Goldstar 3DO laser replacement: Helpful Hints

[robbievgb]

I recently replaced the laser on my Goldstar 3DO and I thought I'd share some of the details here since I wasn't able to find much myself. This isn't really a tutorial, more just helpful hints.

Always proceed with caution and BE GENTLE when working with console innards!

You'll need a replacement SF-C93AQ laser, which is the 10 pin version of the model. Quick search on ebay should get you what you need. This is also the same laser used in the Sega CDX and the Japanese Sanyo 3DO. Expect to pay about $20.

Getting the laser assembly out of the 3DO isn't too difficult if you know your way around console guts. The first time this took me about an hour becasue I was trying to pay attention to how everything fit together, and after I had done this multiple times, I could do it in less that 10 minutes.

Make sure to detach the the laser and motor assembly from the board at all three points so as to no stress the cables. There is a 4 pin, a 2 pin, and the laser ribbon cable.

A real time-saver here is that you don't need to remove both rails the laser runs on to get it out. You should only need to remove the one closest to the motor mechanism that moves the laser up and down. This is because the opposite side of the laser assembly is open and C shaped, meaning you do not need to thread the rail through the laser assembly on this side.

Here's the kicker that had me banging my head against the wall. The SF-C93AQ has a anti-static solder point on the bottom that bridges two of the ribbon contacts together. If you get the new laser all hooked up properly and boot up the 3DO, the laser will move back and forth, and look like it's trying to read the disc, but the disc won't spin. I think this helps protect the laser assembly from static discharge in shipping.

All you need to do is remove this solder point with a soldering iron and some solder wick. If you compare the bottom of your existing laser to your replacement one, the solder point should become pretty obvious. Be sure to do this BEFORE you hook the new laser up to the console to avoid collateral soldering damage.

And just like that your beautiful 90's-tastic Goldstar will be able to read games better than ever! Hope this helps some people. I know the Goldstars have a pretty bad reputation, but after this whole ordeal, I wonder if this laser solder point is one of the reasons why. I still love my Goldstar, and I am glad I don't have to replace it.

[cmb1100]

I know it's bad to use backups of games you don't have, but I had to get Star-Control 2 for 3DO and considering it's pretty much under a GNU license anyways I though it wasn't too bad and I burned a copy. My Goldstar won't read my CD-R even though I used really high quality media at a slow burn speed and followed practically all directions for burning discs onto old systems. The Goldstar does however read regular 3DO discs and it's an American model without any copy protection measures built-in as far as I know. If you could help me and give some tips I'd greatly appreciate it!

SEGAMAN 10
The Garage Studios

[robbievgb]

I have not tried burned games yet, I'll post something here after I get a chance to.