Would it be possible to change/fix the drive in a Mega CD, essentially upgrading it to accept faster loading times etc. I'm not sure what would the process be involved behind it, but assuming just a new motor? I don't know anything about the physics behind it.
You can't get away with just changing the motor with a faster one. There is all the mechanics involved with the head positioning, as well as the data decoder, etc. You'd have to replace several parts in order to achieve a significant improvement in performance.
The problem is that much of the controller is built into the SEGA CD mobo, and it's not designed for anything new. You'd need to add something like an IDE port, then patch the BIOS to use that instead of the normal drive interface. It can be done, but it's more work than just replacing some hardware.
That actually sounds pretty interesting. I am assuming that this process would only work for the 1st Sega CD Model. I couldn't see how it could be done for the pop open model (2nd Sega CD Model). If it was the second Model that would I think be a matter of maybe finding a really fast specialized IDE drive that pops open. If thats even possible.
I'd be tempted to use a slim drive that popped out the front like the model 1 and remove the spring from the lid. It would fit in the space above the mobo better than a full height driver as well.
I actually have an external DVDRW and its an Iomega. This is the one I'm using: http://reviews.cnet.com/dvd-drives/iomega-...7-33442643.html. Something like that in an internal model might do the trick. Would be very interesting to see. If you do decide to experiment and do this please post pics. I'd love to see that.
Replacing the motors (one to spin the disc and the other to move the laser) with faster ones would give the SEGA CD a HUGE boost in its lifespan, especially if it doesn't use the extra power.
If you spin the CD faster, you'll have to replace most of the electronics associated with reading the data returned by the laser. You can't just spin a disc faster of get data faster.
What I meant was, if you replace the disc motor with one that's, say 50x, it's going to take longer to burn out, since the SEGA CD motor is 1x.
I see, but that is also not true. Just because something can go faster doesn't mean it will last any longer because you run it slower. It MIGHT, but probably won't. Electric motors are good that way - as long as you don't exceed the mechanical limits of the mechanism, it lasts just as long for higher speeds as low speeds. It an advantage that works the opposite way you are thinking.
changing the drive to anything not 1x will break a lot of games... all of the FMV games and games having FMV or doing data loading in the background .
