Gamecube LASER tweak

I'm gonna mod my gamecube (001 EUR) in 2 weeks, with a Viper GC modchip and cobra 1.2 bios.

does it matter what dvd burner I use and how can you adjust the POT of your gamecube? and what does POT mean? and is every game compatibal?

 

i think any newish dvd burner ought to work well, some people say NEC's are the best, I have an NEC but its old, so I use my other one which is a Sony that supports dual layer, and it works well, I burn at 4x cuz thats the lowest speed it will allow me to burn. I use Fujifilm discs, and they work well usually. The POT is the setting the laser is at that determines the amount of power it draws to read the gamediscs, so for example if you have a setting at 200, which is about where most like it, its not drawing too much power, but at 160 it is, and COULD damage the laser over time...but it might read a game better. Don't mess with it until u try a game and it doesn't boot, or if it does boot, if it skips a lot. The pot is on the underside of the laser unit, u just unscrew the sheild under it is a little white screw that you turn, and you measure the Ohm setting with a digital multimeter, it should be between 150-680 or so, lower settings get better results, but higher settings prolong laser life. I killed one of my lasers lowering it from 640 to 175, it worked great for 2 weeks then just died. I should also note that at 640 it wasn't reading anything, so maybe it was just bad.

 

hi. this question might have been asked already but is it possible to set the POT to low? will it do anything other that shorten the life of the laser?

 

Hey,

I just modded my launch Cube with a Viper chip (cobra v1.2 bios). I'm having trouble reading discs, so I tweaked the laser, I've tried a few different ohm levels and the only one that would make it past the intro logos (Nintendo, Activision, hudson etc). was on 122ohms. Now at different parts during each game I'll still get a DRE. The discs are full printable Databank mini's. Mario party and Mario Sunshine seem to be the worst, as soon as gameplay is about to start it crashes, True crimes makes it to about the first cutscene after gameplay and packs it in.

Any suggestions? 122ohms is lower than you're already meant to go from what I've read so I don't want to decrease it any further if it's going to do damage.

 

Alright I just lowered it to 97ohms, and it gets further but still crashes. Does this mean it's the media?

 

What exactly does all tihs mean?

 

I have seen ppl go as low as 96 ohms, but I wouldn't, thats just asking for trouble, Usually, you want to keep it in the 160-200 range. If its not reading still at that range, then its likely the laser and you should replace it. I had one case where it was just a bad laser, I fixed it for a while, but then it gave me DREs always. Its sounding like the laser probably is bad. There is only one game I have that won't boot all the way, and thats Resident Evil 0, it gets stuck at the opening cutscene. The rest play great and mine is at 185 ohms. that is a safe level. But yes, you can go too low, I feel anything lower than about 120 is bad. I had 2 GCs to work with when i modded mine. So when one laser went bad, I had another.

 

So I should buy a whole new laser and try in the 200ohms region? I think I'll try different media first.

 

Ok on a full sized Ritek it ran ok for a while.. How can I tell Nero to burn it on 2x (option only for 8x and 4x).

 

you can't change that for nero unfortunately. I just burn at 4x. Although most swear by Ritek, I use Fuji's and I have great luck with them. It could be the media, but i doubt it from what you've said.

 

My gamecube stopped reading retail games so i tweaked from 270 to 180, seems ok for now!

 

I just bought a Gamecube and when putting in a XenoGC chip I noticed that the default pot value was 145 (weird isn't it?). Most of the "backup games" were running about 3-5 minutes until I got the "An error has occured" message. After changing pot value to 135, I was able to play for about 10 minutes until I got the same error message.

The big question is now.. Since the default value was so low by default, do I dare to decrease value more or will I risk ending up with a broken laser unit? I guess the value shouldn't be increased at least(tried 190 but then the games didn't boot at all).

What's your opinion on this?

 

sounds like its your cube. i have a rev.A cube and it boots up everything fine, well almost. some games get funny on mine. super smash bros melee lokks up randomly even though the pot is at 178. but besides that all my other games work. note that im talkng about back-ups.

you might just have got a bad laser there also. try the pot at 160 and 156. those settings worked good for me for a while.

 

Hi, I tweaked my pot to 195 Ohms.. I wondered if it's a safe level.. Do I risk to screw up my lens? thanks
Fabio

 

hi all
I want to adjustment or tweak the gamecube laser

but Idon't know how I use the setting about multimeter ?

I read the best adjust between 170-210

but when I put the RED & BLACK DMM on the laser I see the dial move to 5 or 2 ???

look at the pictuer Please

http://www.x111x.com/imagess/1147151621.jpg
Please tell me which a choice ?
X100K .......1.5uA
or
X1K..........150uA
or
X10.....15mA.... [hFE]PROBE
or
X1K150mA

and about ADJ KEY on the multimeter where turning it low or medium or high ?

and if I have Digital Multimeter
look at this picture
http://www.mc3.edu/aa/career/MATHSCI/egrprog/Multimeter.jpg

Please tell me which a choice ?
2000K
or
200K
or
20k
or
2000
or
200

thankk you

meme nin

 

you have to use the Ohm meter setting, and its probably the 150 value on the first one and the 200 value on the second, I am basing this on the fact that the other numbers do not fall into the correct range. Be sure that u are using the OHM reading though before messing with it. Ohm looks like the the greek symbol Omega, like the one in God of War (the game for ps2)

 

ooops

what's that ?

when i put DMM on the laser I read 80 ????

why ?

I used 2000Ω

please what can I do for tweak my laser ?

 

do u have a normal digital multimeter?

 

yup

but now everything ok

 

Hello i'ts been A long time since I have posted here.

But I have some new findings.
I noticed this => 180-210 is A great Setting for The Viper GC chip

Even I had problems with the XENO GC and the 8CM discs

But I have discovered this. IF you use NORMAL size DVD-R's
with a pot setting 180-210 I have No lockups Whatsoever
(tested with Mario Tennis)

I find this strange.. I just thought I'd mention this

Greetz
Speedi