Three common problems with CD-i players
>> Monday, May 4, 2009
CD-i member Bernard has some experience with CD-i players. There are 3 common problems with CD-i players:
1. The loading belt of the CD mechanism
-the loading belt of the CDI drive is made of rubber, and that decays overtime. This causes the loading tray to not close fully. You need to push the tray inside in order for the disc to be loaded. The solution is buying a new rubber belt. This costs someting like 1 euro at a shop that sells elektronic parts, or you pay $10,- on eBay with instructions (could be helpful, I don't know, I didn't buy it) .
Also a very common "problem" is that the CD tray makes squeaking noises when opening or closing. This is mostly caused when the grease under the front wheels of the loading system is becoming old. Removing the wheel and adding some grease solves the problem. Here is a video of me fixing a CDI-210 player:
2. Timekeeper battery
-Timekeeper battery becomes depleted (this affects most CDI players except for the Sony player, the Philips CDI-370, portable Goldstar and LG GDI 700 players). You can check this if the Time setting is remembered after powering down the player. Also check if the save game files aren't corrupted (weird characters in the descriptions, etc.). When the battery isn't totally depleted, and save data becomes corrupted a lot of strange things can happen: crashing games, sound not working etc. etc. After a few weeks the battery is totally dead, and you can use the player "normally" again, but without any save game functionality. The only way to fix the problem is to hack a new battery to the chip: Click here for a guide.
Replacing the Timekeeper module is not a good option for most people, because it requires more technical skills and tools.
3. Laser reading mechanism
-defective laser reading mechanism. this MOSTLY occurs on the CDI-220/60 , cdi-210/40 and FW380i players. These have a CDM 12.4 laser mechanism and that is known to have problems (reading errors, that cause ticks during AudioCD playback and crashes with movies and games) . The CDM 12.1 mechanism used in CDI-470, CDI-450 (and other models), also regularly have reading problems (but much, much less often than 12.4 mechanisms). The earliest CDI players with CDM-9 mechanisms appear to have the most reliable laser reading. (but because of their age, they have the timekeeper problem much more often). The easiest way to solve the problem is to replace the laser mechanism.
A CDM9 replacement can be hard to find (hasn't been produced in some time). The replacement for the CDM 12.1 is the easiest to find. The later VAM1201 and VAM1202 drives should be backwards compatible, and should work just fine (Some of the last professional players by Philips also use these drives). Can be bought on eBay for something between 15 and 30 euro.
Thanks to: XCLTempest/Bernard
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Does anybody know what kind of laser is Philips CDi-660/00 use? Mine does not read at all, when i put a disc inside nothing happens so i guess i need to change it but cant find any info about what kind of Laser replace it with? Thanks for your help!
CDI660/00 is using VAM1201P laser unit inside the L121/43P frame. NB! CDI660 uses the MonoBoard from CDI740 so all test and repair instructions are mosty the same (CDI470 Service Manual is freely downloadable).
Go on eBay n type Philips cd laser for replacement it's the same thing just find the one that is perfect to yours also type timekeeper battery for that replacement part
Go on eBay nmand type Philips cd laser it's the same part just look for correct one like yours also type timekeeper battery and you'll see am the correct one
Hi
I repaired my CD-I 660 ...
I analysed the problem, then bought new Laser Head unit - VAM1202 (Japan, latest).
replaced it and it started to work: play music (CDDA), video on CD-I, slideshows, games, Photo-CDs, Songs with lyrics, VCDs etc.
But two disks: 2 Unlimited - Beyond Limits 819-1021 1994 and XPLORA 1 Peter Gabriel's Secret World 819-1029 1995 are not
playing fully (some audio and/or video only) and giving all time the message: "the disc may be dirty"
What can be wrong? (the discs are clean / just washed and polished). In BD/DVD player they are perfectly plying audio.
Still some problem with my CDI 660?
BR
Lauri Kreen
I have a 910 that won't show the startup screen I just get a blue screen what could be the problem
The reason can be different things! Try to open the player and look at the PCB's, is there something broken/burnt/connection broken? Try to undo the dust, replace the battery and check all the cables (be sure no pin is broken/disconnected)
(When you only get a blue screen, I don't think the timekeeper is the problem)
Good luck!
Noting looks burnt I clean all dust out the tray n lens giving me a problem now only problem I see is the white block next to power heats up fast no blown or broken compasitor I hooked up to AV com point and coaxial n it shows up on tv but just the light blue screen before start up stays on and play action also stays on display
And what battery?
You probably need some repair expert to help you. In Power Supply some filter or capacitor can be faulty. Nothing shall be very hot there (at least during first 15...30 minutes after switch on). Blue screen can be when some components in video processing or near video sockets are faulty (if you got just Blue signal out from this unit (and no Green and Red) then the screen is mostly blue i.e no contrast (black and white) also (check please with different video cables and sockets if possible). Battery is hidden inside the timekeeper chip at the main board. You can't test nor diagnose it until you will solve the blue screen thing.
I hooked it up though AV component and straight coaxial same story each way
I recently purchased a Philips CDI 220-77. Seems as if the belt and laser are both dead. I ordered the belt and seems to be an easy fix. I did order a laser off of ebay by searching Philips CDI 220 77, one came up with assembly and all, I just hope it is the right one :/ Anyone have any info on which one is required?
I bought such one for my CDI-660 (one of the latest before DVD era):
CD-HEAD CDM-12.1 VAM1201 - it was just the inner part with motors and head. For motors and head you need to solder from the old one 6 wires exactly like they are at old unit. Don't disconnect laser-head cable common shield/earthing before its final connecting to your player - ESD sensitive!
Hi I have a cd-I 210 player that play audio but not games any idea what I it could be I know the time keeper battery is dead so will be replacing that soon just wondering if that alone could cause game to not work ?
If the timekeeper is dead, it can cause save files getting corrupt. I've heard many strange stories. If it does play audio, the spinning mechanism still works (one of the main problems of CD-i players getting broken).
As far as I know, when the battery if completely dead, your player still works but doesn't save anything anymore.
Going to give it a try with a number off different games etc I know it not saved anything for a wile now last time i tryed a game it did not load so tryed an audio cd and that worked . One other question is how to reset the CD-I 220 player from shop demo mode some how I have got in to demo mode again did it many year ago and contacted Philips and made note but lost the note 15 year back any one come across it ?
i got a Sony portable Cd-i viewer model No IVO-V11 i got it like 15 or more years ago been siting up in a box anyway it work when i put it away now it just has a white screen when i turn it on and no screen when i hook it up to a tv what could be wrong with it?
I just bought a Philips CDI 210 recently and was really excited, as one of the games I own for it is THE APPRENTICE
Unfortunately, the console arrived heavily damaged, and totally filthy with dust
Even the disc tray door wouldn't stay on : (
I managed to get the options screen on, but the screen is gray and flickers/jitters constantly
Not surprised, seeing how damaged it was
I guess I can forget about ever owning one of these things
If the lens swings into position but the disc won't spin then it's likely that the spindle motor is at fault. I removed mine and tested it with batteries, which was inconclusive as it did spin but I didn't have the means to analyse it under load (I think you need an oscilloscope to do this properly). I ordered a new one anyway, part number D/V 5.9 RF-300C-11440 - cost me £1.95 on eBay. I also tested the motherboard output using a multimeter attached to the spindle motor port, and verified that it was outputting about 2.92V at boot up, which seemed OK.
My motor arrived, but the spindle was about 6mm too long, which stops the drive tray from sliding in. So, I had to cut it to size (carefully!) with a dremel and then smooth the edges of the cut. Once I did this, I put everything back together and it worked!
(the connector was also wrong, so I had to swap it with the old one - I did this by snipping the wires and reattaching, I don't have the crimping tools to do a good job on the connector itself).
Total time for this repair would be about twenty minutes for somebody competent - it took me more like an hour and a half...
By the way, Google suggests that removing the bottom spindle platter is best done with a pair of screwdrivers, but I'd recommend easing it off with a pair of guitar plectrums instead. This won't cause any damage to the plastic, whereas screwdrivers will.
Hope this can help someone anyway, good luck!
If it doesn't effect the 370 portable what could the problem be with the save data being arased when it's powered off? The battery pack at the back of the console is dead I can't use it unless the power cable is plugged in could that be the reason for the 370?
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