Atari Jaguar CD General Maintenance

Jaguar CD main board, assembly 700037 Rev. E, with the transport removed from its opening

Routine care for the Atari Jaguar CD. The unit sits on the Jaguar's cartridge slot and contains one main board, a Philips CD transport in a sprung cradle, a lid switch, and a pass-through cartridge slot; it has its own power socket. Faults are covered in the Atari Jaguar CD Troubleshooting Guide and transport replacement in Atari Jaguar CD Laser Replacement.

Atari's care instructions

The user's guide asks owners to:

• set the unit up in a well-ventilated place, out of direct sunlight and away from extreme heat or cold;
• keep it dry, and if condensation forms, wipe it and wait at least an hour before use;
• use only 8 cm or 12 cm discs, and never discs made for other consoles;
• open the lid only with its button;
• never touch the connectors or put objects into them;
• not drop the unit or pull its cables;
• clean it with a soft, slightly damp cloth, without strong cleaners or abrasives;
• not touch the lens;
• use only the supplied adaptor, and switch the Jaguar off before fitting or removing the CD unit.

The Jaguar CD is a Class 1 laser product. Atari warns that invisible laser radiation can be emitted when the unit is open and its interlocks are defeated.

Power

The CD unit takes the same adaptor as the console; Atari's guide says the two are interchangeable. The Atari adaptor (P/N 500273) gives 9 V DC at 1.2 A, centre negative. See Atari Jaguar General Maintenance for checking an adaptor.

Opening the unit

Graeme Hinchliffe's procedure:

1. Remove the seven Phillips screws from the underside; they are all the same size.
2. Turn the unit the right way up and lift off the top cover, which carries the lid mechanism. The small plastic post of the lid-closed sensor, at the bottom right, falls out easily; keep it.
3. To lift the board, remove four more screws of the same size and unplug the lid switch lead.

When refitting the cover, guide the lid-sensor post into its hole. James Jones found that a bent section of shielding at the left of the case stopped the cover seating until he bent it back.

Lid switch and platter

• The lid switch is a pair of metal contacts. Clean them with isopropyl alcohol if the unit stops responding to the lid, and set the lower contact so the two nearly touch.
• The platter can creep down the motor spindle until it rubs on the motor housing. Check that it spins freely and sits clear of the housing, and pull it back up if it does not.

Capacitors

The CD board has about sixteen electrolytic capacitors, including those beside the two LM2941T regulators. See the Atari Jaguar CD Capacitor Replacement Guide.

Memory Track

The Memory Track is a cartridge that plugs into the CD unit's pass-through slot and gives Jaguar CD games 128 K of EEPROM for saved games and settings.

Related pages

• Atari Jaguar CD
• Atari Jaguar CD Troubleshooting Guide
• Atari Jaguar CD Laser Replacement
• Atari Jaguar CD Capacitor Replacement Guide
• Atari Jaguar General Maintenance
• Atari Jaguar Documentation