Editing CDVD Drive

Jump to navigation Jump to search
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

Latest revision Your text
Line 249: Line 249:
The two 2-kOhms potentiometers on the pickups (one for each, CD and DVD) do not directly adjust laser output power. Laser output power is actually regulated in real time by the drive electronics (APC, automatic power control). Instead, these potentiometers adjust the output level of the monitoring photodiode which the drive electronics uses for monitoring the laser output power. Hence, any weakening of the laser output power over time is already being compensated by the drive electronics. '''This means that adjusting these potentiometers should never be necessary.''' The only way of properly adjusting these potentiometers would be by using a laser power meter, which would however only be necessary in case someone already tinkered with the potentiometers.
The two 2-kOhms potentiometers on the pickups (one for each, CD and DVD) do not directly adjust laser output power. Laser output power is actually regulated in real time by the drive electronics (APC, automatic power control). Instead, these potentiometers adjust the output level of the monitoring photodiode which the drive electronics uses for monitoring the laser output power. Hence, any weakening of the laser output power over time is already being compensated by the drive electronics. '''This means that adjusting these potentiometers should never be necessary.''' The only way of properly adjusting these potentiometers would be by using a laser power meter, which would however only be necessary in case someone already tinkered with the potentiometers.


What turning these potentiometers actually does is overdriving the laser to higher than specified output power. The reason why this might allow discs to be read again is that it gives the drive higher tolerance to dirt on or inside the pickup's lens/prism system and/or misadjusted drive mechanics (tilt/skew).
What turning these potentiometers actually does is overdriving the laser to higher than specified output power. The reason why this might allow discs to be read again is that this gives the drive higher tolerance to dirt on or inside the pickup's lens/prism system and/or misadjusted drive mechanics (tilt/skew).


Instead of overdriving the laser diodes (and causing long-term damage to them), the actual issues should be adressed (dirt and dust on or inside the laser, miscalibrated mechanics etc). Mechanical and electrical calibration can be done by connecting to Mechacon from a PC via UART (see [[Test points]]) and then using a tool called PMAP.
Instead of overdriving the laser diodes (and causing long-term damage to them), the actual issues should be adressed (dirt and dust on or inside the laser, miscalibrated mechanics etc). Mechanical and electrical calibration can be done by connecting to Mechacon from a PC via UART (see [[Test points]]) and then using a tool called PMAP.
Please note that all contributions to PS2 Developer wiki are considered to be released under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.2 (see PS2 Developer wiki:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To protect the wiki against automated edit spam, we kindly ask you to solve the following hCaptcha:

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)