So I picked up a boxed Goldstar 3DO for $10

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oldskool
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So I picked up a boxed Goldstar 3DO for $10

Post by oldskool » Thu Nov 18, 2010 1:47 am

Found a boxed Goldstar 3DO for $10 on CL. I figured what the hell, what do I have to lose. Came with one controller, cables, and John Madden Football complete in the long box.

So I get it home, plug it in, and the thing won't eject. Then I decide to hook it up to the TV to see if it's even booting and I see nothing (using the composite video). Then I try hooking it up via S-Video and I get a quick 3DO spash screen (that says Goldstar FC-1 encrypted at the bottom - whatever that means), but as soon as the splash screen pops up, it goes black and stays that way.

So I am not sure what's going on with it. The fuse is good obviously, or I wouldn't get the splash screen.

I took it apart to the barebones to take a look at the PCB and everything. I noticed it has a battery. If the battery was dead would it cause any of these problems? I would think that it would still boot, but that it would forget the date/time.

Nothing seemed obviously fried, but on the bottom side of the mainboard PCB I did notice a lot of residue (from the caps I am assuming), and some of the caps on the mainboard appear to be sitting on residue as well.

Has anyone else ever had this same problem? If so what was the fix?

If I can't fix it, then oh well I got a game and another controller for 10 bucks.

If it helps, this thing has been sitting in the guys garage since the PS1 came out. He said he boxed it up and put it in the garage cause the kids were not playing it anymore since they got a Playstation.

Thing is, I live in Las Vegas, and it's not a good idea to leave anything in the garage. It can easily get 120 in a garage during the summer months. And for several years I wonder if this caused any problems with the caps or anything like that. I am tempted to run the mainboard in the dishwasher, put it in the oven, replace all the caps, and then see what happens.
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Post by 3DOKid » Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:21 pm

Your going to do what with it? Dish Washer, oven and what?

I have to see this -- pictures please.

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Post by oldskool » Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:34 pm

If you stick a mainboard in the dishwasher it's a great way to remove a lot of unwanted residue from the PCB. I've done it on a NES mainboard once, and it worked great. Also cleans the connectors nicely. The oven from what I have heard will heat things up enough to sort of automatically re-flow all of the solder points, without having to do each one manual, if the temp is right and you don't keep it in there too long. It's recommended to remove as much plastic as possible before putting it in the oven. The oven also dries any leftover water from the cleaning process that you might not have been able to dry off. These are just old tricks.

I think for now I am just gonna hand scrub the bottom of the PCB with mild soap and a brush. The capacitor residue is not good to have on there, it eats away at things. I am going to remove one of the caps (they are all the same it appears) and take it down to the local electronics store and get a couple dozen of them and replace them one at a time.

With the odd issues that it's got, it seems cap related.

On another note, is the drive supposed to fall open if you tip the console a certain way? Shouldn't there be something that locks it in place when it's closed?

I realize that the Goldstar is practically not even worth fixing, as they are junk. But I just figure it would be fun to mess around with it. I got it cheap enough, and the caps don't cost a lot of money. It's something to do. And if it still doesn't work then whatever, I got a game and a controller out of it, and maybe I can part it out. I'm sure the drive is still good along with some of the other things like the power supply parts.
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Post by Trev » Fri Nov 19, 2010 12:29 am

On another note, is the drive supposed to fall open if you tip the console a certain way? Shouldn't there be something that locks it in place when it's closed?
There probably should be, but I've always known them to open if tipped. It is a Goldstar quirk.
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Re: So I picked up a boxed Goldstar 3DO for $10

Post by bitrate » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:52 am

oldskool wrote:Found a boxed Goldstar 3DO for $10 on CL. I figured what the hell, what do I have to lose. Came with one controller, cables, and John Madden Football complete in the long box.

So I get it home, plug it in, and the thing won't eject. Then I decide to hook it up to the TV to see if it's even booting and I see nothing (using the composite video). Then I try hooking it up via S-Video and I get a quick 3DO spash screen (that says Goldstar FC-1 encrypted at the bottom - whatever that means), but as soon as the splash screen pops up, it goes black and stays that way.

So I am not sure what's going on with it. The fuse is good obviously, or I wouldn't get the splash screen.

I took it apart to the barebones to take a look at the PCB and everything. I noticed it has a battery. If the battery was dead would it cause any of these problems? I would think that it would still boot, but that it would forget the date/time.

Nothing seemed obviously fried, but on the bottom side of the mainboard PCB I did notice a lot of residue (from the caps I am assuming), and some of the caps on the mainboard appear to be sitting on residue as well.

Has anyone else ever had this same problem? If so what was the fix?

If I can't fix it, then oh well I got a game and another controller for 10 bucks.

If it helps, this thing has been sitting in the guys garage since the PS1 came out. He said he boxed it up and put it in the garage cause the kids were not playing it anymore since they got a Playstation.

Thing is, I live in Las Vegas, and it's not a good idea to leave anything in the garage. It can easily get 120 in a garage during the summer months. And for several years I wonder if this caused any problems with the caps or anything like that. I am tempted to run the mainboard in the dishwasher, put it in the oven, replace all the caps, and then see what happens.

Sorry I missed this thread.

In answer to your question, no, the battery will not cause those problems you described. It only affects game saves.

Do you have any pics of the main board? I'm just curious to have a look.


oldskool wrote:On another note, is the drive supposed to fall open if you tip the console a certain way? Shouldn't there be something that locks it in place when it's closed?

There is a slip clutch on the drive tray assembly that is supposed to provide enough friction to hold the tray closed while also allowing for forces opposing its movement to be absorbed.
This clutch can get worn out from abuse and age and can cause the trays on some units to move freely.

oldskool wrote:I realize that the Goldstar is practically not even worth fixing, as they are junk.

It's funny so many people say this and yet the Sanyo TRY is held in such high regard.
Not many people know this, but the reason this is funny is that both the Goldstar and Sanyo units use the exact same CD drive housed in different drive mounts.

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Post by mattyg » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:00 am

My two sanyos give me as much trouble as my goldstars for precisely that reason.
BEFORE you touch the mainboard replace the ribbon cable between the drive and its sub board. This sub board is the usual root of all problems including the one you mentioned. The sub boards are on the cd drive caddy and connect to the main board with another set of ribbon cables.

The constant flexing of the cable when the tray opens and closes causes it to pinch and break over time. The sanyos are just as unreliable as the goldstars.

Often it just needs either a new ribbon cable or a replacement sub board - the main board is probably not the issue
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Post by oldskool » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:42 pm

that ribbon cable "appeared" to be ok, maybe I should to a continuity test on each pin of the cable to see if there is a break or not.

So the cd-rom daughterboard would cause issues for it to not boot? Because as far as I know at the moment, the drive is ok (until I can boot the system and test otherwise)
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Re: So I picked up a boxed Goldstar 3DO for $10

Post by oldskool » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:51 pm

""Sorry I missed this thread.

In answer to your question, no, the battery will not cause those problems you described. It only affects game saves.

Do you have any pics of the main board? I'm just curious to have a look.""

Nope, I don't have any pictures of anything right now except for just the box and the console it'self. It's really a shame it's not working considering it came boxed and everything.


""There is a slip clutch on the drive tray assembly that is supposed to provide enough friction to hold the tray closed while also allowing for forces opposing its movement to be absorbed.
This clutch can get worn out from abuse and age and can cause the trays on some units to move freely.""

So that explains that. So if the console gets to working again, it should still not have any problem ejecting and closing then?


""It's funny so many people say this and yet the Sanyo TRY is held in such high regard.
Not many people know this, but the reason this is funny is that both the Goldstar and Sanyo units use the exact same CD drive housed in different drive mounts.""

I don't know anything about the Sanyo or it's reliability. I just find it funny that people are always talking trash about the Goldstar, and after owning 3 Panasonic's that all worked flawlessly, I get my first Goldstar and it's got major issues, not a good first impression. Of course if it were not out in the garage for 15 years might be in better shape, boxed or not. Just seems odd the whole thing about not seeing anything on screen unless it's hooked up via S-Video. Sounds like a cap issue to me but I am no expert. Maybe it's a combonation of things. It's gonna be fun to get this thing up and running.
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Post by Calavera » Sun Jun 12, 2011 4:36 am

oldskool wrote: I realize that the Goldstar is practically not even worth fixing, as they are junk.
Say what? I love my Goldstar, you're lucky I am not an admin or that would be a bannable offense! :wink:
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Post by 3DO Experience » Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:49 pm

I love it when bitrate responds to a post like this before I read it because his answers are always way better than what I was thinking.
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