Super CD-Rom2 Unit: Sudden Freezing Problem

[farankoshan]

I was playing Rondo of Blood just now, and I noticed between boss fights & stages, the unit would take longer and longer to read the CD. The game would freeze for a bit while it loaded, then resume shortly after. I got really worried, though, because the game finally did freeze indefinitely, and so I had to turn off my game.

[as this thread shows, I've already replaced the capacitors on my unit. => http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=9544.0 ]

Does this sound like a lens problem? Or are CD-Rom units (whether Super CD-Rom2s or regular PCE CD-Roms) meant to be played at shorter periods, no longer than 2 hours or so?

The game ran fine a while ago, but it just began hanging between stages longer and longer, so I got worried.

[nat]

My Duo hangs occasionally, as did my TG-CD deck back when I still had it.

Tapping on the CD lid wakes it up.

[farankoshan]

Yeah, I popped open the lid and took the CD out. Ran some cool water over it, dried it gently, popped it back in and whether the wash or the pause did it, I got passed the stage. But then it hung again...

Is this normal with old hardware? Like, changing the lens won't really fix it, and I just limit my play to about an hour?

[nat]

It seems to be "normal" with these systems in that it seems to happen on everyone's. It doesn't happen often, however, so if you're having multiple issues per play your laser could probably use some adjustment. I can often go weeks (or longer) in between these freezes where I actually have to get up and tap on the lid.

I'd adjust before replacing. If you replace, you'll have to adjust regardless so you might as well just adjust first and see where that gets you.

[farankoshan]

Cool, ok, how does one go about "adjusting" this little critter?

[farankoshan]

I really think there's a problem. I can't get past 30 mins of playing without the music pulling out, or the game freezing for a few minutes, or a complete hang.

I assume the lens is also a wee bit old, since when I changed the caps the last time, the insides look like they still hadn't been tampered with of upgraded.

Will a lens swap be the ticket out of this mess? I have 2 replacement lenses still in their boxes that I bought a while back.

[nat]

You'll have to adjust the lens if you swap it. I'd seriously try just adjusting the existing laser before swapping.

Generally speaking, I'm not a big proponent of swapping lasers until they cease functioning completely. If the eye is still putting out a laser, it can be adjusted.

There are four or five potentiometers (depending on your model of console) that can be tweaked for laser calibration. Refer to this thread for further information.

[thesteve]

i generally agree that as long as it lights it can be adjusted, however when i got my PC-FX, the concept didn't quite pan out
I bought my fx as a system that wouldn't read the disk.
as received it didnt read any disk, however after much adjustment i was able to play the system for short periods (<30 min).
further adjustment wasn't helpful, and eventually killed the laser dead.
i replaced the laser, and now the system reads anything i throw at it.

[farankoshan]

I guess when it doubt, a laser replacement "normally" fixes all.