Gamecube optical board problems

BlackaneseNiNjA

The Fatal Fury Disciple
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2016
Posts
2,453
For those interested:
It might not be a bad idea to preemptively replace the surface mount capacitors on the optical board that sits at the bottom of the gamecube optical drive assembly.

I was starting to see some disc reading issues on a unit that was inconsistent with the symptoms of a dirty or failing laser. In the end, some of the caps on the optical board were failing and causing the system to not read discs. This will likely impact all gamecube systems at some point so it’s not a bad idea to go ahead and replace them before they leak, etc.

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SignOfGoob

Butthurt Enthusiast
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Posts
2,857
Can I guess that this system has seen a lot of down time?
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

The Fatal Fury Disciple
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2016
Posts
2,453
Can I guess that this system has seen a lot of down time?
Hey whats up BillyJoelZeta. This console actually gets a lot of play (both discs and via the gameboy player).

After checking around, the capacitor issue is actually starting to impact more units as they are all aging and others have started to notice the trend as well (check out the video below). Hopefully this information saves others some diagnosing time and money before they attempt a laser replacement that won’t resolve the issue as others have experienced.

 

BlackaneseNiNjA

The Fatal Fury Disciple
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2016
Posts
2,453
You can get an ODE also…
Sup Neodogg. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with going the ode route. Since the cap replacement is a cheap and easy fix to prolong the life of these units, the original post was really more of a quick heads up for those who simply want to keep playing the discs that they already own.
 
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