wii dvd drive not working

[Loc]

I have a wii dvd drive hooked up to a gamecube and it's not working. I have no idea why. I double checked my connections to make sure they're all going to the right pins and they are. I have a GC2-DMS drive and when I first insert a disc it doesn't spin but when I turn the system off then on it spins but I get an error message. I also have a black wii with the D4 drive with the smallest daughterboard and when I hook that one up, the disc doesn't even spin.

When I had the original GC DD hooked up it worked fine, but for some reason the wii drive isn't working. The only variable that changed was I took off the GC DD port and wired the wii DD to it.

Any ideas on what the problem could be?

 

[megalomaniac]

I have a wii dvd drive hooked up to a gamecube and it's not working. I have no idea why. I double checked my connections to make sure they're all going to the right pins and they are. I have a GC2-DMS drive and when I first insert a disc it doesn't spin but when I turn the system off then on it spins but I get an error message. I also have a black wii with the D4 drive with the smallest daughterboard and when I hook that one up, the disc doesn't even spin.

When I had the original GC DD hooked up it worked fine, but for some reason the wii drive isn't working. The only variable that changed was I took off the GC DD port and wired the wii DD to it.

Any ideas on what the problem could be?

there should be nothing tricky about a direct connection of the wii drive to the GC mainboard...
everything should simply work after connection...did you also connect a pin 29 switch?

and just to make sure, you wired the drive directly to the mainboard right or do you have a WKF in between??

 

[Loc]

Yeah, I have an eject button on pin 29 and it works fine. I also have an on/off switch to pin 23.

I have the drive connected to an NHD adapter board which is wired to the GC board. No WKF. If the wires are too long that could be a problem right? The FFC is 6 in. and the wires from the NHD board to the GC board are about 5.5 in. That shouldn't be too long, right? I have a shorter FFC that I tried and still no working drive.

 

[megalomaniac]

your wire length is fine...ive used about 18in of wire during dev testing
you should not have any real issues at all....

did you us a multimeter to check continuity between the drive and the mainboard for all data lines?
also you connected 12v,5v,3v,and GND to the drive?

test 1:
eject the disc and with no disc in the drive, reboot and just watch the screen....
wait at least 30 seconds....do you get any error messages?
if so, what message?


test 2:
turn power on and insert a disc, and just watch the screen....
wait at least 30 seconds....do you get any error messages?
if so, what message?



test 3:
with a disc in the drive, reboot and just watch the screen....
wait at least 30 seconds....do you get any error messages?
if so, what message?

 

[Loc]

Yeah, I've got power going to the 12V, 5V, and 3V, and ground of the drive. I'm using 7.4V on the 12V line. To check continuity, do I need a continuity tester or a multimeter with that function? I only have a basic multimeter that measures Volts and Ohms.

Test 1 - No message.

Test 2 - No message.

Test 3 - Error message after about 8 seconds. "An error has occurred. Turn the power off and check the Nintendo Gamecube Instruction Booklet for further instructions."

 

[megalomaniac]

I'm using 7.4V on the 12V line.

i dont remember offhand, but has 7.4v been verified with a wii drive??

To check continuity, do I need a continuity tester or a multimeter with that function?

yes

 

[Loc]

According to Ashen's Wii DD/WKF topic, 7.4V works.

I'll pick up a continuity tester and check all my connections.

 

[vskid3]

To check continuity, do I need a continuity tester or a multimeter with that function? I only have a basic multimeter that measures Volts and Ohms.

The Ohms setting on your multimeter is a continuity tester. Set it to the lowest setting and place the probes on each side of whatever you're testing the continuity of. Infinity Ohms (probably shown as just a 1 all the way to the left) means no connection, which should be the case if the probes aren't touching anything. Zero Ohms means your have continuity and that the two points are connected, your meter might even beep if it has a continuity function (which isn't necessary, but handy because you don't have to keep looking at the screen). Check this link for more info: http://learn.adafruit.com/multimeters/overview

 

[Loc]

Oh cool, thanks for the tip vskid3.

Alright, so I tested all my connections. I placed one lead on the wii drive and the other on the gc board, using my lowest Ohm setting of 200. All my data lines gave a rating of about 1.3 and all the grounds about 1.0. It looks like everything's connected, even pin 23 and pin 29.

 

[Loc]

I double checked continuity and I'm getting readings on everything. Now I'm really confused. Any suggestions to try? I know often times a problem is a really stupid one. Maybe my drive is just bad?

 

[megalomaniac]

did you ever solve this problem?
if not post some good pics

 

[Loc]

Haven't figured it out yet. I bought another wii DD to see if mine had something wrong with it. I hooked it up and same problems, except with this one when a disc in the drive and I turn the GC off then on, the disc keeps spinning and no error message comes up, but nothing loads on the menu.

Here's some pics of my mess.

http://i.imgur.com/NWyywvc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/e8Kda8B.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l4ONnhO.jpg

Let me know if you want more pics.

 

[Ashen]

Wires are way to long. A shorter FFC would help too. When I did my initial tests with the wii dvd drive I had latency issues, and my wires were only about 6-7". Keep wires as short as possible.