HELP! Duo has CD access problem

[Markadius]

Hi all,
I'm new here and I'm posting because I'm having a little problem with my Turboduo. I tried playing my CD-R copy of Dracula X (yeah, I know... but I can't afford the original) and the Duo couldn't start it up. I could hear the laser moving and it made a high pitched whining noise (maybe of the CD spinning?) but it would error out and tell me to re-set the disc or something. It used to work fine so this was very odd.
I then tried a normal disc and it worked perfectly, not even with the whining noise. I put in another CD-R game and that one did the same thing as Drac X. I tried cleaning the discs and even tried using a CD cleaner on the Duo but nothing works. The CD-R's won't work but the normal games play perfectly.
Anyone know how I can fix this? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark Edited by: Markadius at: 1/26/02 11:41:48 pm

[trudesire]

This usually happens on a "bad" burn of a game.  But you did say that the game used to work, so that leaves us with another problem.

I am not a tech expert, but this is what I am guessing the problem is:  You laser in your Duo is going bad.  

The best way to fix this is to send it to retrogames and let them fix it for you.  Or you can check out Turbo Zone Direct and just buy a new one.

Now before someone tells me I am 100% wrong, please keep in mind that I am not a tech expert, and have had this problem once, and upon receiveing a refurbed Duo from TZD (When they were still doing warranty work) everything worked fine.

[Zaggart]

I'm not an expert on this, but I *have* had a few burns of mine go "bad" after a period of time... I've been told that burns from your home burner are different than, say a CD purchased from a store and don't last as long.  I've also been told that using Sharpie-type markers on your CD can eat through and corrupt the data.  If anyone can corroborate this, please do.

Just a thought...

- Zaggart

[Markadius]

Hmmm... I'm thinking (and hoping) the "bad burn" theory may be what's wrong since the orignals still work perfectly. The second CD-R I tried was from the same person and both were on CompUSA CD-R's. I dug out another old CD-R of Drac X I'd gotten awhile ago that was burned with bad audio tracks on a Verbatim CD-R. It loaded (with a little more access time than normal. It played fine but the music completely cut out after awhile although the sound effects were still there. Maybe I just need to get a new CD-R of Dracula X. Thanks for your help guys!

[trudesire]

As for the Sharpie Markers, I have all my cdr copies of games marked with this.. and perhaps it takes longer than 2.5 years to eat through... but so far, I have had no problems.

[trunks218]

Ok people are going to say that I am wrong for saying but if you have a US Turbo Duo that was made in the final year say 93 it has some copy protection.  See I bought my Duo brand new the final year they came out and it will not play back up and does the same as yours.  But when I put my backups in my Pc Engine Duo R, Pc Engine SCD hooked to a Super Grafx they play fine.  My computer will not read Pc Engine format so I can't burn better copies.  So your Duo isn't broken you just need to find another way burning copies.

[trudesire]

One of My Duo's was manufactured in Jan. 1993, and it plays cdrs perfectly.  I have another duo that was made in Sept. 1992, that also plays cdr's perfectly.  I have a Duo that is brand new in the box, never opened it, so I do not know the year it was made or if it will play cdr's, I guess for that one, I'll find out when all my other systems go bad.  And I also have a PCEngine CDRom² Briefcase that doesn't have a manufacturing date on it, but it also plays CDR's with no problems.

I still believe that it is the laser in your Duo that is making it go bad.  I have 190+ cd games for the Duo, and have yet to have a problem with the exception of what I said in my first post.

[Markadius]

Crud, I'm starting to think it's the laser too. I was playing Ys 1&2 the other not (not a cd-r) and when it was loading a new area, it seemed to hang for quite a while. i.e. the screen went black for at least 30 seconds and I thought it froze, but then it came back. No cd access "whine", but this can't bode well. I think I'll get it repaired. Thanks for all your help guys!
-Mark http://www.geocities.com/marksenger/herb.jpg

[GigaShadow]

Since I use CDR's I decided to go to the source with all the questions being asked on here and on the Turbo List  (not to mention I was getting worried myself).  As it turns out Steve from TZD provided me with some information (for the record he does NOT condone the use of CDR's).  Anyway, CDR's will not ruin the laser on your TurboDuo at all and it complete nonsense.  The only problem that may happen to your hardware is with the audio.  If you hear any strange noise during the game it could damage the audio hardware on your TurboDuo.  After playing Macross I came across a track (where you are able to buy powerups for your ship) that had a squeal when the music first started up.  I don't know if this is what he was referring to, but it scared me enough to stop playing that CD.  

In the case of Markadius, he may have just worn his TurboDuo out .  How old is your system?  Meaning when did you first buy it and start playing it?  

Anyway, thought I would share this info with you all.