REPAIR GUIDE - TurboDuo: Sound Fix

[ceti alpha]

That's not it.

That's the one that opens the TurboGrafx-16.

That's why I'm so surprised-- you would think it'd be the same. It's some kind of screw head I've never, ever seen before. It's like a Torx socket that has a pin directly in the center.

Dang. Yeah, I had my doubts those were the right bits for the simple reason you were even asking. Why did they have to make the US Duo with all kinds of odd connections and screws? 

[nat]

That's why I'm so surprised-- you would think it'd be the same. It's some kind of screw head I've never, ever seen before. It's like a Torx socket that has a pin directly in the center.

Buy this set and you'll be able to open all sorts of shit.  If you want to wait a while, sign up for mailings and wait for one of their free shipping offers.

Holy shit, thanks for that. There is a HarborFrieght right down the street from my house. I go there all the time! I bet they have that set in-store.

P.S. - You must have a PCE Duo, since my US Duo uses the goofy gamebit screws.

Nope, October 1992 full-blooded American Duo.

[guyjin]

Buy this set and you'll be able to open all sorts of shit.  If you want to wait a while, sign up for mailings and wait for one of their free shipping offers.

bookmarked.

[Turbo D]

wow, thats a great deal. I'll have to grab one next time I'm down at HF.

[Necromancer]

Nope, October 1992 full-blooded American Duo.

That's strange.  My Duo's the same vintage, yet it has gamebit screws in it.

[SignOfZeta]

That's not it.

That's the one that opens the TurboGrafx-16.

That's why I'm so surprised-- you would think it'd be the same. It's some kind of screw head I've never, ever seen before. It's like a Torx socket that has a pin directly in the center.

Oh, hey, is that the US Duo I sold you? I swapped the secure screws out of it with the ones in my Duo R.

I did this because I only have one set of secure Torx bits and I leave them at work (where as I always have my game bit at home) and I need to open the Duo R once in a while.

[Necromancer]

Mystery solved!  I should've guessed something like that, since the simplest answer is usually correct.

[nat]

That's not it.

That's the one that opens the TurboGrafx-16.

That's why I'm so surprised-- you would think it'd be the same. It's some kind of screw head I've never, ever seen before. It's like a Torx socket that has a pin directly in the center.

Oh, hey, is that the US Duo I sold you? I swapped the secure screws out of it with the ones in my Duo R.

I did this because I only have one set of secure Torx bits and I leave them at work (where as I always have my game bit at home) and I need to open the Duo R once in a while.

Yeah that's the one. Well, that explains it then.

[nat]

The Duo lives! Another one saved from the scrapheap.

I did the cap replacement and the audio seems to sustain itself at a constant level. No scratchiness. I didn't play for long, only 5 minutes or so due to time constraints but I'll give it a good run after work tomorrow. Hopefully it won't pull the fade-in fade-out game with me after extended play. That'll be the real test.

Thanks again Necromancer for pointing out that bit set, I stopped by my local Harbor Freight after work and they had exactly one of those sets left. Unfortunately, that $4.99 sale was an exclusive web-only offer. So the guy met me halfway and sold it to me for $7.99 ($12.99 normal retail).

While I was in there I also adjusted the laser which has been giving me the singing treatment lately (no gameplay problems yet, but I hear the singing isn't a good sign). I adjusted 90 degrees counterclockwise and she purrs like a kitten again.

[Necromancer]

Good to hear that you got her back to five by five.  I really need to crack mine open and resolder the a/v port, as I'm getting mighty tired of wiggling the damn cable.  Why, oh why did those cheap bastards do such a crappy job on that thing?

[ceti alpha]

The Duo lives! Another one saved from the scrapheap.

Woot! Well done nat! 

While I was in there I also adjusted the laser which has been giving me the singing treatment lately (no gameplay problems yet, but I hear the singing isn't a good sign). I adjusted 90 degrees counterclockwise and she purrs like a kitten again.

What's this "singing" sound like? I'm guessing it doesn't sound as pretty as the term suggests. 

Good to hear that you got her back to five by five.  I really need to crack mine open and resolder the a/v port, as I'm getting mighty tired of wiggling the damn cable.  Why, oh why did those cheap bastards do such a crappy job on that thing?

I agree.  To make one of the most sleek and beautiful console designs ever, but go cheap on some key things just doesn't make sense. I guess that's why we got so many freebies with the system when it came out. lol 

[nat]

While I was in there I also adjusted the laser which has been giving me the singing treatment lately (no gameplay problems yet, but I hear the singing isn't a good sign). I adjusted 90 degrees counterclockwise and she purrs like a kitten again.

What's this "singing" sound like? I'm guessing it doesn't sound as pretty as the term suggests. 

It doesn't sound as bad as you're probably thinking. It's a very high pitched (but quiet) consistent "whine" whenever the CD-ROM is active. The whine comes from the laser itself, not the speakers. It's easily ignorable, but apparently the general feeling is a laser emitting this tone is headed south and needs to be tuned. Ignoring this warning sign apparently often ends in a dead laser.

[Ravij]

Hi - I just tried changing the two 10 uF Caps (post op-amp), but it didn't fix my issue. The problem I have is that there's no (or very quiet) CD Audio for the first 3 or 4 mins that the Duo is turned on. Then all of a sudden it will work fine and keep working, so it isn't a major problem, but definitely one I'd like to fix!

Anyone had a similar issue and found which caps to change? I realise I could just change the lot, but I'm not sure I have the willpower to change more than a couple at a time!

[ceti alpha]

The problem I have is that there's no (or very quiet) CD Audio for the first 3 or 4 mins that the Duo is turned on. Then all of a sudden it will work fine and keep working, so it isn't a major problem, but definitely one I'd like to fix!

That's exactly how my audio issue started. When I first got my Duo there would be no sound (or very quiet like you said) for the first few minutes, and then would kick in after 5 minutes give or take. Your audio may never get any worse, but I'm guessing it will. In any case, it's thankfully not a big deal and totally fixable. 

[Ravij]

it's thankfully not a big deal and totally fixable. 

Did you fix it yourself? If you know what caps got changed, that would be very helpful!

thanks,
Ravi