Csonicgo Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 So my mother got me CDX for my birthday in the box with AV cables, PSU(!!) and the controller. The first thing I did was try to listen to the American Graffiti soundtrack. It gets halfway through Bill Haley before skipping white noise appears in the sound and then silence. I'm at my wits end here. I think the laser may have been knocked out of alignment during shipment (USPS just shoved it in my mailbox, it barely fit!) and I need some CD repair advice. UNLESS I can fix it myself: I am willing to ship this thing to whoever needs to fix it and cover shipping costs since she only paid around $75 for it. I simply don't have the space in my apartment for the huge Mega CD. What do I need to look for if I do attempt a repair? The vitals: Serial: Y40 015965 Made in Japan Manufactured: January 1994 TRD Plus a maintenance number that I wish I could still call.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Willy Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Have you tried other CDs to see if it has similar problems? Maybe that first CD has dirt/scratch it can't handle. Does it do the same thing every time you reset, or do you have to let it sit off a while before it works again? If it just plays noise until you turn it off and let it sit, it's not an alignment problem, but a heat or bad component problem. Basically, we need more info to determine what the problem may be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 (edited) Sometimes it'll let me seek tracks, sometimes not. I've tried it on my American Graffiti album, my West Side Story album, and my Boards Of Canada albums, all have no prints or scratches whatsoever. Second Harvest is a recent pressed CD,too. Usually any 30 seconds of a track will play, with increasing "white noise"until silence, I put the console to my ear and hear the laser mechanism moving like crazy, trying to read. I'm lucky to get anything afterwards. I'm using brand new AA batteries, too. It's very hit or miss as well, sometimes tracks won't play at all from just sitting a while, sometimes they will but only 30 seconds. I haven't heard a complete song from this thing yet. Edit: I'm using the CDX in Walkman mode, it's not even plugged into the wall. Edited November 7, 2014 by Csonicgo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 I just got off the phone with the seller. He told me the unit worked fine before he shipped it, and it's likely damage incurred during shipping. I'm not too happy, here. The console is in such great condition otherwise. Plays carts perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Willy Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Too many sellers on ebay don't pack the items properly. I had a SNES I bought get damaged in shipping and needed to be replaced. I've had carts and discs I bought sent in unpadded envelopes with no packing material. Stupid shit like that. Some folks don't seem to have a lick of sense when it comes to shipping electronics/games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Well, I shipped it back and got a refund after explaining the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 I got another CDX from a seller in Florida. He tested it out and said it was working fine. Here's the issue: it works fine after a while. It takes forever to read, but it does read after a while. Music CDs are still hilariously broken. Data loads fine, but anything that "streams" - Video, audio, etc - stutters after 30-45 seconds. I'm starting to think these consoles are super-delicate, or all of them break down like this. This is super frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Willy Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Yes, the CDX is a persnickety console. Mine is VERY picky about CDRs, but pretty decent with pressed CDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Yeah, I got off the phone with a friend of mine that is a Sega enthusiast. Turns out the second one I got is in much better shape since the CD mechanism is intact. It's the capacitors! If those are replaced with modern ones, the CDX should be good to go. The LCD was also weak, which also point to bad caps. I'm going to keep the second one. The only problems are the caps and the AV jack needs to be reseated. Much better than having to look around for a CD mechanism that may or may not fit or work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Willy Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Yeah, those old CD drives can sometimes be hard to find. For the Sega family, the Model 2 is the easiest to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 It's working great now! I'm finally playing Sonic CD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Willy Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Good to hear. Welcome to the CDX Club. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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