Panasonic Q Complete DVD Drive SWAP (and hopefully modding?)

Portables, case replacements, mods etc, all in here!
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Gaijinsan
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Joined: Tue May 26, 2020 4:19 pm

Panasonic Q Complete DVD Drive SWAP (and hopefully modding?)

Post by Gaijinsan » Tue May 26, 2020 5:13 pm

****LONG POST ALERT*****

Hello there,
I'm new to the forums but I've been lurking for a while trying to get as much information as I can about Panasonic Qs and what's possible for modding in 2020.
Seems like there isn't that much. Here is what I've learned as I refurbished mine since it had the dreaded smashed plastic DVD drive rails.

Starting with the Smashed plastic.
I was very unlucky as after the first delivery whilst I was living in Japan my drive rails were broken. I spent 2 days gluing them back together only to be thwarted by the failed drive belt.
Then I shipped it back to England with me and all my hard work was smashed again, but this time the DVD lens was also physically broken. :x
Anyway, whilst I was searching for a new laser assembly I discovered that the entire DVD assembly is shared with a Panasonic DVD player the DVD-XV10 in Europe and the DVD-XP30 DVD-XP50 in Japan and I presume America.
I picked up DVD-XV10 from fleabay and took it out. And YES it is exactly the same drive as the Panasonic Q.
Unfortunately this too had smashed drive rails from postage. (Damn you Panasonic for have terrible design)
So I bought some 3d printed replacements from shapeways.
When they arrived and I tried to fit them I ran into some issues, the Drive tray has different size running slots, they are slightly thinner on the side with the opening gears, and the 3d printed pieces are just mirrored images. Thankfully 15 minutes with a file and I had them back to correct size.
If you don't mind the work these printed pieces are much stronger than the originals.
There are other things to take into account if you are doing a drive swap like me. The opening mechanism switch assembly needs to be desoldered and swapped out to accommodate the longer wires from the Q.
Needless to say the swap was a complete success. and After adjusting the laser pots to match the original drive it plays both DVDs and Gamecube games perfectly.
NOW ON TO THE MODDING.
I'm hoping to get the XENOGC working, along with perhaps a PAL DVD drive board swap. I'll keep you updated, and perhaps get some help with reading the output from CN302 debug connection.
Attachments
Swapping the tray Switch.JPG
Swap the tray switch
(4.79 MiB) Not downloaded yet
DVDXV10 Drive Mech.JPG
The DVD Drive
(3.73 MiB) Not downloaded yet
Panasonic XV10.JPG
The Doner Machine
(3.98 MiB) Not downloaded yet
EthernumRasa
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 8:10 am

Re: Panasonic Q Complete DVD Drive SWAP (and hopefully modding?)

Post by EthernumRasa » Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:08 pm

Greetings fellow Q owner. Ive red through all of your stuff' so:

XenoGC cant be installed into the panasonic Q. Its physically possible to do but it simply doesnt work. The only modchip that works is the Qoob Pro. Also wasp fusion/wiikey fusion also work but the installation is very tricky and not well documented. Havent tried it myself though. I have a qoob pro installed and it works.

I have never seen a pal DVD board that would fit, also you would run into current issues since all the internals are japanese and need japanese current.
I had my modded by a guy who had 2 spare kits for making the panasonic q DVD board region free. You need a specific ram chip and capacitors. And you need the panasonic q service disc. Without those there is no possebility making the Q DVD region free
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emu_kidid
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Re: Panasonic Q Complete DVD Drive SWAP (and hopefully modding?)

Post by emu_kidid » Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:40 pm

Just reiterating in case you aren't all aware, but softmods work fine on the Q, even backup discs work once you have Swiss booted.
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capzlk
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Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:18 pm

Re: Panasonic Q Complete DVD Drive SWAP (and hopefully modding?)

Post by capzlk » Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:12 am

sorry for not providing anything constructive but why would you ship something so valuable/fragile and not take it in person instead, considering how roughly shipments are usually handled?
count.zero
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Re: Panasonic Q Complete DVD Drive SWAP (and hopefully modding?)

Post by count.zero » Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:58 pm

Is the spindle motor (and the spindle itself) of the XV-10 the same of the Q?
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