This CD 32 is driving me craaaaaaazyyyyyy

[Gavilan]

Yes it is!!! Im about to throw it away!!
I cant understand a lot of strange things that are happening!! im going insane with this!!

Situation is this: i got a CD 32 PAL + SX1 from a polish guy, who sent it to France. My sister brought it to me yesterday. Ooops! No power supply, no external hard disk, no external floppy drive, no rgb-vga converter (as was stated on the ebay auction). I managed to find the power supply from my NTSC CD 32 unit i also have.The black brick, original power supply that comes with the cd 32.

I begun testing it. Lot of strange things happened. The machine begun making a lot of noise every time the cd-rom read a disc. And i mean a big noise, making it impossible to use the machine with the volume on. If i disable the SX1, no sound problem.
Next, the hdd. I managed to use an old hdd from one of my 1200. The hdd is old, 3,5´´ and 4.3 gig. I couldnt use it inside the SX1, so i opened the SX1 cover, took the cable, installed everything and used a power supply connector that this guy built.
I have to do 2 resets before the machine finally boots from the hard disk, guess it has to do because its a slow spin hard disk. Used the jumper to let the machine delay 10 more seconds in order to boot. Once it boots, i get checksum errors on the hdd (none of this errors happended if i use it back on my 1200), and it keeps asking me for "insert volume DF0" just after the workbench is fully working.

After a random time, between 10 and 15 minutes, the machine freezes completely, so i have to switch it off, and turn it on again. This happens all the time.

Next, i tried the FMV card with some VCD movies i have. I cant watch any single movie, because the machine freezes, makes glitches, green pixels come to the screen, sound is perfect and fluid, but picture is like if it were in slow motion.
Im not sure, maybe the laser of the cd 32 is old and very used? I tried the FMV card with and without the sx1. Same thing happened.

So here´s the situation. Maybe i need more power supply? Maybe i need a pc adaptor to use a pc power supply to feed up more power?

I tried the FMV card in the NTSC machine i have, and it works perfectly.

On my other SX1, i have a 2.5´´ internal 800mb hard disk, that refuses to load half of the stuff that is installed. Besides that everything seems to work ok on that machine (the ntsc one).

Any suggestions, ideas, comments please?!

Cheers!

Sebastian
 :-D  :-D

[Stedy]

Hello,

It sounds like you have a power supply problem causing the unxplained crashes.

The 'insert volume DF0:' is because in your S:Startup-sequence is the line, Addbuffers DF0: 15, which will cause AmigaDOS to look for the floppydrive. You can comment this out.

I am unsure why you are getting HDD errors, they could be power related or cabling related.

Have you triec cleaning the lens of the CD32 with Isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud?
The laser units can be re-aligned (I wrote the guide on this) but it is not an easy task.

Is the noise on accessing the CD drive coming through your speakers or heard from the unit itself?

HTH

Ian

[Gavilan]

Hi! thanks for all the info and tips.. As you mentioned...maybe i have a power supply problem..but thing is, i also get crashes without the sx1, just the cd 32 unit. The power supply seems to be working perfect in my ntsc machine...
The DFO problem is now clear, so no more problems with that...

The cables..well, they are brand new, i tested 2 of them...

Never ever tried to clean the lens of the cd32...i just got it yesterday after a loong trip...

Anyway, this problem reading vcd disks only happens on the pal unit, on the ntsc unit everything is smooth.
What do i need to clen the lens? Just isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud? and cleaning it like if i were cleaning a vcr head? Could it be that the laser or the mechanism is very used/old?

And concerning the noise...well, it comes trough my speakers, not from the unit itself...but believe, it kills your ears! It makes that noise every single time the unit is accesing the cd inserted...
It does not happen when i put an audio cd...strange uh!?

 :-D

Anyway, thanks for all the info!

Cheers!
Seba

[Framiga]

mhhh . . .so if i understood well, you are using a PAL CD32 with an US PSU . . . right?

I'm not 100% sure but could be a timing problem due the 60 hz PSU . . .

http://www.staticgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=104

but honestly . . i have zero experience about CD32

[Stedy]

Hello,

Answering a few questions.

What do i need to clen the lens? Just isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud? and cleaning it like if i were cleaning a vcr head? Could it be that the laser or the mechanism is very used/old?

Yep, just Isopropyl alohol on a cotton bud. Give the lens a good wipe to remove the dirt, don't worry, the lens assembly will wobble! The other possibility is that the runners of the CD unit need lubricating.

Are you trying to play NTSC VCDs on a PAL CD32?

The mismatch in 25 frames per second PAL and 30 frames per second NTSC could cause some weird effects.

Is the noise only with VCDs or with data CDs?

[PG]

DONT use isopropyl alcohol, it can (and will sooner or later) destroy the lens.
Use WATER (if anything) on a cotton bud.

[slater79]

Hello, it's possible to use an US PSU with PAL CD-32.
On the DIN, you have GND/+5V/+12V DC, not AC 50Hz/60Hz.
If you use a mouse on CD-32, you can choose between PAL & NTSC like A1200.

 

[Waccoon]

Dust conducts electricity, so try blowing all dust out of the unit.  Camel hair brushes don't conduct static, so if you can get one they are terrific for dusting electronics.

The Amiga 1200 has a circuit to detect if audio cables are attached, and will switch automatically between mono/stereo  This may be the source of your screeching.  Look for any solder points coming loose on the audio jacks.  Make sure your left/right cables are the same length, too.  Weird things happen with those kinds of automatic circuits.

NTSC/PAL power shouldn't matter, as everything is converted to DC current.  But, I'm not 100% sure about this.

DONT use isopropyl alcohol, it can (and will sooner or later) destroy the lens.

Correct.  Alcohol will disolve many kinds of plastics, rubbers, clearcoats, and powdercoat finishes.  It should only be used to clean metal and glass unless you know it is chemically compatible with a surface.

Don't use CD cleaners, either.  The bristles and cleaners used on many of the cheap ones will actually scratch the lens, as they are designed for players with glass lenses.