Philips CDI 604 General Maintenance
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No service manual for the Philips CDI 604 has been found. Retrostuff, a CD-i repair site, points to the CDI 220/00 service manual for the professional Mini MMC board the 604 uses, and its NVRAM and power supply articles cover the parts that age.[1][2] The care described here is for those parts: the mains selector, the timekeeper NVRAM, the tray-loading CDM 9 and the Digital Video board. Fault-finding is on the Philips CDI 604 Troubleshooting Guide.
Mains supply
[edit | edit source]Retrostuff says the Maxi MMC and Mini MMC supplies are multi-voltage switch-mode units, and that only the professional and authoring players have a voltage selector.[3] Check the selector before connecting a 604 of unknown history. Before opening the player, unplug the mains lead and leave the power switch on for some time; retrostuff warns that the large filter capacitors in CD-i supplies can give a shock if they have not discharged, and advises against running a supply without a load.[3]
Timekeeper NVRAM
[edit | edit source]Retrostuff says that every Philips player of the first two generations, Mini MMC and Mono I, keeps its 8 KB of NVRAM and its clock in an SGS-Thomson or STMicroelectronics timekeeper chip, with a BR1225 lithium cell and a 32,768 Hz crystal built in.[4][1] Once the clock has been started, the cell runs down within some years. A failing chip loses the stored data and the date and time, and can stop a player at a light blue screen or the "memory full" message.[4]
| Part | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| STMicroelectronics M48T08-150PC1 | Still made | The cell and crystal are in a cap hat, which makes the chip larger and the pins harder to reach when it is soldered from both sides |
| SGS-Thomson MK48T08B-15 | Out of production | The older type, with the cell and crystal in a top hat that is easily broken off |
| Dallas DS1643 | Out of production | Fully compatible; needs no calibration and ignores calibration data; its cell is buried in the epoxy, so it cannot be fitted with a new one |
| Glitch Works GW-48T08-1 | Sold on Tindie | A repair board that replaces the top hat of an old MK48T08B |
Retrostuff replaces a failed chip with a standard wide 28-pin socket, not a precision socket, and buys chips only from the maker or an official distributor. Desoldering takes fresh solder, plenty of flux, a desoldering gun and wick, as some pins are soldered on both sides. After replacing or repairing a chip it calibrates the clock with the tool in the Low Level Test, especially if the old crystal has been reused.[4] No 604 manual describing that test has been found.
Disc mechanism
[edit | edit source]The 604 loads discs from a tray into a CDM 9 mechanism; retrostuff gives the variant as CDM 9/44.[5][6][1] ICDIA calls the CDM 9 generally very reliable.[5] The World of CD-i's checks for a disc that will not spin are on the troubleshooting guide.[6]
Digital Video board
[edit | edit source]Digital Video on the 604 comes from the 22ER9424, whose boards are not in a cartridge housing but slide straight into the player's expansion slots; ICDIA says the 604 can also take a modified VMPEG cartridge, and its player description mentions a modified 22ER9141 cartridge, taken out of its housing and given a different ROM.[5][7] ICDIA's 1 MB main RAM figure for the 604 does not count the extra 1 MB that a Digital Video cartridge usually carries.[5]
Video outputs
[edit | edit source]Retrostuff says the professional Mini MMC players have multi-region video encoder panels with the region switches already fitted, so no 50/60 Hz modification is needed.[1] For the 9-pin RGB port it expects the 604 to share the pinout of the CDI 605, for which it built a SCART adapter, but advises measuring the 604's output signals before connecting one.[8]
Preventive maintenance checklist
[edit | edit source]- Check the mains voltage selector before powering the player.[3]
- Check the date and time after the player has been off for a while; a lost clock points to the timekeeper.[4]
- Play a disc to check the tray and the CDM 9.
- If the timekeeper has been replaced, calibrate the clock or fit a DS1643, which needs no calibration.[4]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Philips CDI 604
- Philips CDI 604 Troubleshooting Guide
- Philips CDI 604 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Philips CDI 605 General Maintenance, the authoring player on the same board type
- Philips CDI 602 General Maintenance
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Retrostuff, "Modifications for Philips CD-i Players" (retrieved 2026-10-20), section "JNMS, Maxi MMC and Mini MMC (prof.)".
- ↑ The New International CD-i Association, "CD-i Service Manuals" (retrieved 2026-10-21): no manual for the CDI 604.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Retrostuff, "Philips CD-i Power Supply Units", 2024, updated 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-20): general information and warning; section "Maxi MMC / Mini MMC".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Retrostuff, "NVRAM+RTC Solutions for Philips CD-i Players", 2021, updated 2025 (retrieved 2026-10-20), section "8 KB (Timekeeper)".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The New International CD-i Association, "Comparison table of all Philips professional and authoring CD-i players" (retrieved 2026-10-21): CDI 604/00 tray, 1 MB, DVC 9424, CDM 9; notes on the 22ER9424, the modified VMPEG cartridge, main RAM, and the CDM-9 ("generally considered to be very reliable").
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The World of CD-i, "Chronicle #32: CD-i player CDM substituition", 30 October 2020 (retrieved 2026-10-21): 604/00 CDM 9.
- ↑ The New International CD-i Association, "Philips professional and authoring CD-i players" (retrieved 2026-10-20): the CDI 604 "offers upgradability for Digital Video by a modified 9141 cartridge (removed from cartridge housing and with a different ROM)".
- ↑ Retrostuff, "Philips CDI605 RGB SCART Adapter", 27 January 2021 (retrieved 2026-10-21).