Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

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szabo
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Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by szabo » Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:06 am

Hello there. This forum is awesome! :)

I have a GC (DOL-001) that had its laser replaced because it was weak, I didn't want to stress it a lot, so when it stopped reading discs and the pot was @ 150 Ohms I decided to replace it for a new laser unit, specially because the old laser was very used and according to the guys on TehSkeen (good ole days), it could damage some circuits if you set it to less than 130 Ohms or something.

The new laser was working wonders, at first it was able to read bad quality DVD-Rs @ 450 Ohms with no problems whatsoever (fast as hell), then it stopped reading some discs but I suspect it was because the recording became weak due after some years, because the newer recordings worked perfectly, so I reduced the resistance to 360 ohms and after that it never had a single DRE and was very fast.

However, suddenly it simply stopped working, no matter the resistance of the pot... I've tried booting originals and still didn't work, then I removed the Qoob SX (incl. the solders because thought that bridge could affect something) and it still won't boot. The laser tries to find the disc (tries to focus) but it doesn't, so the disc never spins. I'm sure the disc motor is working perfectly as well as the laser motor.

I don't think the new laser would die while the pot resistance was so high, I know that it tends to die when the resistance is below 200 Ohms, and even though it's very rare, in most cases it stops working for other reasons like lens scratches or dust inside the lens, I never heard of a laser burning in those conditions, especially because it was quite new (no more than 1k hours).

Also, another clue that the problem is somewhere else is that sometimes some random error would appear on screen (beside the 'media not found"), the Qoob SX reported either "DRIVE NOT SUPPORTED" or "CHECK LID SWITCH WIRE", what's ridiculous because the wires were bridged (open case). After removing the Qoob, sometimes the official BIOS also returns an error now and then (an error occurred, turn off and check the booklet, etc.). The behaviour is not predictable so I thought it was a simple case of bad contact (I was suspecting the socket that connects the drive to the mobo could be the problem), but after testing exhaustively, I don't think it is the case.

Now I have a 'stock' GC, and it's not able to read original discs, not even when tweaking the pot to 140 ohms, and none of the lasers read the discs (the old one was reading the originals perfectly @ 250 ohms).

I need some help to figure what could be the problem. I'm sure it's not the motors and I'm almost sure it's not the lasers also. I also think the problem is located in the drive part, because no errors appears when it is removed completely and the behaviour is consistent. But I could be wrong of course.

If it's the laser, then unfortunately they don't sell them in my area any longer and I don't have $ atm for international purchases :(.

Also, I know I should make a thread for every subject but lemme ask two other small thing here:

1-The GC controller is possibly the best I've ever used. I really like it a lot (it's much more comfortable compared to the DualShock2), but the thumbsticks are not durable. They are 'loose' on my controller and I don't have the $ to buy a new one. I wonder if there's some way to fix that problem, since it's simply wear due abrasions afaik, perhaps there is some way to 'build' the worn pieces from widely available and cheap materials (plastic/metal sheet). Any ideas?

2-Is there an alternative for the disc reader? Perhaps it's possible to use another more durable laser? (I know it's possible to use the Wii one but it only reads originals afaik and I don't know if it's reliable). Or perhaps there's some kind of disk drive emulator out there that supports audio streaming nowadays? (I really need audio streaming).

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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megalomaniac
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by megalomaniac » Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:20 am

szabo wrote:Hello there. This forum is awesome! :)

I have a GC (DOL-001) that had its laser replaced because it was weak, I didn't want to stress it a lot, so when it stopped reading discs and the pot was @ 150 Ohms I decided to replace it for a new laser unit, specially because the old laser was very used and according to the guys on TehSkeen (good ole days), it could damage some circuits if you set it to less than 130 Ohms or something.
nonsense....
you can run it at 50 ohm or 0 ohm...



those china replacements dont last long
ive had a few people contact me telling me stories on how their new laser died within a few days or within a few weeks...
you would have better luck finding an original GC laser that will last longer than those cheap replacement lasers....


if you want to get rid of DVD drive forever use a WKF/WASP drive replacement modchip...
you can even connect a GC or Wii DVD drive to it and still retain ability to use a DVD whenever you wish...
the main advantage is you can decrease your laser use and only use it when you need it...
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szabo
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by szabo » Sun Apr 12, 2015 1:33 pm

megalomaniac wrote:
szabo wrote:Hello there. This forum is awesome! :)

I have a GC (DOL-001) that had its laser replaced because it was weak, I didn't want to stress it a lot, so when it stopped reading discs and the pot was @ 150 Ohms I decided to replace it for a new laser unit, specially because the old laser was very used and according to the guys on TehSkeen (good ole days), it could damage some circuits if you set it to less than 130 Ohms or something.
nonsense....
you can run it at 50 ohm or 0 ohm...



those china replacements dont last long
ive had a few people contact me telling me stories on how their new laser died within a few days or within a few weeks...
you would have better luck finding an original GC laser that will last longer than those cheap replacement lasers....


if you want to get rid of DVD drive forever use a WKF/WASP drive replacement modchip...
you can even connect a GC or Wii DVD drive to it and still retain ability to use a DVD whenever you wish...
the main advantage is you can decrease your laser use and only use it when you need it...
Thank you!

How do I know if the new laser is made in china?

Also, I'm not 100% sure the problem is the laser because the old laser was reading originals quite well when I replaced it, but now it won't read them no matter what. Also there is the inconsistent behaviour (random errors).

I would love to get rid of the DVD forever. That would be awesome. However, atm there's no solution I know of that has audiostreaming. I think the best option I have would be to go for a Wii and something like Nintendont/Devolution. I heard bad things about Nintendont though (specially the delay thing) and also I don't like the fact that you have to insert originals for Devolution to work... I have some backups from friends here and it's gonna be a pain to ask them for originals, not to say that you can't compress the file AND it seems some versions 'break' the file checking so you have to re-insert all originals again. I don't know if Devolution will ever overcome such limitation because if it was easy the developer surely would have done it already.
DerGali
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by DerGali » Sun Apr 12, 2015 1:44 pm

Wait Until emu_kidid Release the New swiss Version which includes audiostreaming Support. he showed it in a youtube Video in the swiss thread.
novenary
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by novenary » Sun Apr 12, 2015 1:47 pm

Swiss has software audio streaming support in development.

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szabo
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by szabo » Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:49 pm

Thank you guys... however, the Swiss compatibility list (http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.ph ... ility_List) is not very encouraging. Also, since I have a Qoob SX (not Pro) I'd need a working optical drive to load Swiss in order for it to load the stuff from a homemade SDGecko, so I'd have to go for the Wiikey Fusion (china clone/Wasp). If I'm going to buy something like that though, perhaps it's better to just buy a used Wii...

Also, any ideas regarding the thumbsticks? Perhaps it's possible to replace the ones in the Gamecube controller for the ones from the Wii nunchuck? I once fixed an xbox thumbstick by cutting a piece of steel sheet in the shape of the worn piece. I wish Nintendo sticks were as heavy duty as Sony's... I have a very old DShock2 here and the thumbsticks are still perfect. I use it on my PC but the design of the DS2 is too bad. It's not even a little bit ergonomic though, I have severe pain when using it for more than an hour. I think it's mostly because the main thumbstick is completely out of place. It's a good controller for SNES games though :) (using the dpad).
novenary
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by novenary » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:35 pm

The compatibility list is outdated for the most part and completely irrelevant for DVD drive emulators anyway.
szabo
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by szabo » Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:32 pm

Streetwalker wrote:The compatibility list is outdated for the most part and completely irrelevant for DVD drive emulators anyway.
Hmm... if that's the case, and considering the continued development of Swiss, perhaps it's worth buying a Wiikey/Wasp Fusion... only real problem now is how to buy them since I can't buy from established stores overseas and no one on ebay/alikes ships to my country, at least properly.

Yeah, I know my country really sucks, I'd change that if I could :P. I'm not talking about illegal stuff, it's just that you have to pack the thing correctly (plain), declare the contents and the values correctly (no lying) AND address it correctly in the minutely details, otherwise the customhouse is going to open the package and tax the hell outta it. Plus, I can't buy from stores, only from individuals. No, it's not USSR :), but it's almost.

Perhaps someone here on gc-forever is selling a Wiikey/Wasp, could be a used and old one. Any ideas? :)
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by emu_kidid » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:24 am

I've had lasers from eBay/online shops that have either lasted 5 minutes or lasted for years, some from the same batch.

Next version of Swiss will basically need a drive that is "alive" (doesn't need to be able to read discs) for everything to work. That can go away in the future but for now that's how it'll work.
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by Duhasst0 » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:41 am

emu_kidid wrote:I've had lasers from eBay/online shops that have either lasted 5 minutes or lasted for years, some from the same batch.

Next version of Swiss will basically need a drive that is "alive" (doesn't need to be able to read discs) for everything to work. That can go away in the future but for now that's how it'll work.
So your saying that I need to have a drive board attached for the audio streaming stuff to work as per you're YouTube video? Week at least for now.

Hope all is well in your would dude...
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by mautheus » Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:53 am

Hey guys, okay?
I have a cube with megadrive and Wiikey Fusion. Over time he began to fail in reading the original disks. I never changed the power of the optical drive, so I wonder what would be the value that I could leave for him to read the discs again. What is your suggestion to you? Thanks
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Help with laser dont read any discs

Post by mautheus » Fri May 01, 2015 12:42 am

And then guys? Someone give me a hint?
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by megalomaniac » Fri May 01, 2015 1:52 am

assuming this issue is only related to a pot setting, what is the current value at the pot?
measure it and reply
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by mautheus » Fri May 01, 2015 2:27 pm

The current value of pot is 376 ohms
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Re: Gamecube not reading discs - laser was OK last time, motor is OK

Post by mautheus » Fri May 01, 2015 5:21 pm

I put in 260 ohms and was good. Now all original disks are running normally. Do you think much reduced or stayed at good value?
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