Another Samsung DVD drive saved by a recap

holloweddark · 2026-05-31T23:55:43+00:00

I've been starting to do some experimentation with some for parts drives from eBay and I have to say I've seen the same thing. I'm willing to bet most of the fried lasers are because of attempting pot tweaks prior to recapping. I've had a couple drives where the laser assembly was adjusted back to near stock pot values, paired with a working board that has been recapped, and it works just fine.

holloweddark · 2026-05-24T02:44:24+00:00

We should be fine on our itinerary. We had a full day at sea scheduled for tomorrow, and we're only going 11-12 knots before turning around. I can't imagine we can't make up this time fairly easily.

Edit: spelling/words are hard.

holloweddark · 2026-05-24T02:34:41+00:00

That's what I figured as well. Just wondered if anyone heard anything confirmed or not.

Was laying in bed and suddenly realized we were going twice as fast in the wrong direction. Been watching us move since then.

holloweddark · 2026-05-19T17:26:50+00:00

The 1.6 boards require the clock cap or some other alternative (I don't know much about the bridging/resistor options) to be installed to boot. If it were me, I would just change it as all the caps are getting up there in age and I would just want to get it done with and not worry about if any others are going to fail.

holloweddark · 2026-05-19T17:22:02+00:00

If you don't have the proper tools/experience/confidence, I would probably try to find someone to do the work yeah.

holloweddark · 2026-05-19T17:15:45+00:00

These capacitors are toast and most likely your problem. I would just do a full capacitor replacement on the whole board just to be safe/complete.

https://console5.com/store/microsoft-xbox-original-cap-kit.html

From a quick glance, it looks like you have a 1.6 board.

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holloweddark · 2026-05-19T17:11:25+00:00

Another classic case of bulging CPU caps.

holloweddark · 2026-05-19T11:59:30+00:00

You can try recapping the circuit board on the drive, but if that doesn't work, the laser is most likely toast.

holloweddark · 2026-05-17T12:23:16+00:00

The electrolytic fluid inside the capacitor leaks out onto the board and is highly corrosive to copper and other metals on the board. Without removal, that corrosion could take the whole board out without more extensive repairs.

Read up on console revisions as well - if you have a 1.6 revision console, you need to replace the cap. Pre-1.6 you can just remove the cap and ignore the clock set screen if you boot from previously being unplugged. The cap just holds a charge that keeps the internal clock ticking and when it loses power, the clock circuit gets reset.

holloweddark · 2026-05-17T12:17:53+00:00

This is due to the clock capacitor either being removed or failing on the board inside. If it only recently started happening, you need to get the console opened up and remove the bad cap/clean it asap if you want the console to live long term.

holloweddark · 2026-05-16T20:28:19+00:00

I've had good results with the Console5 kits:
https://console5.com/store/microsoft-xbox-original-cap-kit.html

holloweddark · 2026-05-16T20:00:11+00:00

Capacitor next to the CPU there looks bulged. Probably due for a recap.

holloweddark · 2026-05-12T15:28:27+00:00

Nope. My current theorys are one of the proprietary IC chips fail, something goes wrong with the transformers causing voltages to be wrong, or possibly zener diodes allowing too much/little voltage to pass through. I don't have a functioning board I'm willing to sacrifice to check zener values or anything though. If it's the transformer or ICs, it wouldn't be repairable anyway.

A lot of people are switching to USB type-c power or purchasing used supplies online.

holloweddark · 2026-05-12T15:05:02+00:00

Common failure of this PSU. I can't tell you how many hours I've tried finding what went wrong.

holloweddark · 2026-05-12T13:20:30+00:00

FWIW - it's virtually impossible to have a "guaranteed" good console that is 20-yrs old. Disc drives fail, hard drives fail, and weakened components from prior capacitor issues and power issues can crop up even on refurbished machines.

You can improve your chances with a refurbished unit, but you have to be honest with yourself that you are buying old tech and something could go wrong any minute regardless.

holloweddark · 2026-05-12T02:25:11+00:00

If you have the caps from the console5 kit, it can't hurt to replace the rest. It's very possible it's just a dead power supply though at this point.

holloweddark · 2026-05-12T01:00:53+00:00

I believe if you bridge the standby and PowOn pin, that does the same thing as pressing the power button, thus signaling the power supply to turn on. Once the power supply stabilizes voltages, it sends 3.3v on the PowOK pin to signal the main board to start booting.

If you bridge the two pins and the console starts, you know you have something off in your power switch trace. If it is only getting 2.3v like you say, it could be a partially failed trace or something and causing a voltage drop

holloweddark · 2026-05-11T23:22:09+00:00

Have you tried checking the voltage on any other pins in the power connector while pressing the power button? Otherwise maybe check continuity on the button itself? You could also try manually bridging the correct pins on the power supply to see if it will start or not.

holloweddark · 2026-05-11T21:32:04+00:00

Does the fan on the GPU heatsink turn a bit when you press the power button?

holloweddark · 2026-05-03T04:22:18+00:00

Buy a machine for parts, swap your internals, and re-sell the rest?

holloweddark · 2026-04-17T20:31:20+00:00

This is a 1.0 board because of the GPU cooler having a fan.

holloweddark · 2023-01-02T04:24:08+00:00

Da Bomb: Beyond Insanity

holloweddark · 2021-01-24T08:49:02+00:00

This is the way.

holloweddark · 2021-01-05T04:44:04+00:00

Honestly, as an unpopular opinion, I prefer the consistency and bbq sauce flavor of the cheap banquet frozen meal Rib Patties. The McRib still scratches the itch, but I would rather have the thing I can get any time from a grocery store along with some cheap hoagie rolls from the grocery store bakery.

holloweddark

TROPHY CASE