Hi I got this 3DO from ebay, in decent shape, it worked for a week and then it quit reading games. When you put in an audio cd, it works OK consistently, sometimes if you swap the audio cd for a game it would work. I noticed that placing the consoled upside down would allot it to read games, but is not consistent. The laser is clean and it obviously works since it can always play music, I can see the laser on and the lens moves up and down with each, the laser track was been lubed and I can't see any sign of bad capacitors on the PCB, should I replace them anyway? or could this be just a bad laser? Why would it work when it's upside down? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
it sounds like a bad optical pickup to me - first of all, audio CDs will still play even with a quite high level of C2 errors and secondly the FZ-10 plays game discs in double-speed mode, which places higher requirements on the pickup. The most likely reason for it working better upside down is that it slightly shifts the rest position of the lens and makes it easier for the servo to track. And, if you are using backups, they are harder for the optical system to read than a pressed CD because they have a lower reflectivity.
I got my own FZ-10 to boot games just once, finicky little thing. Can't find a suitable laser replacement either.
I appreciate the info, that is what I was afraid of. I have several pressed games and 1 backup and is just as bad on either of them. I ordered an optical pickup replacement from china, supposedly for the same model, it looks identical other than the cables are oriented a bit differently, but the rails wont fit on the new pickup, the hole is a little bit more narrower.
One option is the FZ usb drive replacement that they used to sell at Stone Age Gamer. However they are rare as rocking horse shit now, and I've had no luck finding one!
