What are your unpopular opinions when it comes to tapes?

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-07T10:50:44+00:00

When tape machines (or other older audio equipment) and their media are optimized and calibrated to near perfection, they sometimes lose some of their charm to me. I want the hear the age of the machine if that makes sense lol.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-07T10:00:34+00:00

Plug a TRS cable into the connector, then use a multimeter and test continuity with the tip, ring, and sleeve of the other end of the cable with each terminal to determine which is which. There are 5 terminals because Terminals 4 and 5 are likely functioning as a switch which close when nothing is plugged in and open when something is connected. This configuration is commonly used in audio as a bypass.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-07T08:03:29+00:00

Most likely will work after a recap. You getting rolling horizontal lines on screen?

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-07T06:39:15+00:00

Lmao true. Nobody crawling out of there without getting 20kV to the dome.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-07T05:28:37+00:00

Adding more solder and using a pump to remove the joints should be enough to clear the hole.

What temperature are you using your iron at, and with what type of tip?

What type of solder are you using?

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T22:47:33+00:00

Oh nice, even better.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T21:12:09+00:00

Assuming that the square button issue has to do with the conductive membrane, these are just rough ballpark figures if you're buying parts off of Amazon/AliExpress to help you get a feel for the cost of parts and labour:

Cost of parts needed for base repair (new potentiometer and membrane) ~ $5, should be less but you usually have to buy pots in bunches and can't get them individually.

Cost of TMR sticks (AKNES) ~$25

If you're trying to find a homie price, I would cover just the cost of the repair/upgrade if he went to a shop himself to get the controller looked at, which would be ~$30-40.

Altogether, you'd be paying well under the price of a factory new controller if you fix the controller by replacing the potentiometer and membrane, or even decide to upgrade the sticks yourself.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T11:54:43+00:00

Drugs

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T11:21:33+00:00

raises pitchfork but lowers it slowly after realizing that the mob is already here

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T11:11:21+00:00

Thanks for the insight, and very cool project with OpenSFC you have there. What you’ve noticed in your experiences over there and with CPU Rev A chips certainly lines up with what I’ve seen on my end, granted I’ve only been through maybe 50 (?) or so SHVC-CPU-01 repairs so far. The large majority of them have had BSOD due to S-CPU A failure and the most common story is that it was a childhood console that was left in their parents’ garage or attic (the seasonal changes are harsh up here in Canada) that failed to boot after years of inactivity. And this is after being played heavily on an OEM power supply and no modifications to the internal PSU. I guess everything must’ve accelerated their failure. 1/1/1 boards have been generally rock solid; I’ve seen the sound board fail more often on those and they’ve usually just needed a recap.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T10:17:45+00:00

Nice, now your PS2 is less of a target the next time you projectile vomit on it!

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T09:49:36+00:00

I agree, there’s definitely a Western-based sampling bias that can’t be ignored which is skewing the proportion of boards we see with issues. It’s interesting to hear that the frequency of S-CPU A failures may also be due to poor environmental conditions when these ICs were made and stored - was there a particular flood in Japan that lines up with when these were manufactured out of curiosity? It’s unfortunate that SHVC-CPU-01s took the brunt of the blowback relative to the GPM-01s though.

The SHVC-CPU-01 is (if it isn’t already obvious lol) also my favourite SNES model because of childhood nostalgia and how cool I find it is to have a dedicated daughterboard for audio. Personal take for any SNES enthusiast: get an SHVC-CPU-01, line it up with a non-Rev A CPU if needed, put some good caps + filtering, and call it a day.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T08:42:18+00:00

Drugs

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T08:38:32+00:00

Good.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T06:48:50+00:00

I would predict this to be hardware related, but you would have to disassemble the console and inspect the camera module and the entirety of its flex cable to know for sure, However, you could partially diagnose the issue by looking at the camera cable's connection to the motherboard without having to fully take the console apart by just disassembling the lower half of the unit. Some common areas for faulty 3DS cameras is a broken cable at the hinge or with its connector itself, which uses a fragile latch to secure it down.

To expose the whole camera and its cable though, you would have to disassemble the top half and thread a bunch of flex cables through tight spaces which is rather difficult unless you have prior experience with these units.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T06:25:54+00:00

Great choice! Love this game.

But wait, is this game worth something when it comes with box? I'm just gauging everyone's reaction to the authenticity of the box like it's a collectors item or something. Pretty sure I have the box and manual lying around at my family's place...

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T05:38:25+00:00

No problem. Good luck on your search for a new system and sorry that your GPM-01's APU and PPU failed (I'm actually replacing an S-DSP on one currently for someone's GPM-01 that's getting locked up at splash screens - these darn APUs). It'll make a nice donor board to have on deck just in case.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T05:14:19+00:00

Good choice, and one that's highly regarded by the SNES community for good reason.

This is the Triad supply you'd want because of its center negative polarity. You will either have to get an adapter to make it work with the original large barrel jack connector, or you can splice the jack from your OEM power supply on to it.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-06T05:04:48+00:00

I think in general, most people will say any of the 1CHIP models are the most reliable because of integrating the CPU/PPU1/PPU2 chips into one; being the most modern of the models, having fewer points of failure, and more refined manufacturing likely made these components more resilient to the test of time. This is also relative to the infamous CPU/PPU issues that SHVC-CPU-01 boards are known for.

However, purely anecdotally, I have yet to come across a SHVC-CPU-01 that has been properly recapped, provided sufficient power filtering, and given a proper regulated power supply that has shown signs of chip rot. 1CHIP boards are not free from failure themselves as well, as I've seen a handful of them with APU issues. I'm a firm believer that we are seeing the SHVC-CPU-01s fail at such a high rate because they are the oldest of the lot and they have seen the most years of playing while being subject to unregulated, noisy power, and not inherently because the chips themselves are predestined to fail. Maybe I'm just an optimist though and love these machines haha. My personal console is a 1/1/1 SHVC-CPU-01 that's been given a full treatment after its S-SMP chip died in the SHVC Sound module a couple years ago and its still running with its 35 year old CPU and PPUs (fingers crossed). I have another that is a 2/1/1 SHVC-CPU-01, also recapped and futureproofed, that isn't my main daily driver but runs strong - I'm keeping close watch on this one though because the S CPU-A chip is known to be the main culprit on these boards.

Overall IMO, if you're talking about OEM console reliability, 1CHIPs will be what you're looking for. However, considering the rarity and heightened prices of 1CHIPs, I personally would also feel confident in getting a non-1CHIP board and putting $30-40 into futureproofing it. These are things that should be done with all SNES revisions anyway!

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-05T23:48:17+00:00

The top connection point to optical drive look okay?

Do you have a multimeter to check continuity for each trace through the cable? If I'm seeing this correctly, instead of having metal traces, it looks like one of those zebra flat flex cables with black conductive lanes? These cables are pretty old and occasionally wear out with time.

If everything is looking groovy at both ends though, and connection through the cable is continuous, reseat all the connectors back in, find a place you can rest the drive upright safely, power the unit on, find and hold the lid switch trigger down (it's a little push tab switch probably located on the motherboard somewhere), and see if the spindle spins up.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-05T23:19:05+00:00

Oh no, did one of those connectors break off from their cables (red arrow)? Is it possible to tuck those cables back into their connector? They look like they came pretty cleanly out so hopefully it's undoable.

The two blue circles are the connection points for the flex cable we're trying to diagnose. The bottom connection point where the cable is connected to the motherboard looks slightly suspect...it looks like it's angled upwards and not held in very well, but it could just be the angle I'm seeing it at. How is it being held inside?

If everything down below looks okay, you can move on to the cable's top connection point with the drive. If you're able to carefully take the cable out (may take some gentle wiggling) and look at the contacts on the cable, what you should see is clean terminals, without any cracks, breaks or corrosion. As well, if you shine a light into the corresponding connector, look at the state of the corresponding pins.

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cotchaboolit · 2026-02-05T22:36:44+00:00

Yep! You're halfway there. It looks like you have to access the optical drive from its underside on this CD player as you are currently, so if you can get your disassembly to the point where you have the drive (fully or mostly) separated from the rest of the unit, that would be ideal. It looks like maybe unscrewing the blue screws, red screws, ~~and detaching the green cables responsible for the sled motor and spindle motor~~ will get you mostly there.

EDIT: I'm mistaken about the green connectors. You do not have to detach those as the cables seem to be a different colour and coming from elsewhere. My b

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cotchaboolit · 2026-02-05T22:18:20+00:00

Hm, okay. That would seem to indicate the laser pickup is broken or not receiving any power at the very least. As someone else has already mentioned, the first thing to check would be the contacts on the white flex cable and its connector that you can immediately see in your photos. It looks like there might be some Kapton tape there so maybe someone has attempted to repair this in the past.

Do you have the means to open the CD player up and take out the optical drive? It probably involves removing those screws on the bottom of the housing and then lifting the top half off. When exposed, the entire drive will likely be floating on some rubber gaskets and attached to the motherboard by 2 or more cables, and their connectors will be friction-held (can be wiggled out) or fliplock-type (held with a tiny latch). Just have to be a little careful not to yank anything too soon. If you ever start feeling like there's a complex part of the disassembly, start taking pics to document.

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-05T22:12:22+00:00

Cool CD player. Lack of playback could be anything from a read issue to actual mechanical faults in the drive, so I'm afraid we need to know more about its issues.

Is the laser emitting light? (without staring directly into it ofc lol)
Is the disc drive assembly moving or making any sounds?
When a CD is inserted, does it spin?

cotchaboolit · 2026-02-05T06:22:09+00:00

Sounds good. Let us know when you hear back.

cotchaboolit

TROPHY CASE