This discussion is locked
reidras

Q: PowerCD

Hi everyone,
I just got a PowerCD the other day and the only thing that came with it was the dock. I put batteries in it and connected headphones to it to see if it would play a CD but nothing happened when I put in the CD and pressed play. I then tried some other buttons and still nothing happened. So I took out the CD and turned it on with the drive open, the laser moves a little bit then nothing. I then tricked the unit into thinking it was closed by pressing the little button near to the pause button. I pressed play and the CD started spinning but after about two seconds it stopped. Would this be a problem with the motor or maybe a simple issue like it needing to be lubricated. Any help is appreciated. I was also wondering where the best place to get a SCSI cable and remote for it would be.

PowerMac G4 MDD Dual 1.42ghz 2gb, iMac G5 20" 18.ghz 1.5gb, PowerBook G4 Titanium 550mhz 768mb Gigabit, PowerBook G3 Wallstreet II 233mhz 384mb, +More, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 30, 2010 8:59 PM

Close

Q: PowerCD

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Aug 31, 2010 6:18 AM in response to reidras
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Aug 31, 2010 6:18 AM in response to reidras
    Be cautious with lubrication, a lot of small drives use sealed bearings and do not need to be lubricated. Sounds like the unit is confused about what you want it to do. so it maybe in the electronics.

    SCSI cables are readily available from a lot of sources, Amazon has some, OWC, and other suppliers. SCSI cables tend to be expensive. Also, count the number of pins, SCSI uses 68 or 80 pins.
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Aug 31, 2010 12:21 PM in response to Ralph Landry1
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 31, 2010 12:21 PM in response to Ralph Landry1
    A lot of the old literature talks about the need for "High Quality" SCSI cables, without telling you what that means.

    A "High Quality" SCSI cable is a cable built specifically for use with SCSI devices, not for RS-232 communications devices. It has rugged cable ends and shielded cable, often made of twisted-pairs for the conductors. It does not have to be expensive to be good.
  • by Appaloosa mac man,

    Appaloosa mac man Appaloosa mac man Aug 31, 2010 8:59 PM in response to reidras
    Level 5 (4,330 points)
    Aug 31, 2010 8:59 PM in response to reidras
    Your desciption of the CD-ROM drive and motor actions sound normal. If you remove the interface cable and just play with the eject button, you will get nominal laser head movement. It looks like it is doing pushups. That is part of the process the drive goes through to identify whether or not a CD was inserted.

    As for cables, what city are you in or near? Many large cities have computer recycling businesses that have vintage equipment and parts. If so, a cable will cost $1.00.
  • by reidras,

    reidras reidras Sep 3, 2010 11:33 AM in response to reidras
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2010 11:33 AM in response to reidras
    Thanks for all the replies, I seem to have gotten somewhere. When the unit was off and I tried to move the place where the CD sits it moved but felt scratchy, so I read on a forum that somebody pried sightly up on the plastic, I tried this and it loosened it so it feels normal, when a put in the CD it spins with the door closed where before it never would and it spins for longer then it stops. When it stops it almost sound like somebody is putting a rubber eraser up to it and forcing it to stop.
  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Sep 10, 2010 4:11 AM in response to reidras
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Sep 10, 2010 4:11 AM in response to reidras
    This sounds like a laser issue, you could just have a layer of crud on the lens and this is keeping it from reading any disk inserted. There are two ways to clean, a small camel hair camera blower brush with very gentle dusting of the lens. Too much pressure can damage the lens btw, or go to Staples and buy a CD lens cleaning disk, it's a CD with a couple of brushes glued to it.

    I use this to 'fix' the MBP's at work when the drives fail.... but I wouldn't nessessarily be fiddling around inside that unit with the lid open and the safety mechanism fudged..... bad image of person staring down into the laser unit when it fires up.....
  • by reidras,

    reidras reidras Sep 11, 2010 12:11 PM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 11, 2010 12:11 PM in response to Niteshooter
    Thanks Niteshooter, that sounds promising and thanks for the warning!
  • by Black Six,

    Black Six Black Six Nov 3, 2010 6:09 PM in response to reidras
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 3, 2010 6:09 PM in response to reidras
    Did you have any luck with this? I recently picked up a PowerCD and am having similar issues. Let me know what you come up with.

    Thanks!
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Nov 6, 2010 10:16 AM in response to Black Six
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 6, 2010 10:16 AM in response to Black Six
    Is the SCSI Bus properly terminated?

    The standard way to terminate an external device is by applying a discrete terminator on the second connector on the last device on the cable.