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Philips CDI 601 Troubleshooting Guide

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Philips CDI 601 (Philips brochure photograph)
CDI 601 front panel (Philips brochure). The Reading Disc LED is under the caddy slot; the sensor LED is beside the infra-red window at the right.

No service manual for the Philips CDI 601 has been found, so there are no published voltages, test points or error codes for its Maxi MMC board.[1][2] What the published sources do give is the behaviour of the front-panel indicators, the start-up sequence and its terminal messages, and the rules the player uses to find its input devices. Routine care is on Philips CDI 601 General Maintenance.

First checks

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First checks
Symptom Check Source
Before switching on The 110/220 V selector on the rear panel matches the mains supply Brochure
Remote control ignored The sensor LED flashes regularly while infra-red commands are being received; if it stays dark, the commands are not reaching the player Brochure
Disc not read The Reading Disc LED lights when a CD-i disc is loaded and flashes while it is read; if it stays dark, see disc faults Brochure
Video output in the wrong line standard for the television The 525/625 line selector on the rear panel, next to the video outputs Brochure
Settings and clock lost SmartWatch NVRAM batteries; see the maintenance page Retrostuff
Pointing device on Port 2 not working It must be connected before the player is switched on 6XX technical documentation

[3][4][5]

Start-up and the terminal

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Philips's technical documentation for the 6XX series describes what the player does at switch-on.[6]

  1. Very early, before any message is printed, a download routine sends an SOH character at 9600 baud on the console port and waits 3 ms for an ACK. With no reply, start-up carries on normally.[7]
  2. The config program checks for a floppy drive, for pointing devices on Ports 1 and 2, and for a terminal on Port 3, and records what it finds in the configuration file in NVRAM.[5]
  3. Sysgo asks the slave processor for the start-up mode (normal, service or retail) and starts either the player shell or the service shell.[6]
  4. If either shell cannot be started, an error message is printed to a terminal on Port 3, if one is connected, and the system crashes. A failure to start the config program, or a wrong exit code from a shell, causes a reset.[6]

To read those messages, connect a terminal to Port 3, the rear 9-pin D-sub that the brochure calls the default terminal port, at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity.[3][8] The player looks for a terminal on the CTS line of Port 3, pin 8, so the cable must carry CTS.[5][9] With a terminal present, the "system" button in the player shell's settings menu starts an OS-9 shell.[8]

Input devices

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  • Port 1 is identified by the slave processor; a pointing device can be plugged in or changed while the player is on. A device on Port 1 becomes the default pointing device.[5]
  • Port 2 is identified only once, at start-up, by its identification protocol. A device plugged in later is not recognised; with nothing connected, Port 2 becomes a standard RS-232 port.[5]
  • Port 1 supplies +5 V ± 10 % at up to 200 mA on pin 8, and +12 V at up to 10 mA on DTR (pin 4) for devices that draw power from it.[9]

Disc faults

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The 601 uses the CDM 9 mechanism with caddy loading.[10][11] The World of CD-i, a CD-i community site, gives these checks for a CD-i mechanism that will not play:[11]

  1. If the lens moves but the disc does not spin, the turntable is most likely stuck; ease it up by about 1 mm all round with a thin metal blade.
  2. Check the flat cable to the mechanism. Every mechanism the author replaced had a damaged flat cable; none had a dead motor.
  3. Measure the spindle motor winding for continuity.
  4. Leave the focus adjustment alone unless an oscilloscope is available.

The same site lists ERROR or ERR on the display as a sign of a mechanism fault; the 601's front panel has no display, only the Reading Disc and sensor LEDs.[11][3]

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References

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  1. ↑ The New International CD-i Association, "CD-i Service Manuals" (retrieved 2026-10-21): no manual for the CDI 601.
  2. ↑ Retrostuff, "Modifications for Philips CD-i Players" (retrieved 2026-10-20), section "JNMS, Maxi MMC and Mini MMC (prof.)": "Not much is known" about the Maxi MMC players.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Philips Interactive Media Systems, CDI 601 Professional CD-I System, brochure, p. 5: front panel key (1 Reading Disc LED, "lights when the CD-I disc is loaded, flashes when the disc is being read"; 3 sensor LED, "flashes regularly when infra-red commands are being received"); rear panel key (11 mains voltage selector, 18 Port 3 default terminal, 22 525/625 line selector). Hosted as File:Philips CDI 601 Brochure.pdf.
  4. ↑ Retrostuff, "NVRAM+RTC Solutions for Philips CD-i Players", 2021, updated 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-20): the built-in battery powers the non-volatile memory and the real-time clock; section "8 KB (SmartWatch)".
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Philips Interactive Media Systems, CDI6XX Technical Manual (Technical Documentation for CDI 605 Users), 22 June 1992, chapter 3, Configuration Status Descriptor, section 4: config checks for a floppy drive, pointing devices on ports 1 and 2 and a terminal on port 3 (via its CTS line); port 2 is identified only once, at start-up; port 1 identification is done by the slave. Hosted as File:Philips CDI 6XX Technical Documentation (1992).pdf.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Philips, CDI6XX Technical Manual, chapter 5, Sysgo: start-up modes 0 normal, 1 service, 2 retail; error message to the terminal on port 3 if forking a shell fails. Hosted as File:Philips CDI 6XX Technical Documentation (1992).pdf.
  7. ↑ Philips, CDI6XX Technical Manual, chapter 4, Download routine, sections 3.1 and 3.2.1: SOH at 9600 baud on the console port, 3 ms timeout. Hosted as File:Philips CDI 6XX Technical Documentation (1992).pdf.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Philips, CDI6XX Technical Manual, chapter 6, Load application and system: the "system" button; terminal at 9600 baud, 8 bits per character, no parity. Hosted as File:Philips CDI 6XX Technical Documentation (1992).pdf.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Philips, CDI6XX Technical Manual, chapter 8, Serial Port Specification: port 1 pinning and ratings (+5 V ± 10 % max. 200 mA; DTR +12 V ± 10 % max. 10 mA); ports 3 and 4 pinning (CTS on pin 8). Hosted as File:Philips CDI 6XX Technical Documentation (1992).pdf.
  10. ↑ The New International CD-i Association, "Comparison table of all Philips professional and authoring CD-i players" (retrieved 2026-10-21): CDI 601/00, caddy, CDM 9.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The World of CD-i, "Chronicle #32: CD-i player CDM substituition", 30 October 2020 (retrieved 2026-10-21).


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