Weird problem with my Turbo Duo R

[Bugo3s]

You may remember me as the noob who signed up around 2 weeks ago as he just bought a Turbo Duo R and was eagerly waiting to play it.
Fast forward to now, since it is Saturday I wanted to try my Turbo Duo R and relax for a few hours stress free.

Of course it was not meant to be.I played Dracula X (not CD-R) no problems, at least for the first 3 levels, cool. Played some hucard games, cool as ice cream. Went back and played some Anesan, good.
Tried Valis 3, skipped the intro, started playing, seemed ok, same for Valis 2.

Now here's where the fun (or not) begins.
I tried Valis 1 and started listening to the story, I was quite intrigued...until when during the scene where the sky is all cloudy and it starts to rain, music and voices STOPPED working.
No more music no more voices, video played fine. I started panicking and skipped the intro...black screen.
Tried again, same thing. Again, same. The exact same spot always.
Started cursing my bad luck but blamed it on a faulty disc (even though it looks pristine..).
Tried playing Valis 2 and at the first big boss (subway station) suddenly i lost all sound effect and music. Beat the boss and everything went back to normal.

Now I assumed a fetal position and ask for help.
What can it be? Why me?
*Btw all games are original and in *seemingly* good to very good conditions.

[NichlasEk]

Dont worry! Its the laser! You could try adjusting it according to the guide. Or turn the orange trim pot slightly right. If that wont do it. Just buy a new laser its not expensive. And easy to change. Happy gaming!

[Bugo3s]

Dont worry! Its the laser! You could try adjusting it according to the guide. Or turn the orange trim pot slightly right. If that wont do it. Just buy a new laser its not expensive. And easy to change. Happy gaming!

I have no experience with soldering or even opening a game console. I don't go any further with technology than assembling my own pcs (and even then its just playing with LEGO, no soldering or else needed).
I am way to scared to FUBAR the unit ... is there some way to try and adjust the lens from the outside?
Like for example using some product to clean it or some air to dust it off..
Thank You for Your kindness though, very fast reply

[NichlasEk]

No soldering required. Just open your console. If you dont have a multimeter or oscope it might be hard. You could try buying a new laser and just installing that. But sometimes the chinese clones require adjustments. If it seems to hard i bet someone on the forum might be interested in helping you.

[Bugo3s]

No soldering required. Just open your console. If you dont have a multimeter or oscope it might be hard. You could try buying a new laser and just installing that. But sometimes the chinese clones require adjustments. If it seems to hard i bet someone on the forum might be interested in helping you.

JUst to be sure, I am reading about issues with the capacitors... I just played Dracula again and there is not issue with that game, up to stage 5 at least.
Valis 1 this time played roughly 1.5 seconds of the main theme song (at the title screen) in a very rough way (not clean at all) and then kept resetting back to the intro (which had sound for a few more seconds compared to the first time i tried it).

Do you think it is the lens or the capacitors? I will try and take it to a technician, though he never repaired a Turbo Duo..only some ps2s

[crazydean]

It's unlikely to be caps since its a Duo R. Personally, I'd send it to someone on here unless you have confidence in your PS2 guy.

[Bugo3s]

Upon further inspection, I realized that the lens doesn't "reset" itself to be near the thing that spins the disc (please bear with my english)..when i press select and run and remove the cd, It is clearly in the middle.

I tried moving it all the way to the left (close to the disc spinner) and this way it kinda works.
Valis started and sound played correctly during all of the intro, then on the title screen music started but then reset back to the intro again..
I moved the lens all the way to the left again, this time skipping the intro ....it worked! I could finally play Valis.
Though everytime i turn off the system the lens won't go back to its place.
Maybe it really is the cd drive,maybe it was damaged during the delivery? I had it shipped from Japan and when I opened the box the disc drive was open.
The ps2 guy is my only acquaintance in the field..he repaired my Intellivision a few years ago but I don't think he ever saw a Turbo Duo R.

[HuMan]

It's called a PC Engine Duo R, not a Turbo Duo R.

[Keith Courage]

Could be that the lens gear is slipping. Some DUO Rs have the gear that is actually two parts. Sometimes the parts can slightly separate. To check this try playing your game with the case lid off. You will need a magnet to hold the CD lens in place when doing so. You can remove the one out of the DUO-R lid for this. Check to see if the lens motor keeps moving at all after the CD lens has stopped in various places. The way to fix this is to glue the two parts together.

[Bugo3s]

Could be that the lens gear is slipping. Some DUO Rs have the gear that is actually two parts. Sometimes the parts can slightly separate. To check this try playing your game with the case lid off. You will need a magnet to hold the CD lens in place when doing so. You can remove the one out of the DUO-R lid for this. Check to see if the lens motor keeps moving at all after the CD lens has stopped in various places. The way to fix this is to glue the two parts together.

I might try and work up enough bravery to do it myself then.
If I want to open up my Duo R, can you tell me how many screws on the back got to go? I mean I wouldn't want to unnecessarily detach the main board from the back of the plastic case.
Just want to lift the upper plastic case up.
If I am not able enough to take out the magnet from my DUO R, can I use a fridge magnet  (my wife has a million of those..finally they might come in handy) of roughly the same size?
I know it is probably silly but I feel like an average joe trying to do surgery for the first time..on a living patient.

Thanks for the help though, really appreciated.

[Bugo3s]

I solved it! I think!
I managed to be brave (or stupid, knowing my dexterity...) enough to open the thing and checking it out.

Now I , as you probably have figured out already, am no professional , but I noticed the gears on my duo to be very very yellowy and ...well greasy...maybe a bit TOO greasy.

I slowly carefully started spinning the gears with my hands, taking away a lot of the grease (looked and felt like  the thing that comes out of your kids eardrums when he s having the flu) then I tried Valis (with the duo still on the operating table) and finally it worked.

I could phisycally see the gears working and even though it made a bit of noise (i figure the dude that sold this to me actually replaced a gear with a 3d printed or cheap one...because two were yellow and old and one was clean white) the thing worked!

Now, besides finally relaxing with Valis and a good cold drink .. do you suggest i oil it up again?
I didn't dry it, of course, but I had plenty of grease in my hands after the operation and I wouldn't want the gears to break.

[esteban]

...

Now, besides finally relaxing with Valis and a good cold drink .. do you suggest i oil it up again?
I didn't dry it, of course, but I had plenty of grease in my hands after the operation and I wouldn't want the gears to break.

I would say “yes” as long as this is VALIS II and the object of your desires is Emperor Megas (or, his crüe in general).

I, too, find the domineering personality of Emperor Megas to be wildly alluring.

As for “gears breaking”... just be careful and don’t do anything that could pinch or rip sensitive skin. 

[Bugo3s]

I played a lot of Valis 1, now it always boots up correctly, the lens goes back to the left when i stop the console but once ( the cinematic after you beat the two headed dragon or what it is) I got silent cutscenes again.
Though the level then started and music/fx were right there again. Now I don't really know if I can just ignore this or open it again and see what else can be done.

[SignOfZeta]

It's called a PC Engine Duo R, not a Turbo Duo R.

I think it’s malfunctioning because it’s owner can’t be bothered to learn it’s name. That’s a common problem with women, I’ve noticed, lots of resultant malfunctions from even the slightest misspelling or whatever. Same with anything that’s got a MAC address, I’ve noticed. Picky picky...

[Bugo3s]

Hehe, I just met your daughter mr Nec , I really really like her...I m just not that good with names ! But I am a good boy, trust me dad...can I call you dad?

Been playing Valis this morning, what a cool game, too bad it looks like You can't save.
Dracula is a real masterpiece, I feel really stupid for ignoring this console for around 25+ years..
I'll try and catch up the time.

Thanks guys for all the help and for the jokes, made me feel a bit better and helped me do this, great community.