[JaredAFX]

[Not sure if this is the proper thread to be posting in because it involves Sonic and not-Sonic but I'll go ahead anyway]
So I have two GameCubes. A black component-compatible one (I can't get the serial number at the moment; all I can say is that it's obviously older because it has the component cable port, it was preowned so it could be anywhere between launch model-end of 2003) and a DOL-101 silver non-component-compatible one. On the silver one, Sonic Adventure 2 does not work. It works fine on the Wii I've used it on and both copies I have work fine on the black one, but it gives me disk read errors after 5-7 minutes of playing, no matter what I'm doing. I know the SA2B disks are fickle, but is there a reason it only doesn't work on this one GameCube out of the two GCs and two Wiis I own? I've owned three SA2Bs and the two I had when I was younger both worked on my black GC and neither my silver one, at least over time it became worse. I keep most of my games at my dad's with my black GC, but at my mom's I almost exclusively use the GC for its games and it runs everything else fine. It's not an inconvenience if it just doesn't work in the GameCube, but I'm curious as to why this happens. I'd also like to know if I shouldn't be using my GameCube, like if these disk read errors are signs of death or something.

[Irixion]

Only thing I can really think of is perhaps the laser is going?

[Hendricks 266]

Maybe you need to open the case and adjust the potentiometer. Do plenty of research before touching the thing, though. I've never needed to mess with it myself.

This post has been edited by Hendricks 266: 27 September 2014 - 01:56 PM

[.Luke]

SA2B needs a fairly strong laser to cooperate, but for some reason other games are just fine if the laser is getting a little weaker. (Twilight Princess, Smash Bros Melee, Sonic Heroes, etc.) I've had two used Gamecubes not even play SA2's intro properly before giving me disc read errors, and all of the clips were out of sync. A slight laser tweak fixed that.

I'd look into getting a fresh replacement laser for your Gamecube either way. When you're forced to tweak a laser to squeeze out the rest of its lifespan, it won't be that much longer before it goes, at least if you play it for hours at a time each day. Granted, I'm still surprised I clocked over 1000+ hours on Melee, so I've never had a laser die on me from a brand new system, nor have I had a tweaked laser from a used system kill over on me either.

[JaredAFX]

.Luke, on 27 September 2014 - 03:24 PM, said:

SA2B needs a fairly strong laser to cooperate, but for some reason other games are just fine if the laser is getting a little weaker. (Twilight Princess, Smash Bros Melee, Sonic Heroes, etc.) I've had two used Gamecubes not even play SA2's intro properly before giving me disc read errors, and all of the clips were out of sync. A slight laser tweak fixed that.

I'd look into getting a fresh replacement laser for your Gamecube either way. When you're forced to tweak a laser to squeeze out the rest of its lifespan, it won't be that much longer before it goes, at least if you play it for hours at a time each day. Granted, I'm still surprised I clocked over 1000+ hours on Melee, so I've never had a laser die on me from a brand new system, nor have I had a tweaked laser from a used system kill over on me either.

That helps me out a lot. I may look into tweaking the laser, but if SA2's the only game with the problem I may just leave it alone.

UPDATE: It stopped working in my Wii, too. Both of these consoles are my "Smash machines" as well as the consoles I've played Paper Mario 2 on multiple times, various Zelda games, basically a lot of long games. I basically use the black one to boot into GBA Player mode and it's totally quiet (or at least a lot quieter than my silver one). Does that mean my disk is broken or are the lasers worn, or would it be impossible to tell without actually looking at them?

This post has been edited by JaredAFX: 27 September 2014 - 03:51 PM

[SpeedStarTMQ]

If it's stopped working on both and they were fine previously and work with other games, it's gotta be the game.

[.Luke]

JaredAFX, on 27 September 2014 - 03:50 PM, said:

UPDATE: It stopped working in my Wii, too. Both of these consoles are my "Smash machines" as well as the consoles I've played Paper Mario 2 on multiple times, various Zelda games, basically a lot of long games. I basically use the black one to boot into GBA Player mode and it's totally quiet (or at least a lot quieter than my silver one). Does that mean my disk is broken or are the lasers worn, or would it be impossible to tell without actually looking at them?

You won't be able to tell if the laser's worn physically, as far as I know, and it's obviously dangerous to stare into one directly while it's live. From my own personal experience, I could only tell there was a problem if the game needed multiple read attempts to boot, or heavy content streaming would result in a disc read error, like Metroid Prime.

And I agree with SpeedStar, it sounds like the disc itself is the issue. Because between two Gamecubes and a Wii, there's no way you could've worn out the lasers in all three of them. Is there any sign of physical wear on the disc itself? It has to be pretty severe if it stops a disc drive from reading it. My Sonic Riders GC copy was fairly well scratched, (Got it used.) but it still worked in all three Gamecubes, and a Wii, that I played it on.

[JaredAFX]

.Luke, on 27 September 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

JaredAFX, on 27 September 2014 - 03:50 PM, said:

UPDATE: It stopped working in my Wii, too. Both of these consoles are my "Smash machines" as well as the consoles I've played Paper Mario 2 on multiple times, various Zelda games, basically a lot of long games. I basically use the black one to boot into GBA Player mode and it's totally quiet (or at least a lot quieter than my silver one). Does that mean my disk is broken or are the lasers worn, or would it be impossible to tell without actually looking at them?

You won't be able to tell if the laser's worn physically, as far as I know, and it's obviously dangerous to stare into one directly while it's live. From my own personal experience, I could only tell there was a problem if the game needed multiple read attempts to boot, or heavy content streaming would result in a disc read error, like Metroid Prime.

And I agree with SpeedStar, it sounds like the disc itself is the issue. Because between two Gamecubes and a Wii, there's no way you could've worn out the lasers in all three of them. Is there any sign of physical wear on the disc itself? It has to be pretty severe if it stops a disc drive from reading it. My Sonic Riders GC copy was fairly well scratched, (Got it used.) but it still worked in all three Gamecubes, and a Wii, that I played it on.

The game probably has somewhere between... 300-400 hours? I know it's a somewhat broad range, but when I was younger I would just listen to the sound test, and don't even get me started about how many Saturday mornings I started up the Chao Garden and played for hours. It's most likely the disk, which sucks. I've been thinking about using Wii homebrew to make digital copies of the games so I can avoid this from happening (plus I can actually use Dolphin to upscale them and all that), so I may get around to doing that sooner now.

[.Luke]

I can't wait to build a PC that can handle Dolphin. My copy of Smash Bros Melee had been through nearly three times as much use, so something must've happened to your disc, or your consoles are being dicks. You can always get a Flatmii for your Wii too, (Are those still being made?) if you still want to play your backups on the console itself.

[SpeedStarTMQ]

A new SA2B is pretty cheap on eBay.

I've played mine surely now for about 500+ hours, and occasionally I've had a few disc read errors. SA2B was less stable than other games on the 'Cube anyway, from the week I bought it Chao Garden crashed on me, it must be something to do with the porting from Dreamcast.

[gold lightning]

Just gonna chime in and say my used copy of SA2B had disc read errors from day one when my Wii was brand spanking new. The disc also didn't (and still doesn't) have any significant visible wear on it.

Also on some disk read errors, if you eject the game and put it back in, it will try to resume itself. Most times this actually works (temporarily, at least) while sometimes it just doesn't.

[.Luke]

That's terrible your brand new Wii had issues with the game too. Maybe it's a specific revision that's unstable? Because my sister's copy of SA2:B worked without any problems, and her and I played it heavily together before I got myself the Dreamcast version.

As another example, I had the Player's Choice print of Smash Bros. Melee, and almost never saw the game lag, while another friend's launch copy noticeably dipped a few times in Hyrule Temple and Big Blue maps. It's too bad we didn't have the benefit of patches before 7th gen.

[GerbilSoft]

If all else fails, get an ISO image and use DIOS MIOS or Nintendon't. I haven't tested Nintendon't yet, but SA2:B runs perfectly with DIOS MIOS.

Both of these are Wii homebrew programs designed to run GameCube games from an SD card or USB hard drive.