PC Engine Duo, Reads HuCards, No CD Activity/LED (White Screen).

[Phexe]

Hey guys,

I've been scouring the internet for a solution to my Duo's Problem.  I found this forum was highly recommended for being extremely knowledgeable about all things NEC.

I bought a PC Engine Duo from a youtuber who sold it as working but when it arrived a year or two ago it would ONLY read Hucards and the guy I bought it from stopped answering emails/PMs.  Pretty annoyed I put it away and have only recently got it out again and it has the same trouble.

It will play HuCards if one is inserted but if I don't have any HuCard inserted and try to use the CD side it just powers up and shows a Blank (Always White) screen (No buzzing or anything, just silent).  Sometimes the laser will move a little left/right or sometimes up/down and randomly the CD spindle will spin up but its still always that white screen haunting me (I've NEVER seen the little LED light up).

Also, sometimes randomly the whole unit will not turn on properly when I flick the switch the screen sorta flickers but just stays black.  Usually requires me to leave it alone or lightly tap the system then try again.  I've looked over the board for broken traces but can't seen any and the Caps don't seem to have leaked.

I know it needs a Cap kit as the volume is almost non existent via the AV plug and from the headphone jack is about 30% volume of my other systems.

Would the CD side of the system work if I were to replace the laser with a HOP-M3 and/or do a Cap kit or does it sound like something more serious?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, any help is greatly appreciated!

[Necromancer]

Until you get it recapped, it's just a guess what else might or might not be wrong.  It could need nothing but caps, but it might also need pot adjustment, new laser, damaged traces in need of repair under caps or other components, etc.

[MNKyDeth]

I agree with Necromancer.

Gotta start at the basics and work you're way up. Replace the caps, check the power supply is providing proper voltage, pot adjustments and then checking traces before replacing the HOP-M3.

I was in a similar boat and people on these forums told me to not replace the HOP-M3. I did the recap myself and it was like a brand new system after that. Although I still had cd-rom reading issues. I again was gonna jump at replacing the HOP-M3 and I was told to try my pots first. So I did and now everything is working as it should.

New caps, new grease on the gears, adjusted pots, and have a component and RGB mod now. So, start at the basics make sure the underlying system is good before messing with the HOP-M3 or doing any other mods if you plan on heading in that direction.

[wilykat]

If you start Duo with no game inserted, it is supposed to bring up CD system 3.0 screen. If that is not happening, it could be an issue with the onboard ROM.

If you are not comfortable with recapping yourself, there are some trusted people here on this forum who can do it. You could have your Duo shipped, they can check and see what is wrong if the issue is not due to caps.

[thesteve]

Odds are on a bad trace between the 6280 and ic501

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