CD Rom as Audio Player trouble

[Zero One]

I am just experimenting with CD roms for audio, and picked up a sony rom for $2.00 to try, the trouble is that it isn't working so maybe it is a dud- or I'm missing something. It has control buttons on the front for forward/stop etc plus the vol control for headphones.

Here is what I have done, hooked up the 12 and 5 v lines using batteries, an SLA for the 12V (it measures 13V) and 4 AAs in a pack which are measuring exactly 5V.

I have hooked up the audio out to some RCAs via a plug and thats it, no other connections.

When I power up the front LED flashes and the drive that runs the sled steps in or out in small steps continously, none of the buttons cause any response at all.

So does this sound like a duff ROM or am I doing something wrong, like do some other connections need bridging etc.

I can pick up some other roms easy enough if this is a dud, I have a friend who is a computer tech with shelves of gear if I ask, are any better than others.

[sandyK]

I don't know about the connection side of it, but if you are using normal batteries, and not rechargeables, the batteries are pretty flat. With 4 good batteries you should be reading around 6V, or higher if fresh. Was that voltage measured under load conditions? Does the rear of the CD ROM state the 5V rail consumption figures ?
SandyK

[Zero One]

Hi SandyK

The batteries are rechargable, so nominally 1.2 volt, they are near full capacity and the 12V is fully charged 7.2Ah. No indicator of rail figure. I do have a smps I could use but for initial testing I just wanted to run the batteries, the SMPS seem to produce a fair bit of hash and the rest of my system is battery powered as well.

[sandyK]

Zero One
Looks like you have done all that is normally needed.
Have a look at http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/71
Regards
SandyK

[Zero One]

Back again sandyK

Actually you were very helpful, I found the problem was the 5V line, no guts under load, once I hooked it up to the SMPS all came good.

This actually sounds better than any of the CD players I have here, by quite some margin, maybe I just got lucky!

Time to investigate some other options, like better power supply, a case that quietens the drive, external dac etc. I will check out the forum here on this now.

many thanks
Zero One

[dangus]

If you've seen those "USB 2.0 to IDE" cables that let you plug any old drive into your computer without the effort of mounting it in a case, they come with a little switching supply that does +12 and +5 at 2A. For around $20, they're worth buying just for that power supply.

If you can't find them at some local market or generic computer store, there's plenty on eBay (search on usb 2.0 ide cable).