Saturn Disc unsuitable

So I bought a model 1 saturn from a local game store the other day and it looked pretty good. The problem was, after I brought it home discs didn't spin (the disc holder was way lower than it should have been making the discs almost touch the tray) so I pulled the holder off the spindle motor and repositioned it. Games spin up and play fine (tried a few that my old saturn was having trouble with due to a weak laser and they play fine) Problem is I get "this disc is unsuitable" for sega ages volume 1. This is literally the only game out of my collection that doesn't boot. So what could be the problem? Is the laser too weak? (doesn't seem like it as everything boots up very fast) or is there something else? I know sega ages is pretty late in the saturns life cycle. Could it be that it doesn't like newer games?

 

Either it's a bootleg or it's an import. Saturns aren't region free.

 

There is no way it's a bootleg or import as I bought the game brand new at the store when it was released. Also, it seems to work in the other saturn.

 

maybe lasers on its way out and it just doesnt like it, not sure if there's anything special about the sega ages disc, is it a pal system and a pal game?

 

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just says Disc unsuitable. Hmm I may just return it if its a laser issue (pretty much why I bought it in the first place in case the laser craps out on my other saturn). It could possibly be the height of the cd holder is preventing it from reading properly too (just don't wan't to fiddle with it too much as it looks to be the same height of the working one).

 

It is an ntsc system and game.

 

Don't return it! Who knows what might happen to it then... I wouldn't be surprised if they just chucked it our something... Game stores these days often don't give a shit about broken old systems.

 

I've never seen a bad laser in a Saturn before. Bad discs but not bad Saturns.

Seems like your disc is bad from the sound of it. No idea why you'd return a Saturn over a single game when that game is likely to be faulty if the rest of the games work fine.

 

Return it but, then buy it as a defective system, so you get some money back for a new laser kit. You can grab kits from other systems and swap them over. I know not all kits work on all systems but it's better than that system chucked out.

 

I have. Given heavy use, they'll fail. It happens.

 

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Some Saturns have better disc drives than others. I've noticed that some drives will boot a badly scratched disc just fine, while other drives will only read the same disc as an audio cd, or it may not recognize the disc at all.

Even with a disc that only has a minor scratch, it will work fine on some drives but it will not boot on others.

 

just a thought but can the saturn lasers be adjusted like the pot adjustments made to dreamcasts with lasers on their way out?

 

well all lasers should be adjustable but the point was not haing to deal with that kind of stuff when I bought this . I'm thinking it may just be the the position that I put it back at to get it working (laser doesn't seem weak at all).

 

i had a dreamcast that read burned CDr's perfectly but wouldnt read retail discs which was a bit weird, it was a quick fix, any laser will degrade with age and start acting funky, bring back carts i say! which i assume will be the way forward solid state drives / media and digital distribution.

would be good to keep working saturns in circulation though, don't want them ending up like mega cd's / neo-geo cd/cdz's

 

x

 

thats true

but still more robust than optical media.

 

Only because people are harsh with their toys. Optical discs experience no wear and tear when played but since the plastic they're made out of is more fragile than PCB and copper it will fall apart more readily.