JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Hey Guys, LONG time reader, first time poster here. I work in a classic game shop here in Dublin, Ireland. My job mainly entails repairing and refurbishing old consoles etc, anything from SNES to Neo Geo, Vectrex to Virtual Boy. I seem to have a knack at fixing these things, decent enough to stay in the job anyway But I find myself stumped... I recently acquired a Jaguar CD to sit atop my beloved Jag. It's probably my favourite console (GameCube and VCS competing), so I was chuffed to find a working unit for a somewhat-decent price. The issue is, it worked on arrival. But ever since, all I've been getting is the infamous Red Screen. I figured out it that this means a connection problem between the console and CD drive, so I disassembled the unit and cleaned the pins, as well as the cartridge slot on the Jaguar itself. I also repeated this inside the CD Unit, where the connector board meets the main board. Everything seems to be completely spotless... and nothing. Still the red screen. The laser will jump slightly, but nothing more. So I cleaned the board, made sure everything was sitting nice and flush in the case. I've heard of the placement of internal components such as the RF shielding causing poor the unit to make an improper connection but this doesn't seem to be the case here. As I said, the unit DID work at first, and has been well treated in my possession. I really love the Jaguar and would love even more if I could get my CD unit working. Help me Atariage, You're my only hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Did you take a look at the edge connector inside the CD? Odds are slim, but it's possible one of the pins inside there could be bent/broken. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 Did you take a look at the edge connector inside the CD? Odds are slim, but it's possible one of the pins inside there could be bent/broken. I did. Cleaned every point of contact between the console and unit on both ends of the connector board, and the edge connectors on the unit & on the console, to the point where the card & cloth is coming out spotless every time. I examined them for bent or broken pins but no luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 I did. Cleaned every point of contact between the console and unit on both ends of the connector board, and the edge connectors on the unit & on the console, to the point where the card & cloth is coming out spotless every time. I examined them for bent or broken pins but no luck Carts always work fine? I suppose I would check for bad solder joints on the edge connector on the CD, or even bad traces on the connector board though the odds again of those are very small. If it was me I'd probably start testing continuity on each pin from the solder side of the edge connector to the other end of the connector board. If those all check out I'm out of ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Bad solder joint at the CD's power input jack by chance? May as well reflow to eliminate that possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Bad solder joint at the CD's power input jack by chance? May as well reflow to eliminate that possibility. He'd probably be getting the "plug the power supply in" animation if that were the case. RSOD signifies a connection issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 Bad solder joint at the CD's power input jack by chance? May as well reflow to eliminate that possibility. You think it could be? Doesn't the Jag recognize the CD Unit even if the unit isn't powered on? I think I remember a startup screen advising me to do so (connect PSU) before, but I will try replace the power input jack. If I'm not mistaken it shares the same type as the model 1 MegaDrive/Genesis? I have plenty of those lying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 No, madman is probably right. I was thinking if maybe the solder joint was just bad enough/cracked that it might be letting *some* current through, but not enough. Again, just trying to eliminate things... wouldn't go out of my way to replace the jack, unless it's all corroded. I'd just heat up/reflow the two connections at the board is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 On further inspection, the jack is suffering some rust-like corrosion. I'm going to replace it tomorrow regardless of it's effect on RSOD (I just like my systems fit as fiddles). I inspected the boards around the connectors and all seems well. I'm really stumped on this one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 Also important to note, all my cartridges play perfectly. I know the CD Unit uses some pins that the carts don't, but I'm almost positive the whole connector is in full clean, working order. Lots of compressed air and a thorough cleaning with isopropyl on a fabric covered card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Do the carts work through the Jag CD in passthrough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 Do the carts work through the Jag CD in passthrough? Nope. Same old Red headache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Do the carts work through the Jag CD in passthrough? If one is getting the RSOD, carts wouldn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 I understand that...but I believe the pass through still works without power to the JagCD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinkoVitch Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 When you had it open did you see if the "game ROM" is socketted or soldered? This holds VLM etc and essentially boots like a cart. I am wondering if perhaps it is a socketted version that this MAY have a bad connection, or if you have some corrosion that may have upset it. Might be worth a careful reseating if this is the case. if you don't have the unit open, just look at the sticker with the serial number if the MFG date is 9509 it is probably a socketted ROM variety. There may be others, but I have only seen 9509 as being socketted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaguarRage Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 It definitely doesn't work, just made sure. I'm certain the issue is between the Jag and cd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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