Philips CDI 210 Troubleshooting Guide

Rear of a CDI 210/45: Input 2, the rear serial port, is to the left of the audio outputs (photograph: Matthew Paul Argall)

Faults on the Philips CDI 210 are diagnosed with the test software built into every player, plus supply and servo measurements from Philips's service manuals. Start by reading the version number on the type plate, since the four versions have different mainboards and power supplies. Dismantling, NVRAM replacement and fuse locations are on Philips CDI 210 General Maintenance; the capacitor lists are on Philips CDI 210 Capacitor Replacement Guide.

Symptoms

CDI 210 symptoms

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Settings and clock forgotten, "memory full" error, light blue screen	Flat battery in the NVRAM Timekeeper	Back up the saves and replace the chip
Dead, no display	Mains fuse, or the wrong mains voltage on a transformer model (210/00 to 210/25)	Check the input voltage, then the main fuse and the rail fuses 1805 (T2A) and 1806 (T1A)
Dim display, erratic operation	European or UK player on 120 V	Use a step-up transformer
Front buttons and display dead, a motor runs continuously	Front panel cables swapped, or fuse 1806 (−5 V) blown	Check cable positions and 1806
Rolling picture, tray opens by itself, disc keeps spinning (210/40)	−5 V fuse 3274 on the Mono III board blown	Measure −5 V and replace the fuse
Disc not read	CD mechanism or servo	Run the CD drive test in the service shell
No player shell on screen	MMC section, supplies or clocks	Run the low-level test; check supplies and clocks

Built-in tests

Front display and keyboard test

The 220 has a front-panel test started by holding PAUSE at switch-on. The 210/00 manual describes the same test but marks its scope "not for CDI200 and CDI210", so do not expect it to start on a 210.

Service shell

Connect RXD and TXD of port 1, pins 2 and 3, before switching on or resetting the player; the service shell then starts in place of the player shell. The 210/00 manual's list of service tools includes a plug for this, 4822 264 50263, which it describes as being for port 2 (BU 2); retrostuff starts the shell on other CD-i players with pins 2 and 3 of the front controller port shorted. The shell tests the video circuits with a colour bar pattern, the CD drive and servo, the ports and the audio circuits; the CD and audio tests need an audio CD.

The CD drive test steps through four modes: mode 0 moves the lens in and out with ARM IN and ARM OUT; mode 1 focuses (IN FOCUS, or NO FOCUS after 16 attempts); mode 2 runs the turntable motor; mode 3 makes the lens jump in small steps; NEXT STEP then starts normal play with any CD processor errors shown on screen. The modes and messages are the same as on the CDI 220.

Low-level test

The low-level test runs from the boot ROM without external RAM. Connect a VT100-compatible terminal to the rear port at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, and hold the space bar while switching on. It checks the ROM checksum, NVRAM, DRAM, the CDIC, the slave processor and the X-bus. The error codes in the 210/00 manual are: Er05 ROM checksum; Er09 and Er10 NVRAM; Er11 to Er16 DRAM, by bank and with normal or inverted data; Er17 to Er19 the CDIC RAM and register; Er20 no correct echo from the slave processor; Er21 X-bus transfer. An Er09 or Er10 points to the NVRAM Timekeeper or its socket.

Supply checks

On the 210/00 Philips gives the voltages at mainboard connector 1001 as +5 V ±5 % on pins 1, 2 and 3, −5 V ±5 % on pin 4 and +25 V ±5 % on pin 5, with pins 6 to 8 at ground. The +5 V is adjusted with trimmer 3807, up to 5.3 V. Just after a reset the system clock should read 30.0000 MHz ± 1500 Hz on a PAL player at IC7201 pin 30, IC7304 pin 80 and IC7125 pin 115.

For the 210/40 and 210/60, retrostuff measures −5 V most easily on the extension connector (pins A1, B1 and C1), since the manuals give no test point for it.

Disc and servo faults

Philips's routine for the 210/00 is the same as for an audio CD player: if the CD mechanism does not start, check supply, clock and reset at the CD drive microprocessor, then run the X-bus test; if communication works, use the service shell modes to test the laser unit, turntable and swing arm; then check the decoder outputs. With track 1 of Philips test disc 5 playing, the 210/00 manual expects:

210/00 servo readings (manual section 7.2.2)

Point	Reading
Across 3411 (laser current)	0.7 V DC ± 10 %
Across 2431 (focus)	+400 mV DC ± 10 %
Measuring point 6	3.2 V DC ± 10 %
Measuring point 18	2.6 V DC ± 10 %
Measuring point 19, in play	110 mV DC ± 10 %
Measuring point 21, in play	1.2 V DC ± 10 %

The laser current of the CDM 9 is set at the factory, and Philips replaces the mechanism as an assembly. On the CDM 12.1 of the 210/60, retrostuff's repair of a motor error on a CDI 470 (lifting the turntable, then greasing the sledge gears and rod) applies; the replacement assembly is the VAM 1202.

Video faults

The 210/00 manual's checks: if the player shell appears but disc video does not, the fault is in the video decoding on the MMC section; if there is no picture on any output (S-video, RF or composite), check the RGB, sync and supply inputs to the video encoder; for no colour, check the subcarrier at pin 6 of the encoder IC7609 and the chroma path through pins 15, 17 and 20.

Related pages

• Philips CDI 210
• Philips CDI 210 General Maintenance
• Philips CDI 210 Capacitor Replacement Guide
• Philips CDI 210 Service Manuals
• Philips CDI 220 Troubleshooting Guide