I’ve been working on a GameCube for over a month trying to diagnose a disc not spinning, gonna try this now and hopefully it works. You’re a life saver!!
I bought a GameCube for $5 from a local yard sale, it didn't have any cords but I have a system already so I could test it. Found out the open button stuck and it did not turn or read discs. I watched your videos and a few more and started out to fix the open button then went ahead and tore it down like you did, however I did not have a multimeter so it was a little bit of a challenge but fixed it too, my next problem was getting it connected back together especially the port for the controller, I wasn't sure what it was suppose to connect to, okay this all took me a few hours but let me tell you who I am, I am a 68 year old female who knows nothing about stuff like this but your video was so clear I felt I could attempt it. I did run into a bit of frustration but its all back together and working perfectly, so thank you.
Omg, thank you! My childhood gamecube stopped being able to read disks (still was spinning just fine) a few months into owning it as a kid, and ended up just being stored away. I recently looked up your video and once I was able to get my hands on a voltage tester, I tried this out, and it worked!!! Thank you for bringing back my gamecube to life. The original reading of my gamecube was 494.4 ohms, and brought it down by increments of 50 and got it to work at 254.6 ohms!
Just pulled out my old gamecube and this exact fix worked to fix my disc not spinning. My resistance was at around 480 and brought it down to 380 and worked like a charm. Thanks for this!!!
amazing tutorial, my gamecube worked again on the first try! It hadn't been able to read a disc in years and now it works everytime! And I also cleaned the open button that was stuck. The only thing left is to find a soldering iron to replace the clock battery (I actually turned about 1/4th of a turn, even though some other tutorials said it was more 1/8th of a turn for them, but I don't have a multimeter)
$10 for a GB Player? $100 for the disc? Nowadays the GB Player is going for $60+ and the disc itself is almost $200. Amazing how 4 months can impact the pricing of retro games and accessories.
because homebrew made it possible to run the hardware without the disc, so sellers hiked the prices up lots when they realized why people were buying just the accessory
Dude, thank you! My poor GameCube has been sitting in a box for 2 years bc of the disc not spinning and me not wanted to get rid of it, but this video totally worked for me! I brought the ohms down from 425 to 350ish and it’s working great now! Thank you!!!
Ordered the screwdriver to open it all up, followed along, and your video saved my GameCube. Thank you for the very concise and informative repair guide!
Me and my brother got our GameCube out for the first time in probably 15 years and it wasn’t working. This video perfectly described and fixed our issue and now we get to relive our childhood! Thank you so much for your help!
Thanks for this! Fixed mine! Mine was at 169 OHM and I turned it just down to 155 and it worked (tried going above 169 first but that didn’t work). Some tips for people, I bought a 44 piece precision bit set (walmart) and used the screwdriver’s bit hole to get the security bits out bootleg style, as opposed to getting the specific screwdriver required! Hope that helps!
Bro. Seriously. A THOUSAND TIME THANK YOU. You literally saved my Gamecube. I want to thank you somehow, if you ever come to Italy I want to offer you a beer ♥
Bro, I was looking for videos on how to fix my gamecube where the dics was not spinning and you nailed it! I fixed it in no time. Love the video! I appreciate the help!
Thank you so much i just ordered the tools a few days ago after watching this and as soon as I got them I gave it a go IT WORKED!!! Seriously can’t thank you enough 💪🏽✊🏽🤘🏽
Thank you so much!! I haven't turned on my gamecube in a while and when I went to turn it on the other day it didn't work. You helped me fix it thank you!!
This is often due to bad caps, and increasing the gain on the laser is just going to prolong the problem, and has a chance of wearing out your laser. Replacing the capacitors on that board is a better idea.
I finally got my gamecube to work. I had to re-cap the logic board for the disc drive and it still wouldn't spin. I had to adjust the trimpot. Factory had it at about 198 ohms I had to get it down to 112ohm for it to spin and read discs consistently. I think the laser is probably on it's way out but the drive works for now.
Before touching the pot, check the caps on the board. Don't need to desolder the caps to check the value. On the drive board there are 3 caps 100uf and 6 caps 47uf. Just compare them. The one with different value is bad. Replace it. Drive will work again.
Mine never did the no spin problem, but laser quits after going outside the disc edge. Went down to 150 ohms and it still didn't find it so I'm guessing capaciotrs might be the next test.
I appreciate the video, though it didn't resolve the issue, either out of my own incompetence or the problem is not what was covered here. Like the teardown here, I did a check and it verified the motor did kick in (checked with a disc) and the laser did activate like what was shown here. After total takedown I checked the resistance. Ohms was down at 186 and I retested it several different times to verify that this wasn't a bad reading. DOL-001 GC are supposed to range from 450 to 600, so I brought it up to 485 and it changed nothing. I didn't want to drop the ohms any lower then what they already were, out of fear of it damaging the discs or the laser. With that said, this was a great walkthrough of a teardown of a GC, and by extension it gave me a greater appreciation for the work done to keep these consoles in proper working condition. Will probably still turn mine into a repair shop to see if they can better diagnose the problem.
I'm having the same issue with mine. I'm wondering if the laser itself could just be going bad. I had my ohms cranked down as low as 460 and it still intermittently spins the drive. It'll attempt to read the disc, but it will stop after a few seconds and I just get the "no disc" message. It's like it attempts to for awhile and then just gives up. Other times it won't even send a signal to the drive to spin, so I'm highly anticipating the laser is going bad and just needs to be replaced. I cleaned it with a Q-Tip, cleaned the disc, and still same issue.
I lowered the resistance from 330 ohm to about 70 ohm and I still don't get a response. The laser is still shining red light, but the disk wont spin at all. What could be the problem?
I have a GameCube that was dropped recently and the disc stopped spinning after it happened. I am currently working on it like your video shows and now I got it to spin but it will not keep spinning, it quits after 45secs. Any advice? I do not have the tools you have to gage the laser intensity so I am doing it blindly, just a stay at home mom that knows nothing about the functioning of electronics 😅
Hey, I really appreciate this video. It helped me fix my gamecube, but I had a question about the plastic of the GameCube when I was putting it back together in a few different places where the screws go in were slightly cracking now it didn’t affect the ability to hold everything in place and honestly, it’s probably just me complaining about the fact that it’s not perfect, but is that normal for the plastic to crack when you were putting the screws back in? I was not screwing them too tight It was happening while they were being screwed in. Jw if it was me or the age of the console
there is one other thing that can happen that has nothing to do with the resistor. if the main optical assembly isnt perfectly placed down into the connector the drive will not spin i found this on accident after calibrating to 210 ohms and testing. the screw holes all line up if perfectly placed. if holes dont line up pin placement isnt going to work. lots of people i would think dont get the housing placed right and give up at that point
.....It's this simple??? Okay then, I'll need to get my hands on one of those electrical-flow detection thingies, but I know a few people who own one. Maybe they'll let me borrow one for a few hours. Thanks for the tutorial!
Which model of game cube is this? 101? 001? What resistance levels would you recommend for both and is there a specific sweet spot for all game cubes or does it vary ?
I tried this fix. The laser component on board read at approximately 479 ohms before adjustment. I turned it down to about 430 and retested. Upon the test the light did not come back on and I assumed the laser burned itself out. The age and previous history of the system is unknown. Thinking of ordering a new laser assembly to see if replacing it resolves the issue.
Whats weird is, when I put a game disc in, it doesnt spin up. But when I take the top off and manually press down on the back buttons to show the lid is closed, the laser lights up, moves and the game spins. Maybe something wrong with lid sensor?
I thought this would be the issue with my GameCube, but alas, when I lightly pushed the laser back and turned it on the laser did not move. I'm guessing my door is the issue.
My Gamecube wouldnt read disc so I went to do the repairs Like adjust the VR401 but I adjusted too much and now the laser wont move or have the red light at all. Is there any saving it ? Or Is it RIP to my childhood?
its not the laser its just the disc is not in the focus range of the laser anymore adjust the distance between the disc and the laser on the motor and it will work again no need to disassemble anything try this with any optical device
I got my discs spinning again but it appears mine is spinning faster than yours. Does that mean the laser has too much intensity and could burn it out more quickly? I did this without a multimeter but I was careful to make very small adjustments. If I move it up any slight amount to how I have it, it won't spin again so I'm confident I'm not moving it too far.
My GameCube is starting to act like this. It'll read the discs and then it doesn't and I have to open and close the lid and it'll sometimes work takes about 3 times to get it working. Wondering if it's the laser that needs adjustment or replaced or could it be the motor that moves it that's the issue?
Best place to start us taking the shell off and running it normally to see if you can see it struggling. My guess though is it is the laser, if not the “door closed” switch. You could always adjust the laser a little and see if that clears it up.
The laser doesnt move when the hatch switch is engaged. I adjusted the laser sensitivity to 208 ohms just to see if it would work but it didn't. I can't get this thing to read disc's. Any suggestions?? Plz help
i've replaced the laser on my gamecube and readjusted the pot and got it to read disk however when i turn off the console for a while and then on the console the disk would not spin so i press reset then the spindle would spin but then the disk would start to read then it would say cant read disk iwould press reset again then it would read the disk and start the game. i wander what could be happening?
A little out-dated. I've adjusted the POT on my gamecube several times but it only works for a few months. I ended up getting an SD modded one from WarioParty. So, now the disc not spinning is actually a bonus because it means less noise
Great…just plugged up my cube after a long time and it has trouble reading discs. I clean it with a qtip and it starts working. But whenever I turn it off and turn it back on after a couple of hours, it can’t read the discs again…
Thank you for the video. My disc wasn’t spinning, so I opened it up and cleaned off the door sensor, and got it going. The laser and motor are both working, but it’s not reading a disc. What should I try next? I already tried cleaning the lens. Is it time to try what you did here?
Hey my gamecube light will come on for like 2 seconds but then go off and the fan will come on and stay on. What do you think could be wrong? Thank you!
For me all my games work fine except Mario party 5 it will show the game and go through to press start then after the logos it says the disc can’t be read and then it’s not spinning which is weird because it worked on the guys GameCube I got the game from
I wish I knew of a way to contact with you because my mom wanted to get a GameCube which she paid 100 dollars but the whole problem is it won’t load any disc
I’ve been working on a GameCube for over a month trying to diagnose a disc not spinning, gonna try this now and hopefully it works. You’re a life saver!!
Did it work?
@@caveman3251 yes. Like a treat
I’m gna do this to mine. Glad to see yours worked
It saved mine!
I bought a GameCube for $5 from a local yard sale, it didn't have any cords but I have a system already so I could test it. Found out the open button stuck and it did not turn or read discs. I watched your videos and a few more and started out to fix the open button then went ahead and tore it down like you did, however I did not have a multimeter so it was a little bit of a challenge but fixed it too, my next problem was getting it connected back together especially the port for the controller, I wasn't sure what it was suppose to connect to, okay this all took me a few hours but let me tell you who I am, I am a 68 year old female who knows nothing about stuff like this but your video was so clear I felt I could attempt it. I did run into a bit of frustration but its all back together and working perfectly, so thank you.
I really liked the way you explained what you were doing in your video, very clear and concise. Thank you!
I took a risk and did this without the ohm meter on a trashed gamecube. It worked. Thank you for making this video.
Omg, thank you! My childhood gamecube stopped being able to read disks (still was spinning just fine) a few months into owning it as a kid, and ended up just being stored away. I recently looked up your video and once I was able to get my hands on a voltage tester, I tried this out, and it worked!!! Thank you for bringing back my gamecube to life. The original reading of my gamecube was 494.4 ohms, and brought it down by increments of 50 and got it to work at 254.6 ohms!
Better late than never! This is why I started to do these videos! I'm glad it worked for you!
Just pulled out my old gamecube and this exact fix worked to fix my disc not spinning. My resistance was at around 480 and brought it down to 380 and worked like a charm. Thanks for this!!!
Lifesaving video, my ohms were at 500. After turning it to around 300 it popped right back to life
amazing tutorial, my gamecube worked again on the first try! It hadn't been able to read a disc in years and now it works everytime! And I also cleaned the open button that was stuck. The only thing left is to find a soldering iron to replace the clock battery
(I actually turned about 1/4th of a turn, even though some other tutorials said it was more 1/8th of a turn for them, but I don't have a multimeter)
$10 for a GB Player? $100 for the disc? Nowadays the GB Player is going for $60+ and the disc itself is almost $200. Amazing how 4 months can impact the pricing of retro games and accessories.
because homebrew made it possible to run the hardware without the disc, so sellers hiked the prices up lots when they realized why people were buying just the accessory
Dude, thank you! My poor GameCube has been sitting in a box for 2 years bc of the disc not spinning and me not wanted to get rid of it, but this video totally worked for me! I brought the ohms down from 425 to 350ish and it’s working great now! Thank you!!!
Finally a nice tutorial in high quality
My GameCube had no video or audio but I could see the laser move a bit, this fixed it perfectly thank you so much!!
Ordered the screwdriver to open it all up, followed along, and your video saved my GameCube. Thank you for the very concise and informative repair guide!
Did you have the ohm reader too? I ordered the gamebit but I dont have the reader
Me and my brother got our GameCube out for the first time in probably 15 years and it wasn’t working. This video perfectly described and fixed our issue and now we get to relive our childhood! Thank you so much for your help!
Thank you so much !!!
It's gonna be my brother's 20th anniversary, he's gonna be so happy to see is first console revive !!!
You are the man bro! Got me a GameCube for $40, very clean and all accessories. Wasn't reading the games. Now it does from watching your video!
I followed the instructions and my GameCube works again! Thank you!
Helped me fix my Gamecube! Had mine start at about 330 Ohms and had to get it all the way to 185 to get it to work and now its perfect! Thank you!
Thanks for this! Fixed mine! Mine was at 169 OHM and I turned it just down to 155 and it worked (tried going above 169 first but that didn’t work).
Some tips for people, I bought a 44 piece precision bit set (walmart) and used the screwdriver’s bit hole to get the security bits out bootleg style, as opposed to getting the specific screwdriver required! Hope that helps!
You used what type of screw driver?
Bro. Seriously. A THOUSAND TIME THANK YOU. You literally saved my Gamecube. I want to thank you somehow, if you ever come to Italy I want to offer you a beer ♥
Bro, I was looking for videos on how to fix my gamecube where the dics was not spinning and you nailed it! I fixed it in no time. Love the video! I appreciate the help!
You are very welcome and I'm glad to hear the video was helpful!
You literally saved my gamecubes life. Wasnt hard to do at all!! Thank you!
Thanks for the video got my kids old game cube going so he can play old pickman before new one comes out.
I am the sun. This fixed my new $20 gamecube. Appreciated.
Thank you so much i just ordered the tools a few days ago after watching this and as soon as I got them I gave it a go
IT WORKED!!! Seriously can’t thank you enough 💪🏽✊🏽🤘🏽
Thank you so much!! I haven't turned on my gamecube in a while and when I went to turn it on the other day it didn't work. You helped me fix it thank you!!
Thanks Bro! Just fixed my Gamecube. Great quality video
Mine stopped working and this fix worked great for me. Thanks so much!!!
Loved this, I was able to get my laser to 208 oms and it worked!
nice jacket it looks warm
This is often due to bad caps, and increasing the gain on the laser is just going to prolong the problem, and has a chance of wearing out your laser.
Replacing the capacitors on that board is a better idea.
What is the screw driver called???
Soy de Colombia y me salvaste la vida, muchas gracias
awesome video explaining just what I was looking for! subbed right away!
Excellent video, thanks for sharing! Still not tried it out, but gonna do it asap
Thanks for the helpful vid. I like watching your vids with just the facts and not some guy screaming and or swearing just to get attention or likes.
I have a pair of Gamecubes that don't read discs, this will definitely come in handy.
Thanks man, great guide sorted my problem 👌👍
Got 2 to fix myself thanks for the video! It'll make things easier and cheaper I hope lol
I finally got my gamecube to work. I had to re-cap the logic board for the disc drive and it still wouldn't spin. I had to adjust the trimpot. Factory had it at about 198 ohms I had to get it down to 112ohm for it to spin and read discs consistently. I think the laser is probably on it's way out but the drive works for now.
Before touching the pot, check the caps on the board. Don't need to desolder the caps to check the value. On the drive board there are 3 caps 100uf and 6 caps 47uf. Just compare them. The one with different value is bad. Replace it. Drive will work again.
Yup, this. tweaking the laser's gain is not the right fix, and could cause premature wear
Mine never did the no spin problem, but laser quits after going outside the disc edge. Went down to 150 ohms and it still didn't find it so I'm guessing capaciotrs might be the next test.
I appreciate the video, though it didn't resolve the issue, either out of my own incompetence or the problem is not what was covered here. Like the teardown here, I did a check and it verified the motor did kick in (checked with a disc) and the laser did activate like what was shown here.
After total takedown I checked the resistance. Ohms was down at 186 and I retested it several different times to verify that this wasn't a bad reading. DOL-001 GC are supposed to range from 450 to 600, so I brought it up to 485 and it changed nothing. I didn't want to drop the ohms any lower then what they already were, out of fear of it damaging the discs or the laser.
With that said, this was a great walkthrough of a teardown of a GC, and by extension it gave me a greater appreciation for the work done to keep these consoles in proper working condition. Will probably still turn mine into a repair shop to see if they can better diagnose the problem.
I'm having the same issue with mine. I'm wondering if the laser itself could just be going bad. I had my ohms cranked down as low as 460 and it still intermittently spins the drive. It'll attempt to read the disc, but it will stop after a few seconds and I just get the "no disc" message. It's like it attempts to for awhile and then just gives up. Other times it won't even send a signal to the drive to spin, so I'm highly anticipating the laser is going bad and just needs to be replaced. I cleaned it with a Q-Tip, cleaned the disc, and still same issue.
I lowered the resistance from 330 ohm to about 70 ohm and I still don't get a response. The laser is still shining red light, but the disk wont spin at all. What could be the problem?
I have a GameCube that was dropped recently and the disc stopped spinning after it happened. I am currently working on it like your video shows and now I got it to spin but it will not keep spinning, it quits after 45secs. Any advice? I do not have the tools you have to gage the laser intensity so I am doing it blindly, just a stay at home mom that knows nothing about the functioning of electronics 😅
Fixed my problem! Thanks alot
Hey, I really appreciate this video. It helped me fix my gamecube, but I had a question about the plastic of the GameCube when I was putting it back together in a few different places where the screws go in were slightly cracking now it didn’t affect the ability to hold everything in place and honestly, it’s probably just me complaining about the fact that it’s not perfect, but is that normal for the plastic to crack when you were putting the screws back in? I was not screwing them too tight It was happening while they were being screwed in. Jw if it was me or the age of the console
there is one other thing that can happen that has nothing to do with the resistor. if the main optical assembly isnt perfectly placed down into the connector the drive will not spin
i found this on accident after calibrating to 210 ohms and testing. the screw holes all line up if perfectly placed. if holes dont line up pin placement isnt going to work. lots of people
i would think dont get the housing placed right and give up at that point
.....It's this simple??? Okay then, I'll need to get my hands on one of those electrical-flow detection thingies, but I know a few people who own one. Maybe they'll let me borrow one for a few hours.
Thanks for the tutorial!
Thank you this fixed my cube
Got a gamecube today and it doesnt spin or move the laser. What should i do
Which model of game cube is this? 101? 001? What resistance levels would you recommend for both and is there a specific sweet spot for all game cubes or does it vary ?
This video 100% works!!!!
Thank you very much , it helped me!
it could also be bad capacitors on that Drive Board.
I tried this fix. The laser component on board read at approximately 479 ohms before adjustment. I turned it down to about 430 and retested. Upon the test the light did not come back on and I assumed the laser burned itself out. The age and previous history of the system is unknown. Thinking of ordering a new laser assembly to see if replacing it resolves the issue.
When you take everything apart and tune the periometer. Do you have to screw every little thing back when you're testing it?
Yep, still works 😜 Thanks!
Whats weird is, when I put a game disc in, it doesnt spin up. But when I take the top off and manually press down on the back buttons to show the lid is closed, the laser lights up, moves and the game spins. Maybe something wrong with lid sensor?
You are awesome dude thanks!
when I press the two levers down to allow the game to start reading the laser doesn't come on and it doesn't move. help please
I thought this would be the issue with my GameCube, but alas, when I lightly pushed the laser back and turned it on the laser did not move. I'm guessing my door is the issue.
Did the gamecube main screen come up prior to fixing? My gamecube is reading no signal and I've tried everything.
Awesome video dude
My Gamecube wouldnt read disc so I went to do the repairs Like adjust the VR401 but I adjusted too much and now the laser wont move or have the red light at all. Is there any saving it ? Or Is it RIP to my childhood?
its not the laser its just the disc is not in the focus range of the laser anymore
adjust the distance between the disc and the laser on the motor and it will work again no need to disassemble anything
try this with any optical device
Thank you for your video✌
I got my discs spinning again but it appears mine is spinning faster than yours. Does that mean the laser has too much intensity and could burn it out more quickly? I did this without a multimeter but I was careful to make very small adjustments. If I move it up any slight amount to how I have it, it won't spin again so I'm confident I'm not moving it too far.
I did everything you did and it still couldn’t read the disc it spins a little then stops and doesn’t read it
My GameCube is starting to act like this. It'll read the discs and then it doesn't and I have to open and close the lid and it'll sometimes work takes about 3 times to get it working. Wondering if it's the laser that needs adjustment or replaced or could it be the motor that moves it that's the issue?
Best place to start us taking the shell off and running it normally to see if you can see it struggling. My guess though is it is the laser, if not the “door closed” switch. You could always adjust the laser a little and see if that clears it up.
@@dvgamerepair3448 lol no I don't want to do that. I'll have mad anxiety if I mess up. I'll rather pay someone that's a pro to do that. Maybe you!?
Thanks for this. I hold the two pins down, but, the disc doesn't spin every time. What's happening here?
The laser doesnt move when the hatch switch is engaged. I adjusted the laser sensitivity to 208 ohms just to see if it would work but it didn't. I can't get this thing to read disc's. Any suggestions?? Plz help
and if the laser doesnt move?
i've replaced the laser on my gamecube and readjusted the pot and got it to read disk however when i turn off the console for a while and then on the console the disk would not spin so i press reset then the spindle would spin but then the disk would start to read then it would say cant read disk iwould press reset again then it would read the disk and start the game. i wander what could be happening?
A little out-dated. I've adjusted the POT on my gamecube several times but it only works for a few months. I ended up getting an SD modded one from WarioParty. So, now the disc not spinning is actually a bonus because it means less noise
What's the spec for this procedure? I've always heard 200-350 but mine refuses to work on anything more than 150, I don't wanna burn up my laser
Great…just plugged up my cube after a long time and it has trouble reading discs. I clean it with a qtip and it starts working. But whenever I turn it off and turn it back on after a couple of hours, it can’t read the discs again…
I have this problem but only on a certain game I try to play could it be the disk causing this problem?
Thank you man!
what do you do if it is the motor?
i dont have that kind of driver to open the cube in the first place, any other tool that can help me open it ?
My GameCube spins perfectly and plays the game sometimes but others it’ll spin for 2 seconds then quit. Any recommendations?
Sorry for the late reply. I would adjust the laser intensity. Probably wouldn’t need to drop it more than 100ohms.
Nice I have a original nintendo game cube dol-001 just like that one
Thank you for the video. My disc wasn’t spinning, so I opened it up and cleaned off the door sensor, and got it going. The laser and motor are both working, but it’s not reading a disc. What should I try next? I already tried cleaning the lens. Is it time to try what you did here?
Did u fix it
I had to adjust all the way down to 130… is that too low
Hey my gamecube light will come on for like 2 seconds but then go off and the fan will come on and stay on. What do you think could be wrong? Thank you!
I don’t know why but only my Lego Star Wars one disk doesn’t work for some reason
For me all my games work fine except Mario party 5 it will show the game and go through to press start then after the logos it says the disc can’t be read and then it’s not spinning which is weird because it worked on the guys GameCube I got the game from
Mines at 400. How far down should I take it
I wasn’t getting reading from the laser 2:45. What should I do?
Hi I have three GameCube systems and they have the same problem. Is it possible for me to send them to you and repair them?
Do you accept people to mail you in systems to fix
I wish I knew of a way to contact with you because my mom wanted to get a GameCube which she paid 100 dollars but the whole problem is it won’t load any disc
Is that an EOS hat?
Why is my meter reading way less than 250-400 ohms. It’s like .152
I hope there a easyer way to fix it.
Edit: can you put back the bolts?
If I’m getting a reading lower than 100 could the laser be bad?
Thank you!
erratum I did not have the right resistance calculation on my multimeter
Did you use 3.8mm & 4.5mm security screwdriver (they are typically bundled)? Those the most common ones I find when searching.
4.5mm is the bit size but I would just get them bundled. The smaller bit is for carts.