Nonfunctional CD unit

[Songbird]

I was hoping to never have to post this... but apparently my personal Jaguar CD unit no longer boots any CDs. This is the only unit I've had in my personal collection after all these years, and it no longer boots any commercial or homebrew disc that I insert; I get the dreaded "question mark on disc" icon over and over.

 

Does anyone here repair Jaguar CD units, or at least have some simple tips on things to check? The disc spins fine and the motor doesn't sound funny. I suppose I could do a full laser replace, but honestly I'd rather pay someone else to do it.

[+orpheuswaking]

I was hoping to never have to post this... but apparently my personal Jaguar CD unit no longer boots any CDs. This is the only unit I've had in my personal collection after all these years, and it no longer boots any commercial or homebrew disc that I insert; I get the dreaded "question mark on disc" icon over and over.

 

Does anyone here repair Jaguar CD units, or at least have some simple tips on things to check? The disc spins fine and the motor doesn't sound funny. I suppose I could do a full laser replace, but honestly I'd rather pay someone else to do it.

 

Really the laser transport replacement will be the easiest and cheapest option and being that the disc spins ok sounds like the culprit (try cleaning the laser lens first too)... (I'll fix it for a copy of Protector SE )

 

However I do know that Best Electronics offers a repair service...

[kevincal]

Clean the contacts on the under side of the Jag cd with q tips and rubbing alchohol and lightly clean the laser lense with a q tip and tiny amount of rubbing alchohol. That's how I got an old non working Jag CD to work.

[Atariman]

Just out of curiosity, is there a reliable source that sells the laser transports?

[+orpheuswaking]

Just out of curiosity, is there a reliable source that sells the laser transports?

 

www.Dalbani.com

 

do a search for VAM1202/M

 

 

Make sure if you order that it's the VAM1202/M (they also have a VAM1202/12 this is JUST the laser not the transport)

 

they have a $20.00 minimum order so I always order mine in pairs

Edited June 8, 2009 by orpheuswaking

[Starcat]

Hello Folks!

 

I decided it's time to fix my broken JagCD units too...

So I ordered a new transport and laser unit.

For the one unit the problem seems to be the disc "platter" is stuck (slight scratchy sound when I turn it and it moves slighly harder than it should).

I tried the screwdriver pulling up trick.

 

Now there is another thing, maybe somebody here can verify. I have the open JagCD unit and bridged the lid check mechanism...

So I put a disc into the unit and turned it on. It started to boot, the disc was spinning... and all of a sudden weird scratching noises came, the disc even started spinning the wrong way. Is this always happening?

 

I noticed it doesn't happen when I put the lid onto it. So I figured, maybe this just happened because the disc wasn't pressed down.

 

Now with the lid attached and closed, it boots normal cds again. But no encrypted homebrew, which it used to back when it was fine.

So I wonder, is it now "fixed" or am I just lucky that it reads some discs again?

 

Any info is highly appreciated.

 

Regards, Lars.

[+Stephen Moss]

Now there is another thing, maybe somebody here can verify. I have the open JagCD unit and bridged the lid check mechanism...

So I put a disc into the unit and turned it on. It started to boot, the disc was spinning... and all of a sudden weird scratching noises came,

I sometimes get that with the lid down, I think (but am not 100% certain) it is caused by the edge of the CD rubbing on the case/inside of the lid either because the lid is occasionally off center when it closes or becuse the CD was not placed centrally on the spindle again causing the disc edge to rub against the case.

 

Some spindles like those in Laptop drives or Playstations have small spring loaded ball bearings that sit on the upper surface of the disk holding it in place, if I recall the Jag does not have these. Drives that do not have the ball bearing retainers usually have an upper piece of plastic/rubber that clamps down on the CD to hold it in place, I am not sure if the Jaguar has anything like that on the inside of the CD lid or not but certainly with the lid open there would be no clamping which could allowing the CD to move a little on the spindle as it rotates due to centerfugal force or possibly wobble up and down slightly and rub on the case.

 

the disc even started spinning the wrong way. Is this always happening?

CD/DVD drives usually stop the disc from rotating quickly by putting a reverse polarity pulse into the motor this allows fast ejection of the disk/opening of the drive tray otherwise there would be several seconds delay between stopping a disc and being able to eject it as you would have to let the disc slowly spin to a stop. This reverse pulse has to be powerful enough to stop the disc when it is rotating at its maximin speed and can be powerful enough to not only cause the disc to stop rotating but to also cause the disc to make a small (no more than 1) rotation in the opposite direction to normal play depending on the rotational speed of the disc at the time it was stopped.

This small reverse rotation can be difficult to see with the lid down and has often finished by the time you open the CD player lid, does that sound like what you are seeing? If you think you are actually seeing the CD being driven for a sustainded period in the wrong direction that would be a concern.

 

If I recall the Jaguar applies the reverse polarity stop method to the CD unit when you open the lid with the Jag powered but the disc is allowed to spin to a stop when you switch off the Jag (CD unit still powered) or is it the other way around? Either way someone should have insured the reverse polarity stop method was used in both situations.

[Starcat]

After some more checking I think I have resolved the problems.

I believe it really was a problem of the motor being stuck at first (fixed with the screwdriver trick). And later it was a problem of the disc not being pressed down by the lid (as I didn't close it to see if things were fine).

Yes, the Playstation and other cd systems I own usually have some sort of mechanism to make sure the cd has some "grip".

In case of a playstation I own it's some plastic parts on the spindle itself and when they break, you have the same problem as I saw it on the Jag.

 

I think what I saw with turning backwards was also caused by this.. Imagine the disc not really having grip. Turning at the wrong speed (maybe too fast) and the drive trying to slow it down, but it slightly starts to hover and is out of control. Actually I guess I was lucky that the discs didn't fly through the room.

 

So for anybody who tries to operate the drive without lid, remember that the grip of the spindle and disc isn't so good and the disc can easily get out of control.

 

The problem I had with CDR games I tried to play was simply due to the age of the discs. After like 8 years they seem to be problematic due to the nature of the Jaguar format. While data discs on PC are maybe still readable (although even they tend to have problems), the audio discs of the Jag are less likely to work if you have bad luck. That was the case for me. So creating backups of your CDR games for yourself might be a good idea for the future.

 

Mastered CDs seem to work fine.

 

Regards, Lars.

[Broonale]

I was hoping to never have to post this... but apparently my personal Jaguar CD unit no longer boots any CDs. This is the only unit I've had in my personal collection after all these years, and it no longer boots any commercial or homebrew disc that I insert; I get the dreaded "question mark on disc" icon over and over.

 

Does anyone here repair Jaguar CD units, or at least have some simple tips on things to check? The disc spins fine and the motor doesn't sound funny. I suppose I could do a full laser replace, but honestly I'd rather pay someone else to do it.

 

 

Did you get it fixed, Carl?

 

Your spindle may have moved the disc out of focus distance.

 

Try Link's instructions.

 

http://www.linkovitch.me.uk/jaguar/cdrepai...ck-platter.html

 

All you have to lose is 15 minutes of goof off time!

[Songbird]

I haven't fixed it yet, but will try some of the things suggested here.

[Gorf]

I haven't fixed it yet, but will try some of the things suggested here.

 

I also understand you can replace the entire drive mech for about $13.

[+orpheuswaking]

I haven't fixed it yet, but will try some of the things suggested here.

 

I also understand you can replace the entire drive mech for about $13.

 

Once again Gorf is behind the times... I already mentioned that way back in the thread...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding Gorf

[ovalbugmann]

This; my JagCD is broke? complaint has come up so often, I put the needed repair info in my sig!

 

I hope Carl needs his JagCD working right now for a cool reason!

 

[Herbarius]

The problem I had with CDR games I tried to play was simply due to the age of the discs. After like 8 years they seem to be problematic due to the nature of the Jaguar format. While data discs on PC are maybe still readable (although even they tend to have problems), ...

 

As a side note, if I were to try an 8 year old CD-R in my PC, I'd hold my breath, too.

However, the really old CD-Rs, like pre-2000s, seem to resist time's grip better. You know, those that were gold or sometimes blue, instead of the silver ones we've got now...

Edited June 28, 2009 by Herbarius

[Herbarius]

However, the really old CD-Rs, like pre-2000s, seem to resist time's grip better.

 

After some research I found this statement to be false, so I decided to edit it, because taken as a suggestion it could be dangerous. However the post wasn't editable any more so I replied instead.

 

There are several factors influencing the lifespan of a CD-R, and the color alone is not enough to identify its durability, there are other factors like the sealing on the edges of the disc, which can't be detemined by look. As a rule of thumb you could say avoid cheap brands for CD-Rs if you plan on keeping them some while.

Edited June 28, 2009 by Herbarius

[matashen]

However, the really old CD-Rs, like pre-2000s, seem to resist time's grip better.

 

After some research I found this statement to be false, so I decided to edit it, because taken as a suggestion it could be dangerous. However the post wasn't editable any more so I replied instead.

 

There are several factors influencing the lifespan of a CD-R, and the color alone is not enough to identify its durability, there are other factors like the sealing on the edges of the disc, which can't be detemined by look. As a rule of thumb you could say avoid cheap brands for CD-Rs if you plan on keeping them some while.

 

The best quality of CDRs are Verbatim (Matsushita Chemicals) and Ricoh.

Gold is quite better as silver. Cause Silver can oxydate over years, while gold reflect all the time with the same qulity.

The die-color is the second important thing for lifetime. I dont know what color is the best for long storage. I have ones with darkblue and the seem to be good.

 

Mastered CDs dont havethe problem, cause the informations not in an chemical layer - the hardly pressed with a masterblock made of glas.

[ovalbugmann]

Taiyo-Yuden's Silver-Lacquer with Blue-Azo dye have the sealed edges and most are of achival quality.

 

Just do not use glue labels on any CD-Rs(as the glue dries over the years it messes up the reflective top layer) or expose them to heat or light.