3DO FZ-1 repair...

 I've had this FZ-1 3DO for almost 2 or so years. It didn't work properly, and I thought it was a more complex fix that I wasn't capable of doing without really diving into it. So, I ended up sidelining it.

I don't know why, but there was a bug in me that decided that I needed to solve the not-spinning-the-disc problem that this 3DO had. So, I pulled it out of storage and got it splayed out.

I stripped it down to check the board for any bad caps or other components. As far as I could tell, all of it was fine. I put most of it back together and tested it again...didn't work.

...

I ended up closing it up again. I was contemplating looking for an ODE replacement, but ended up looking up more FZ-1 repair info. I found one that tore the entire CD drive down and replacing a worm gear for the CD drive since it's prone to cracking. So tonight, I decided to take a crack at it.

I took the CD drive apart to the bare components. As I was taking the mainboard out from under the CD Drive, I overlooked removing the fragile ribbon cables from the board. I thought I broke it when I flipped it over, but apparently, that didn't happen. I didn't think anything of it, so I keep doing the teardown to check that worm gear. As pretty much expected, that gear was broken. I also tested the motor that drives the gear, and that worked just fine.

I have the file to 3D print that gear for myself, so I will probably do that in the near future.

I ended up putting it back together, which was when I had a revelation. That ribbon cable that I thought I broke? Apparently, it wasn't in the socket. After putting that ribbon cable and everything else back together, I decided to test it again. 

I powered on the FZ-1, opened and closed the dive, and lo and behold! The lens moved! 

 ?!?

I opened the drive and put a CD in. When I closed it, the disc spun right up and started reading the disc!

Finally got a working FZ-1! All I needed to do was check the damn ribbon cable!

I'm gonna find a game and make sure it reads fine. Otherwise, yay? I fixed a thing?  

[EDIT] Damn, I spoke to soon. It quit working, I slapped it for a bit, now it's spinning again, but it looks like I may have to replace that gear in there. Ugh...time to get that thing printed.