Atari Jaguar CD and Unit Repair…

[DegasElite]

Hey guys!

I have a question. Does anybody have info on which businesses repair Atari Jaguar base and CD units? Best Electronics could. I have also heard of Dragon's Hoard Gaming in Texas and eStarLand in Washington, DC, that can also do it. Console5 sells capacitors for the Jag base and CD units. But, even with that, parts in general for these systems are getting scarce because the systems are scarce. I was wondering of other places besides these places that can repair the things in the United States. This is just in case of the possibility of when I need repairs. Thanks and have a happy! :O)

Edited December 21, 2021 by DegasElite

[CrossFace Gaming]

Www.CrossfaceGaming.com is the only other places of in the US currently

[CrossFace Gaming]

 

I also do them as well

Www.CrossfaceGaming.com. In the US TBH I would trust myself, Dragon's Hoard, and Bradley at Best Electronics. I would not send anything to estarland for repair feel free to pm me and I can tell you why

[DegasElite]

Thanks for the information. I will check this out. :O)

[DegasElite]

Got another question: Has anyone ever tried to make an optical disc emulator for the Jaguar CD player besides the JagGD cartridge? That would be interesting. I know they are for the Dreamcast and the GameCube. If not, I can see why it would be complicated because of the way Jaguar CD software is created. Thanks. :O)

[DegasElite]

I guess it is more difficult to make an optical disc emulator (ODE) because of the RISC architecture of the Jaguar. That's for sure. I have not seen an update for Virtual Jaguar in years. I don't know if they are still updating it or not. Anyway, I hope they can study it more closely and create a better emulator for it.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I wouldn't think the CD mech itself would be a problem to emulate because all CDs are read pretty much the same way.  There's not much difference in mechs whether it is the PlayStation, Saturn, or Sega CD add-on...the machine spins a disc and a laser reads what's on it.  If you could find a way to get the information on the disc on to a flash card and get a reader to work with the rest of the Jag CD's circuits then it should work.  Maybe someday someone will figure it out.

I remember the Jag CD I once owned.  Weird looking thing, was flacky since new, but the games on it were fun.  Especially Baldies.  I loved that game.  I hope to get another one someday.

[DegasElite]

Yeah, they are quite flaky for sure. Baldies is pretty cool, especially the FMV sequences. They're actually quite funny. :O)

The JagGD cartridge uses an SD card not only to read ROMs, but can do CD emulation to a point. But, you need to convert the game to CDI and then JCD to run it on the cartridge. There is a application tool for that, but the CD emulation isn't perfect yet. However, SainT at RetroHQ is working on that. Not all JCD-formatted CD games work on the cartridge yet, but I think Baldies and Dragon's Lair both work on the JagGD cartridge. This is the closest thing to an ODE the Jaguar has, so far anyway. Not only that, it's scarce and expensive to buy: about USD $200.00. The price includes shipping and handling.

You're right about one thing, though. The CD unit does look weird. It look like a toilet seat, hence the famous nickname for it. Thanks for letting me share. :O)

[CrossBow]

I've got a working JagCD but rarely use it. Battlemorph is probably the one game that has the most hours of use from the JagCD. When I first got my Jag and JagCD combo back around 2002 or so, the JagCD didn't work at first. But a small tweak on the laser diode trimmer took care of it and it has been working since. Although again, I don't really use it that much although it is always attached to the Jag.

 

[DegasElite]

I see. Battlemorph is a great game and what Cybermorph should have been. Anyway, a good rule of thumb is this. I always take the CD unit off of the Jag when I am not playing it for a while. I like to preserve my CD unit, and that is supposed to help it last longer from what I heard from a friend of mine. So far, it rings true for me. It works great. I also have two Jags and two CD units in need of repairs and fine-tuning. Crossface Gaming is one place I want to look into, or Dragon's Hoard, but the money isn't there at the moment. They are experts in fixing those systems. :O)

[CrossBow]

In my case, I found that my game carts read better through the jagCD cart slot than they do on the actual jag itself. So... yeah I keep it on there and even got a dust cover specifically for the jag+jagCD combo since I always have them together.

[DegasElite]

5 hours ago, DegasElite said:

I see. Battlemorph is a great game and what Cybermorph should have been. Anyway, a good rule of thumb is this. I always take the CD unit off of the Jag when I am not playing it for a while. I like to preserve my CD unit, and that is supposed to help it last longer from what I heard from a friend of mine. So far, it rings true for me. It works great. I also have two Jags and two CD units in need of repairs and fine-tuning. Crossface Gaming is one place I want to look into, or Dragon's Hoard, but the money isn't there at the moment. They are experts in fixing those systems. :O)

I know Brad at Best can repair Jaguar consoles, too. He's good at it. Sorry. I forgot to mention him. :O)

[Clint Thompson]

I've never had a problem with the way the JagCD looked and the first unit I purchased in September of 1995 was rock solid. Literally that unit would play through the most scratched CDs I owned and it was astonishing to me, was easily the best CD player I had ever owned. Fast forward to some 20+ years later and a few JagCDs later? They're not so great now but given the questionable way most people care or don't rather for their electronics, I'm not surprised most function less than optimal.

Fully on board with the idea of JagCD emulation on the GD, I just hope I can make JCD audio CDs to play on the VLM as that's my absolute favorite thing of the Jaguar CD!