Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Congratulations on the fix
What ram did you use?
The control signals are noisy so faster ram causes problems

Thanks thesteve!!

I use a sony chip:  SONY CXK58257AM-12L

The same chip I used to replace the ram in a PC Engine White model that had corrupted graphics and worked great!

But dont know which other ram I could use, other than those lines the IFU works great, anyway I cant read those kanjis, so not a big loss..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Finally!! I make it work...

Im very happy.. after months and months of hitting myself to a wall 

It finally works!! Now I can save files and because I did the Fram mod they will last forever..



The culprit? a tiny rotten trace that was under that gunk that keeps those botched cables in place, I don't know why I didn't remove it sooner! Yes I know Im that stupid..

But as you can see I still have those lines over the text, that should be bad ram but I already change those, but know what... I dont care, its working now as intended and Im happy with that.. Maybe I will come back some other time...

Thanks everyone for the support!!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Hello Thesteve, thank you very much for your reply..

This weekend Im going to check all traces and use my logic probe that should be somewhere in home..

I has been busy with work and other projects  but I really want to fix this, Ill update with the results...

Thanks..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Thanks Keith, I hope The Steve could give some help over this  , in the meantime Im going to check that board again for bad traces.

Thanks again..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Hello Keith. Thanks for your reply..

I just check it out and my CD unit is getting power, when I press run button at the bios screen the red PC text turns on, and when I press play just connected to the IFU it appears the track is trying to play, so Im getting power.

Then I check the small PCB and I saw some broken traces (2), they werent visible because the yellow residue of the original flux, but after cleaning they are very evident, but this doesnt seems to be an "accident" it seem to be on purpose because those traces goes to other lines with wires with that gunk to keep them in place, so it seems like they fixed the board with that..

I dont know if I try to connect those traces will fix my problem, maybe I should try, but after checking continuity those traces seems to connect with each other , maybe Im going to short them..

So any other Ideas?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Hello.. bumping an old thread, its me again...

Its has been a while, after trying to repair I follow the recomendation from Keith Courage and got another IFU because they are pretty cheap, but now I wanted to give it another go, so here is what I just did with the unit..

I changed booth RAM chips with a SONY CXK58257M  I used this model because when I remove the original M5M5256BFP-70 (Mitsubishi) chip, under it there was a text in the board SONY CXK58257M but still got the same lines and "no BRAM present" message from the BRAM TOOL, so I think this isnt a RAM issue, next I replace capacitors on the board and same thing happened, and at last I try to do the FRAM mod and still the same thing..

Now Im lost, I dont know if the culprit are the other 3 chips left HC245 (74HC245 Texas Instruments) that are around in the RAM board.

So anyone can give me a little help..

Its not like I need to repair this, I alredy have the other IFU working great, this is like a little project to test my skills and if I could make it work in the process, that would be great..

Thanks..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC ENGINE DUO "PLEASE SET DISC!"]

Thanks Keith.

I try everything but still got "PLEASE SET DISC" 

Ill leave it for now Im tired of this board.. and retake it later..


Ill update if I found a solution..

Thank you very much for the advice ...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC ENGINE DUO "PLEASE SET DISC!"]

Something to try which might sound weird, but I come across maybe 1 duo a year with an issue where it has to be used for 3-4 minutes before a disc will start working sometimes on a cold start. I would assume this is caused by a bad trace or connection on the board but I haven't been able to figure out where.

Anyways, just for the sake of trying it, Just hit run to start up a CD over and over again for about 5 minutes and see if the DUO magically starts reading discs again.

Thanks Keith for your reply, I'm going to try your recommendations..

Just to add, I did some other tests:

-I washed and cleaned the whole board inside a plastic container with IPA and a toothbrush (now the board looks like new)

-I replaced some caps that I knew were low quality.

-I kept playing with the pots.

-Tested with diferent power supply (original and a generic one)

But after all this, it still shows "PLEASE SET DISK"

And then I was lucky enough to get another DUO which worked great and I did some tests, the pickups on both lasers worked great on the new DUO, and both lasers didn't work on the old DUO, only "PLEASE SET DISK" showed up on both..

So the problem is definitely the old board.

But I can't detect anything wrong with the board by eye, no corroded vias, leaking caps, no dark areas, etc. I checked all around the laser and under the board but nothing, I don't know where to start..

Or maybe is power related that why I tested with diferent power suply and the voltages of the regulators was 5v output..

Which part of the board should I check that could give me "PLEASE SET DISK" if anything is wrong?

Thanks

[Console Repair/Mod Center / PC ENGINE DUO "PLEASE SET DISC!"]

Hello everyone.

Hope someone can help..

I got this DUO some months ago no working, I replaced all the caps, cleaned the laser and then worked like new.. I could play anything I threw at it original and backups, I used it for around a couple of months working great, but then I just leave it for a month or so, and yesterday that I wanted to play a little more it just dont wanted to read anything!!.

I just got the mesage "PLEASE SET DISC!" with every disk I tried, orginals, backups, music CD etc..

It start to spin at normal speed, nothing seems wrong at all, no weird noises, but then after a few seconds trying to read it just stop and appears "PLEASE SET DISC!"

The HUCARD part works great! but the CD part dont..


I open the thing and tried all this:

-Clean the lens.

-Reseat the laser and the harnes cables.

-Try another harnes from other unit.

-Change the laser with a brand new one.

-Check continuity on the recently changed caps and reflow the solder.

-Messed with the pots but nothing helped.

-Checked VCO with a multimeter and gaves me 4.33 Mhz when starts to spin, but still stops and "PLEASE SET DISC!"

So I really dont know what else to do, Im lost here, the system didnt fell off or got wet , I put it in a well ventilated area..

The only thing I can think of is that the board is a little messy with the solder flux i used, maybe a via got cloged?

I dont know, please could someone can give me some advise?

Thanks

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AMP-30 restoration]

Thanks, Ill try that site to post there the chart..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AMP-30 restoration]

For anyone interested I already did a complete recap to the AMP-30 and documented the caps values needed, quantity and locations..

Dont know where else I can put this, if there is a specific place, please let me know...


https://imgur.com/WRfrFxK.jpg

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AMP-30 restoration]

I was lucky to get one at a very good price, even if it didnt come with the speakers and accesories, but it looks great, I have a normal DUO and Im thinking painting the amp black (dark gray) so they match color with the black speakers too and I think they are going to look good.. or maybe not because Im a fan to keeps things original..aa decisions!

If you try to paint that amp I'm going to appear at your home and steal it to protect it before you notice 

Haha ok ok.. You are right better to keep it original..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

Definitely no idea... sadly I fixed only two of them and their issue was mostly the low audio level at start.

 I don't know what's going on, maybe I did a bad job with the capacitors.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AMP-30 restoration]

I was lucky to get one at a very good price, even if it didnt come with the speakers and accesories, but it looks great, I have a normal DUO and Im thinking painting the amp black (dark gray) so they match color with the black speakers too and I think they are going to look good.. or maybe not because Im a fan to keeps things original..aa decisions!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

Update..
The new laser arrived, I already replaced and now read a little better no skipping but the loading times are still very long.

Tested with original Cd music..loads ok and plays ok no skipping but still some noise, not as bad as before but still there.

Tested with backup CD music..it loads and plays ok, no skipping but lot of crackling noises.

Tested with original SuperCD.. It loads ok but every time that needs to load is a loooong wait but after that the game goes like normal, never crash or something like that.. and still crackling noise..

Tested with original CD game.. Same as SuperCD games, goes ok but long loading times and some crackling noises.

Tested with backup SuperCD games.. Try to load the game the please wait screen goes to black and it seems to load but just stays there trying to load but nothing, no crashing nothing..

So does someone knows what does this behavior means?.. why I'm having long load times even with the new laser?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / AMP-30 restoration]

A couple of weeks ago I got a PCEngine AMP-30 unit, it powered on but no audio at all, I found the culprit, a big ass rotten capacitor, replaced it and now it works great, I have sound and is pretty neat...I can connect my DUO directly to the amp and the amp gives power to the DUO!

I found zero info about the innards of the unit, so I need to document all the capacitors needed (values, etc) to make a complete recap.. but Im afraid Im too lazy for that.. but Ill try to give my best...for now it works great.. but dont know for how long, apart from the rotten cap everything else looked very good, no obvious leakings I can see..

Now what I want to do is to restore the bases and the rubber from the dials buttons, the bases I think I could reproduce the originals ones and 3d print them.. about the dials the rubber was very brittle was very easy to take off, I want to replace them but dont know how.. maybe 3d print? ring leds? any suggestions?

Here are some pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/DK3AeAk

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine DUO-R laser motor not working]

Update about my problem..

Now its fully working!!

I got the replacement motor, put it in place, and viola! it worked flawlesly!!

The laser was in great condition, it read inmediatly everything I threw at it, orginals CD, SCD, backups, Music CDs..and sounds great..

Thank you everyone that helped with your recomendations..

Here are some pictures..

https://imgur.com/a/TYFSajw

PC ENGINE DUO LASER MOTOR CHANGE

And Yeah.. sometimes  you could have a bad motor...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

Yeah, I knew about that trace and try to clean deeply but still didnt help, I think I have to clean deep in other areas where that trace goes..anyway Im waiting for the new laser because still Im having issues with long load times and skipping tracks..

Thanks

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

Thank you..

I did a little more cleaning yesterday, I found some covered bias and after that it really helped and improved the audio, I still have noise but not as bad as in the video. So maybe that's the problem, proper cleaning, point 2 from Steve's recommendations. When I cleaned the board I only used cotton swabs and IPA, I understand that this way it does not clean deeply, but the truth is I do not feel comfortable cleaning it with water, I have never done it and the quality of the tap water here is not very good, if I do it I would have to do it with bottled water.

Well, next time Ill try washing the board first, for now Im going to keep cleaning more with IPA..

Thank you very much, I will follow these recommendations.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

TheSteve wants a test to make sure that just Redbook PCM wave audio is playing. Load a regular music CD, play any track to hear what happens.

Hi there.

I understand, here is a new video playing a music CD it has over 40 tracks hope this helps..

Thanks a lot.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

Have you tried making any lens adjustments?

Hello Keith..

Yes I tried to adjust the lens, before that the disk didnt loaded, after messing with the pots now they load but still have long loading times even sometimes crashing.. this drives me to think that I need a new laser..

About the sound, the HUcard part has clear sound, this only happens with CDs, the Video looks great but the audio with Music, Games, Backups CDs, all has this noise..

I dont think is a bad laser, Im more inclined to think that maybe is a bad capacitor or some other component from the audio part...

I just found a guide in this site for laser calibration, so Im going to follow it and hope this helps..

If someone has another idea please let me know..

Thanks

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Super CD Rom2 crackling noise]

I got this system and at first it didnt worked at all, no power, I had to replace the power conector because it seems that the contact metal was bent inside the connector, after that it powered up and working, Hucard worked but no audio and CDs didnt worked at all...

So I did a complete recap and cleanning of the board, and now Hucard worked and has good audio, CD part worked but has long loading times and crackling audio.

I read somewhere thats because some dirty vias, I didnt see anything evident but still cleaned again, and now I dont know if it is worse  but still the audio is scratchy.

I already bought a new laser because it seems that the original isnt going to last longer, but I dont think it will solve the audio Issue..

Does someone know how to fix the audio?

Here is a video to hear how it sounds.

Thanks.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine DUO-R laser motor not working]

For anyone interested, I found a seller on Yahoo Japan that sells the exact same model. RD050YA04584A

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k1142234678

The price is for 2 motors, I think it was a very good deal.

I'll wait until it arrives to try it and update the comments.

Thanks everyone for the help.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine DUO-R laser motor not working]

Sounds like a bad motor. Have you tried spinning the motor using your finger? Sometimes you can do this to get the motor working again, at least temporarily.

I have a bunch of extra motors from full CD lens assemblies I order for parts. For just the motor, how about $10 shipped in the US?

Yeah I tried everything I even open the motor and tried to fix it but it didnt move, maybe I broke it beyond repair haha.. a well..

Thank you very much Keith for your offer, but Im not from US Im from Mexico and shipping cost could be expensive for me..

Neveretheless thank you very much..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine DUO-R laser motor not working]

https://www.reddit.com/r/TurboGrafx/comments/ko0ux9/anyone_know_where_i_can_buy_a_motor_for_the_pc/
It seems someone had the same issue 4 years ago...

Thanks, Im going to look at it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine DUO-R laser motor not working]

I've never seen a motor failing in any console

Yeah me neither, thats why I was asking, maybe it was something else..

But now Im sure its the motor failing because I change all the entire pickup with one from a DUO that is working perfect. And it worked perfect in the DUO-R too, so yeah definitely is a bad motor..

Now I need to know where I can get that part, in the motor there is only this text "RD-050Y" I dont know if this is the model, but I didnt find anything..

Does someone knows where I can find that motor or an equivalent? or I have to buy the entire pickup just for that motor?

Or maybe thats the better solution because at this point I dont know if the laser is working fine anyway..

Thanks..

[Console Repair/Mod Center / PC Engine DUO-R laser motor not working]

Hello everyone, hope someone can help me.

Few days ago I got a PC Engine DUO-R very dirty and was sold as not working.

After getting the correct power supply (and the correct tip) I powered on and it worked, I saw the Super CD System 3.0 screen, so I first tested the HuCard part and it worked fine, it booted every Hucard Game I throw at it, but the control pad wasnt working it was very erratic sometimes one button worked sometimes doesnt, so the problem was that the controller port had a cold solder, so I reflow and applied fresh solder and now the controller worked flawlesly.

Then I checked the CD part and at first it began to spin the disk (I just heard it because no window) and it sounded that it was spinning like crazy... and after some time the system just said "set Disc" no CD game worked.

So I took everything apart and tested again and in fact the disc was spinning like crazy very fast but the laser lens never moved at all..even when I released the door switch it keeps spinning but got the "set disc" text.

I tested again without disc just moved the laser to the outer side to see if it moves to the start position and no it never moved, just the motor that spin the disc was spinning like crazy but the motor of the laser doesnt moved at all. I tested the lines that give power to the motor and everything seems fine it receives power on those lines. I took apart that motor and applied some voltage and didnt moved..

Does someone know what could be wrong? Its possible that the laser motor its broken? or should I have to check something else.

Thanks.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: What Turbo game are you currently playing?]

Right now Im playing Valis 1, never played before, and Im having a lot of fun with it, little short, but great challenge.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

Thank you very much for your reply!

This info helps a lot, it makes sense your explanation about the ram, so its not worth it to repair this unit, they are not that expensive either so better get another one.

If I could get those ram chips at a reasonable price maybe could be viable for repair.

Anyway, thank you very much again.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / IFU Backup Memory corrupted?]

I got this PC Engine/CDROM2/IFU combo, but the memory backup in the IFU seem to be corrupted, the images are from the memory manager, all the texts has this lines over, when I try to format it does nothing.

HuCard games works great but games that uses the Backup memory cant save, doesnt detect it, the CDRom games doesnt work at all, the disk dont spin at all and after a little while just got "please set disk".

I know the PC Engine and CDROM2 works fine because they work flawlessly on another IFU I have.

I try with a TenoKoe Bank but it says that doesn't find any memory backup at all!

Then I use the BRAM TOOL and all I got was this "BRAM IS NOT PRESENT", so I replaced the supercapacitor but still the same. Its possible that the BRAM chip got corrupted?

I dont know if doing the FRAM mod will solve my problem, I dont want to mess with it because I think is way over my soldering skills.

So does someone had an idea whats wrong with it and how to solve it?

Thanks!