PC Engine Duo-R cd problem

[sniper]

Could someone please help me out with a Duo-R problem? I'd really appreciate it, super excited to potentially get this working!

So, I've got a doujindance Duo-R that plays HuCards perfectly, but won't even play an audio cd. Oddly, it played an audio cd the day I got it, but then the cd part of the console went unused until I just got my first cd-based game a week or so ago, which it wouldn't and won't play. I hadn't even so much as opened the system up in the interim, no idea why it would play an audio cd a couple of months ago and won't now.

So tonight I've been tweaking the VR102 pot, and I got the cd so that it was spinning brilliantly, but still wouldn't actually recognize my audio cd. I moved on to the VR101 pot per this awesome guide, and now I can't get the darned thing to spin the disc at all, even when I set VR101 back to its original position.

Did I kill the laser or something?? If I take the disc off I can see a red light coming out of the laser, so it appears to still be alive. Anyone have any ideas on what I should try next?

EDIT: I just walked back over to it after taking a 15 minute break, and now it spins the disc again. I wonder if temperature had something to do with it, or if it was just a coincidence? I guess I'll just continue tweaking

[Bernie]

doujindance has really been slipping lately....

[sniper]

Still tweaking... I'm really thankful he provides the service that he does, but I paid good money for the unit, it's too bad he couldn't have had this calibrated correctly. Judging from some other posters here, it does sound like his quality is slipping. Maybe I should have bought from someone else.

In his defence, it did play an audio cd the day I got it. But I'm starting to think that was just a fluke-- had I tried it a second time that day I bet it wouldn't have worked.

[Bernie]

If you cannot get it right, someone here can.  I wouldn't worry about it.  But the money I know you paid for the unit....yeah, I'd be less than happy.

[bishopcruz]

Second time I have seen this happen. Irish Ninja is STILL having problems with his.

[sniper]

Thanks for the reassurance! If I can't get it going I'll gladly pay someone to help me out, it's really cool that an awesome community like this exists for the PC Engine.

I can get why people are so passionate about the platform; I've two HuCard games so far-- Alien Crush and Legendary Axe-- and I've played them to death the past few months. If only I can get this copy of Ys Book I & II going... 

[sniper]

Still no luck... starting to wonder if this is even a pots issue... disc is spinning great, laser is alive, but it just can not recognize any audio cd or my game ("please set disc!").

Could my power be too weak? It's 9 volts, 1 amp-- maybe it needs more than one amp to work correctly? And the cd looks a little wobbly while it's spinning, almost like car wheels that are slightly out of balance... maybe that's causing a problem?

Wish I had a working one of these sitting right next to it so I could compare behavior. Also wish I had a multimeter, and knew how to actually use one-- I'm just fumbling in the dark at the moment.

[Bernie]

I'd send it off to one of our guys...before it gets worse.  I'd also contact that dooodooo dance, and see if he will give some sort of partial refund.  Its not worth sending it all the way back, costs too damn much.  If he wont, negative his ass.

[sniper]

That's good advice; I've given up, at least for tonight, I'm a little out of my depth here with all of this pot adjustment business. Any recommendations on a specific person to PM for help?

I am also going to contact doujindance and see what he says; I bought this from him so I wouldn't have to spend entire nights like this one screwing around.

[Bernie]

thesteve seems to be on top of weird issues like this.  There is also BlueBMW, kieth courage, turbokon, and a few others.

[thesteve]

Start by cleaning the lens (i expect you did)
Next check the cables to the laser (loose plugs, broken wires)
Start drive
Laser sled should move to spindle then lens should light and bob 2

[ApolloBoy]

Could my power be too weak? It's 9 volts, 1 amp-- maybe it needs more than one amp to work correctly?

The original PSU puts out 1A so that's not the issue.

[Fidde_se]

Sometimes when one of the voltage regulators start to give up, yes it's unusual, but it can start to show missing fragments in the graphics (parts of digital static in color), never seen it take over the picture totally but partly, starting when the regulator goes under 4.6V, it could be worth a check.

The Duo has two of them, and while many circuits can run lower then 5v, not much but a little, big parts of it can still be operable, ram circuits usually don't tend to like it.

middle leg ground, the other is in and the other is out, and out should always be 5V (+/- 0.1v max).
(7805)

[sniper]

Thanks for the suggestions! Here are my findings:

Start by cleaning the lens

That was the very first thing I did, before I even opened the case or anything. No effect.

Next check the cables to the laser

Good idea; cables look ok though, all connected, no obvious issues.

Laser sled should move to spindle then lens should light and bob

So here is what happens with the way I have things adjusted right now:

1) I put the disc on the spindle, magnet on top of it
2) I hit the "Run" button on the controller
3) The cd spins gently. As it does so, the laser sled moves to the spindle and the lens bobs up and down, making a "click" sound as it does so
4) The cd starts to spin more quickly until it's going at a fair clip
5) The cd continues to spin, and spin, and spin, for a good, full ten seconds or so. The laser doesn't appear to be doing anything during this time period-- or at least, the sled isn't moving or anything
6) Finally, the lens bobs up and down again-- "Click!"--, the cd spins down completely, and the screen says "Please check disc!"

The original PSU puts out 1A so that's not the issue.

Cool, so I'm on the right path with the power. Only thing that occurred to me was that maybe the actual output from either my wall socket or the Radio Shack power supply was less than 1 amp... one other thread on this forum had a guy with a problem like mine, and it worked in someone else's house but not his own. I doubt this is my problem, but I haven't abandoned the theory either.

[Fidde_se]

Sometimes when one of the voltage regulators start to give up, yes it's unusual, but it can start to show missing fragments in the graphics (parts of digital static in color), never seen it take over the picture totally but partly, starting when the regulator goes under 4.6V, it could be worth a check.

The Duo has two of them, and while many circuits can run lower then 5v, not much but a little, big parts of it can still be operable, ram circuits usually don't tend to like it.

middle leg ground, the other is in and the other is out, and out should always be 5V (+/- 0.1v max).
(7805)

Answered the wrong question here... ... =|

[thesteve]

Forgot to say without disc 2

[sniper]

Forgot to say without disc

Oh, right! So, if I don't have a disc on the spindle and hit the "Run" button, the laser moves to the spindle, bobs up and down once or twice, and... that's it. I can see a red light coming out of the lens during this process, which then shuts off once it realizes there's no disc there.

[thesteve]

Perfect
Now you know the motors work and logic is right
Folow pot adjustment thread
If it doesn't adjust easily try again after slightly adjusting the pot on the laser 2

[Keith Courage]

It really sounds like the adjustment is off or the lens is dying.

[sniper]

If it doesn't adjust easily try again after slightly adjusting the pot on the laser

Cool, although is that a different pot than the other four (101, 102, 103, and 105)? Or are you talking about 102, which I think is related to the laser?

I vaguely remember there being something that looked like a pot on the side of the laser sled itself... I think it was white.

Just want to make sure so I don't make my problems worse

[sniper]

There is a pot on the laser sled-- a gray one-- and it was turned down way too low. Now the laser attempts to read all the way across my audio cd, from the spindle out, only to get to the very outer rim of the disc and then fail.

Keith Courage offered to try his hand at fixing mine, and I'm just going to take him up on the offer at this point; I've already sunk a good six or seven hours into this and still don't have it working.

Thanks to everyone who has given me troubleshooting advice!

[thesteve]

thats the one
it should only need adjustment once as its an autocal function

[sniper]

Thanks to Keith Courage, my Duo-R is now totally, 100% functional! Played some Ys Book I & II tonight, not so much as a hint of problems. And if anyone is curious, doujindance was very nice about giving me a partial refund to cover the repairs.

Thanks Keith Courage!!