Duo, CD drive only works when top cover is off. Resolved!! Region switch

Keith Courage · 05/25/2012, 03:16 AM

This is the weirdest thing. I am working on a DUO where the CD drive only works when the top cover is off. At first I thought this was only an issue with CDRs but it also does the same with regular Discs. I have tired so many adjustments and also tried a new lens, capacitors etc... Has anyone ever encountered this before? CD lens just reads forever and won't load anything when the top is on. Remove the lid and it loads right away like there is nothing wrong.

Oh and to clarify. When I mean top I mean the entire DUO top cover. Not just the part that goes over the lens assembly.

Snow Crash · 05/25/2012, 04:48 PM

that certainly is odd. I've never had this with a console before and have never been inside a duo.

Things i can think of are: earth, stuff from this era has tons of probably un-necessary earth points, maybe something presses against one with the top on? If the screws have been in and out loads might be some damage next to one allowing a track to come into contact with a screw when in it is in. ( is it when the top is screwed down or just placed on btw?) Something having warped slightly either the board or the case. ( disc still spinning ok?) Trapped wires? bad feng-shui?

NecroPhile · 05/25/2012, 05:38 PM

Quote from: snow Crash on 05/25/2012, 04:48 PMbad feng-shui?

That's what I'd bet on.

turbokon · 05/25/2012, 07:08 PM

Yeah, checks for wires or anything that my be pushing up against it.

thesteve · 05/26/2012, 01:45 AM

i have seen it
it was a wire pinned on the drive shocks (rubber pieces)
it was pushing it off center causing it to bind.
try it with the lid up and cover on.

Keith Courage · 05/26/2012, 04:17 AM

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I finally found the issue after about 6 hours and it had to do with the region mod someone had installed prior. The way the wires were run was creating some kind of interference of some sort. There are definitely no bare spots on the wires used. If I move the wires to a different place above the board it works fine again.

Snow Crash · 05/26/2012, 06:16 AM

Good to hear! Just wondering if maybe the solder joints on those wires might've come a bit loose also?

Keith Courage · 05/30/2012, 06:52 PM

No loose wires at all. I even rewired it and the same thing happened. So to anyone putting in a 8pdt switch make sure to mount it closer to the power jack and not the CD drive assembly. The wires end up passing over something that causes issues over there.

pceslayer · 07/10/2012, 12:49 PM

Try taking off the plastic sled cover and closing it up.

Keith Courage · 07/10/2012, 02:50 PM

The problem wasn't the sled cover. It was actually the wires from the region switch causing interference with the CD drive itself somehow. When the lid was off the wires were held up and away from the motherboard. Here is a pic. The red is where the switch wires were originally run which gave the issues. I made a new hole and rerouted to the blue lines. Since I discovered the problem on that duo I have also come across two other Duos that had the same problem. So to anyone installing a 8DPT switch in a DUO make sure not to run the wires over the 3 Oki IC chips near the CD drive. I believe that is where the problem was.

tinypic.com/jh6734.jpg

Duo_R · 07/10/2012, 03:23 PM

That is strange never heard of that. But i normally put the switch near the AV port on Duos.

thesteve · 07/12/2012, 02:02 AM

i have seen that once
the issue was the wires were moving and interfering with the top cover where it contacts the rubber cd drive mounts