Probably Problem with laser

[TheClockWork]

Hi there :)
I have a silver Cube packaged from the Mario Kart Bundle so its a new Cube :) [EU]. I chiped it with Qoob Pro, my causin installed the chip. That was summer 2005. It worked pefectly. But now i'm facing some problems. It happend 3 times that the Game freezed. For example in Metroid Prime the Music is repeating and after some Secs it freeze with a crazy sound :). At one time i got a: An error occured look at your manual. The cube had reading problems before the error occured. It sometimes radicaly stop the Disk with a click Sound. It happens on fast loading times like in Metroid Prime. Any idea ? :). I won't buy a new one and actually its just a problem at fast loading Games but that sux :).

(I dont know the OHM from my laser) Is there maybe any way to buy a new one ? Ohh and my Disc doesn't rotate "normal". Their rotating "wacky", i dont know if that is a problem or not. I hope you understand what i mean because it's hard to explain it any more precisely :).

Btw, the TYPE A Reading Way doesnt work @ my cube. Just mentioned :).

Thx for all replys.

[DaXIthR]

The repeated clicking is not good for the laser or the motor. Even if your games run 'fine', but they click all the time, you have a serious problem.

I'm no expert, but I'm fairly certain the click means that the GCN is struggling to read the disc and the laser is resetting itself and letting its auto-calibration take over every time that happens.

Clicks should be far and few between.

You can get them if you're using bad media, a bad rip or have your POT set to a less-than-ideal value.

I'd look into all three of those potential issues. There are places, like modthatcube, that has a fairly comprehensive list of good writable media. The bad rips you can test with the Qoob Pro's disc check. And the POT, that only requires an hour or two of delicate work.

[TheClockWork]

I'm using TraxData Ritek " Traxdata dvd-r 4x 8cm 1.46 GB 4x in cakebox ".
I burned all games at 4x.
I did a Check Disk with my Disk and i got:

INFO
A: 0000
B: 0000
C: 0000
D: 0000
E: 0000
F: 0000

first, then counting Numbers up to about 1200000000

Then i got a
"At 1200160768 failed"
And then it freezed. So i think i should made another RIP. Or should i CheckDisk again ? :) What about this POT ? Whats that and do i need to open my GC to do that ?

Thx for all answers

[TheClockWork]

Ok i tested 2 other games. Metroid Prime 2 and Eternal Darkness. I finished Eternal Darkness some Months ago and it never crashed. When i test it i get an error very early. Metroid Prime 2 has also an error at 11xxx etc.

Thats irritating :)

[lenselijer]

as long as all your games work fine there is nothing to worry about. the laser will just re-read that sector until it reads correct.

you could try settings the read setting from A to B to improve reading.

[DaXIthR]

The POT is the potentiometer. It sets the resistance for the laser. My factory setting was 562 Ohms, but can't seem to get all my backups to run consistently unless I have it set to 230 Ohms.

I get DREs, and lots of clicking.

Like I said before, ideally, your backup should perform a disc check and reports no errors. Sometimes, the errors can be ignored. I have some working backups that report errors myself.

However, sometimes, the errors are more serious, even when the disc 'works'. If the GCN clicks a whole lot, it's bad for the laser and the motor. That's just a fact. The laser shouldn't have to force itself into recalibration, say in the middle of a boss fight in Metroid Prime, or in the middle of a level in Super Monkey Ball.

A good FAQ and walkthrough for POT adjustment is available - where else - modthatcube.

Google it.

[TheClockWork]

Hmmm... i will make another Game RIP today and if that doesn't work i will check the POT Adjustment. Thx for all the infos :).
Is there ANY way to find my POT Value by Software ? Or do i really have to open my cube ?

[DaXIthR]

Got to open the Cube.

The sweet spot to get most of your backups to run is between 180 and 250, according to most sites. Each cube is different in this regard, and you'll probably have to tinker with it.

Factory settings on the POT can range from 300 to 600, I believe.

But read whatever you can find on it, and then let me know if you have questions.

[riku98523]

There is a problem and it is common in a GC the problem is that your disc mount where the disc sits. There a metal things that hold the GC disc up if what you say about the disc spinning weird it is a broken clip(metal thing) which is not always noticeable. Mine had one once and i sent it into nintendo but there are ways to fix it at home with glue i have heard. As i said before it is common and most people will have it happen to them just look online for how to fix it.

[TheClockWork]

Okay :) I finaly have made another RIP of MetroidPrime. I ripped it via Qoob Menu and then burned at 4x on my Traxdata Ritek. Then i checked the disc with the QoobDiskCheck and it was a success. I will now test MetroidPrime once again.

as long as all your games work fine there is nothing to worry about. the laser will just re-read that sector until it reads correct.

you could try settings the read setting from A to B to improve reading.

The problem is that my Games don't work fine. When i play MetroidPrime after some Time the game often freezed, repeat 2 Seconds of Sounds and thats it. Mode A cann't load any Game on my cube.

I will now test the new RIP again. I ripped my old MetroidPrime one NOT with the QoobMenu. I ripped the Disk with GCOS or whatever its named. I will test carefully and write the status.

But anyway, i will get a Multimeter and will check the POT. Thx for all replys.

Review:

So Ok, thats scaring me. At first i startet the Cube and it loaded metroidPrime but after the LOGOS the MetroidPrime Menu didnt popped up. I restared my cube and then it always freezed at the LOADING of the Qoob Menu. Then i tried my old MetroidPrime RIP and it doesnt load that either. So i changed it back and suddenly it worked. Now im trying to play a bit. But I think that actually there is a problem with my laser :) Maybe its the POT or its damaged because i didnt changed it for a too long time.

[TheClockWork]

Ok. So i played for some minutes. And i sprinted through the Rooms so the laser has something to do. I also popped up the Map very often because it then loads the room seperatly etc.. And i mentioned that some times, the sound stucks, just like my old Rip. The Music repeat 4 Seconds of playing and sometimes the whole game freezed till the laser readed the sector which it needs. I played 3 minutes or something like that. Also loading times were higher than normal. So the Question is, if this POT thing can permanently damage my laser so maybe i have to buy a new laser or something like that ? At next Weekend i will change the POT with a friend. I'll follow the tuts on modthatcube. So again. Thanx for all Informations :)

btw. this whole thing sucks ;).

[TheClockWork]

Okay :) Last and least, finally i did it. I changed my POT.
I did the tutorial on modthatcube. Which imho is, a little bit bad explained. But anway, i opend and reassambled my cube 5 Times.

The OHM Setting was a little bit tricky. Also the Digital Multimeter i have is not absolute precise but final it worked in some way.

Starting Value was: 193.
At first i changed it to: 235
When i tried to start a game, it just drawed: Loading and then ... without reaction.
My 2nd change was to 220 OHM
Also no reaction
My 3d was 210~
Then there was the first win, it started MetroidPrime and inGame worked fine. I jumped around, loading some maps etc. and got at 1 time Music Reload. So I opened the cube again for another round.
My 4th was 215~.
This also didnt worked. Freezed at Loading and then at ... .
So at the 5th i changed back to 210~
Now, that i have stabile inGame playing, i will try to finish MetroidPrime on my backup.

Thx for all reactions.

[TheClockWork]

Woah :) Okay so Metroid Prime crashed again, the difference between the OHM which works and which doesnt work is too small. I think if i'll open the cube again, it is at 197 or such AGAIN. I played some hours yesterday and today. This is really pissing me off. If I buy a new laser, will it be better or depends it on other Hardware than only the laser ?

btw. why does the OHM decrease after some time ? I just can't find any reason. It is just annoying.

Anyway, thx for all replies.

[DaXIthR]

If you want test the POT value on a certain disc, you want to play it for 10 to 15 minutes. That's how long it takes before the fan kicks in and the system is running at full power.

If you get your crashes and freezes and DREs (disc read errors) more than half an hour into your gaming session, then it's highly HIGHLY unlikely that the problem rests with your POT value.

You ought to try lower your POT. Take it to 185 or 175..even 165.

Also, make sure you have streamfix off in your Qoob BIOS settings. Try switching DRE workaround to always on, and try switching the Drive Mode from A (the default) to B (the alternative).

I hope that helps. Let me know.

Oh, one more thing. I remember reading somewhere that the trickiest game discs to work with are the ones with 'Mario' in the title. If your system is such that it you can run backups of Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, etc etc....then you'll probably be able to run everything else.

I don't know how true that is, generally, but I always used those specific discs to test my system, and if they passed the test, then everything else worked as well.

[mavlok]

Ok, first of all leave your POT alone, it's only meant as a last resort.

I had the same problems with you. All you need to do is get the image of your game and use the "fstfix.exe" utility, either with default settings or with the -f switch, only.

Most of my games used to have some kind of problem, some (like Metroid) froze at the same spot along with the music, others sometimes took way too long to load the next area etc. I used this util on all of them and EVERYTHING runs like a dream now. Chill out with the lazer tweaks at the drop of a hat people...