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GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 6:30 pm
by ohmiomy
I bought my DOL-001 GameCube in January and modded it with the xeno chip a few days later. I calibrated the laser from 520 to 180 ohms and it worked fine until this week. I turn on my GameCube with or without a disc inside it and the disc reader starts making some "clicking" noise and it doesn't recognize the game. The disc starts spinning and stops for less than one second, and starts spinning again. The laser keeps clicking and moving. I tried recalibrating the laser, but it's still in 180 ohms. I tried to clean the lens, to use other discs and original games, and tried calibrating to 520 ohms to read the original discs, but it didn't work.

I filmed a video to show my GameCube's problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv7jSD8C2lw

If anyone can help, I'll be grateful

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 9:19 am
by emu_kidid
It sounds pretty consistent and around the point where the XenoGC would be injecting the drive code. What colour are the LED lights on the Xeno throughout the process?

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:35 am
by ohmiomy
The LED lights are orange all the time. When the laser tries to read the disc, the LED lights turns on, but when it moves to the other side, Xeno's lights turns off. When the disc is spinning, the lights are orange, but when it stops spinning, the lights turn off, turning on again when it starts spinning again. On the game page in gamecube menu, when the disc is spinning, shows a "?" symbol with the message "reading disc", and when the disc stops spinning, shows the message "please insert a gamecube disc...", and when the disc starts spinning again, the "?" symbol pops up again, and it keeps repeating.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:47 pm
by novenary
The drive keeps resetting, it doesn't look/sound like the xeno is working at all. Does the drive still work if you remove it?

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:21 pm
by ohmiomy
Remove xeno? Well, it can be a little difficult because the xeno chip is solded directly on the board, with no wires. But if the problem is with xeno, original games should be readed, doesn't they?

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 5:00 pm
by novenary
If you've soldered it directly to the pads instead of using wires, it's likely that your problem is caused by a bad install. There are quite a few reports of switching to wires and solving any issues with xenos.
Depending on how close your install is to functional, the xeno may not do anything, or leave the drive in a bad state which will prevent it to work. You seem to be facing the latter case, your drive keeps trying to detect a disc, then resetting when the xeno tries to patch it.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 5:23 pm
by ohmiomy
Got it! I'll try to remove the chip and reinstall using wires.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 2:29 am
by ohmiomy
I successfully removed the Xeno chip. Before reinstalling it using wires, I calibrated the laser to 180 ohms and tried to run an original disc. The disc starts spinning and the laser tries to read the disc, but then the disc stops and the gamecube shows the message "no disc".

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 10:24 am
by novenary
Sounds like your drive or laser is dead.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 5:50 pm
by boredomca
I just ran into one that refused to read burned games until I lowered the onms to 50 even with new laser. But it would read OEM games at 180

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:04 pm
by novenary
It won't even read originals in his case.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:57 pm
by ohmiomy
I changed the laser and it worked. When I tried to reinstall the xeno gc, its leds doesn't turn on. I tried to solder it using wires and soldering directly on the board, but without success. Is the xeno gc dead? Is there a way to do the soldering on the xeno chip in other places?

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 5:45 pm
by boredomca
Check for shorts, even a small amount of unseen solder can cause problems, a cheap mulitmeter can test for this.
Use electrical tape on the under side of the chip 'after soldering' to not cause a short on the board as well.
This is how I do installs for reference
20180530_220310.jpg
(2.47 MiB) Not downloaded yet

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 8:11 am
by emu_kidid
boredomca wrote:
Sun Jul 01, 2018 5:45 pm
even a small amount of unseen solder can cause problems
Look at the CN302 pin 6 wire you've put, it has some solder on the shielding of the wire which looks like it could come loose at any time.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:24 pm
by boredomca
My point exactly. It's all cleaned up though and flux removed also so don't worry

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:49 am
by ohmiomy
I bought a new Xeno GC and installed it using wires on alternative installation points. My GameCube can read normally all original games, but when I put any burned disc, it tries to read, and a few seconds later appears "NO DISC" on the screen. Could it be a bad install or a defective chip? The laser is calibrated to 190ohms

Here's a video of the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGg8Qg7T-0

I don't have much experience on soldering. When I removed the xeno chip for the first time, I messed up with some of the installation points, so I had to use half of the standard and half of the alternative installation points. I still have my old xeno chip, but I didn't tried with it yet

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:45 am
by novenary
The chip is working, it's just your drive that is struggling to read the disc.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:22 am
by ohmiomy
Is there anything I can do to help my drive read the disc?

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:48 am
by novenary
Lower the potentiometer value, clean the lens, make sure you're using known good discs.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:07 pm
by ohmiomy
is there any way to find out which xeno installation point is not soldered correctly on the board?

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:53 pm
by novenary
Your xeno is properly soldered and working: your drive spins up twice, and it does attempt to read the backup. If your install was bad, it would stop spinning almost immediately with the backup.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:49 am
by ohmiomy
The disc starts spinning and stops immediately, I know it's caused by a bad install, but I don't know what was my mistake when I was soldering the chip. Is there any way to know what point wasn't solded correctly? Using a multimeter or something like that

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:43 am
by novenary
It is working in the last video you posted. Did you make another install again?
If you want to check which solder joints are bad you need to probe use a multimeter in continuity mode. Stick one probe on an alternate solder point and the other on the matching microcontroller pin.

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:08 pm
by ohmiomy
One of the wires was broken, so I changed it and now I'm on the same situation of the video. The chip is working and tries to read the disc, but without success. The pot is adjusted to 190, the laser is new and I already tried burning dvd from three different computers, on Emtec, Ridata and Multilaser discs. I think I'll buy another gamecube and try to install the xeno on it

Re: GameCube laser keeps clicking and doesn't read the discs

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:39 pm
by novenary
Try lowering the pot even more, 190 Ohm is pretty high.