CDROMROM PROBLEMS

[alhucard]

hello pcengine-fx.com I am new, writing from Italy. I have two cdrom2 units with weird problems...

first one> has been found in a dead stock, never used but it doesn't work properly; when you press play the led number will appear but the cd does not spin, anyway....if I leave the power connected for like 5 minutes, it will work perfectly! then if I remove the power and reconnect it right away it won't work, I have to wait another 5 minutes. any clue on which part could be faulty? capacitors?

second one> this looks alomst mint too; it starts, cd spins but after a while it says SET CD on the screen...
some games will load though, like super darius, I can play one game but after the game over it will not be able to read the cd again, it just spins and make the same noise ripetitively...could it be the lens that has to be calibrated? or something else?
eventually I have one dead unit (already took the middle gear from it...) and also several sony discman to steal parts from.

[Alt-Nintega]

It is very possible that the caps might be bad. You have a black Duo or or the CD add-on?

[alhucard]

I am talking about the first (white) cdrom2, which capacitor should I change?

[nat]

second one> this looks alomst mint too; it starts, cd spins but after a while it says SET CD on the screen...
some games will load though, like super darius, I can play one game but after the game over it will not be able to read the cd again, it just spins and make the same noise ripetitively...could it be the lens that has to be calibrated? or something else?

The laser eye needs to be calibrated. Open the system up and adjust the pot on the side of the optical assembly until you get a constant read state and there is no high-pitched whine. It will be a trial and error process. Start by making small adjustments of 1/8th turn counterclockwise.

[alhucard]

second one> this looks alomst mint too; it starts, cd spins but after a while it says SET CD on the screen...
some games will load though, like super darius, I can play one game but after the game over it will not be able to read the cd again, it just spins and make the same noise ripetitively...could it be the lens that has to be calibrated? or something else?

The laser eye needs to be calibrated. Open the system up and adjust the pot on the side of the optical assembly until you get a constant read state and there is no high-pitched whine. It will be a trial and error process. Start by making small adjustments of 1/8th turn counterclockwise.

is this the one? should I see something moving? looks like there is some kind of factory glue under the metal plate...

/laserpotpb9.jpg

[nat]

No that is NOT the one.

It is on the side of laser eye itself. It is mounted on a vertical surface.

[alhucard]

The laser eye needs to be calibrated. Open the system up and adjust the pot on the side of the optical assembly until you get a constant read state and there is no high-pitched whine. It will be a trial and error process. Start by making small adjustments of 1/8th turn counterclockwise.

I turned it counterclockwise until I hear the high pitched noise, then I turned it back clockwise less than 1/8 several times but it won't read anything, what else could it be?

about the other unit, I swapped both the pcbs but I still have the same problem, if I keep it unconnected to the power for 20 minutes it won't work. then if I keep it connected for some minutes it will start. anyway it must be a problem in the optical assembly as well...