Broken GD-ROM drive (not the laser)

I have a Dreamcast that doesn't read GD-ROMS anymore. It still spins up the disc, so I assumed it was the laser, but after swapping the laser with one from a working Dreamcast it still doesn't read any discs.

Are there any other parts in the GD-ROM drive besides the laser that are known to break that I could check?

I have also noticed that the spindle motor makes a lot more noise than the one in my other Dreamcast. Is it possible that the motor is bad?

 

If you have a working DC that you are cannibalizing to fix this one, perhaps this DC is a special model? In that case, maybe you can just take out the entire functioning GDrom assembly from the working DC and place that in the model you want to work, rather than just taking out and swapping the laser eye.

Different GDrom drives have different lasers depending on if they are the yamaha or samsung drive. Does the laser you tried to transplant look like the one you are trying to replace? Not sure if that would make a difference.

 

I would just swap the entire drive.

 

I am not cannibalizing one, I just swapped the lasers to determine if it's broken. Both have the same drive. After swapping it is still the same Dreamcast that doesn't read any discs. The good Dreamcast works fine with the laser from the broken Dreamcast, so it must be something else.

 

Well, disc still spins up, that means that ba5986 (4-ch CD-ROM driver IC) is still alive. I'd say it's either 16-pin ribbon cable that goes to laser head or bad connection between GD-ROM and main board. Or it's just dying spindle motor, in which case you'd better replace it with new one before it burns driver IC.

Tip1: you can find 17 pin ribbon cable in old CD-ROM drive and cut off one pin so it will fit into Dreamcast.
Tip2: you can also find new spindle motor in the same old CD-ROM, but it's not so easy to install it into GD-ROM.

 

I am assuming that it's the spindle motor then. The ribbon cable has no damage at all and I have made sure that it's properly connected. The spindle motor makes a lot more noise than it should.

I hope I can find another motor somewhere. Unfortunately I threw away the only old CD-ROM drive I had last week.

 

Good luck then, just keep in mind - don't even try to find original Dreamcast spindle motor. As far as i know, these motors are faulty and unreliable (except maybe first Japan revisions, which have different type of spindle motor). What you need is a CD-ROM tray opening/closing motor, it's usually RF-300 or its analog.

 

Are you sure that a RF-300 motor works? They are only around €5 on ebay.

 

Yes, it works. And any other standart 5.9V or 13V DC spindle motors will work, not only RF-300. I strongly recommend to get this motor from old CD-ROM drive, because this way you can be sure that this motor is 100% genuine.
However, it takes some time and patience to install it into Dreamcast. If you compare original Dreamcast spindle motor and RF-300 you will see why.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll look out for another CD-ROM drive then.

 

It could be a Gd-rom board ?
I can supply one Pm me if you want one.

 

I have swapped the drive board with the one from my working Dreamcast and that fixed it, so apparently it was the drive board that is broken. I've sent you a PM about it.