cd32 - replacement laser

JonSick · 05 September 2007, 21:00

I just fitted one of these to a dead CD32.

Worked a treat first time.

I picked up another for myself (never know about the future).

It is an Akai unit but its the same unit as the Sony mechanism of the CD32.

I had to do a tiny bit of filing to the plug in on the lens unit but works 100% fine, the connection are the same.

Don't know if there will be any title in the future which will give up problems, but tested Alfred Chicken, Beneath a Steel Sky and a CD-R of Alien Breed, fired up just fine!

Just a heads up. £19 for a little extra future proofing.

If I do get another CD32 in with this problems, I promise to do a photograph gallery with the information how to change. It took me about 30 minutes (and no soldering, just a bit of fiddling)

Jon

JonSick · 05 September 2007, 21:13

http://www.chsinteractive.co.uk/elec...-212a-sony.htm

Sorry, forgot link

spiff · 06 September 2007, 00:43

Could you do some benchmarks on the Akai compared to a sony? I'm wondering if it can handle CDR better then the old laser.

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 07:38

What kind of benchmark would be good?

We have since tried all his CD-R games and good to go. Only problems were anything burned to real cheapy disks.

Does CD-RW fine (used the CD32-200 compilation to try) and seemed to chug along nicely.

Rochabian · 06 September 2007, 09:00

Do you mean that with this replacement the CD32 can now read CDRW????
It will be great!

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 12:01

Well I used TDK CD-RW.

My car MP3 player won't read any CD-RW bar the TDK ones. No idea what is the difference, but the CD32 read the TDK CD-RW fine.

I will try another brand out this evening and report back

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 21:07

Well we have now tried CD-RW from TDK, Verbatim, Sony, Imation, JVC, unbrand Taiyo Yuden, Intenso and and Bulkpaq.

Sony and Bulkpaq would not run, but the others were fine, though Verbatim were a little juddery.

TDK, only media to buy!

Test game was the CDR200 package and Alfred Chicken.

Intenso and Verbatim would not run on the second burn, the rest did but slightly less well. The TDK and unbranded Taiyo Yuden both ran noticably better with less spurging from the drive.

As it goes, on another stock CD32, TDK CDRW ran fine, none of the others did.

I don't know if this the benchmark you want.

All disks were burned from image using clonecd.

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 21:08

Oh yes, all were 74 minute disks.

Paul_s · 06 September 2007, 21:12

Excellent! Think I'll be treating mine to one of these

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 21:13

Just in ha ha.

Just burned another game to the TDK CDRW. Its a non-runner.

Also, are people having problem running standard CD-R in their CD32?

There is a few small trim pots on the mechanism which you can adjust. Is a walkthrough wanted? (Will be a few weeks unless someone is willing to lend a CD32 that is not a working with CD-R)

My CD32 when I got it had trouble even with read from standard original CDs. I needed to do a bit of playing to get the CDR running after a few trial and errors getting the CDR written

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 21:17

Its a simple replacement especially if you have had to repair CD player before. If I get spare money, I think I will buy a few just in case they go off production. I reckon CD32 are showing their age now so will get failures coming up.

JonSick · 06 September 2007, 21:28

OK did a list, now must shower, here you are.

The number in burns collumn is how long CDRW lasted before CD32 would not boot with it.

Burns - brand - comments

3 TDK - Did best of all, but fourth burn failed
1 VERB - Did OK, but so jittery on burn 1, didn't bother with 2
0 SONY - Fail! Utter rubbish
2 IMATION - Second burn lots of drive jitter, no run on 3rd
3 JVC - Best of the rest, no dice on 4th burn
5 UNBRANDED - Lots of freezes by 3rd burn. 6th burn no run.
2 INTENSO - Worst of the rest.
0 BULKPAQ - Worse than the sony - at least it tried to boot.

Worst, bulkpaq. Do not use their CDRW. Sony failed. Tried at least to load but just kept freezing.

Best, still TDK. Though the unbranded TY lasted longer the load times and machine performance better with the TDK CDRW.
JVC is next best with occasional misreading.

So view as renewal upgrade. Buy one and keep for when the CD32 drive dies. Lots of question about what IDE drives to cannibalise to replace in CD32. Its a proprietry controller, so this as far as I know is the only repair path.

spiff · 07 September 2007, 10:58

Thanks, this one got lost in the OT race

I probably should have said comparison, not benchmarks... read to many DVDR reviews.

Chain · 24 January 2008, 10:43

any progress with photos?
Im able to buy 212a lasers locally (selling out stocks ł5 per one) so some piccies will be helpful

Charlie · 24 January 2008, 12:18

FWIW:
My CD32 was playing up - much fiddling of trim knobs did not help so I bought the above laser from the same supplier.
I couldn't get it to work at all

Put the old one back in & it works a treat now.

I'm sure I must have been doing something wrong...
...I'd love to know if there are any 'tricks' to get it working, my CD32 is fine now but the old laser won't read any CD-R's (or RW's) I've tried.

JonSick · 29 January 2008, 21:59

Hi

Sorry was not around to reply properly. Charlie, if you PMd this is just the same as I sent you.

The laser comes with an antistatic lock on new lenses is actually a desolder point. The ARP has come with a couple of board revisions so you may need to refer to the documentation again.

Lasers are shipped with the pins to the laser shorted so any static charge that may build during ship or installation is discharge to a small cap on the relay point. After the unit has been installed there should be two pins roughly soldered on the board. Use a solder iron to unjoin these two connections and the unit should function. It sounds like this has not been done so no power is being supplied to the laser.

On most board revisions on the underside of the board, there is a bank of ten solder blobs, five on top and five in the middle. Directly below this arrangement there are about four other blobs. The two pins jointed with the farthest bottom right blob is what needs to be desoldered.

If there are five blobs on the bottom, its the farthest right but not the far bottom one, just above it. Most were just four however.

Just as a heads up, occasionally with CD32, connection of the ribbon to the manifold can become slightly dodgy as I have recently seen on another CD32 (few weeks back). That particular repair eventually was to reflow solder on the back of the mainboard, but worked a treat, however most of the time just a slipped connection.

Did everyone get on well with these lasers? I find they work great and quite commonly available. The Akai unit is the same as the Sony just different hands making it.

Charlie · 30 January 2008, 10:30

Doh!

Thanks very much - Should be sorted now.

04 February 2008, 06:43

If anyone is lookng for one in the US, MAT electronics has them for $7.50. 4 quid to fix your CD32 - priceless

a_petri · 04 February 2008, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonSick

http://www.chsinteractive.co.uk/elec...-212a-sony.htm

Sorry, forgot link

Dear JonSick,

which model exactly did you get and successfully install into your CD32? Sony KSS210A or KSS212A?

I've found both in a shop locally, and there is a significant price difference between them...

spiff · 16 August 2008, 13:20

Just bumping this, more might be interested after reading

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=38727

05 September 2007, 21:00	#1
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	cd32 - replacement laser I just fitted one of these to a dead CD32. Worked a treat first time. I picked up another for myself (never know about the future). It is an Akai unit but its the same unit as the Sony mechanism of the CD32. I had to do a tiny bit of filing to the plug in on the lens unit but works 100% fine, the connection are the same. Don't know if there will be any title in the future which will give up problems, but tested Alfred Chicken, Beneath a Steel Sky and a CD-R of Alien Breed, fired up just fine! Just a heads up. £19 for a little extra future proofing. If I do get another CD32 in with this problems, I promise to do a photograph gallery with the information how to change. It took me about 30 minutes (and no soldering, just a bit of fiddling) Jon

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05 September 2007, 21:13	#2
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	http://www.chsinteractive.co.uk/elec...-212a-sony.htm Sorry, forgot link

06 September 2007, 00:43	#3
spiff Oh noes! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Neverland Posts: 766	Could you do some benchmarks on the Akai compared to a sony? I'm wondering if it can handle CDR better then the old laser.

06 September 2007, 07:38	#4
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	What kind of benchmark would be good? We have since tried all his CD-R games and good to go. Only problems were anything burned to real cheapy disks. Does CD-RW fine (used the CD32-200 compilation to try) and seemed to chug along nicely.

06 September 2007, 09:00	#5
Rochabian The Big White Cat Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: France Age: 44 Posts: 828	Do you mean that with this replacement the CD32 can now read CDRW???? It will be great!

06 September 2007, 12:01	#6
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	Well I used TDK CD-RW. My car MP3 player won't read any CD-RW bar the TDK ones. No idea what is the difference, but the CD32 read the TDK CD-RW fine. I will try another brand out this evening and report back

06 September 2007, 21:07	#7
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	Well we have now tried CD-RW from TDK, Verbatim, Sony, Imation, JVC, unbrand Taiyo Yuden, Intenso and and Bulkpaq. Sony and Bulkpaq would not run, but the others were fine, though Verbatim were a little juddery. TDK, only media to buy! Test game was the CDR200 package and Alfred Chicken. Intenso and Verbatim would not run on the second burn, the rest did but slightly less well. The TDK and unbranded Taiyo Yuden both ran noticably better with less spurging from the drive. As it goes, on another stock CD32, TDK CDRW ran fine, none of the others did. I don't know if this the benchmark you want. All disks were burned from image using clonecd.

06 September 2007, 21:08	#8
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	Oh yes, all were 74 minute disks.

06 September 2007, 21:12	#9
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,334	Excellent! Think I'll be treating mine to one of these

06 September 2007, 21:13	#10
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	Just in ha ha. Just burned another game to the TDK CDRW. Its a non-runner. Also, are people having problem running standard CD-R in their CD32? There is a few small trim pots on the mechanism which you can adjust. Is a walkthrough wanted? (Will be a few weeks unless someone is willing to lend a CD32 that is not a working with CD-R) My CD32 when I got it had trouble even with read from standard original CDs. I needed to do a bit of playing to get the CDR running after a few trial and errors getting the CDR written

06 September 2007, 21:17	#11
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	Its a simple replacement especially if you have had to repair CD player before. If I get spare money, I think I will buy a few just in case they go off production. I reckon CD32 are showing their age now so will get failures coming up.

06 September 2007, 21:28	#12
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	OK did a list, now must shower, here you are. The number in burns collumn is how long CDRW lasted before CD32 would not boot with it. Burns - brand - comments 3 TDK - Did best of all, but fourth burn failed 1 VERB - Did OK, but so jittery on burn 1, didn't bother with 2 0 SONY - Fail! Utter rubbish 2 IMATION - Second burn lots of drive jitter, no run on 3rd 3 JVC - Best of the rest, no dice on 4th burn 5 UNBRANDED - Lots of freezes by 3rd burn. 6th burn no run. 2 INTENSO - Worst of the rest. 0 BULKPAQ - Worse than the sony - at least it tried to boot. Worst, bulkpaq. Do not use their CDRW. Sony failed. Tried at least to load but just kept freezing. Best, still TDK. Though the unbranded TY lasted longer the load times and machine performance better with the TDK CDRW. JVC is next best with occasional misreading. So view as renewal upgrade. Buy one and keep for when the CD32 drive dies. Lots of question about what IDE drives to cannibalise to replace in CD32. Its a proprietry controller, so this as far as I know is the only repair path.

07 September 2007, 10:58	#13
spiff Oh noes! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Neverland Posts: 766	Thanks, this one got lost in the OT race I probably should have said comparison, not benchmarks... read to many DVDR reviews.

24 January 2008, 10:43	#14
Chain A-Collector, repairments Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Czech Rep. Age: 50 Posts: 1,536	any progress with photos? Im able to buy 212a lasers locally (selling out stocks ł5 per one) so some piccies will be helpful

24 January 2008, 12:18	#15
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	FWIW: My CD32 was playing up - much fiddling of trim knobs did not help so I bought the above laser from the same supplier. I couldn't get it to work at all Put the old one back in & it works a treat now. I'm sure I must have been doing something wrong... ...I'd love to know if there are any 'tricks' to get it working, my CD32 is fine now but the old laser won't read any CD-R's (or RW's) I've tried.

29 January 2008, 21:59	#16
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	Hi Sorry was not around to reply properly. Charlie, if you PMd this is just the same as I sent you. The laser comes with an antistatic lock on new lenses is actually a desolder point. The ARP has come with a couple of board revisions so you may need to refer to the documentation again. Lasers are shipped with the pins to the laser shorted so any static charge that may build during ship or installation is discharge to a small cap on the relay point. After the unit has been installed there should be two pins roughly soldered on the board. Use a solder iron to unjoin these two connections and the unit should function. It sounds like this has not been done so no power is being supplied to the laser. On most board revisions on the underside of the board, there is a bank of ten solder blobs, five on top and five in the middle. Directly below this arrangement there are about four other blobs. The two pins jointed with the farthest bottom right blob is what needs to be desoldered. If there are five blobs on the bottom, its the farthest right but not the far bottom one, just above it. Most were just four however. Just as a heads up, occasionally with CD32, connection of the ribbon to the manifold can become slightly dodgy as I have recently seen on another CD32 (few weeks back). That particular repair eventually was to reflow solder on the back of the mainboard, but worked a treat, however most of the time just a slipped connection. Did everyone get on well with these lasers? I find they work great and quite commonly available. The Akai unit is the same as the Sony just different hands making it.

30 January 2008, 10:30	#17
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	Doh! Thanks very much - Should be sorted now.

04 February 2008, 06:43	#18
DILA Posts: n/a	If anyone is lookng for one in the US, MAT electronics has them for $7.50. 4 quid to fix your CD32 - priceless

16 August 2008, 13:20	#20
spiff Oh noes! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Neverland Posts: 766	Just bumping this, more might be interested after reading http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=38727

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