Yellow right cube in BIOS issue

[rsonic]

Hello

I changed the entire laser assembly on my Model 2 Saturn.

With the new one, while in Bios, the right cube become Yellow and big, while the left one remain green and little like it should be.

Laser doesn't move and don't give signs of life.
Even opening the tray doesn't trigger the "checking disc" message.

Do you know how I can solve this issue?

[captainkael]

Sonic I hope someone is able to help you with this stuff! It seems like you have been having poor luck with your Saturn lately. Really wish zyrobs was here as I am sure they would know what to do.

[rsonic]

Thanks

I guess the new laser assembly I got is not compatible with this Saturn.

I even swapped the lasers only between the two laser assembly, no signs.

So maybe I'm in a situation where:

-new laser assembly= maybe not compatible with this Saturn

-old laser assembly= broken? Not work despite what laser you mount on

I don't know at this point if I should try to get another laser assembly this time of the same model of mine, but it's kinda rare online...

[neogeoman]

Apr 14, 2023 13:32:25 GMT rsonic said:

Thanks

I guess the new laser assembly I got is not compatible with this Saturn.

I even swapped the lasers only between the two laser assembly, no signs.

So maybe I'm in a situation where:

-new laser assembly= maybe not compatible with this Saturn

-old laser assembly= broken? Not work despite what laser you mount on

I don't know at this point if I should try to get another laser assembly this time of the same model of mine, but it's kinda rare online...

Hi mate, i know it is a bit late here but that issue is often related to the CD drive assembly.

If you start the console with no CD drive it'll usually show two large red balls instead of the green squares.

The CD door switch connects to the CD assembly.

You could try swapping the ribbon cable and see if that fixes the issue, but the CD door switch issue probably won't be that, because it is the small two pin plug that connects to the PCB of the drive assembly.

It might be worth throwing in a FENRIR and seeing if that fixes it.

[zyrobs]

Saturn has 4 different drives and they are not pin compatible. You probably switched around two incompatible assemblies.

[captainkael]

zyrobs Welcome back! also ty for amswering so many of the questions that have been sitting unanswered forawhile!

[rsonic]

Jun 7, 2023 11:36:48 GMT neogeoman said:

Apr 14, 2023 13:32:25 GMT rsonic said:

Thanks

I guess the new laser assembly I got is not compatible with this Saturn.

I even swapped the lasers only between the two laser assembly, no signs.

So maybe I'm in a situation where:

-new laser assembly= maybe not compatible with this Saturn

-old laser assembly= broken? Not work despite what laser you mount on

I don't know at this point if I should try to get another laser assembly this time of the same model of mine, but it's kinda rare online...

Hi mate, i know it is a bit late here but that issue is often related to the CD drive assembly.

If you start the console with no CD drive it'll usually show two large red balls instead of the green squares.

The CD door switch connects to the CD assembly.

You could try swapping the ribbon cable and see if that fixes the issue, but the CD door switch issue probably won't be that, because it is the small two pin plug that connects to the PCB of the drive assembly.

It might be worth throwing in a FENRIR and seeing if that fixes it.

Don't worry it's never late, thanks.

During the troubleshooting, I noticed that the cd door switch was taped, probably to use backup discs.
I removed all the tape and now the console recognize when the door is open or closed at least.

Laser assembly /the original one) still don't give any sign of life.

[rsonic]

Jun 9, 2023 23:03:48 GMT zyrobs said:

Saturn has 4 different drives and they are not pin compatible. You probably switched around two incompatible assemblies.

so it was really incompatible, thanks for the confirmation.

Do you know how to troubleshoot issue on the laser assembly?

The original laser assembly doesn't show any sign of life.

I even tried to switch the laser between the original laser assembly, ans the second assembly (the one that isn't compatible), and still no sign of life.
Unless there are still incompatibilities, that means the problem is on the assembly itself.

In case how can i track the issue?
Is there usually a common problem (like a burn fuse, a capacitor or something else)?

The rpevious owner probably used only with backup games, so I know taht this alone put a lot of stress on the drive.

[zyrobs]

Of the assembly itself, no, I've never had one go bad before (only the ones I broke myself).

What I know is that if the assembly is not connected or powered (or, I'm assuming, broken), the Saturn boots into the cd player with completely broken sound effects and at least one of the VU meter cubes being full red. The sound effects will be silent, dull and low pitched, with tremendous amount of echo, as if they were playing at 0.1x the normal speed. Which would make sense given that without the assembly the SCSP clocks will be a tenth of their normal value. Note that I have not tested this with VA10+ units, which generate their clocks internally, they might behave different.

So if you get as far as the cd player functioning correctly, then the assembly should be fine. If the laser does not seem to have life, try moving it manually to the outer part of the rail, best way is to spin the gears without touching the laser. Then on bootup the laser should move to the innermost part automatically. This should tell you that the assembly is working and getting commands from the Saturn side.

If you get this far, then it is either the laser being dead, needing calibration, the tray height might need to be adjusted, or you ordered a replacement and forgot to remove the protective solder blob from it.

[rsonic]

Jun 24, 2023 18:48:17 GMT zyrobs said:

Of the assembly itself, no, I've never had one go bad before (only the ones I broke myself).

What I know is that if the assembly is not connected or powered (or, I'm assuming, broken), the Saturn boots into the cd player with completely broken sound effects and at least one of the VU meter cubes being full red. The sound effects will be silent, dull and low pitched, with tremendous amount of echo, as if they were playing at 0.1x the normal speed. Which would make sense given that without the assembly the SCSP clocks will be a tenth of their normal value. Note that I have not tested this with VA10+ units, which generate their clocks internally, they might behave different.

So if you get as far as the cd player functioning correctly, then the assembly should be fine. If the laser does not seem to have life, try moving it manually to the outer part of the rail, best way is to spin the gears without touching the laser. Then on bootup the laser should move to the innermost part automatically. This should tell you that the assembly is working and getting commands from the Saturn side.

If you get this far, then it is either the laser being dead, needing calibration, the tray height might need to be adjusted, or you ordered a replacement and forgot to remove the protective solder blob from it.

Thank you zyrobs

I tested again with the original assembly (let's call it assembly 1) while the laser lens come from assembly 2 (the one that come from another saturn and it's not compatible).

Moving the laser manually to the outer part of the rail, I turned the console on and finally the assembly made some noise. The laser moved and returned to the inner part of the rail.

So assembly 1 is alive.

The disc still doesn't spin at all.
The cubes are normal green, no issues in bios it seems.

apart the "Checking disc format" that takes way longer than normal

If the assembly 1 is fine, it means that both assembly 1 and assembly 2 lasers are dead?

[davyk]

That cube colour thing - is that a feature that is a design of the firmware/OS? If it is it's impressive that Sega did that.

[zyrobs]

If the laser moves to the inside but the disc does not spin, then it is either the laser being dead, needing calibration, the tray height might need to be adjusted, or you ordered a replacement and forgot to remove the protective solder blob from it.

Or the laser is dead.

[rsonic]

I'm worried about trying to adjust the tray height, so i'll try first with another laser for ebay and see if it finally work.

It's strange in any case, because the one who sold me the second assembly told me the laser was good... and even if the assembly itself is not compatible with my model, it should always be a optima 6 laser, right?

[zyrobs]

The laser is very likely fine, you just need to calibrate it.

[rsonic]

Jul 4, 2023 18:25:08 GMT zyrobs said:

The laser is very likely fine, you just need to calibrate it.

for curiosity I tried again to switch the lasers on the original assembly, and when moved manually to the outer part, both lasers move to the inside when turned on.

So they both behave the same.