Sega cd problem

[+chriswhit]

I just got a Sega cd the second model. When I turn it on with a cd in the unit the power light flashes but the cd system powers up and says reading cd then asks you to press start. When I press start It says there's no cd. I know its a problem with the cd unit itself as I tried all the hookups on a friends along with the cd and his worked. I cleaned the eye and it didn't help. Any ideas would be great. Thanks

[Koopa64]

What happens if you don't press anything with the disc loaded? (The game boots automatically)

[+chriswhit]

What happens if you don't press anything with the disc loaded? (The game boots automatically)

mine just reads no disk and the power light flashes. My friends system has a steady on power light

[shadow460]

It's not the spindle motor, is it? Wish I could help more but I know nothing about the SCD.

[+chriswhit]

It's not the spindle motor, is it? Wish I could help more but I know nothing about the SCD.

It sounds like its spinning the disk

[Rev. Rob]

I had the same problem with my Model 2 Sega CD. I was told that the battery on board was bad. I replaced it (after a very difficult time because it's soldered in, but I couldn't get it to work. I placed it in a bag and gently laid it in the dumpster.

[shadow460]

I've had a couple of DVD rom drives die on me, but in one case I was able to prolong the life of the drive by several years.

 

The drive was a very early Acer DVD-ROM. It gave me the clock of death then stopped loading DVDs altogether. I took it apart and greased the worm gear and rack that moves the sled in and out, and I greased the sled guide rails. The same things helped bring my PS1 back to life as well, even with a worn down plastic sled.

 

What kills the PS1 laser is that the plastic sled wears down and throws the calibration off. It can also lock the sled up. We've read that flipping the unit over fixes this temporarily.

 

Checking the two motors is easy. To check the drive motor, just turn the unit on with a CD inserted, wait a few seconds, turn the unit off and immediately open the CD lid. You'll see the disc coast to a stop. Pop the CD out and see where the eye is. If it's not at the home position, we can assume the transport (sled) motor is working. If it never leaves the home position, I think either the sled motor has died, the sled is locked up physically, so there's something wrong on the control board.

 

Further checks would require you to run the unit with no CD. If you can hit the safety switch under the lid, you should be able to see the laser head move back and forth as the sled motor turns, and you should also be able to see it bob up and down. You will also see the spindle motor twitch.

 

The flashing power light could indicate an electronic fault in the unit. If that's the case, perhaps the physical components can be re used.

 

How is the expansion connector on the Genesis? Is it corroded or dirty?

 

Oh, yeah, check the ribbon cables running to the sled itself. I had another CD player give me problems for years. It turns out they left a ribbon cable halfway out of its slot at the factory.

Edited December 15, 2009 by shadow460

[+chriswhit]

I've had a couple of DVD rom drives die on me, but in one case I was able to prolong the life of the drive by several years.

 

The drive was a very early Acer DVD-ROM. It gave me the clock of death then stopped loading DVDs altogether. I took it apart and greased the worm gear and rack that moves the sled in and out, and I greased the sled guide rails. The same things helped bring my PS1 back to life as well, even with a worn down plastic sled.

 

What kills the PS1 laser is that the plastic sled wears down and throws the calibration off. It can also lock the sled up. We've read that flipping the unit over fixes this temporarily.

 

Checking the two motors is easy. To check the drive motor, just turn the unit on with a CD inserted, wait a few seconds, turn the unit off and immediately open the CD lid. You'll see the disc coast to a stop. Pop the CD out and see where the eye is. If it's not at the home position, we can assume the transport (sled) motor is working. If it never leaves the home position, I think either the sled motor has died, the sled is locked up physically, so there's something wrong on the control board.

 

Further checks would require you to run the unit with no CD. If you can hit the safety switch under the lid, you should be able to see the laser head move back and forth as the sled motor turns, and you should also be able to see it bob up and down. You will also see the spindle motor twitch.

 

The flashing power light could indicate an electronic fault in the unit. If that's the case, perhaps the physical components can be re used.

 

How is the expansion connector on the Genesis? Is it corroded or dirty?

 

Oh, yeah, check the ribbon cables running to the sled itself. I had another CD player give me problems for years. It turns out they left a ribbon cable halfway out of its slot at the factory.

My connection is ok on the console and my console works with my friends cd unit. I'll check the things you mentioned. thanks

[+chriswhit]

looks like my drive motor isn't working. Seems to turn dry. Is there a place to get these?

[fiddlepaddle]

I offer the solution to your problem in one word: CDX.

[shadow460]

looks like my drive motor isn't working. Seems to turn dry. Is there a place to get these?

 

Does it feel like the bearings are dry? If it's just turning rough, a little lightweight oil will help until you can replace the motor. The only bad thing is that if there's a little grease left in there from the factory, oil will wash it out. If you can see the bearings and get some silicone grease into them, that might solve the problem for quite a while.

[the.golden.ax]

I can repair it, but I'm backed up forever and a day. It needs a new motor. I never throw dead systems away. That way I always have parts on hand to fix something else. Kind of like a junk yard. I've got at least 15 Sega CD 2 systems that I pull parts from to get others working.

 

AX

[+chriswhit]

looks like my drive motor isn't working. Seems to turn dry. Is there a place to get these?

 

Does it feel like the bearings are dry? If it's just turning rough, a little lightweight oil will help until you can replace the motor. The only bad thing is that if there's a little grease left in there from the factory, oil will wash it out. If you can see the bearings and get some silicone grease into them, that might solve the problem for quite a while.

No it only turns hard when power is going to it

[Bruce Tomlin]

I had the same problem with my Model 2 Sega CD. I was told that the battery on board was bad. I replaced it (after a very difficult time because it's soldered in, but I couldn't get it to work. I placed it in a bag and gently laid it in the dumpster.

The battery is only for game save RAM. So whoever told you that didn't know what they were talking about.

[mattyg]

I can repair it, but I'm backed up forever and a day. It needs a new motor. I never throw dead systems away. That way I always have parts on hand to fix something else. Kind of like a junk yard. I've got at least 15 Sega CD 2 systems that I pull parts from to get others working.

 

AX

 

 

PM me ax if you have any Sanyo/Goldstar 3DO lasers and ribbon cables ! I need one set desperately!

[shadow460]

looks like my drive motor isn't working. Seems to turn dry. Is there a place to get these?

 

Does it feel like the bearings are dry? If it's just turning rough, a little lightweight oil will help until you can replace the motor. The only bad thing is that if there's a little grease left in there from the factory, oil will wash it out. If you can see the bearings and get some silicone grease into them, that might solve the problem for quite a while.

No it only turns hard when power is going to it

 

I'd put some oil into it. Once you get it out you might even be able to split the motor open and get some silicone grease in there instead. You really don't have anything to lose, just as long as you can extract it without tearing the scd up. If one can tear apart Atari consoles and mod them, I can't imagine a Sega console would be any more difficult.

 

That said, if I were asked to fix someone else's scd that had a bad drive motor, I'd go ahead and replace the motor.

 

If Ax doesn't have a motor, you might be able to find it at mouser.

Edited December 16, 2009 by shadow460

[+chriswhit]

Probably new parts are out of the question. I'll try the oil thing. I do have the first style to get me by. I worry that if I use it to much it will wear out a part I can't get or lack the knowledge to figure out. I'm learning new things every day about electronics and gaming systems. Maybe some day I will be able to fix most things that come my way. I can usually fix cart based systems when broken but cd stuff is kind of a new thing for me. Thanks for all the help everyone.