Hey, DP. Long time no post. Anyhoo, down to business:

I recently acquired a SEGA CD2+Genesis 2 combo on ebay for $60 described as working perfectly.

It was not.

That's behind me now, though, I got a full refund and got to keep the thing, with the seller hoping it could be fixed using the refunded cash.

The specific problem I have is that the system refuses to read any discs. When a disc is inserted, it will try to read it (the disc DOES spin up and spins up well) but gives up and goes to the music player with a "NO DISC" message when start is pressed. It's not the door that's the problem, as it recognizes very easily when said door is closed or open, and I've already tried cleaning off the lens with rubbing alcohol and nothing has changed. I tested 10 different legit SEGA CD games and all of them did pretty much the same thing, as well as a brand-new music CD that had never been played which did the same thing. I'm convinced the problem has to have something to do with the lens, but don't know where to go from here.

If necessary I can open the thing up. I've also got a broken model 1 that I still can't fix and I've opened it up dozens of times to try (if I can fix this M2, maybe I'll even get the confidence to try again!) and someone in this house can probably solder. I even ordered some gamebits recently to clean a few stubborn carts if they become necessary for the console too.

So...what do I do? I've got a $60 budget to fix the thing without paying more into it.

Thank you for any help in advance. If taking pictures or videos can help diagnose the exact issue easier, it's no problem at all.