Neo Geo CD spontaneous resets

I've got a Neo Geo CD (toploader) which is running about a 1.5 year now and it is being used on a weekly basis.
The system was always stable and we play in fact the same game over and over (Puzzle Bobble), the CD hardly leaves the tray.

But since last week spontaneous resets during gameplay are happening after +- 30 minutes when the NGCD was turned on.
After that it happens more frequent like 15 minutes.

I read a lot about lens issues and resets, but this doesn't seems to be the case as Puzzle bobble is loaded entirely in memory (so no loading in between sessions).
It seems to happen in 2 player mode a bit more frequent than single player mode.

I've tried several other games, to analyse the issue like Pulstar (did not happen within 1 hour).
With Fatal Fury 3 within 30 mins also resets.
It always happens in the "heath of the moment" when playing, battling, but never during loading.

I've tried original CD's and "backup" CD's, but all the same behavior. Up until now the resets never happened during loading, that is why I don't think there is a lens/laser issue. I can also clearly see the red laser.

I've also swapped the power supply POWCD-E with a POWCD-J using a stepdown, but the resets are the same with both. So I don't think the power supply is an issue here.

The machine was running fine for over a year, did not touch anything in the setup and now it occurs with almost every game session.

What could cause these resets?

I had a similar issue with my top-loader. There is a small plastic pin on the door that presses a button when closed. This tells the system whether the door is open or closed. Over time, the pin wears out and can cause seemingly random resets. The CD spinning probably causes enough of a vibration to trip the switch, the system thinks the door is open (even if it's only for a split second) and resets.

Friend of the site Luke Morse made a video that covers it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hv3oGk9KUA

I ended up taking the system apart and installing a small screw to reduce the amount of travel required for the button to make contact. Completely solved the problem.

@wyo: Thanks a lot for pointing me in this direction. Also the video explained a lot.
I will do some tests with it soon.

Although my machine is like brand new compared to the one in the video and the little button that is being pressed by the pin is all the way up in my machine.
I guess the feather is not worn yet compared to the one in the video.

Just because it hasn't been used much don't assume that everything works. Electronics will still break sitting on the shelf for 20 years, or possibly never have worked correctly to begin with.

If wyo's solution doesn't fix your problem, the only time my Neo Geo CD toploader ever reset was also during Puzzle Bobble. In my case I believe it was related to heat, as it was an especially hot day and I had been playing well over an hour with a friend. System was very warm to the touch when I went over and checked it. It hasn't happened since, but I do take notice of the temperature now when I play it.

I did a simple test to see if the results are the same when opening the CD lid during gameplay to rule out the button not making contact.
I figured out that when opening the CD lid during gameplay you endup straigt into the CD menu where you can select tracks and start the game.
But what happend when I experienced the reset is that it has the same effect as a power off and on, meaning that you hear your speakers POP (slightly) and see the startup screen of the Neo Geo CD followed by the CD menu.



Is it room temperature?
Naa, it is not the room temperature. It is now autumn in the Netherlands and it is around 21,5 degrees celcius in the house. During summer it was around 30 degrees celcius and we were playing this summer and last summer without issues.
Conclusion so far, it must be electronics related.

Could it be caps?

raycade said:

I did a simple test to see if the results are the same when opening the CD lid during gameplay to rule out the button not making contact.
I figured out that when opening the CD lid during gameplay you endup straigt into the CD menu where you can select tracks and start the game.
But what happend when I experienced the reset is that it has the same effect as a power off and on, meaning that you hear your speakers POP (slightly) and see the startup screen of the Neo Geo CD followed by the CD menu.

Is it room temperature?
Naa, it is not the room temperature. It is now autumn in the Netherlands and it is around 21,5 degrees celcius in the house. During summer it was around 30 degrees celcius and we were playing this summer and last summer without issues.
Conclusion so far, it must be electronics related.

Could it be caps?

Click to expand...

Mine would reset the system completely until I fixed the problem as I previously described. The cause of your issue may be something else entirely but yeah, if you open the door manually it's supposed to go to the CD menu. However, I think if the button is tripped just for a split second it causes a full reset. That was my experience at least.

The first Neo Geo CD frontloader I bought had a seemingly random resetting issue. It turned out that the power supply cable female connectors were not tight enough and would lose connection long enough to cause a reset. I slightly crimped the power cable with pliers as to make the circles more oblong and the connection to the system tighter. While not a very scientific solution, this did solve the issue entirely.

Check this other thread:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?213255-Neo-Geo-CD-Reset-due-to-controller-port

As Vectorman0 said, PSU could be the problem, make sure it makes good contact, also worth doing the test the OP of the linked thread did, he also thought the controllers were faulty so he left the console on without the controllers plugged and see if it continued to randomly reset (it didn't, it was a PSU problem).

I wonder if by playing in 2 player mode chances increase of slightly pulling the console via the controllers and causing the power supply to loose contact briefly, or if one of the players developed an habit of pressing all A/B/C/D buttons plus the start button at once, causing a soft reset.

Vectorman0 said:

The first Neo Geo CD frontloader I bought had a seemingly random resetting issue. It turned out that the power supply cable female connectors were not tight enough and would lose connection long enough to cause a reset. I slightly crimped the power cable with pliers as to make the circles more oblong and the connection to the system tighter. While not a very scientific solution, this did solve the issue entirely.

Click to expand...

Abelardo said:

Check this other thread:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?213255-Neo-Geo-CD-Reset-due-to-controller-port

As Vectorman0 said, PSU could be the problem, make sure it makes good contact, also worth doing the test the OP of the linked thread did, he also thought the controllers were faulty so he left the console on without the controllers plugged and see if it continued to randomly reset (it didn't, it was a PSU problem).

I wonder if by playing in 2 player mode chances increase of slightly pulling the console via the controllers and causing the power supply to loose contact briefly, or if one of the players developed an habit of pressing all A/B/C/D buttons plus the start button at once, causing a soft reset.

Click to expand...

This and the info in that cited thread saved me from doing hours of troubleshooting on the console and psu of my frontloader unit. Crimping the power connector worked like a charm. Thanks as always everyone!

Just wanted to add that the neo cd system is the only one I ever bothered to use a stepdown converter with, as I remember reading about voltage issues and overheating causing random resets back in the day.

So I have Neo geo CDZ and it resets every time I push up direction on the cd pad. I’ve recently done the language mod by putting in small jumper cable to make it US English. Could this be connected? Or any other suggestions please?

Mozzercool1 said:

So I have Neo geo CDZ and it resets every time I push up direction on the cd pad. I’ve recently done the language mod by putting in small jumper cable to make it US English. Could this be connected? Or any other suggestions please?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I would double check that modm Sounds like you've got something bridged/shorted that shouldn't be.