CD32 drive wouldn't read discs anymore

[th4t1guy]

Just some non-lense related things you can try:
Do you have any way to boot up into workbench? You could try accessing the disc from there to verify it isn't boot related.
You could also try using different media.
If the disc image doesn't take up the full disc space, you could try padding it. This usually involves reauthoring the image to include a "0000000.000" file that fills up empty space and moves all the usable data to the edge of the disc. This can help speed up access time.

[Puggsy]

But the lens are cheap, why won't you change them?
I had this problem too and changing the lens fixed it. Thanks to the guide linked above I found a cheap replacement for my unit.

[jotd]

You're right. Tweaking the laser pot doesn't do anything. So I ordered 2 sony lenses yesterday for 30 eur with postage (could have got them cheaper...). And even if I suck in soldering/unsoldering, I'm getting the proper tools this weekend and I'll fix my machines. Looks rather easy with akira tutorial & the right tools.

(note: yesterday, one of my machines worked flawlessly, so I prepared some stuff to test, and today, it doesn't work ! definitely the lens)

Two things that bother me are:

- the desoldering part. For that particular problem, what do I need (I read the interesting thread about desoldering, but this job looks much easier)
- all the videos where people measure stuff and tweak the 4 knobs on some board, and compare values, etc... I hope I won't have to do that, because it seems very obscure. What scared me on youtube is that there's a lot of videos which end with "the console isn't working anymore, but it reads audio discs - sometimes... at last)...