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Thread: Sega Saturn - "Drive Empty" Problem. Old Story, no conclusion

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    Default Sega Saturn - "Drive Empty" Problem. Old Story, no conclusion

    Hey folks
    I think i got shaftet on Amazon (.de / germany)
    Since i always wa a "Nintendo Kid" and never owned a Sega system until recently.
    I ordered a Dreamcast and a Sega Saturn of off Amazon, both used and supposedly in good condition.
    Since i have my final exams coming up, i didnt have much time to play around with these systems, nor did i get any games with them (knowing that i didnt have time to play anyways and to save money at the time).
    I hooked up both systems just to see if both actually worked and both consoles did fine, the dreamcast also played games i got "elsewhere" for testing purposes.
    A couple of weeks later (yesterday) i remembered that the saturn was also able to playback audio CDs, so i popped one in to also confirm that the disc drive works (the seller pledged that he tested the system before shipping) and guess what: "Drive Empty"
    As soon as the lid closes, you can hear 3 faint "click" noises from the laserlens and thats it, no spinning disc, no laser movement, no disc recognition (original audio CD, no self burned stuff or MP3s), no nothing.
    I read a couple of posts on the internet and all came in different flavours: Spinning disc but no laser movement and vice versa, occasional reading errors so on and so forth.
    The easiest advice ive got was to open the system (Model 1, although a Model 2 was pictured...) and check the ribbon cable right of the disc drive. I unplugged it, cleaned it, put it back together but still, nothing.
    I even operated the system without the top cover to see what exactly is going on:
    The laser constantly sits as close as possible to the CD holder / spindle and never moves from there. If a CD is on top, it spins 3 short times (very slowly) and stops completely, giving me the "Empty Drive" message.
    If no disc is mounted, the laster still doesnt move, but pokes up and down 3 times before doing nothing at all.
    I fumbled slightly with the orange screw in the back of the Laser (not too much though) as it was also mentioned to cause this error sometimes (laser getting too weak)
    Still, nothing.
    Do you guys have any other idea what is going on here and perhaps, what needs to be done ? I cant return the system that easily because the 14 days return limit is now overdue, so i can at least try to revive it myself before selling it off for basicly nothing as a broken console, having wasted roughly 50€.

    I hope someone could give me a clue, thanks in advance

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    Pretzel (Level 4) APE992's Avatar
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    The laser sounds dead to me. Open it up, power it up and press the lid switch closed. If you can't see any red on the laser it's dead.

    Simple as swapping entire laser assemblies.
    I fix things. You name it, I'll work on it. Want something modded? Recapped?

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    Well, without looking directly dead on into the laser lense, i can say that the lense stays dull blue without any hint of read on it. I will try to get a refund then somehow as a new lens would probably cost as much as a new (used) system, shipping and all :/
    Thanks for the quick reply, i never thought of checking the active laser lense. Bummer...

    Edit: Well, i looked up prices for a brand new lense and its about 20$. The problem is that i dont know how much shipping would cost from the US over here to Europe, Germany. But thanks anyways If shipping is affordable, this might turn out cheaper than getting another system (if a refund isnt possible) and hoping that the laser in that system is still working.
    Last edited by EinherjarX; 01-13-2014 at 03:31 PM.

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    Pretzel (Level 4) APE992's Avatar
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    Shoot a message to this guy: http://www.assemblergames.com/forums...63433-Bad_Ad84

    He lives in the UK and can probably get you what you want for a reasonable price.
    I fix things. You name it, I'll work on it. Want something modded? Recapped?

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