JVC X'Eye intermittent cd drive problem

[cityside75]

I just recently picked up an x'eye cheap from a guy that said he had barely ever used the cd drive (the condition of the unit and the pack-in discs seems to corroborate this).

Anyway, I tried using it last night and it works but intermittently seems to have problems. Games load up fine but will sometimes begin skipping, or in some games an error will come on the screen saying something like "CD Problem, retrying". Eternal Champions won't load at all.

It doesn't happen all the time (except with EC), and sometimes restarting the game seems to make it better. I've tried cleaning the lens and the discs to no avail. Where should I go next?

One more piece of info: although the x'eye is in great shape, everything smells like it came from a smoker household.

[InsaneDavid]

Geez, sorry I didn't see this when you posted it last month. I was about to say the CD door pinswitch is bad (goes bad with a lot of X'Eye systems) but in this case I'm stumped right off the bat. I'd say to open the system and look for any obstructions inside, blow out the inside of the shell, etc. There could be something in the way of the CD laser carriage.

[cityside75]

No worries, thanks for the reply.

Anyway, I'm pretty convinced that the problem is a weak/overly sensitive laser. I was able to burn a copy of eternal champions and the x'eye played the burn, I assume because the disc was perfect. The original disc was not perfect, but it was pretty clean and played in my computer fine, but it won't play at all in the x'eye.

I did open it up, and everything was very clean with no obstructions or anything. I tried cleaning the laser a few more times, but it looks like this is as good as it will get.

I'm sure I could try tweaking the pots, but I've had bad luck with that in the past (a somewhat working 3do never worked again), and since that lowers the life of the laser anyway I'll just live with it.

Thanks for the tip on the door pinswitch. I'll keep an eye on that.

[InsaneDavid]

No worries, thanks for the reply.

Anyway, I'm pretty convinced that the problem is a weak/overly sensitive laser. I was able to burn a copy of eternal champions and the x'eye played the burn, I assume because the disc was perfect. The original disc was not perfect, but it was pretty clean and played in my computer fine, but it won't play at all in the x'eye.

I did open it up, and everything was very clean with no obstructions or anything. I tried cleaning the laser a few more times, but it looks like this is as good as it will get.

I'm sure I could try tweaking the pots, but I've had bad luck with that in the past (a somewhat working 3do never worked again), and since that lowers the life of the laser anyway I'll just live with it.

The Sega CD is EXTREMELY picky when it comes to scratched discs, I usually play freshly made duplicates of my games myself. The JVC X'Eye is usually a tad bit more forgiving when it comes to scratched games but not much. You may also want to try removing and reseating the cable connections between the CD drive assembly and the CD drive assembly daughterboard, as well as the three connectors between the daughterboard and the motherboard. Also check to see if any of the wires or sockets are bad.

Thanks for the tip on the door pinswitch. I'll keep an eye on that.

If that problem does creep up I have a replacement / override walkthrough here - http://www.classicplastic.net/dvgi/ under Events / Features you'll find "Replacing the JVC X'Eye Disc Lid Pinswitch" which should tell you what you need to know.