saturn screwdriver trick

I read the faq on how to change the laser strength to read a cd-r and I tried to get it to work and it won't and I don't understand what I am doing wrong. I have a type 2 sega saturn is there any kind of special eqipment that I need to get this to work?

Thanks in advance
 
You did mean a CDRW and not a CDR, right?
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But do make sure your CDRW disc is properly burned/will work, and if your Saturn won't read it, just increase the laser strength a little more... until it kicks in. Best to make sure your Saturn still reads normal CDR discs as well.

To make things easier, you might burn a normal audio CD to a CDRW disc and just try to make your Saturn play the audio from the BIOS menu.
 
And be sure to don't set it too high or your Saturn will overheat and games will start to have problems (like freezing). I know that cause it happened with me
 
I would just stick with CD-R's but if you want to tamper with your laser it can be done
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Check the guides here.
 
Well, I adjusted my Saturn to use RW's, and it didn't take me long as all.

I adjusted the knob one way... untill it stopped reading any CD's.... so.. I uh, turned it the other way.. untill RW's spun up, it can read RW's fine now.. only took me about 15 mins to do.

Took me 3 1/2 hours to do it on my DC.. it is FARRR more picky, as there is a "sweet" spot you must find. >_<
 
or you could just use a multimeter to read the value of the pot and adjust it from there, if you randomly adjust a laser without knowing the value you will never be able to correct a mistake and if the laser is set too high you could burn it out.
plus you with go from something that will take like 1 min tops with a multimeter to something that could take you upto an hour of messing around to get anywhere.

not only will using a multimeter show you the current value of the pot, if you're able to keep the multimeter attached while adjusting the pot you will also see whether the value is increasing or decreasing and by how much.
 
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if you would have waited just 4 more months you could have bumped this on the 20th anniversary of the last post.

Information lives forever here on SegaXtreme.
i realized it was an old thread after i posted the comment, the reason why i commented in the first place was because someone posted it on discord as a method for someone to follow to try to fix their laser so i felt i had to reply because just randomly turning the pot and hoping it works out is never good advice :)
 
Honestly new posts on informational threads like this are only a good thing IMHO, as long as they're relevant. ;)
 
My general advice for CD-R & weak lasers would be as follows:-

1- Grease the metal rails, torque gears, & drive array tracks with clear liquid silicone (instead of cream) before tweaking any laser pots.
2- Use TDK and/or Kodak CD-Rs.
3- Burn ISOs > BINs (preferably the former) at the slowest possible speed achievable by your drive. Preferably 4x-8x-10x.
4- Update your Pseudo Saturn KAI or 2/3-In-One cartridge by flashing it with the latest firmware (Currently v6.545 @ PPCenter) by burning the firmware according to the abovementioned steps 2 & 3.
4- ONLY if all the above fails, then give your laser pot a very miniscule tiny pinch CLOCKWISE which should provide a little more power to read again.

Enjoy!
 
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