Help with Duo-R - Strange CD Audio problem

[DejahThoris]

That really, really sucks...  No word from DoujinDance over yesterday?

[csgx1]

I had a Duo R that would sometimes load games.  When games did load, the music/audio would always cut out.  Sometimes the games would freeze too.  It was worst when warmed up (20min or longer).  I adjusted the pots and that fixed my problem.   Not sure if your issues are a similar situation, but you might try to adjust the pots since it's easy to do.  Just remember the initial settings before adjusting. 

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8926.0

[Keith Courage]

Could be caps but I am more inclined to say it needs pot adjustments. V101, V102, and V105 would be the ones to try. If you move any of these pots make sure to only try one at a time and to barely move it. A slight adjustment goes a long way.

Oh, and a gentle tap on any TGCD or DUO system will make the audio stop playing. That is completely normal.

[thesteve]

its either a bad laser, adjustment issue, or dirt/hair ect in the laser sled system (gears rails)

[Frank_fjs]

Thanks for the help guys.

Having a read through the excellent pot adjustment guide by BlueBMW (thanks for the link csgx1) I too am thinking it's an adjustment issue.

This bit was interesting, as I have heard these noises:

You should hear some scratchy funny noises when VR101 isn't adjusted properly

You might hear a whiney faint scratchy noise at this point.... adjust VR103 clockwise until the noise goes away

I don't have a security driver to open it up, so it will have to wait.

It's going to be hard to tune though, I think, as what it does is so random. I.e.

- Sometimes no audio at all
- Sometimes audio works, but will cut out at some point during the game
- Sometimes the audio has a nasty bit of static to it
- Game freezes
- Game fails to load (please set disc error)

Doujindance responded to my first message, just told me to try a different PSU and adjust pot V102. Not much help really. Assuming he did fit a new lens, which seems likely given all the problems I'm having, he definitely hasn't tuned it or tested it correctly. He only ever seems to adjust V102, he does the same thing on one of his YouTube videos. My guess is that he just adjusts it until a CD boots up and leaves it at that, not conducting a proper or more extensive test with audio or different games etc. Even the video he provides showing the unit working contains no audio so there's no way I could have detected there was a problem. I've noticed similar problems in his feedback, where buyers have still left him positive feedback but have mentioned that they needed to tweak the laser themselves.

[Bernie]

Well, I would certainly request a partial refund.  This is just not cool, and your location makes it even worse as far as shipping it anywhere.  I'd open a case on eBay, and go from there. 

[HercTNT]

I have a doujidance dou-r that a friend bought for me. it had small issues from the start. the inside was coated in a thin black film. when using rgb, cd games would run, but hucard games would not. sometimes the region mod would screw up. I sent the duo out to Steve. When he opened it up, he found some real serious problems. Wires were not properly soldered and loose. the region mod had issues as well. He fixed it all up and is on its way back. Moral of this story, doujidance's work is inconsistent, maybe dodgy.

Wanna thank Steve for fixing up my system

[ProfessorProfessorson]

The deck Doujin did for Bernie that I nabbed off him was solid work wise. I undid the RGB however and used the pins on the AV out he set for RGB to output svideo instead. Honestly I cant complain, but seriously, with Hercs and Franks systems being bunk, I'd be weary about buying a deck off the guy myself.

[NightWolve]

Latest discovery, it seems my Duo-R is ultra sensitive to movement/vibration.

E.g. When the CD audio decides to play, a very gentle tap of either the console or the desk that it's sitting on will cause the audio to stop playing. Reseting the game or advancing to a new section of the game (where a new track is loaded) restores the audio.

When this happens (slight vibration messing with the CD/audio) I can hear the cd mechanism struggling to read the disc.

Any clues as to what's wrong with my Duo? Could there be a loose connection somewhere?

Maybe this will help, but worth mentioning how I fixed mine. I was testing Ys IV on my Duo and after the background music would play for a while, it'd skip and once that happened, the game code doesn't try to recover and resume playing, etc. Until you enter a town, or however you cause another change in background music, it will not resume just like you described. I thought laser issue, but what I did instead is I took apart the laser unit motor, held it vertically and dropped motor oil in it, and I also degreased the slider poles, then applied hi-temp automotive lithium-based grease (the red jelly kind) very well, all over. Put it all back together and it solved the problem!! So, that laser unit needs to be able to slide on those two poles with the least amount of friction as possible to prevent skipping. I am also planning (after the component mod) to apply the same grease underneath the wires and the plastic separator on the PCB that they make contact with - the wires that go from the laser unit to the PCB, that move whenever it slides.

You cited other problems in the thread, so I wasn't sure about adding my 2 cents, but this couldn't hurt.

[Frank_fjs]

Thanks for the tip NightWolve. I think I will give it a try, at worst even if it doesn't fix my problem it certainly can't hurt to try.

I'm sure doujidance has done plenty of fine work, but after what I received from him and the money I spent I'm not a happy camper. His prices have shot up by a fair bit lately, and there's signs that his work is getting sloppy. I think he's just trying to crank them out too fast nowadays and is being careless.

What dissapoints me is that I was happy to pay a premium for his product/service, based upon what he states he does to the consoles.

I now find his 'about me' page rather misleading: http://members.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=doujindance

What I thought would be done:

1) Console fully disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, whitended with a bleacing agent
2) New cd lens fitted
3) Resolder of I/O ports
4) RGB mod
5) Region mod
6) Blue LED

What I've received:

1) My console was not washed, bleached or cleaned. There were still wear marks on the HuCard slot, as well as other grime on the console.
2) I'm doubting whether a new lens was fitted, it doesn't look new to me and even if it is, he hasn't fitted/tuned it properly.
3) Don't know as of yet, but I doubt this was performed.
4) Working fine, happy with the RGB.
5) Untested, but appears to be working. I have a US game on the way so will know for sure in a week or so.
6) Blue LED is present.

So basically I spent above market value for a Duo-R console that has RGB output, a blue LED and a working HuCard slot.

[thesteve]

i have had issues with some new lasers of late, as all the originals are gone, and the replica's are hit and miss on proper alignment.

[DejahThoris]

I'm kind of really glad I didn't end up buying one from doujindance and went the longer route of getting a Duo off of Keith Courage then having thesteve mod it.  So sorry you're going through this mess, definitely ask eBay for a partial refund.

[NightWolve]

Thanks for the tip NightWolve. I think I will give it a try, at worst even if it doesn't fix my problem it certainly can't hurt to try.

Yeah, it can't hurt. If it's all original parts, then the grease on the poles is ~20 years old, dried out some and has collected dust... Not good, so it needs to be refreshed (modders should probably be doing that on principle with a full cap replacement). I thought my problem was with the CD-R brand I was using too, but the skipping would happen with original audio discs and games as well. I dunno what the best grease is for this though, I just pointed out the automotive kind that I had handy (used for some brake jobs I had done not too long ago).

Definitely don't like the design of the laser unit, but I understand since it's of the 1st generation. Those wires that move with it as it slides are pretty plentiful and I'd say thicker than they should be. Modern optical drives use the plastic film with conductive material imprinted in them that folds back'n'forth with movement and offers much less drag/resistance. Anyhow, yeah, thankfully that was the minor problem with mine and not something worse. This is what should be attempted first before thinking you need a new laser.

[Frank_fjs]

Looks like I'm back in action!

Greased the poles, re-seated the connections, cleaned the lens, adjusted pot 102 and problem solved!

Haven't done any extensive testing but have been able to play through a few games for about 15 minutes each without any problems.

Thanks for all the help guys!

[Drakon]

Thesteve + keith courage = ultimate win.

I'm kind of really glad I didn't end up buying one from doujindance and went the longer route of getting a Duo off of Keith Courage then having thesteve mod it.  So sorry you're going through this mess, definitely ask eBay for a partial refund.