PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum
NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG-16/TE/TurboDuo Discussion => Topic started by: demondude777 on December 22, 2004, 03:54:01 AM
-
i am having a problem with my turbo duo reading a couple of my disks. it freezes up on devil hunter yoko at the very beginning...and on castlevania rondo of blood it freezes up on just about every anime scene...then i have to reload to pass it. the other disks i have work fine though. is there anything i can do or get to fix this problem? like a system card?
-
The Duo has the system cards built in, and neither of those require any sort of special card (arcade etc) so thats not gonna help you. I'm gonna take a guess that both of those are on CDR and not originals, and if thats so, then thats just how Duo's are. Duo's were not the most reliable system made, and they can be kinda picky about playing copies. Games that my Duo has trouble with, will work perfectly fine on my TGCD unit. Very annoying, but not a lot you can do about it, except maybe trying to re-write the disc at a very slow speed with a good program.
-
they actually are the origionals that are causing the problems. should i try cleaning the laser or anything?
-
anyone else have any ideas what can be done to fix it?
-
I'm sorry, I don't have any suggestions for you.
-
Back in 94,Smartworks was selling Turbo Cd systems for 50 bucks a pop.They got them all from NEC in some deal they had going about that Duo interface card for pc to use your Duo as a PC cd-rom drive.Anyway,they made the card,and at the same time NEC killed the Duo stateside,and in a deal to make up lost money,gave Smartworks remaining TurboGrafx/Duo/Cd/Express hardware.They sold it at extremely nice prices needless to say.TZD because of the deal was only allowed to move Duo systems if you did a trade in of somekind for a few years there.Anyway,to get to the point.I went through 5 New Turbo cd systems in a 2 year period.The cd decks would die if I gave them normal use.Things would start off happening,like Fighting Streets,it would take excessive times to load a round,past the normal 9 second load time for that game.Vasteel was another one.Sometimes the decks wouldnt load at all,they would just sit there,and if I tapped them they would all the sudden load the data.I had one that would act insane,playing random music tracks and skipping around,which became annoying on a game like Cosmic Fantasy 2,because the end song sucked,and hearing it while playing the game made it worse.I had employees from Nec on the help line tell me it was due to heat damage.Those units were built very compact,not allowing for normal air and heat disipitation,so they would burn out,faster then the NeoGeo cd even.Needless to say,a couple of years ago,TZD was selling the cd drives themselves as replacement parts.I think the asking price was 50 bucks...go figure.
-
so basically ther is no easy fix huh? its probably due to overheating. are they still selling those parts?
-
Poor mans CD repair, when disks are moderately scuffed or scratched, I have been able to, dependending on system(PC is worst due to higher temps in enclosed PC CD-ROMs), get the CD working again in those cases where a disk was just on the edge of readablity, for x amount of uses or play time before reaplication is required, by first making sure the disk is free of any dirt or dust etc., and then using the softest lint free cloth or non-abrasive wipes I have and common household furniture wax(Pledge is best). Don't laugh, I saved my second hand purchased Max Payne for PC this way and it still works requiring reapplication every 4-6hrs of use, internal heat breaks down wax eventually rendering null the scratch repairing effects, so mileage varies by application. I have used it for other used PC games plus a few new ones I got careless with and all have not had any issues with breakdown or discoloring, I have also used it on PS and PS2 games and DVDs too. My method has 4 basic steps(one can be skipped if your disk is free of dust etc.) A: gently clean disk of any dust or dirt/fingerprints, B: spray the disk from 6-10" inches away with spray wax to coat the disk surface evenly(just a light, even coat, also, you may want to do this over a sink or towel so you don't have spray wax to clean up later), C: let set a minute or two, then with the aforementioned lint and scratch-free cloth or wipes(ones safe for plastic lenses) wipe from the center hole out to the edge of the cd, advancing the disk and repeating until just a haze and water droplets are left, D: with a fresh wipe or new spot on your cloth and repeat, gently wiping the water and haze away, once the water is no longer left on the CD gently buff the haze away using the same motion(and new wipes) as needed, do not press down with anything beyond the most limpwristed amount of pressure, our goal is to leave a fine layer of wax behind, which if you wiped gently, should fill smaller(fine and avg.) scratches allowing proper scanning of the disc, depending on the severity you may "bandaid" heavier scratches using this method, to at least to get a copy of the disk for daily use archiving the damaged one if not get it playing for you.
-
Last I knew RetroGames was still doing repairs, might want to call the guy and ask. http://www.geocities.com/turbogaming/repairs.htm
-
I've emailed that guy a dozen times and never got a response.
-
I've emailed that guy a dozen times and never got a response.
A few years ago I called him and he was around, this was on a weekend, I don't know if he still operates.
-
thank you...i am going to give him a try by phone and see if i can reach him...$60 fix isn't bad if i can get rondo working again...:)
-
Curious if anyone knows what happened to this guy.
-
Is he stateside or in the UK?
-
He hasn't been back for 2127 days, so I'm betting the Cybermen got him.
-
I was specifically referring to retrogames. Anyone know if he ever got a new website after geocities went down.
Last I knew RetroGames was still doing repairs, might want to call the guy and ask. http://www.geocities.com/turbogaming/repairs.htm
He hasn't been back for 2127 days, so I'm betting the Cybermen got him.
-
found a mirror of the old website that is still up:
http://www.oocities.com/turbogaming/repairs.htm
-
Unless someone has some information I don't have, RetroGames simply stopped answering emails circa late 2001-early 2002. I remember this was the buzz on the Turbo List during those days; I can't remember if anyone ever actually figured out "what" happened to him/them.
I find it curious that DragonmasterDan stated in 2005 that RetroGames was "still doing repairs." I'd be shocked to find out this was the case.
-
the email from his old website is bad, fell off the face of the earth I guess.