My Gamecube: RIP

[takieddine]

I'm sure this is anything but uncommon, but my cube has met its end.

The reason being(suspected anyways) is the laser lens, the question is does anyone here know a legitimate way to fix/clean the lens top, or somewhere where i can purchase a new lens, not an entire laser system?

I was successful in partially cleaning it (water and silk hand wipe), going from not recognizing the gamecube disk to recognizing and partially loading some games.

Help or I am going to go nuts without a gamecube

 

[Flamestar666]

Call nintendo for a location of the closest repair center, get a new one, or get a Wii.


And i don't think this belongs here.

 

[Sky2042]

or get a Wii.

Where?

 

[Pye]

Where?

QFT xD

Wiis are still pretty **** hard to find. I wanted to get one for christmas, but nobody could find one so now I'm going to wait a few weeks for all the kids who got their christmas money to buy their Wiis, then once that craze is past I'll look for one. You'd think that between the TWO (yes, 2) EB Games, the Future Shop, the Best Buy and even the Toys'R'Us near me, ONE of them would have a friggin Wii, but noooo.

I acualy got laughed at at Best Buy for asking wether they had any in stock

By the way, if you don't want to replace your cube with a Wii, you can buy Gamecubes off ebay for like 30$, lol. Ever since the Wii came out, their really cheap. I want to sell mine, but even with all my games (aside of Smash, of course) I can't get very much money for it.

 

[takieddine]

Yes WHERE do i get a wii if I had the money atm..lol

and where would this thread belong in?

 

[Zenith]

1st of all the laser repair would cost more than the GC itself.
2nd of all you if you have any technical skill you would open it up a check the laser.

But otherwise you might as well by a Wii or a new 1.

 

[piZ]

1st of all the laser repair would cost more than the GC itself.

Unless Nintendo is willing to repair your GCN for free, this is 100% true. What are GCNs these days, like $50?

But otherwise you might as well by a Wii

Unless you use Ebay, good luck finding a Wii before like March..

 

[Pye]

Unless you use Ebay, good luck finding a Wii before like March..

March? Whoa, I don't know where you live, but I think you're exagerating a bit, no? They were that hard to find at some point, but not anymore. At least, not as of like 2 weeks from now. Now that Christmas is past, their bound to become easier to find.

And I could also use the arguement that stores DO get them at some point, right? People are buying them It's not like they don't exist. If you're persistent enough (and to be honest, I tried Zelda: Twilight Princess at a friend's house last night. The Wii is deffinitly worth beeing persistent for), you could get your hands on one...

 

[_clinton]

My GC died once to. I replaced it.

 

[xTOXNx]

Your lens has been de-calibrated.

Now if you dont wanna pay money to repair it, and don't mind voiding your warrenty you can use this guide to fix it.

Two things first:

1. This guide was not written by me.
2. And If you do use this guide and screw up your gamecube, I (and as you can see, the author of the guide) am not liable for the damages.

GameCube Lens Calibration Guide

 

[_clinton]

That is a very good guide.

 

[pesticide]

i got a wii on November 19th, so i dont really need my GC anymore. i sold it for $60 to my sis

best of luck to ya trying to get it repaired or getting a wii!

 

[greenblob]

How to fix your GC.
1. Get a gamebit driver. If you don't have one, get a plastic pen (certain types don't work; I'm pretty sure all the clear ones do work though), take out everything inside, soften the tip over a candle, then stick it in one of the holes on the bottom and wait a few seconds for it to harden, If done correctly, you should be able to screw it out. Sometimes, the pen gets stuck on the screw, in which case you need to soften it again to take it out (the screw will be burning hot at this stage so use a glove or something).
2. Take off the main plastic shell. Unscrew the fan and take the front and back flaps off.
3. Unscrew the things in front of the memory card. Unscrew around the base so you can get the main part out.
4. Get that out, unscrew the underside, take that out, and you should see a little black square with a screw on it. Turn the screw a bit counterclockwise. Put everything back together and test it (make sure everything's fitting together, this may take a few tries). You need to test it for a few hours to make sure it's working. If the error message comes up, turn the screw a bit more counterclockwise. If the cube starts making weird noises, turn it a bit clockwise. It may take a few tries.

Credits to wherever I found out how to do this (forgot).

 

[The Killer Yoshi]

My Gamecube was dead a few weeks ago, but I followed the instructions in this video and it works ok now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HlirmQZaYg&mode=related&search=

 

[FireBomb]

My Gamecube suffered a serious injury, making it unable to read discs. I can turn the thing on, but I can't play more than 5 minutes without getting the "Can't read disc" error message, therefore making it obsolete. But that was years ago...if yours broke now, you might as well get a Wii. I bought a new Gamecube after my old one shut down, and it's still proving useful today. I'd rather not sell mine, but that's just me.

 

[The 5th Police]

I wish I had read this sooner instead of rebuying a gamecube.

 

[Respawn]

I feel your pain... mine's dieing too. I'm having trouble playing anything on it. Perhaps I'll try some of the things mentioned here...

 

[Ryuker Reo]

I have a Wii, so I really don't use my Gamecube anymore. I'm glad it didn't broke down before I got the Wii. If it did I'd just be going to my friend's house every day to play Smash over there.

 

[_clinton]

I wish I had a Wii
(Nintendo)

 

[takieddine]

Update:

I've figured out what exactly went wron with my gamecube...

It seems like the laser is becoming frail of probably overuse(read: too much smash).

It works, but only for a short period of time (1 hour max) and then it will stop for a day or two...

The solution to this i've read is to open up the gamecube and mess around with the voltaqe of a device(can't remember the name). This controls the laser beam intensity, therefore allowing he laser to be strong enough to go through the disc.

Also, I do NOT know why, but the gamecube likes to read some games better than others (metal arms & Time splitters), but for super mario sunshine and Smash it just won't budge (besides that measly hour of play).