"Swizzle" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased a lot of Nintendo Gamecubes and a lot are giving us
disc read errors. The system will boot up, disc spins, and the laser moves
and then the Gamecube will either say that there is no disc in the
machine,
or that the disc can not be read. Does anyone have any suggestions or
information on this problem? I've already cleaned the lense so it's not
just dust.

Bill

Was this an eBay-type "lot" of Gamecubes. Is this perhaps why they were
on sale? I think you've got an alignment problem or electronic problem.

Are you equipped to handle electronic issues or are you armed with just
a screwdriver and a package of lense cloths?

I've never opened one, but if possible (connectorized) I'd be inclined to
do the "field-service swap" and swap "known good" components until
it worked. Then you'd know what works and what doesn't. If you can't
repair them all, maybe you can mix and match parts to cobble together
good units out of several bad ones.

Rufus





-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

Are you equipped to handle electronic issues or are you armed with just
a screwdriver and a package of lense cloths?

He will not be able to disassemble any of his Gamecubes. All Gamecube consoles
use security screws with the outer housing which require a special bit to
unfasten. These are available for sale from many reputable service supply
sources, though. - Reinhart

All of these Gamecubes are customer returns to a major electronics chain. So
it's assumed that a lot will have a failed component of some sort. I've had
a lot of luck fixing Microsoft Xbox's with basic electronics skills (and
Playstation/Playstation 2). So I assumed I would be able to easily find the
problem. However, I've found that Nintendo systems have practically no
repair information available on the net to help me get started.

So far I've been swapping components from one system to another to get as
many working as possible. However, I would like to become more efficient in
switching only the exact component that has failed (instead of an entire
laser assembly) or hopefully repair the item by buying a part from a
distributor. While this is a hobby business I'm using it to cover the costs
for college so I could use better profit margins with increased tuition this
year

Bill

"Rufus V. Smith" wrote in message
...

"Swizzle" wrote in message
...
We recently purchased a lot of Nintendo Gamecubes and a lot are giving
us
disc read errors. The system will boot up, disc spins, and the laser
moves
and then the Gamecube will either say that there is no disc in the
machine,
or that the disc can not be read. Does anyone have any suggestions or
information on this problem? I've already cleaned the lense so it's not
just dust.

Bill

Was this an eBay-type "lot" of Gamecubes. Is this perhaps why they were
on sale? I think you've got an alignment problem or electronic problem.

Are you equipped to handle electronic issues or are you armed with just
a screwdriver and a package of lense cloths?

I've never opened one, but if possible (connectorized) I'd be inclined to
do the "field-service swap" and swap "known good" components until
it worked. Then you'd know what works and what doesn't. If you can't
repair them all, maybe you can mix and match parts to cobble together
good units out of several bad ones.

Rufus





-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

Not only that but the alignment checks are all automatic.
To verify the optical pickup on these requires being a Nintendo authorized
servicer with the special test disc and the computer interface with the
proprietary Nintendo software.

In otherwords, his choice is to ship the units off to Nintendo and pay them
for the repairs.
Seems they had a lot of bad optical pickups on these as well.

LASERandDVDfan wrote in message
...
Are you equipped to handle electronic issues or are you armed with just
a screwdriver and a package of lense cloths?

He will not be able to disassemble any of his Gamecubes. All Gamecube
consoles
use security screws with the outer housing which require a special bit to
unfasten. These are available for sale from many reputable service supply
sources, though. - Reinhart

I've got all the tools and equipment I should need to repair the consoles. I
would just like some help on where to start looking for the probelms. Back
in the day I had a friend who worked for FuncoLand in the refurbishing
department. So I was able to get packets explaining how to diagnose problems
with the older video game systems. However, that company no longer exists
and I haven't been able to find a friendly tech at Gamestop or Best Buy who
will share that information

Bill

"LASERandDVDfan" wrote in message
...
Are you equipped to handle electronic issues or are you armed with just
a screwdriver and a package of lense cloths?

He will not be able to disassemble any of his Gamecubes. All Gamecube
consoles
use security screws with the outer housing which require a special bit to
unfasten. These are available for sale from many reputable service supply
sources, though. - Reinhart

Not only that but the alignment checks are all automatic.

The only adjustment one can make with the drive is with the laser gain. -
Reinhart

I do have some systems that appear to have overheating problems. Is there a
repair I can do to stop/lower the chance the system will overheat.

Technically, the system doesn't actually overheat, especially if it was played
in a desirable environment. But the drive was simply not suited to operate at
the internal temperatures that the Gamecube is expected to operate at.

The Gamecubes that give the disc read errors do it immediatly on start-up.
Not after they have been running and warming up.

That can be an indication of the same problem at an advanced state.

I've found a few posts referring to adjusting the
alignment on the Gamecube laser assembly, however I have not been able to
figure out how to do this. Any suggestions you might have?

Not many, I'm afraid. As one poster has mentioned before, there are no actual
pots to make adjustments with the exception of laser power. But readjusting
the laser power in this case won't do you much good.

Gamecubes having disc read problems are most likely going to have a defective
optical pickup, and repairing that problem may require replacement of that
part. - Reinhart