How to Adjust a GameCube Laser for Backup Discs | GameCube POT Tweak Tutorial

[@vergizzl3954]

I work for a locally owned video game store, I have never started getting into internal repairs until recently. Came across an old GameCube that wouldn’t play games for more than an hour. In less than 2 hours, with the help of your video, I got it working. Thank you very much

[@MrMario2011]

Woo!

[@dealinburgers9590]

THIS IS THE VIDEO!!! Thank you! So many videos do not show how to use the multimeter or are shot from space and unable to see anything.

[@MrMario2011]

Glad to hear it helped you out!

[@isanchez64]

I like to hold both multimeter leads steady on one hand, and with the other hand turning the pot screw. You can see the ohms turn right before your eyes and have a near perfect, spot on adjustment.

[@rayanheath8946]

pro tip: you can watch series on Flixzone. I've been using it for watching lots of of movies these days.

[@collinjoey3931]

@Rayan Heath Definitely, have been using Flixzone for months myself :)

[@tommymaldonado856]

My laser sounded like it was going to break. It was set over 500, brought down to 457. It worked, laser now is super quiet and my Resident Evil games work Great! No more disc errors. FYI after reassembly the disk drive it selfs if it moves just a little after you put bottom screws the gamecube won't work it won't read disc and make you feel you wasted so much time that you'll think you laser is just Done! Mine move upward so I opened lid and with fingers pressed and moved disk drive downward and got it aligned. Now all my games work perfectly.

[@Julap69]

Hi ! Great video, clear and easy. I managed to get a fine tuning out of 2 tries, based on your final impedance value ! Thank you so much ! Before that my cube wasn't able to boot any original disc...

[@MrMario2011]

Glad it helped!

[@MK-qo1rz]

Lol you uploaded this at exactly the right time! I just found my xeno chip (I had poor soldering skills when I got it and dare not try) and got a cheap cube at a carboot! I just installed it and got the same clicking sounds so was looking for a good guide! Thanks!

[@Zapablast05]

Is the resistance the same for DOL-001 and DOL-101 lasers? GC-Forever wiki says, "The factory settings of the potentiometer varied from DOL-001 with a value range of 450 ohm - 600 ohm while the DOL-101 had a value range of 150 ohm - 250 ohm." I can't find any other reference for the factory resistance. My 001 read 416 ohm on a calibrated Fluke 177. I lowered it to 395 ohm and Metroid Prime still won't read. I'd hate to burn the laser by dropping the resistance more.

[@noblethompson7280]

Thought my GameCube was shot. I am not techy at all, so I was pretty skeptical I'd be able to repair it. But I found this video, followed the steps, AND IT WORKED! Thank you for the help, you rock!!! *Didn't have the gamebit driver for removing the outer plastic case, was too impatient/cheap to order one...but was able to use a grinder to make a forked tip on an old flat tip screwdriver, did the job😅

[@MrMario2011]

That's all you, you did it!

[@narutonish]

I always trust your videos. Got the backups running at 265.

[@MrMario2011]

Glad this helped!

[@AmateurXP]

Holy hell thank you man, my GameCube was way over 200 and would have screwed itself if I didn’t see this video

[@BallistikaGames]

Mine was 190 and couldn't read discs to save it's life. I got it to 153 and it's reading games again like new. Thank you sir!

[@MrMario2011]

You are welcome!

[@theengineer9910]

170 FOR ME BOYS !! I got the xeno installed and after doing this all my backups work + i gave the laser lens a good cleaning.

[@Clay-ds2in]

I recently bought a scratched up copy of Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and had it resurfaced, but still no luck getting it to read. Doesn’t appear to be rotted (no pinholes). Could this potentially help? Thanks for the great video!

[@OddFuddler]

Very helpful, my white Cube is reading discs again ❤

[@MrMario2011]

Glad it helped!

[@MrKrimstah]

I’ve had nothing but trouble with finding the right discs and pot tweaking can’t wait for an ode for the system

[@MrMario2011]

If that's a big issue just play them off a hard drive on a Wii or Wii U.

[@5punkybob]

I tested mine stock and it was 150.. is this normal on a PAL GameCube? Reads standard DVDs fine but not burnt ones. But it could be my chip install.. I soldered it on but it wasn't working so I decided to desolder the chip and run wires instead but it ripped off a bunch of the contact pads on the motherboard. I followed a pinout diagram and ran cables from the other side of the board and the chip seems to be working but still won't read burnt dvds

[@Sam-fp8zm]

Thanks this helped me open it, adjust it, and now it works. The multi meter reading was jumping all over the place so I just turned it down a bit, tested it, it didnt work, so opened it again, turned it down more now it works.

[@MrMario2011]

Woo!

[@lordcanti]

oh man. ill never forget the horrors of trying to find the ohm sweet spot for my backup discs xD

[@MrMario2011]

RIP

[@froddobaggins]

Thanks fam. Was able to tweak my pot to read full size dvd.

[@andrewvasquez6055]

I tried adjusting the Ohms and even tried replacing the laser assembly with a new one but my gamecube is still not detecting discs. Any ideas on what else I can try?

[@71dembonesTV]

disc drive capacitors.

[@izzyramOFFICIAL]

Been doing this for 2 years and still gotta watch this video

[@serhiidemchuk1855]

I'm slightly puzzled.Why would you use the original GameCube to play backups, when you could use a first gen Wii with hard drive backups.

[@MrMario2011]

Better Component output on the GameCube over the Wii, the Wii is no doubt more convenient though.

[@samkang4396]

Hello, thank you so much for this video. My gamecube kept saying "an error occurred. Turn the power off.. " and I did not want to buy a new one. I noticed right before the error appears, the clicking sounds would get louder then to be followed by a whirring sound. After much toggling, I settled for 208 ohms (Error persisted at 113, 154, 165, 171, 188 ohms) with no problems with the error appearing but still with loud clicking. I play original discs in used condition (microfiber cleaned). Not that I expect you to read this, but should the laser clicking sounds be ignored? They are as loud as ikea analogue clock.

[@MrMario2011]

Clicking doesn't sound all too normal, if it's similar to what I showcased at the beginning here.

[@samkang4396]

@@MrMario2011 I have adjusted to 260 ohms. After carefully relistening at 8:30 - 8:59, my gamecube sounds similar to yours (Not to criticize your production quality, but I did not notice the laser shifting sounds at first. You make quality content) I think I overreacted to the laser shifting up and down as a unusual clicking sound because of my constant toggling wearing me out.

[@superduperdrew12345]

Clicking means the value is too low pretty sure

[@fireboltthunder2360]

I did put it down below 250 ohms but it still wouldn't read the burned disc. Not even at 150 ohms will it read. Is there any spefefic number I should try? I don't want to burn out the lazor on my Xexno Chip Gc Drive

[@MrMario2011]

The SegaHolic has a great video covering how to replace the capacitors on the drive board, that's also becoming an issue with these consoles that could lead to the laser not working.

[@fireboltthunder2360]

@@MrMario2011 the lazer reads regular game discs just fine, the only problem is the disc couldn't read message for burned games

[@deher9110]

There are so many people putting bad reviews at mini disc pages at webshops cuz they just dont do enough research to find this😒

[@enjoythesho1992]

I can't get mine nowhere near 200 when it gets to 0.354 i can barely turn it and it jumps to 348.8?

[@Clay-ds2in]

I think 0.354 is 354, if I’m not mistaken people are just leaving off the 0. From their readings for convenience.

[@edgaresn1]

I install a xeno gc on a dol-101 and give me a error turn off the console an check the Nintendo booklet when run a backup copy of any game any clue solder where perfect with wires original games works good just copy’s I adjust the laser too but still same error

[@juangonzalez9500]

Is it true that this will also fix a GameCube that won't read discs at all?

[@MrMario2011]

Possibly, if it still doesn't after this then you'll definitely need a new laser.

[@gustavgmcsd]

i bought this New láser but couldnt make it work. moving the potenció meter sometimes it Just didnt spin es the disc. some other the láser didnt move OR move like of there were not disc. so i ende UP using the old láser. twerking that pot Just read OK my discos..

[@lgsony6115]

Twerking?

[@enin_music]

My POL01 is reading 499, installed xen8 with red on the right and it wont read original (spinning and stopping) and wont recognized burned disk (no spinning)

[@gavinteets9893]

The only youtuber to say a dislike is fine too. Ngl made me wanna like the video even more

[@MrMario2011]

LOL based

[@ramiq7932]

I can't get mine to read the mini DVD-Rs I burn. It reads full sized ones just fine but I don't have a modified case. It reads originals fine too and even old compressed bootlegs. Can't get it to read the mini ones I burn.

[@ramiq7932]

I figured it out. I had to manually adjust writing speed in Imgburn to 2X. Burned copies work fine now after the pot tweak.

[@ramennoodles760]

Great video MrMario2011!

[@MrMario2011]

Thanks!

[@ramennoodles760]

Anytime!

[@DragonProtector]

mine was at 194 omhs never touched. Had to adjust it to 176 ohms now it reads again.

[@kenniethjimenez2823]

So, when your gamecube drive only spins for a second and says "No Disc" is this a potential fix?

[@MrMario2011]

Potentially.

[@kenniethjimenez2823]

@@MrMario2011 Thank you : )

[@whirlipede2084]

My Metroid Prime original disc always freezes at the same hall. I dont have antoher console so I dont know if its a laser or disc problem. The disc is very well conserved and has no deep scratches. Dont know what to dod anymore :/ I was so hyped finishing the game for the first time

[@izzyhope58]

So I have mine at about 155 and my discs are still skipping a lot. At that point should I just assume the laser is broken?

[@71dembonesTV]

check/replace disc drive capacitors

[@IanPrino]

Can make a vid replacing the laser? I have a new laser in mine and have adjusted the POT, but it wont read disc

[@MrMario2011]

I've never replaced a GameCube laser, but I'll probably record it once I get around to it. It sounds like you might not have removed the solder from the laser's anti static point.

[@IanPrino]

@@MrMario2011 I replaced the whole assy, but if there is simethjng that i should remove, that makes sense. Can you send a link to a picture so i can have a look? Thank you for the reply also.

[@Techmaster-ci1xe]

Hey my original ohm number was 150 ohm . i get the little loading icon with a copy of sonic heroes but then it give me a DRE. So when i tweak it up. It doesnt do anything spins the disc and then give me the error. so i might turn it below 150 ohm? i heard that there is a second resistor thats always 150 ohm so even when you set the pot to 0 its 150 ohms. i tweaked it to 100 ohms is that ok? it now boots the game but when i want to play the first level it loads it normal with the spinning heroes logo and then give me an error?

[@MrMario2011]

Sounds like your laser is going out or you might have a bit of a rough burned disc, if you're playing from a DVD-R.

[@fireboltthunder2360]

@@MrMario2011 The disc spins for me, but my Gamecube is just giving me the disc cannot read message every time. I'm using Dvd-R, Ritek for mine. I know the disc is darker then a Gamecube disc so is there any number I should try? 150 ohms doesn't work, neither does 173

[@ElAguaDeus]

Nice walkthrough, thanks!

[@MrMario2011]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Swack0617]

Im not kidding my gamecube had the same issue and for some reason it was set to 400 ohms so i opened it up and followed this video i put it ti about 170 ohms and its amazing thanks

[@MrMario2011]

Good to hear!

[@MrRetro90]

My GameCube can play originals flawlessly with no clicking. But I would like to play burned games on mini dvd-r (from swiss). Do you think around 210 ohms could work?

[@MrMario2011]

The ones I've done still had issues above 200, best to try though.

[@Allious131]

Mine works at 150 I read in a forum somewhere that the 200ohms was a myth it turned out to be true it help me with no issues don't know if I'm incorrect but it's working and thats all I know :)

[@WH250398]

Hi, my gamecube reads games just fine, but rarely reads an action replay disc. Could this help?

[@MrMario2011]

Possibly

[@asherael]

If I'm primarily going to play backups from an SD card, should I just leave the POT, or turn it down just in case?

[@MrMario2011]

All up to you.

[@DavidDeltz]

HE PUT SUPER SMASH BROTHERS ON THE DESK!!!

[@MrMario2011]

Yep

[@Levi-jf5ld]

Is it possible that this will fix a non spinning disc drive/ spindle?

[@MrMario2011]

Possible.

[@Levi-jf5ld]

@@MrMario2011 might try that, but I managed to wreck my spindle/ dvd motor hub

[@caseygonzalez3276]

What is my laser doesnt turn on at all and the disk doesn't move it the motor fried if so wheres that video tia

[@scarrletthammond726]

I'm literally panicking everyday my disk is getting fried because I dont have a meter

[@colejensen2880]

I have the xeno installed successfully, I did the pot adjustment to 200, I tried to burn swiss onto a blank disc (Idk if I did it successfully ) gamecube says cant read disc. Is it the POT or the disc/files?

[@DragonProtector]

try a gamecube disk?

[@primusoriginal8648]

Bro i dont know what to set my multimeter to i have ohms on the right but i have from 200 to 20m and it seems they all read different lol helpp

[@PR_Punk1]

I adjusted down to 154 and I can’t still make it work, so my guess is that the laser is toast already

[@joey0373]

Looking forward to do this 💪💪 I have a off topic question though. Is it possible if you can make a tutorial on how to play Sega Saturn games on the Sega Dreamcast using yabause? I can’t find a good tutorial anywhere 😒

[@MrMario2011]

You're trying to play newer gen games on an older gen console with a PC emulator? Wat?

[@joey0373]

Lmao I meant to say the Sega dream cast 😂😂😂

[@evercano8924]

Thank you man I'm going to try this!

[@carmelokommatas2001]

I did everything you did I went from 250 to 150 by ten ohms each time and it did not work. I went to another video and this guy got his at like 450 ohms or something. So I went ahead and went by ten ohms from 150 to 500. Yet it still did not work for anything. Everything is clean and in good shape the laser and laser motor works. So I don’t know why I can’t get it to work. I’ve spent almost 15 hours trying to fix it. Any tips?

[@boolooyuk]

GameCube model dol-001 laser usually had like 450-550ohms. The dol-101 had 150-250. So if your system was set at 250 you likely have the dol-101 and if it is still not working at 150 then you probably need a new laser

[@71dembonesTV]

check the disc drive capacitors. they're getting to the age that they could be problematic

[@DragonProtector]

@@boolooyuk i have dol 001 and mine was at like 194.

[@matt-603]

@@DragonProtectormine is a 001 and it was at 184, I lowered it and still not reading, I’m gonna go up to the factory settings for the 001 and see if that makes it or breaks it.

[@DragonProtector]

Yea i think capacitors were going@@matt-603

[@rosahaden8042]

What tool do you need to adjust the laser?

[@noblethompson7280]

I used a P0 (very small Phillips screwdriver)

[@gbilo24]

I noticed that mine still works at 600 Ohm... (I have DOL-001)

[@alejandroandresrodriguezgu2892]

How is your gamecube so perfect wtf? Did you buy it new recently?

[@Iceshrooms]

my gamecube makes clicking noises from the cd and crashes randomly

[@projectmayhem6898]

Tweaking and Pot The DEA would like to know your location.

[@MrMario2011]

🤣

[@trentlocke2154]

what is that tool you are using to turn it?

[@MrMario2011]

A screwdriver.

[@FatherJohnCarmody]

I did this and it still won’t read my Swiss boot disc smh

[@diegosalgo]

I needed adjust to 110 ohms on my dol-101, even with 130 ohms it can't read my tdk disks, it's running fine, but i don't guarantee how much time my disk drive will work. Sorry for the bad english

[@projectmayhem6898]

Your English is good enough.

[@nuguns3766]

How's your disc drive working still

[@diegosalgo]

@@nuguns3766 he’s long dead 🤣

[@gar42099651]

Why did this guy lay the disk read side down on his table?!?!?

[@MrMario2011]

Because I did LOL Handled thousands of discs at this point, putting it face down isn't an issue unless you're moving it around face down.

[@DragonProtector]

@@MrMario2011 exactly

[@NO_obs]

commenting here because i cant comment on the mod chat the boginstaller uses a horizon os fuction to install eshop titles you only need the title id. If you own the game you can install and run it but if you dont it will open up a prompt to saying something like "another account owns this title please go online to check" something like that. As of now it is not apparent that you can get banned installing games you dont own i have tried a few and not been banned yet.

[@MrMario2011]

Thanks for clarifying!

[@billy6937]

My GameCube will only run when the number is 400+

[@TheBecel]

I have a question: whats wrong here? i can read burned dvd r, it will sometimes play just fine, but every once in a while ill get music hick-ups or part of the map not loading. this will usually result in a crash. is this due to the quality of disc's used (pretty recent sony one's) or is it my laser which is at 158 ohms. any answer is appreciated!

[@MrMario2011]

Could be your discs and burn speed. When burning, the slower the better. Older consoles generally work best with 2x-4x speeds but most modern burners will not write that slow.

[@TheBecel]

@@MrMario2011 burned at 2x - so that shouldn't be an issue and the discs i'm using are pretty decent sony one's. soo... im lowering to 130, crossing my fingers i dont smell anything burning in a few minutes. Thanks for the responds btw!

[@WcaVR]

OMG #MEMORIES! It's been a looooong time since i heard a GC make that noise. Nowdays i run my GC backups thru my W.O.D.E on my wii... this video makes me nostalgic.

[@MrMario2011]

Good stuff, still have yet to use an ODE!

[@colingznetworkplus4618]

Great games combined with an iffy laser

[@MrMario2011]

I'd say the GameCube laser has been pretty resilient! Not to say it never dies, but almost every laser issue I've seen only comes about when trying to play burned media.

[@gustavgmcsd]

i was Just doing that this morning. you read my mind. wjeres lili?

[@MrMario2011]

Who's Lili?

[@gustavgmcsd]

MrMario2011 your dog

[@leopoldogonzalez5444]

So theres no rule in the exact OMS required for every gamecube right?

[@JonnyMudMower]

Mine was running at 450 ohms ffs factory.

[@MrMario2011]

They run quite high from factory

[@ErroneousClique]

1 dislike? What, is there one GC hater among us?

[@MrMario2011]

Yes

[@MK-qo1rz]

I never get why some people watch this type of helpful video and dislike it... the one dislike happens really quick I post stuff like 20 minutes long and get a dislike in less than 10... I think KZbin does it😠😠😠 lol

[@gotengsk9010]

@@MK-qo1rz Nah , your vids are just bad .

[@deher9110]

No there are 3 😡

[@deher9110]

@@MK-qo1rz that is called humanity logics

[@bigfella1337]

Don't have a multimeter. Don't know anybody with a multimeter. Don't have the money for a multimeter. Help.

[@OsOsBSaheliano]

Try to get an approval from your high school/university labs to use their's if you're still a student.

[@LEONA_DAVINCI]

Is modification for the laser necessary to play burned games with xeno ? or not in all cases ?

[@MrMario2011]

Recommended to do so.