Pc engine Duo r// Composite cable.//Solved, update

[cskcsk]

Hi guys, so i recently got a duo r, and the av cables that came with it was sans the video out... So, what options do i have here other than buying another cable online? I am handy with a solder iron.

[kamiboy]

Disconnect one of the audio channels and connect it to the composite video out. That will only give mono sound though. If you had a regular Duo you could then just use the headphone jack for stereo, but I believe that was removed on the R.

If you have a spare RCA lead you could solder it in to get composite out via a third cable.

Oh, you can also just use a Genesis composite cable if you have one. I believe the pinout is similar.

[cskcsk]

Thanks. That worked. The unit now doesnt load my super cd game, cleaned the lens with alcohol. It plays music cds fine though. Any thoughts?

[kamiboy]

Could be any number of things.

Maybe your laser needs adjusting via the 4 pots on the board. I had to do that for two regular Duo's, which unlike the R's actually have 5 adjustment pots. I tell yea, I tell yea, that was quite an ordeal. Took full on three days before I had them adjusted so everything was square.

Try and put on a music CD and play the last track on the disc. If it is a adjustment problem it should start skipping and such while playing.

Other than laser adjustment it could be that your CD mechanism needs lubricating, or you have some dying capacitors.

In any case, if you want to adjust the laser here is a place to start:

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8926.0

Scroll down to the adjusting pots section.

[gray117]

Is the common problem with these drives that the plastic cogs wear on them? ... Certainly on yaj I believe you can buy custom made repros of these cogs...

[kamiboy]

Not for this model. That would be the PC Engine CD-ROM2 units, which you connect to the original PC Engine consoles via the IFU-30 interface unit. They are often referred to as the briefcase combo.

Those CD units have a known problem with their gear wearing out. The Duo and Duo-R's do not exhibit that problem. The Duo's instead have a known capacitor problem, while Duo-R's are not known to suffer from any idiosyncratic defects.

As such you are just going to have to open yours up and see what you can discover. As suggested you should start with the pots. But before you start fiddling remember where each was pointing so you can always return to that default setting.

Take a photo or use a marker to note the position of each pot.

[cskcsk]

So i opened the duo r up and adjusted the pot that is on the laser assembly itself a little bit clockwise, and my super cd game now works. Tried burning some games, but none would load on the duo r. Any tips on burning cdr s for the duo? Is it alright to talk about this here?

[kamiboy]

Burned games would prolly need adjustment of the other 4 pots. As to how they should be adjusted, well, that differs from machine to machine.

You'll just have to experiment. Be careful though, those pots affect the Duo's CD reading performance in unpredictable ways. Just because you manage to adjust them to where one game boots does not mean that everything is ready to go.

Important tests is to see whether they are adjusted so the tracks on the outer edge of the CD can be read without problem or not. A good way of testing that is via game music tests, just pick the last track and see if it plays right.

Then after that try as many different games as possible, both burned and retail. Sometime you can have things adjusted so a handful of retail discs boot without issue but then there is one that is not being recognized at all.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Duo stereo A/V cable Factoid: If you have access to a stereo PC Engine Duo A/V cable (or one from a USA region Turbo Duo console), it can be used with the first-gen Sega Mega Drive or Genesis console if it needed be.

Also, on NEC's 3rd PCE Duo variant console, the Duo-RX, the headphone jack was removed as well but gains a nifty 1st-party NEC Arcade Pad 6 D-pad controller.

NEC removed the built-in headphone jack and volume control from the subquent releases of the Duo-R & Duo-RX consoles to save on manufacturing costs. Go figure.

FYI: A Duo, regardless of the make, it won't boot up burned 650MB sized CD-RWs but only up to 700MB sized CD-Rs...please keep this in mind. And it can be burned up to 40x speeds and still be played on a Duo, Duo-R, Duo-RX or even the Turbo Duo setup via the single-speed CD-Rom drive interface. Easy as pie.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Fudoh]

Duo stereo A/V cable Factoid: If you have access to a stereo PC Engine Duo A/V cable (or one from a USA region Turbo Duo console), it can be used with the first-gen Sega Mega Drive or Genesis console if it needed be.

but the MD's Din8 output is mono-only, so you're likely routing some other signal into the "R" audio line. No problem as long as it's unconnected, but possibly harmful if you connect it to an actual stereo input.

[cskcsk]

So i got burned games to work by turning the pot just a little bit clockwise, music tracks cut out after some time, so i turned it just a little bit more, been at it the whole night and could not get the duo to read burned games again.

[kamiboy]

There is inly so much you can do with just the one pot. You need to start looking at the three other as well.