Suggestion on fixing a broken Neo CD (and also a question)

Hey all...

I pulled out my Neo CD last night (I'd had it stored away for close to 2 years), but when I went to play the games, the drive didn't want to access the information on the disc.

I opened it up today, and it's not the motor itself - that runs fine - so I'm thinking that it's something to do with the lens. I still get the normal start-up screen, but the system doesn't seem to recognize that there's a disc in the unit.

I've tried this with both game, and regular CD's, and get nothing either way.

Does this diagnosis sound correct, and if so, how do I fix the problem? I was actually thinking about selling/trading the unit and games, but I wanted to get everything running in tip-top shape beforehand (or even if I decided to go ahead and keep it), so any advice would be most appreciated!

As a side note, anyone else notice that the S-Video picture on a Neo CD seems to be much sharper/crisper than on a modded home cart? Is that because the S-Video is native to the CD unit, but an add-on to the AES?

Hello realbout

These NeoCds have always been prond to have cd problems, there is ways to fix it your self, but you need to know a bit about electronics to do it, i had this problem before,

the trobble with top loader cd consoles is that the lens is exposed to dust, and it tends to collect dust on the lens and on the bar that the lens runs along, the best thing to do is to remove the whole cd unit from the cover, because if im right in saying snk scewed the cd unit to the cover, you will need to strip down the cd unit and clean everything, please take care when removing the lens it's self, once you have cleaned, start, putting all back together, also, adding a little, and i mean little bit or oil to the lens bar, if the neo cd still does not read the cds then you lens needs retuneing, i had to do this with mine, took me ages to get it right, but your better off getting someone to do that for you,

If you store your NeoCD unit in a room where temperature conditions vary over the months, the plastic cover of the console goes through multiple processes of contraction and expansion due to cold/heat. This, together with a solid amount of dirt on/in the near of the CD lense, may be the cause of your trouble.

If SnkNeoGeo's cleaning tips won't help, try it with a CD repair kit, which contains the stepper motor, a spare lense, and the CD motor pcb. It's available in the Neostore.