recovering / repairing / restoration of gd rom drive

Hello my name is DragoonC from segacity.de
I've been loooong into the Sega community and Dreamcast since day one.
I like modding a lot on every kinda electronic stuff, but tend to my darling Dreamcast
I've been working the last weeks on something that came up back in the days from dc brazil, restoring the gd drive with pc laser units. I thought I give it a shot and test some drives that where produces during the time the Dreamcast was made, to see if they might have compatible laser units to fit in as a replacement in the gd rom drive.

so here are my test results, i hope someone can revive his dead gd rom drive with the help of my work.

cd based (no dvd or bd) drives that been said in the community to be compatible:
SAMSUNG SC-152 (also named CD Master 52x , common in the EU starting at 1€)
CREATIVE CD3228 (more common in USA, average price)
LG GCR-8521B (later model, expensive)
MITSUMI CRMC-FX4830T (common in japan, very expensive)

cd based (no dvd or bd) laser units that been said in the community to be compatible:
JVC spu-3200 (yes)
Hitachi hop-a1 (not tested yet)
Sanyo sf-p151 (no)
Mitsumi pxr-550x (yes, with modification to the gd drive)
Sony kss-576 (nt tested yet)


what I tested so far:

1.
Toshiba Samsung CD-Master 52E Model SH-152
SH-152AEBUW H/W: A Ver. A February 2005
Laser PXR-560X 1155 ohms @ PC, 345 ohms @ DC but reads only orig. GDs
modification needed on the gd drive, laser unit is a little bit bigger.

2.
Samsung CD-Master 52E Model SC-152
SC-152AEBB H/W: A Ver. A September 2003
Laser PXR-560X 950 ohms @ PC, 380 ohms @ DC but reads only orig. GDs
modification needed on the gd drive, laser unit is a little bit bigger.

the results ot the PXR-560X units are not that great, so i dont recommend them as a proper solution.

3.
Creative CD2422E H/W: C February 1998
laser unit not compatible

4.
Samsung CD-Master 48E Model SC-148
Rev A01 August 2001
laser unit SOH-R48 17 Pin fabric readings 505 ohms (red epoxy still on the pot) @ PC and DC, but only orig. GDs. I really dont want to go any lower on this laser with the ohms cause they are already really low from fabric.
laser fits right into the DC without any modification done to the gd drive, just let 1 Pin out on the socket.

5.
Mitsumi CRMC-FX4824T March 2000
laser unit PXR-550X 16 Pin
fabric readings great 1450 ohms @ PC and 900 ohms @ DC , reads orig. GDs and CD-Rs perfectly !
modification needed on the gd drive, laser unit is a little bit bigger.

6.
Samsung CD-Master 48E Model SC-148
Rev A00 April 2001
laser unit Samsung SOH-R48 17 Pin fabric readings 1000 ohms @ PC and DC 750 Ohm GDs and CD-Rs
laser fits right into the DC without any modification done to the gd drive, just let 1 Pin out on the socket.

7.
Samsung CD-Master 52E Model SC-152
H/W: A Ver. C January 2001
laser unit PXR-550X fabric readings 1000 ohms @ PC and DC 750 ohms GDs und CD-Rs
modification needed on the gd drive, laser unit is a little bit bigger.

8.
Mitsumi CRMC-FX4010M
laser unit doesnt fit, too much modification needed.

9.
Samsung CD-Master 52E Model SC-152
H/W: A Ver. C February 2001
laser unit PXR-550X fabric readings PC @ 730 ohms and DC 600 ohms GDs and "clean" CD-Rs
modification needed on the gd drive, laser unit is a little bit bigger.

10.
LG GCR-8523B August 2003
laser unit Sanyo SF-P151 PC @ 1000 ohms, not compatible

11.
LG GCR-8521B October 2002
laser unit Sanyo SF-P151 PC @ 980 ohms, not compatible



the results of the laser unit PXR-550X of the Mitsumi drive are very promising.
not only that is has 16 pin socket cable as the Dreamcast has, but you can also rip out the flat ribbon cable of the laser and the disc motor to have it spare, once those parts break in the gd rom drive.
the PXR-550X of the Mitsumi compared to the ones in the Samsung drives are really way better in ohm fabric readings. sadly they are more expensive and harder to get.

if i have some money left, i will keep on testing other drives.

cheers !

 

totally forgot, the modification done to the gd rom drive to fit the bigger laser units, its just simply cutting a little bid of plastic away like seen here:
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac15/phtbcktid/109ba330.jpg

and you have to have a Samung gd rom drive, the JVC are too small to fit the laser units.

 

if you happen to be from germany too, here is my thread over at segacity.de
http://www.segacity.de/viewtopic.php?t=6178

 

I have bought quite a few spu-3200 jvc lasers from ebay and have never had any success with getting them too work. There are a bunch of threads about these not working. Funny how it is the same laser but it won't work on the Dreamcast. Must be some sort of difference somewhere on the laser unit. Trace or something different. If you get spu-3200 working I would like to know how you got it working or anyone who got the jvc spu-3200 working on the Dreamcast.

 

Couple years ago I purchased a new "original Philip SPU3200" laser from a Chinese eBay seller for one of my Dreamcast, it too didn't work. It may be new, but I seriously doubt it was original as the build quality is nothing like the original one that I removed. Before I gave up, I decided to turn the potentiometer since I thought I have nothing to loose. To my surprise, in less than 1 degree turn, the drive started reading my discs. This is probably one of those YMMV story. If you are already stuck with a handful of nonreturnable lasers, might as well give it a try.

 

@DewIt @BuffaloWing
those 3200 around are all from the same source, overpriced and total crap. they dont work at all and always come with low ohms already. they're refurbsihed trash. i had a lot of 30 bought 2 years ago, only 5 out of them where able to work.
Thaats why I did this kinda experiment/ work, so no chinese can rip me off again and i get good quality replacement lasers out of old pc hardware you can mostly get for free, cause people tend to throw old pc hardware away.

 

That explains why I couldn't get it too work. Sellers on ebay sell crap.

 

nice thread. where exactly do i test on gdrom with multimeter probes?

 

I have a HOP-A1 reading cd-r discs but has a bit if a struggle with GD-ROMs. Haven't figured it out yet but the laser gets stuck when I reassemble the case.

 

Weird thing just happened to me. Today I installed a new spindle motor and it seemed to be fine when, suddenly, it started violently spinning counterclockwise.
Anyone know why this is happening? (Second video is just there to show that the laser is working).



Also, while we're at it, I thought I'd post two pickups that I've found here too. The one in the video is the Samsung one.
Sanyo SF-P151
PC Drive http://i.imgur.com/WthfrcZ.jpg
Pickup #1 http://i.imgur.com/PAxeLAO.jpg
Pickup #2 http://i.imgur.com/uApBvZl.jpg
Pickup #3 http://i.imgur.com/LVJ0lvT.jpg
Pickup #4 http://i.imgur.com/jMCTPXI.jpg
Motor http://i.imgur.com/4cazSBq.jpg
Needs modding for the white plastic piece to fit. The one that makes it go up down in the drive. I'm not up to that, lol.
Sticker (fell off from the pickup) http://i.imgur.com/vpWE7w7.jpg
Samsung CD Master 48E SC-148, plus original DC pickup for comparison
#1 http://i.imgur.com/yhlXn5K.jpg
#2 http://i.imgur.com/yL1qxqc.jpg
#3 http://i.imgur.com/Oc5pW85.jpg

PS. I think it makes sense to link all three threads, regarding this subject, together
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/extensive-dc-reconstruction.33762/
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/replacement-laser-for-dreamcast.48170/
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/guide-use-a-pc-cdrom-lens-in-your-dreamcast.26721/
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/recovering-repairing-restoration-of-gd-rom-drive.59603/ (this thread)

 

I think a mod should probably merge these threads, it would be super useful for future uses.
They're all about the same thing.
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/extensive-dc-reconstruction.33762/
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/replacement-laser-for-dreamcast.48170/
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/guide-use-a-pc-cdrom-lens-in-your-dreamcast.26721/
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/recovering-repairing-restoration-of-gd-rom-drive.59603/ (this thread)

 

Lost interest in this for awhile. Found some information on Youtube here. <-- I don't speak Spanish. Can someone translate or subtitles maybe? LOL.
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http://forum.3doplanet.ru/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=110&edit-text=&act=url <-- how to set the pot on the laser pickup. Looks like everything that has been already said here in the past. Tweaking the pot, cleaning the spindle motor and the motor that moves the laser pickup up and down. Anything that makes the laser pickup work harder than what it needs too. Maybe doing all this may may just get the laser pickup working again.

 

Here's some english language ones.

Spoiler

 

Looks like those video's only cover moving the pot left or right on the laser pickup to read the disc.

 

Changing the pot means adjusting alignment of the spindle and spindle height.

Those videos mainly talk about calibrating the laser. Or adjusting the resistance.
They're useful because there are several of them and because they contain small differences in the details.
This gives you a better understanding of the whole process (of adjusting the laser).
It gives a bigger picture.

 

Problem is they span different forums and six years. That would be one messy and confusing thread!

Easier just to link to the others in the latest thread... which you did

 

Here's a video of what's going on with my Dreamcast atm

0:00 - Freaks out because of a GD-ROM disc
0:33 - Back of the replaced spindle motor. Have I soldered it wrong?
1:15 - Position of resistance screw
1:35 - GD-ROM spinning backwards like in 0:00
2:08 - CD-R backup, spinning normally, not being recognised
2:26 - Same as 0:00 and 1:35
3:10 - Same as 2:08

It doesn't read any discs but freaks out from GD-ROMs..

 

Is that a new laser? Do you have a multimeter? Don't just guess on the resistance. If that is an original laser and you're adjusting the potentiometer for new life, just scrap it and get one listed in this forum. Lastly, euro club music is only making things worse.

 

It's a laser from a pc drive.

Um. It's house music. It was invented in the bay area in the USA. Fun fact..

 

Just kidding. You were not able to get it reading Gd-roms? There are definitely hot zones on the pot, but really only one sweet spot. No on the multimeter?