ring in the CD32 mech with one from a dead CDROM it would have solved it ;).
donpalmera 1 month ago
@donpalmera Never seen that myself but I'll take your word for it. I'm happy with this anyway. I still recon it's better than the lid mech though. I actually don't have any other spare drive with that rubber gromit in, they are all the clip type so it was a no brainer.
RetroRepair 1 month ago
If you do the PS1 mod and open the drive door while the PS1 is spinning the disk you will see the disk wobbles like this in the PS1 as well, must be something todo with the spindle, the Sega Saturn does the same as well.
kreeddem 1 month ago
@kreeddem I actually think they are suppose to slightly wobble because the way CDs are read depends on several conditions, I knew how it worked once upon a time. I did bend the spindle shaft slightly though ^_^
RetroRepair 1 month ago
Nice to keep in mind, thanks for the video! I'm still hoping to get one of these someday, but being in the US it's a bit of a pain. I have the PAL video issue sorted out, just need to source a system... and hope that its disc drive works :)
phreakindee 1 month ago
@phreakindee
Get an A4000 or an A1200.. basically the same machine.. and if you have a CD-ROM you can run CD32 games anyhow.
donpalmera 1 month ago
@donpalmera +1
RetroRepair 1 month ago
Great idea! I was looking at an Amiga CD32 on ebay not that long ago. It had a disc read error just like yours. I might have gone for it if I'd seen this video!
Thanks for sharing.
RetroGameTech 1 month ago
@RetroGameTech No problem man, CD units can have all sorts of problems both mechanical and electrical. Spares for these things are pretty common anyway and there's not much to them. I'd just grab an untested one! Great channel you got there btw -_^
RetroRepair 1 month ago
I saw one of these today for $70. I still can't believe how long these old CD based system have lasted, but that's because things were built better in the 90's unlike today. They are also easier to fix. Great job man!
KITT171 1 month ago
@KITT171
>but that's because things were built better in the 90's unlike today.
I had my Amigas replaced quite a few times under warranty "back in the day". Nostalgia tinted glasses?
donpalmera 1 month ago
@KITT171 Too true man, things are a bit too compicated these days unless they have a simple issue. Take the 360 for example. Most "repairs" on those are more like voodoo magic and wishful thinking!
RetroRepair 1 month ago
Great video! I live in the States, but I'd love to own a CD32 if I could get a Commodore monitor that accepts PAL video signals, and any power converters/stepdown converters.
dave4shmups 1 month ago
@dave4shmups Actually, you can use a normal Amiga PSU with a 4 pin DIN on the end or any PSU that gives you 5v and 12v at the right amperage. The video might be an issue for you though since though you can hold a mouse button on startup to select 50/60hz, your TV still might have an issue as it won't be true NTSC.
RetroRepair 1 month ago
@RetroRepair What do you mean by PSU??
dave4shmups 1 month ago
@dave4shmups Power Supply Unit
RetroRepair 1 month ago
@RetroRepair you need -5v too otherwise you will get really shitty sound.. unless the CD32 uses a different power brick to all of the desktops. The PAL/NTSC select thing in kickstart 3 machine doesn't fix everything for NTSC users AFAIK..
donpalmera 1 month ago
@donpalmera CD32 doesn't use -5v. You are right though, as I said above, it won't give you true NTSC, just 60hz.
RetroRepair 1 month ago
@RetroRepair yup. It appears that the CD32 only needs 5v/12v. Learn something every day... I guess the best (but expensive) option for NTSC region people is to get an Indivision for the CD32. But you might as well get an A4000 at the same time with that route.
donpalmera 1 month ago
Wow, I would never have thought of doing that! :o)
RetroGamerVX 1 month ago
@RetroGamerVX Thanks mate!
RetroRepair 1 month ago
exelent video :-)
cor1128 1 month ago
@cor1128 Thanks mate ^_^
RetroRepair 1 month ago
Love the intro ; )
BerserkOdin 1 month ago
@BerserkOdin haha thanks man -_^ Might have to hit you up for some channel artwork if you get some free time!
RetroRepair 1 month ago
@RetroRepair Sounds good bro,i ll let you know.
BerserkOdin 1 month ago
@BerserkOdin Awesome!
RetroRepair 1 month ago
awsome video just got a cd32 it works fine but just in case theres your video.
2009kenji82 1 month ago
@2009kenji82 Thanks and congrats on buying an awesome system -_^
RetroRepair 1 month ago
Second time the charm :) Very nice fix. Just have to remember some of the PS1 models have ceramic disk on the base of the spindle which is really REALLY brittle to take off. Noticed this when my old PS1 had lost 2 out of the 3 metallic balls that clip the disk on place and I had to pry the old spindle off to replace it.
Polaventris 1 month ago
@Polaventris Yes this is very true, I had this happen back in the day to me as well. Probably because I disc swapped a lot! I guess it's no real loss if you break one though, there's plenty out there and any portable CD player will have the same spindle.
RetroRepair 1 month ago