broken gamecube repair

[Kristian Calhoun]

ok, here's the deal...

I went to go and play my nintendo gamecube the other day, and when i turned it on, it made these weird clicking and grinding noises, and was not reading the disc. It would say 'please insert a disc", so I would, then it would say "reading disc" and then return to the "please insert a disc" screen. Does anyone know what is wrong with it/ever have this problem before, and does anyone know of anyway to repair it. If so, help would be gratefully appreciated.

-kristian

[Greg Marra]

It sounds like a problem with the optical drive. That would be something rather hard to fix if it isn't something small, but new gamecubes are only $100.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

The kind of problem you describe is usually a foreign object in the drive. Depending on the object, it may already be too late to repair. Remove the power and shake the box to listen for loose objects. If you hear something, you may be able to get it to fall out with the door open. If you find that there is nothing loose, first check the bottom of the disk for scratches. If it is scratched there may be something wrong with the lift mechanism. (The part that sets the height between the read head and the disc.) If there is no scratches and no loose parts, the optical lens may be dirty. A cleaning disk from Best But or Radio Shack should clear that problem.

[Kristian Calhoun]

thanks for your input, and yes i already went out on black friday to buy a new one, i would just like to see if i can salvage the old one.

[Kristian Calhoun]

The kind of problem you describe is usually a foreign object in the drive. Depending on the object, it may already be too late to repair. Remove the power and shake the box to listen for loose objects. If you hear something, you may be able to get it to fall out with the door open. If you find that there is nothing loose, first check the bottom of the disk for scratches. If it is scratched there may be something wrong with the lift mechanism. (The part that sets the height between the read head and the disc.) If there is no scratches and no loose parts, the optical lens may be dirty. A cleaning disk from Best But or Radio Shack should clear that problem.

ok Al, i just went and shook my gamecube around in the air, and nothing seems to be loose. and i knwo that the disc wasn't scratched because i used several new discs. i will go to bestbuy.com or radio shack and look up the price of a cleaning disc. thanks for your input.

[Mike AA]

ok Al, i just went and shook my gamecube around in the air, and nothing seems to be loose. and i knwo that the disc wasn't scratched because i used several new discs. i will go to bestbuy.com or radio shack and look up the price of a cleaning disc. thanks for your input.

also try about any music or computer parts store and they will likely have a cleaning disk. This is literally like a regular cd (sometimes with music) and has 2-4 small "brushes" on the data side that run past the lense.

-Mike

[Greg Marra]

also try about any music or computer parts store and they will likely have a cleaning disk. This is literally like a regular cd (sometimes with music) and has 2-4 small "brushes" on the data side that run past the lense.

-Mike

Unfortunantly, the Gamecube doesn't take regular sized discs...

[JoeXIII'007]

I went to go and play my nintendo gamecube the other day, and when i turned it on, it made these weird clicking and grinding noises, and was not reading the disc. It would say 'please insert a disc", so I would, then it would say "reading disc" and then return to the "please insert a disc" screen. Does anyone know what is wrong with it/ever have this problem before, and does anyone know of anyway to repair it. If so, help would be gratefully appreciated.

OK, I have a cube, and have not had this problem. However, I have taken apart an CD-ROM drive before, make that a PS1, and so I have a pretty darn good idea what's gone wrong. Nothing's loose, but you still heard clicking and grinding noises, which is usually the sound of a stripped gear or something else seriously wrong with the gearing of moving parts. Might have been due to the quality of the manufactured part, or something along that line.

Considering how fast the motor has to switch directions in order to do what the GC does, this is not surprising. Not at all. I'm surprised it hasn't happened to mine yet considering how much I've played Metroid Prime. :D

-Joe

PS: hope this isn't redundant.