oh man I just have to comment that your videos are the best. I almost drownd in beer watching your other videos and this very likely to be my go to channel. Nice job man.Very informative and very funny, in a good way...I learned alot
I can absolutely agree with that. When I first had the garage converted to my cave I thought this is loads of space but now I could use another garage just for storage.
Cool video, glad the hot water trick helped! I recently ordered a set of different belts aswell, always a good idea having some at home when repairing electronic stuff :-) Best wishes from Germany, Michael
This one comes just in time, having a drive that seems to have a belt that gets a little tired. It sometimes doesn't open, have to retry a few times if that happens, especially with no disc in it.
@@CRG will most certainly try if that works. Machine has been in a place where has been smoked so it might also need some cleaning Got it already to work with my parallel port zipdrive. Would like to find an IDE one maybe.
Elbow Grease is amazing for shifting dirt. Be careful on black plastic though as I cleaned a CPC 464 with it and it very slightly bleached the plastic where it sat for a while.
I have a Kenwood TrueX that just recently started rattling when a music CD is inserted, but not when data CDs are used. I've used it quite a lot for both over the last few years, so I know this rattle is new. I hate to open such a rare and unique drive... does anyone have any ideas?
Nice video. But never ever use IPA to clean your pickup lens. It can disolve the glue and the lens will become loose. Just use some regular window cleaner (eg Windex) because it's having a lot less alcohol in it. Thanks again for the video!
Hi CGR, I propose you to never disconnect OPU cable from the drive board if you did not soldered the ESD short of the laser diode. Please keep in mind laser diodes highly ESD sensitive. Also propose before turns the laser current pot on the OPU please clean the lens and try to align the focus/tracking servo pot based on an oscilloscope measurement/feedback. So the message is different that yours: first focus-servo alignment, and after that change the led current. More current will kill the diode in a short period, if you need to change that adjusted value your drive already dead. Regards, Mark
Not sure I could replace the actual diode but replacing the sled is usually easy enough. There's normally a couple of screws to take the rail out then the sled slides off and you replace it.
@@CRG Sorry I meant to say could you do a video on how to remove the device that houses the laser that is attached to the rails. I have been practicing trying to disassemble a Samsung SCR-830 but I was unable to strip it down completely. I would like to be able to strip down my Panasonic CR-572-B. I know you mentioned one of these in your video. If you could do a video showing how to strip it down that would be much appreciated! Thank you.
Nice video. You made it look easy. I have always been wary of delving into CD drives and I have one that needs attention so I may give it a go now. Great idea about the emulator. Given the amount of gizmos that are being created for retro computers, I'm sure it will be done. 👍😊
Well a little birdie might have told me about something new in the works 🤫 although it's still a bit off. If I can take apart a cd drive for some maintenance then anyone can. Just be don't look straight into the laser when it's on. If you want to see the laser use your phone's camera over the lens.
The hole just presses against the same bit of plastic I was pushing the screw driver into. Perhaps "force the drive open" wasn't the best phrase to use.
That's the problem just not enough room for everything but I also need to try and thin out duplicates. While I'd like to keep them there is only so many I can ever use and unless I get myself a museum (like RMC has) I'd rather the systems go to people who will use than rather than just sit here collecting dust. My Amigas on the other hand... those stay with me :)
More just thinking at a hardware level say for DOS or installing windows etc. We used daemon tools a lot back in the day for mounting Isos and I still use it the odd time. Have to use it on the POS system since it doesn't have a cd drive.
Daemon tools works well from within Windows, I do use it on some of the older systems but an IDE device is what I'd like to see, something that can interface with the computer at hardware level and be seen as an optical drive.
They must exist somewhere! We had a cd server at school which exported virtual CDs over the network maybe using ata over Ethernet I'm not sure. All things are possible
Optical drive emulators exist. And at least one is in active development right now in russian community. It'll take some time for them to become as popular and cheap as the Gotek one. I have about 40 drives, I serviced each one of them. More than half are unable to read CD-Rs and some pressed CDs. Some have firmware-controlled laser power, so no matter how you adjust the potentiometer you won't do any good. At least once a firmware update made the drive worse (Teac branded). Also sometimes the laser itself gets dirty, not the lens (often it's almost impossible to get to the laser). In my experience, the most reliable IDE drive ever is Sony CRX300E, and the least reliable is Sony CRX320E (weirdly). I was able to read a broken disc once with CRX300E (it had a straight radius crack).
when it comes to PCs, what is the difference between having an optical disc emulator and just using a flash drive to move files onto an old computer? one answer I can think of is for games that used the CD as the piracy prevention/DRM. is there any other reason the computer should think it's seeing a CD drive?
@@craigluft7453 There are ways to work around having a CD drive, indeed. But sometimes it's just the easiest way to get things done on old machines. For example installing an OS, or playing CD DOS games. There was a period when USB wasn't really a thing or poorly supported. For example, up until Pentium 4 systems it wasn't usually possible to boot from USB without problems or at all. So for diagnosis or OS installation CD was the way. You could create a special hard drive instead, and you could even use an ejectable caddy for it. But CDs are just easier and cheaper. Also it's possible to boot from CD on 386, i did it :D
@@Arti9m heck my family's Dell 3.2GHz Pentium 4 (which I later inherited) can't reliably boot from USB. I'm sure better custom-build motherboards supported it during the P4's lifetime, though. I never started expecting it to be a reliable option until Core (2) Duo times.
Successful repair videos are so satisfying.
oh man I just have to comment that your videos are the best. I almost drownd in beer watching your other videos and this very likely to be my go to channel. Nice job man.Very informative and very funny, in a good way...I learned alot
That's very kind of you to say. Thanks for the support.
There's no such thing as having too many retro computers.
But there's a thing called "too little space".
I can absolutely agree with that. When I first had the garage converted to my cave I thought this is loads of space but now I could use another garage just for storage.
Hi, followed this and restored a tired old DVD drive to perfect working order. Thanks
Usually CD / DVD optics usually fail due to the pickup sensors and not the laser it's self. Nice vid :)
Cool video, glad the hot water trick helped! I recently ordered a set of different belts aswell, always a good idea having some at home when repairing electronic stuff :-) Best wishes from Germany, Michael
Great video, always good to fix up old hardware!
Thanks
This one comes just in time, having a drive that seems to have a belt that gets a little tired.
It sometimes doesn't open, have to retry a few times if that happens, especially with no disc in it.
I'd certainly recommend trying the belt in boiling water for a few minutes to see if it helps.
@@CRG will most certainly try if that works. Machine has been in a place where has been smoked so it might also need some cleaning
Got it already to work with my parallel port zipdrive. Would like to find an IDE one maybe.
Excellent and very timely video. Where do you get the belts for these from? Cheers Luke
The bag of random belts came from Amazon. Just search for drive belts.
Elbow Grease is amazing for shifting dirt. Be careful on black plastic though as I cleaned a CPC 464 with it and it very slightly bleached the plastic where it sat for a while.
Thanks for the tip, it's great stuff and I use on everything but I've got a CPC coming up for some work so I'll maybe use something else.
Spray the grease into an egg cup then use a small paint brush to apply it where it needs to go
Yeah I'll have to get myself a little cup for just that purpose.
Have some gü desserts, use the glass ramekins for screws and grease dispensation.
@@TheErador that’s exactly what I use hah
I have a Kenwood TrueX that just recently started rattling when a music CD is inserted, but not when data CDs are used. I've used it quite a lot for both over the last few years, so I know this rattle is new. I hate to open such a rare and unique drive... does anyone have any ideas?
Would you please link anything you have for sale?
Nice video. But never ever use IPA to clean your pickup lens. It can disolve the glue and the lens will become loose. Just use some regular window cleaner (eg Windex) because it's having a lot less alcohol in it. Thanks again for the video!
Never thought about that, thanks for the tip.
Hi CGR,
I propose you to never disconnect OPU cable from the drive board if you did not soldered the ESD short of the laser diode. Please keep in mind laser diodes highly ESD sensitive.
Also propose before turns the laser current pot on the OPU please clean the lens and try to align the focus/tracking servo pot based on an oscilloscope measurement/feedback. So the message is different that yours: first focus-servo alignment, and after that change the led current. More current will kill the diode in a short period, if you need to change that adjusted value your drive already dead.
Regards, Mark
Can you do a video on how to strip down and replace the laser diode in a CD-ROM?
Not sure I could replace the actual diode but replacing the sled is usually easy enough. There's normally a couple of screws to take the rail out then the sled slides off and you replace it.
@@CRG Sorry I meant to say could you do a video on how to remove the device that houses the laser that is attached to the rails. I have been practicing trying to disassemble a Samsung SCR-830 but I was unable to strip it down completely. I would like to be able to strip down my Panasonic CR-572-B. I know you mentioned one of these in your video. If you could do a video showing how to strip it down that would be much appreciated! Thank you.
Is that olivetti a 386? If so could you tell me the model please?
Its an M300-02, 16mhz 386SX.
Nice video. You made it look easy. I have always been wary of delving into CD drives and I have one that needs attention so I may give it a go now. Great idea about the emulator. Given the amount of gizmos that are being created for retro computers, I'm sure it will be done. 👍😊
Well a little birdie might have told me about something new in the works 🤫 although it's still a bit off.
If I can take apart a cd drive for some maintenance then anyone can. Just be don't look straight into the laser when it's on. If you want to see the laser use your phone's camera over the lens.
@@CRG Well, that's intriguing 😊
Another fine video!
Don't spray at device, spray in cap/mug/tray, dip cotton bud, apply.
Yeah that's a good tip, thanks.
There's a hole to unlock the tray in the front of the drive, just use a paperclip, no need to force the opening.
The hole just presses against the same bit of plastic I was pushing the screw driver into. Perhaps "force the drive open" wasn't the best phrase to use.
Never enough!! Just never enough room.
That's the problem just not enough room for everything but I also need to try and thin out duplicates. While I'd like to keep them there is only so many I can ever use and unless I get myself a museum (like RMC has) I'd rather the systems go to people who will use than rather than just sit here collecting dust.
My Amigas on the other hand... those stay with me :)
@@CRG Well if you're planning on saling some next year, let me know as I'll have a house by then. Amigas always have a space in our home
You can mount CD Images on a Windoze PC with Daemon Tools/WinCDEmu/Nero Image Tool etc...
You thinking of DOS maybe ?
More just thinking at a hardware level say for DOS or installing windows etc. We used daemon tools a lot back in the day for mounting Isos and I still use it the odd time. Have to use it on the POS system since it doesn't have a cd drive.
I like the idea of an emulated optical drive. A Gotek-like or Pi-based device with modifed firmware, perhaps.
You can use Daemon Tools lite to create a virtual optical drive. It can mount various types of image file such as iso.
Daemon tools works well from within Windows, I do use it on some of the older systems but an IDE device is what I'd like to see, something that can interface with the computer at hardware level and be seen as an optical drive.
They must exist somewhere! We had a cd server at school which exported virtual CDs over the network maybe using ata over Ethernet I'm not sure. All things are possible
22:58 Chip is motor driver.
23:07 thats a motor driver
Thanks for the letting me know.
@@CRG no problem :)
Optical drive emulators exist. And at least one is in active development right now in russian community. It'll take some time for them to become as popular and cheap as the Gotek one.
I have about 40 drives, I serviced each one of them. More than half are unable to read CD-Rs and some pressed CDs. Some have firmware-controlled laser power, so no matter how you adjust the potentiometer you won't do any good. At least once a firmware update made the drive worse (Teac branded). Also sometimes the laser itself gets dirty, not the lens (often it's almost impossible to get to the laser). In my experience, the most reliable IDE drive ever is Sony CRX300E, and the least reliable is Sony CRX320E (weirdly). I was able to read a broken disc once with CRX300E (it had a straight radius crack).
when it comes to PCs, what is the difference between having an optical disc emulator and just using a flash drive to move files onto an old computer? one answer I can think of is for games that used the CD as the piracy prevention/DRM. is there any other reason the computer should think it's seeing a CD drive?
@@craigluft7453 There are ways to work around having a CD drive, indeed. But sometimes it's just the easiest way to get things done on old machines. For example installing an OS, or playing CD DOS games. There was a period when USB wasn't really a thing or poorly supported. For example, up until Pentium 4 systems it wasn't usually possible to boot from USB without problems or at all. So for diagnosis or OS installation CD was the way. You could create a special hard drive instead, and you could even use an ejectable caddy for it. But CDs are just easier and cheaper. Also it's possible to boot from CD on 386, i did it :D
@@Arti9m heck my family's Dell 3.2GHz Pentium 4 (which I later inherited) can't reliably boot from USB. I'm sure better custom-build motherboards supported it during the P4's lifetime, though. I never started expecting it to be a reliable option until Core (2) Duo times.
you kept adding a non exsistant T on Compaq mate
Yeah just a slip of the tongue.
Ok so several slips of the tongue but its just bad habit on my part or maybe I can blame the accent.