Official GameCube Repair Thread

[quote name='Porygon']If I were to just send my GCN to Nintendo for repair due to a dead lazer, would they just tighten the lazer on the GCN- or would they actually replace it with a new one? I'm willing to go through with that for a new lazer in the system, but not for a no-effort job.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Who knows, they might just replace your Gamecube with an already refurbished model. There's no way to tell. The laser "recalibration" technique is a good one to try, though.

A lot of people who are complaining about non-spinning disks probably don't have bad motors, they just have unreadable disks due to an underpowered laser, dirty lens, or bad lens spring. Once the laser output has been increased, it will usually trigger a feedback loop to engage the spindle motor. Try it, what have you got to lose?

Just make sure you adjust in very small increments, and remember, it might not work the first time.
 
Hope I won't need to use this great reference thread, but a few questions:

1. Were early Cubes with digital out more likely to die?

2. What problems were associated with these particular units?

3. Would NOA fix it if I'm not the original owner?
 
My gamecube was working perfectly one day and then the next i tried to tunr it on but there was a blank screen. The light turns on and i can hear the fan running but the disc doesnt spin and the screen in blank. Anyone know how i can fix this? I really dont want to pay $50+ to have it fixed by nintendo. thanks
 
Bought a gamebit on fleaBay and opened the ol' GC up. Turned the potensiometer ever so slightly counter-clockwise and VOILA - the laser lens is apparently recalibrated. Now, disks are being read again at startup (no more DRE's!). Used the instructions found here and here.

Here's the location of the potensiometer on the back of the disc circuit board (circled in red):
image157.jpg


If you are having problems with your discs not being read at startup (the GC will tell you that there is no disc in the drive), you really should try calibrating the lens.

Good luck!
 
[quote name='Firebomber']My gamecube was working perfectly one day and then the next i tried to tunr it on but there was a blank screen. The light turns on and i can hear the fan running but the disc doesnt spin and the screen in blank. Anyone know how i can fix this? I really dont want to pay $50+ to have it fixed by nintendo. thanks[/QUOTE]

New platinum GC at amazon costs $50.
 
To those with DREs whose discs won't spin: a solution—

I've just discovered personally, through trial and error, that if one tweaks the potensiometer even just a little bit too far then the disc will stop spinning. If your disc doesn't spin anymore, it might just be that your laser is out of range and that your motor is actually fine.

My situation was that I had a working console, but was just starting to get DREs again, mid-game. From this I reasoned that the time to make another potensiometer adjustment was nearing. I opened up the box, made an adjustment, and closed 'er all up again (sans screws) to test. I'd forgotten that I could simply hold down the two little prongs in the back-right corner to fool the console into thinking it had its top on, and that I didn't need to replace any of the panels or the cover—and so that's how I was testing for adjustments at first.

After about four tries, I noticed I wasn't getting anywhere. I also noticed that my discs weren't even spinning anymore, no matter which one I used. At first I thought that I'd gone and fubar'd my console, and made a big mistake of some sort—but then I discovered that I'd just fallen into a trap that I'd set for myself. The trap was this: If one adjusts the potensiometer, still gets a DRE, and tries to turn it again a little further (thinking that this is the solution)—it just might be that the potentiometer's been tweaked too far already the first time. To continue turning it might be pushing it even further away from where it needs to be. This is an easy trap to fall into if one replaces the cover in between each test-run, because in doing so one wouldn't even notice that the disc has stopped spinning altogether (provided that it did to begin with, of course).

Anyway, I eventually boiled the process down to an efficient science that allowed me to complete a casual adjust-and-test cycle every forty-five seconds or so (by not replacing anything in between test-runs—no screws, front/back/side panels, or even the cover), and came to learn that I had the potensio' turned about 180° too far. T minus two hours in, I finally got it right and saw the disc spin with the cover open (and my fingers on the two-pronged cover-sensor). My insides lit-up and I got all of my energy back! After all was said and done, I'd performed about 15-20 guess-and-checks.

I am just here to pass along my notes to those with DREs, because if your disc isn't spinning then it might not be a motor problem but rather one to do with that pesky laser. I suggest you that follow the guide on Gamefaqs (GreyRainCloud's Lens Calibration Guide, under GameCube FAQs), and make a series of positive and negative adjustments until you get it right.
 
Does the fan come on?
Does the Laser Move/Turn On?
Does the power light come on?

I Had a problem where My Fan worked, the laser did nothing and the spindle did nothing and the power light just flashed on/off. Turned out I had blown the fuse while doing an LED mod (the 2 legs of my LED connected while with power on to the GC). The fuse is a small 5amp surface mount that sits right next to where the power line connects to the board under the motherboard. I could not find a place to get these fuses so I just temporarilly jumped this with a solder bridge (Yeah a hack but it works for now until I can locate the correct fuse).

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Thankshotels in prague


Hopefully this helps you, Thanks!:hot:
 
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I am currently trying to adjust the lasar pot to get my gamecube to read any game. I bought it cheap, second hand. I have no idea if the pot was adjusted by a prior owner. I do know that all efforts so far have been fruitless. Is there some sort of way to measure voltage or resistance to try to get a proper calibration?? I really do not want to use the trial and error method; I will if necessary.
 
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