Taking it apart...

[Zaggart]

Before I send my Duo in for repair, I've decided to try and diagnose the problem myself.  The thing is, I'm not sure what kind or size of bit I need to unscrew the thing.  It looks like a spanner bit of some type, but I'm not sure.  Has anyone here taken theirs apart, and if so could you tell me the type/size  bit?

Thanks!

- Zaggart

[Zaggart]

Well, I figured out my problem regarding why music kept fading in and out...  Apparently SuperCDs require the extra memory of the Duo to play music properly.  I first tried a HuCard, which played fine, and then the intro to Y's (regular CD) played fine.  When I went to play the game, however, I received a message that "Internal memory is not initialized".  I reset the system and formatted the memory, and now everything plays fine (Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, Super Air Zonk, Dracula X, etc.).  

I guess since I hadn't played the Duo in some time that the memory reset/corrupted itself?  Whatever.  Anyway, it works now.  Hopefully if anyone else is having this same problem it will be a good FYI.  

[rdian]

I started having audio problems with my Duo I bought a couple years ago. When playing SCD games original or CDR(Lords of Thundr, Dracula X)  I would hear a crackling sound and the background music would stop but I could still hear the sound effects. I could get the background music to come back during gameplay by dying and restarting the level. Lately though, the audio problems are getting worse and I can't get the background music to return once the music dies. I don't have these problems with non SCD games. I tried formatting the memory but it doesn't seem to help. Does anyone have any ideas about how to fix this problem? I'm not sure if replacing the CD drive would solve the problem since non SCD games seem to work fine. Dos anyone know where to get the correct screw bit for the Duo if I decide to open it up as a last resort before sending it to retrogames?  

[Zaggart]

I was mistaken about formatting the memory solving the problem.  I had the same problem you do though - the music would cut out but the sound effects would be fine.  The problem eventually led to other things, such as my HuCards locking up for no reason.  

Instead of being without it for a month or two from RetroGames, in addition to someone saying that they received a DIFFERENT Duo back than the one they had sent in convinced me NOT to send it there.  

I ended up buying a near mint PC Engine Duo R from videogamedepot.com.  Everything is great now and I've expanded my library by about 30 titles.  

I hope you find a good repair shop or a good replacement though.  I'd rather sell ALL of my other systems than be without my Duo!!  

[rdian]

I decided to try to fix it myslef. I found the correct 4.5mm bit at www.jandaman.com. There is a potentiometer near the laser assembly. It is set at 691 ohms. I increased it 10% to
760 ohms. I buttoned up the unt and tested some games  and audio CD's and so far the sound works better although not perfect.  I'll probobly tweak it some more to see what happens if i set it 10% lower than the original setting. I have no clue what this is controlling but it helped the audio problem I was having. I am still concerned that tweaking this setting might damage the unit over time so if anyone has any experience with fixing CD drives let me know.