My Sega Saturn CD Reader doesn't spin

[Protoss]

Hello everybody. This is my first post here so please, be gentle with me XD.

Looks like my sega saturn is kidding me. Without any reason, the console doesnt detect door opening and the CD reader doesn't spin. These are the sympthoms or behaviour of the Saturn when I turn it on:


System config. (that's because the lithium battery is K.O). The CD reader doesn't move, so this is the first "Uh-oh".
After configuring language, time and date, the console goes directly to the BIOS without doing the logo animation (you know, loads of polygons floating and finally creating the Sega Saturn logo). The CD reader remains stopped.
Once in the Control Panel, it says "checking disk format" for a long time, without spinning the disk (it is still stopped). After this, nothing else happens.
The box located to the right of the console is not a box anymore, is more like a yellow balloon, and doesn't change its shape. As I told before, It doesn't respond when I open or close the door.
Finally, I have detected that every time the console changes the TV image (for example, from saturn logo to control panel), it makes a very nasty noise, very creepy.


I'm quite upset (but not desperate!) with this strange behaviour, so if anybody can help me, please don't hesitate writing.

Thanks!

[Psy]

Hello everybody. This is my first post here so please, be gentle with me XD.

Looks like my sega saturn is kidding me. Without any reason, the console doesnt detect door opening and the CD reader doesn't spin. These are the sympthoms or behaviour of the Saturn when I turn it on:


System config. (that's because the lithium battery is K.O). The CD reader doesn't move, so this is the first "Uh-oh".
After configuring language, time and date, the console goes directly to the BIOS without doing the logo animation (you know, loads of polygons floating and finally creating the Sega Saturn logo). The CD reader remains stopped.
Once in the Control Panel, it says "checking disk format" for a long time, without spinning the disk (it is still stopped). After this, nothing else happens.
The box located to the right of the console is not a box anymore, is more like a yellow balloon, and doesn't change its shape. As I told before, It doesn't respond when I open or close the door.
Finally, I have detected that every time the console changes the TV image (for example, from saturn logo to control panel), it makes a very nasty noise, very creepy.


I'm quite upset (but not desperate!) with this strange behaviour, so if anybody can help me, please don't hesitate writing.

Thanks!
That sounds very serious try looking for someone that will repair Saturns or possiblty you might have to get another Saturn.

[Protoss]

Dude, thanks for the reply. Yes, this really sounds like a hard problem to solve for a non-initiated man like me, so I think the "forget about re-animating your Saturn" answer will be the most used on this topic (but not the most wished, believe it).

Anyway, if anybody else has any idea about what's going on here, please share it with me. Don't wanna think on buying another one :confused:

See you!

[Psy]

Don't wanna think on buying another one

There are places that still repair Saturns but from what you said it would probably be cheaper just to buy another Saturn, I mean you can probably get one off E-bay for under $50 (including shipping)

[evildragon]

On a Sega Dreamcast, if the intro logo is skipped, it means the door is open.. Maybe the same is true for the Saturn

Maybe the trigger broke in the dreamcast?

[Protoss]

On a Sega Dreamcast, if the intro logo is skipped, it means the door is open.. Maybe the same is true for the Saturn

Maybe the trigger broke in the dreamcast?

But if it were a trigger problem from the door, my Saturn would detect it and would show on the TV screen that the door is open. I just revised it and it doesn't seem to have any problem. Thanks for the answer anyway!

[Protoss]

More info about my problem:

- Did I say that when you config country and hour the sound of the satur is different from a working saturn? It's like some kind of motor turning on...

- Now I also have a working Model 2 saturn with a IC32pin, and i've been trying some things:

1.- I have connected the 21 ribbon cable of the model 2 ic64 (the one not working) to the new saturn, and it works, so the cable is OK.

2.- I've put the CD reader from the 64pin console to the 32pin and it seems to work, or at least spins and detects the audio tracks, but not the games. I think this issue is due to be using a different kind of CD reader on the 32pin model. What I've been able to prove is that the CD reader motor works because it spins.

3.- Doing the same thing above, but now using the 32pin CD reader on the dead 64pin saturn. No response, it does the same thing than before.

So, maybe I should discard any CD reader problem and try looking for anything else. What do you think?

By the way, if you disconnect the 32pin CD unit, the Saturn behaves like my half-dead 64pin saturn, with the difference that instead of a green cube and a yellow sphere, on the control panel now appear 2 big red spheres.

Any other idea?

[Protoss]

It's been a while since I posted here. Nobody here and in other saturn support forums was able to give me a good solution about what was happening to me, everybody talked about the 21 pin ribbon (it is bad connected, it is broken, etc...). At last, some days ago, I picked once again the Saturn, and comparing it with another working one, I discovered that the problem was located on the 5v power supply of the CD driver: it didn't work correctly. So I though that I could supply those 5v from another place: I did a cable bridge between the 2nd pin of the CD drive green connector and the 5v point that is on the main power supply (don't know if it is its name), and voilá! It worked! Now I've a fully functional Saturn again!

Nothing more, hope this can help someone!

See you!