CD32 - Recap or bin?

[fisken uno]

Long time no see. I was a very active user in here. Last post was some 13 years ago.

Anyway, I'll skip the long introduction.

I dug out my CD32 a few weeks ago. Used to work great and had lots of fun with it, burning those cool WHDLoad compilations. Bought it used maybe 10-15 years ago and last time it was working was several years ago.

At first it wouldn't work at all. Turned it on and the green light would be steady, no image or audio output and drive would not start spinning. I thought it was bin time for sure. However, after testing it maybe 5-10 times it just suddenly started working and read discs just fine. However, video output was POOR quality. At first I could only test composite output. Later got an S-video cable and the video output there was even worse. Basically just noise, at best an extremely wavy picture. Same on boot or in-game. Audio, however, works just fine. It seems composite has gotten worse as well, same wavy shite or just noise.

I ordered a new PSU, riser with RGB port and a TF card from Amigastore.eu (have not received them yet) but I have a bad feeling this will not solve the issue...?

Any thoughts? Is this old beast beyond repair?

[Nobby_UK]

I am sure someone would take it off your hands.

[bebek]

IT is easily repairable. Recap and it will be like new. I can do it for you in UK but in Sweden you must have somebody capable.

[fisken uno]

Thanks! With Brexit thing going, I think shipping to UK might not be the best option, but appreciate the offer. I have contacted tbtorro, who's located in Denmark and hope he'll be able to help.

Anyway, nice to hear this might be fixable...

[fryguy]

If it hasnt been done yet it needs a recap. CD32s usually have some caps that starts leaking. Chucky could probably recap it so you dont have to send it abroad.

[cpiac64]

go to recap

[Cobe]

+1 for recap
Even if it doesnt help, which I'm sure it will, are you sure you could really just bin it?

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by Cobe

+1 for recap
Even if it doesnt help, which I'm sure it will, are you sure you could really just bin it?

Nah, I’ll probably have to try a recap. I’ve contacted Chucky, will see if he can help. Looking at CD32’s on sale, they go for pretty crazy prices compared to what I paid for this one so better hold on to it and pray I can get it working.

Actually had an A2000 which had a massive battery leakage all over the CPU. Gave all kinds of weird colours when trying to boot it. The seller claimed it worked before shipping but this leakage wasn’t new - all dried up and had been eating away on the legs of chips. I ended up binning it and the next day it was gone so guess I made a fellow Miggy fan happy. Was probably fairly easy job to clean off that stuff but I just couldn’t be arsed to do it. Now I kinda regret it. So will probably not do that mistake over again...

[nikosidis]

fisken uno: Battery leakage is not the same as capacitor leakage. It is much worse and if it was as bad as you say you should be glad you got rid of it.

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by nikosidis

fisken uno: Battery leakage is not the same as capacitor leakage. It is much worse and if it was as bad as you say you should be glad you got rid of it.

Glad to hear... Yeah, it was a mess. Real bad and had probably done too much damage anyway.

[Daedalus]

For a CD32, even if the board is beyond reasonable to salvage, there are replacement boards that will use some or all of the chipset - those custom chips are only getting more expensive by the day, and chances are they're working perfectly, even if the system is failing due to damage from capacitor leakage.

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

For a CD32, even if the board is beyond reasonable to salvage, there are replacement boards that will use some or all of the chipset - those custom chips are only getting more expensive by the day, and chances are they're working perfectly, even if the system is failing due to damage from capacitor leakage.

Wow, good to know! Thanks.

[fisken uno]

Good news! I got the Kipper2K riser with RGB port and Terrible Fire 328 card last week. Video output does indeed work through the RGB port, and the TF card has worked beautifully. I actually ordered a new PSU as well but the good people at Amigastore.eu sent me an A500 type PSU... Since their service is top notch, they have already shipped the correct one. I suspect the old original PSU might be causing some strange issues where I get core errors for WHDLoad games after cold booting. After a reboot or two they work as expected, as if the console needs to warm up or something. Anyway, not a huge deal... after this, everything works smoothly and operation seems stable even with the old PSU.

Since video is working with the RGB port, I'm just gonna have to find a good recap service for the console. Doesn't matter now if the S-video or composite ports can't be saved. The output through those ports is shite anyway. Output through RGB > OSSC > HD Monitor =

Unfortunately, Chucky doesn't have time for recap jobs and I have not heard back from tbtorro. Might check with Retroservice.no, but a bit worried that shipping will cost an arm and a leg since Norway isn't an EU member. And obviously I'd rather not ship to UK either for the same reason. Any other suggestions regarding good and reliable recap services in the Nordics or EU?

[Rochabian]

Hese, who is on Amibay too, has done marvelous work for me,
He has done recap on 2 CD32 for me and raise from the dead an SX32 wich had a battery leak
He's in Finland.
You can try to PM here or on Amibay, i think he is more often on amibay.

You can see his work on my SX32 here : https://www.amibay.com/showthread.ph...2-MK-II-repair

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by Rochabian

Hese, who is on Amibay too, has done marvelous work for me,
He has done recap on 2 CD32 for me and raise from the dead an SX32 wich had a battery leak
He's in Finland.
You can try to PM here or on Amibay, i think he is more often on amibay.

You can see his work on my SX32 here : https://www.amibay.com/showthread.ph...2-MK-II-repair

Cool, might check with him! Thanks for the suggestion.

[Jolabandola]

Hej! You should check out Lanselektronik.se
Johan Lans has recapped all my Amigas (several A600 and a A1200) and I actually have my latest find on the way back to me as we speak.
He is located in Vadstena. Jag är jättenöjd.

[fisken uno]

Originally Posted by Jolabandola

Hej! You should check out Lanselektronik.se
Johan Lans has recapped all my Amigas (several A600 and a A1200) and I actually have my latest find on the way back to me as we speak.
He is located in Vadstena. Jag är jättenöjd.

Nice! Thanks, will definitely check him out.

[supaduper]

whoever you get to repair your CD32 then have them do this Mod so you can still use the composite or Svideo if you want to, details below

You will find that some component in the delay line has gone bad, and some of these components are no longer available, the best way to do it now is to replace the CXA1145 with the CXA2075 which has the delay line built into the chip and you can forget about the Delay line on the motherboard, it works with the CD32 as well

link here on how to
[ Show youtube player ]

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by Rochabian

Hese, who is on Amibay too, has done marvelous work for me,
He has done recap on 2 CD32 for me and raise from the dead an SX32 wich had a battery leak
He's in Finland.
You can try to PM here or on Amibay, i think he is more often on amibay.

You can see his work on my SX32 here : https://www.amibay.com/showthread.ph...2-MK-II-repair

Coin batteries can leak?

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Coin batteries can leak?

It depends on the chemistry within the battery. Lithium ones (e.g. CR2032) only leak very rarely, and usually only when they've been mechanically compromised. Zinc, alkaline, NiCd, NiMH etc. coin cells will leak, just as their larger counterparts do.

In this case, it looks like it's a NiCd battery in a small cylindrical case that looks a bit like a coin cell, similar to what you can find on old Apollo accelerators.