It begins...

[SamIAm]

I got these lasers for next to nothing from China, and today, I'm going to try to revive at least one of these dead PC-FXs with them.

Wish me luck.

[esteban]

DAMN.

[SamIAm]

It's a massacre!




First, if anyone wants to know, here are the positions of the potentiometers on these four systems. This one pic represents all of them. Only one system had the leftmost one in a slightly different place.



Anyone know what these do?

[PunkCryborg]

I had a badly skipping PCFX. I changed the laser and it was still the same so I figured I had to figure out the pots and in the end that's all I probably had to do. I got it pretty good just by marking the pots and tweeking them a little bit

[SamIAm]

You don't by any chance remember which one it was that worked for you, do you?

[SamIAm]

I got one working! Zeroigar is actually a very good test because of its title screen FMV cycle. You can adjust the potentiometers with the system on until it works.

See the middle potentiometer that is at a diagonal? I adjusted that one to be in line with the others around it, and that did it. Of course, I also changed the laser, so maybe that helped. But yeah, it works. It's playing the data-heavy translated zeroigar FMVs right now.



Sadly, one of the systems seems to have a dead drive. It doesn't really even try to spin a disc all the way up. I'll experiment on that one next.

[SamIAm]

It is all about that middle potentiometer, you guys. Let it be known to all:

Turn it counterclockwise until your system works.

[elmer]

It is all about that middle potentiometer, you guys. Let it be known to all:

Turn it counterclockwise until your system works.

Excellent news, thank you for experimenting with this!

Now perhaps I can get my PC-FX to properly read discs. 

[SamIAm]

Today, I started with six dead systems and six cheap new lasers from China.

System 1: Replaced laser, turned up potentiometer a little, worked. Old laser looks cloudy. First new laser tried didn't work.

System 2: Turned up potentiometer only, worked.
System 3: Turned up potentiometer only, worked.
System 4:  Turned up potentiometer only, worked.

System 5: The only one that wouldn't even spin up a disc when I turned it on. Deduced later that laser was not seeing anything. First new one I tried didn't work. Gave it #6's old laser and it worked, but the potentiometer had to be cranked way high and the laser became more audible. This suggests a shorter lifespan to me. Eventually replaced with another new laser that did work, and on a lower setting.

System 6: Recognized CD but wouldn't boot it regardless of potentiometer. Tried various "new" lasers that hadn't found homes already. None worked. Gave it #1's old laser, did slightly better, but didn't see disc. Gave it #5's laser and amazingly it spun up and loaded, and worked fully with potentiometer adjustment.

As it stands, two of the six cheap Chinese lasers worked, although I killed one by accident, possibly before I tested it (I noticed that I had ripped the ribbon cable).

The other three I tried to use, but they didn't work. It's possible that they would work if matched with the right system. I will hang onto them, as well as system#1's old laser for now. It's possible that it's my error; not putting in the ribbon cable enough, not removing the solder bead adequately, etc.

My results with systems 5 and 6 were very strange. 5's laser didn't work in 5 no matter what potentiometer settings I used, but it's working fine in 6. 6's laser wouldn't turn on in 6, but did turn on in 5, and did work if I cranked the potentiometer high.

The next step is to put each system through an hour-long test to looping Zeroigar's two title videos to see if they ever fail. At this point, they have all gone about 20 minutes each with no trouble.

I would like to propose making a sticky about adjusting the potentiometers. I can provide pics. Mods, would this be all right?

[thesteve]

another thing to be aware of is cap failures in the supply can cause a finicky drive due to switching noise
this applies to any system using a switching supply

[SamIAm]

another thing to be aware of is cap failures in the supply can cause a finicky drive due to switching noise
this applies to any system using a switching supply

That's interesting. It might explain the odd behavior of systems 5 and 6. I'll have to give the caps a proper look. Are any caps in the PC-FX prone to failure that you know of?

[thesteve]

sadly most of them
all the aluminum caps fail

[Opethian]

awesome work sam glad the china lasers finally arrived

[Arkhan Asylum]

The other half of this mess is on my floor right now, lol.

I am too busy reading the newspapers to actually open the boxes. 

[NecroPhile]

Kudos to you for saving those PC-FXs. 

[BigusSchmuck]

If you plan to sell one of these, I would like to be the first in line to get one.

[Filler]

This is very helpful to me since I have 3 systems total which I've been meaning to service, one of which was known to not play FMVs when I got it. Now I know to try that middle pot. What lasers did you get? Is it just some generic CD drive replacement laser?

[NightWolve]

Huh, a translator and a PC-FX system saver to boot ? Nice! Sorry, no resumption on the Emerald Dragon script as of late, I'll be pretty busy for summer, but we'll get there eventually!

If Le Steve-o had one of these and cared to, he could likely tell you/produce a guide how to best adjust those pots using an oscilloscope as is the case with PC Engine/Turbo Duo.

[SamIAm]

This is very helpful to me since I have 3 systems total which I've been meaning to service, one of which was known to not play FMVs when I got it. Now I know to try that middle pot. What lasers did you get? Is it just some generic CD drive replacement laser?

You'll need a HOP-E1 laser, sometimes labeled as a HOPE-1 or HOPE1. I picked up the last six that a Chinese seller on alibaba had stocked at $3.50 apiece. Bear in mind, four didn't seem to work. But I do suspect that you'll have a higher success ratio than that if you buy from another source.

I recommend turning the pot counterclockwise 1/8 of a full rotation first, followed by slight 1/16 adjustments in the same direction as necessary. If you go beyond 3/4 of a full rotation, you laser might start to squeak as it moves, and that seems like a bad sign to me.

That pic I posted is upside-down, by the way.

[SamIAm]

Huh, a translator and a PC-FX system saver to boot ? Nice! Sorry, no resumption on the Emerald Dragon script as of late, I'll be pretty busy for summer, but we'll get there eventually!

If Le Steve-o had one of these and cared to, he could likely tell you/produce a guide how to best adjust those pots using an oscilloscope as is the case with PC Engine/Turbo Duo.

No problem with Emerald Dragon. I have plenty on my plate as it is.

It would certainly be nice to know what those pots do, at least. Maybe someday...

[rayxanber]

Good luck! That will be an amazing accomplishment when you are done.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Wow Sam!!  This is great to hear!  Good on you for saving the lives of those poor PC-FX's!!

Also, if you plan on selling, I might know a guy who knows a guy.  ;)

[GreatBlue Swirlof99]

If you ever like to sell an FX id be glad to adopt one for the right price of course! It will look nice next To my Dreamcast or N64!

[seieienbu]

Huh, a translator and a PC-FX system saver to boot ? Nice! Sorry, no resumption on the Emerald Dragon script as of late, I'll be pretty busy for summer, but we'll get there eventually

I was debating about bumping the ED thread at some point out of curiosity.  I was afraid you'd gotten such a bad experience with scumbags stealing your work both years ago and more recently that you were just going to quit on the project.  I'm very happy to hear that you're just busy.  Good luck and god speed.

I don't know very much about PCFX systems.  Is their laser breaking a common problem?  Has nobody attempted to tackle this before?

[elmer]

Is their laser breaking a common problem?

From what SamIAm has seen with his purchase of "junk" systems off Yahoo Japan, it certainly seems to be a common reason for why they're sold off really cheap.

My purchase of a "working" one from a Japanese eBay dealer also has laser problems, but I've not had the time yet to try SamIAm's fix.

Has nobody attempted to tackle this before?

Not that I know off ... I think that the regular answer given is just to replace the laser.

AFAIK, that seems to be the usual solution in the PCE world, where the problem isn't exactly uncommon, either.

SamIAm's fearless tinkering has given us/me hope of avoiding having to do that replacement on our PC-FXs.

[EvilEvoIX]

WOW what an undertaking!  Keeping the system alive good for you.

[GreatBlue Swirlof99]

Are you capable to fix the lazier on the Dreamcast? Cuz I fear mine isn't holding out well

[wildfruit]

Are you capable to fix the lazier on the Dreamcast? Cuz I fear mine isn't holding out well

Probably just get a new Dreamcast.

[Dicer]

I know this is odd, but if you have one that is unfixable, I'd love to work out a deal for one, always pricey to ship from japan and I wanna do a case mod sorta thing eventually...

But by all means, rescue away you are doing great work.

[PunkCryborg]

The laser adjustment information was extremely helpful. I didn't realize it was pretty much just the middle pot. I swapped my laser a couple years ago and could never get it just right but got it dialed in perfectly. Could you please make a new thread with the laser adjustment info so it can be stickied?
Thank you!