Panasonic FZ-10 Troubleshooting Guide

Rear of a Panasonic FZ-10

Fault-finding on the Panasonic FZ-10 starts from Panasonic's U.K. service manual, which has a troubleshooting table for the later ANVIL main board, and from community drawings of the power boards. The 3DO Development Repo's notes on symptoms common to all 3DO models fill in the rest. Much of the Panasonic FZ-1 Troubleshooting Guide applies to the FZ-10 as well, apart from the power supply, the drive mechanism and the board references.

Before you start

• Warning: the power board is a mains switch-mode supply. Its reservoir sits at about 130 V on 120 V boards and about 310 V on 230–240 V boards, and the power switch does not disconnect the primary. Unplug the console and check the reservoir has discharged before touching the board.
• Panasonic's service note is to cover the power board with its cover when working on the main board, and to keep clear of the metal parts of the power section.
• The laser diode is easily destroyed by static. Use an anti-static wrist strap and a conductive sheet under the pickup, keep clothing away from it, and do not turn the laser power preset.
• To run a disc with the lid open, tape down the lid switch SW720, as Panasonic's service note shows.

Panasonic's troubleshooting table

The table in the U.K. manual is for the ANVIL main board. It names causes but not remedies.

Troubleshooting table, service manual IMD9504003C2 section 2-3

Symptom	Panasonic's cause
No picture and no sound	A resistor array connected to the DRAM poorly soldered; IC310 and IC330 (DRAM); IC300, IC301, IC320 and IC322 (VRAM); IC120 (ANVIL) or IC100 (CPU); broken tracks around IC120, IC100 or the DRAM
No sound	Mute circuit (Q500, Q501, Q263, Q262, Q261, Q260); the mute circuit is faulty if the base of Q500 is held high
Loud noise, or sound dropping out at random, repeatably	IC120 (ANVIL)
Sound stops occasionally	Traverse unit
Wrong colours	The S0–S31 signals between ANVIL and the DRAM; IC120 (ANVIL)
Objects drawn wrongly (for example the meteorite in the demo screen)	IC120 (ANVIL)
An image stays on screen after it should have been cleared	VRAM (IC300, IC301, IC320, IC321)
A particular program does not run	IC120 (ANVIL); traverse unit
A program stops at the same point each time	IC120 (ANVIL)
A program stops occasionally	Traverse unit
Picture freezes	VRAM (IC300, IC301, IC320, IC321)
A program stops at random, repeatably	IC120 (ANVIL)

The table lists the fourth VRAM as IC322 in its first row and IC321 in the others; check the board. Before replacing ANVIL or memory, rule out the supply and the capacitors: the 3DO Development Repo lists failed capacitors, a weak supply and faulty DRAM or VRAM as causes of resets and crashes, and notes that the start-up memory test does not catch faults that only show while a game runs.

No power

Power board outputs

The power board feeds the main board through the 18-way connector CN101. Measure there first.

Power board test values (community drawings)

Point	120 V board ETXMM002A2B	230–240 V board ETXMM002E2B
CN101 pins 1–3	+9 V	+9 V (9.1 V measured)
CN101 pins 13–17	+5 V	+5 V (5.0 V measured)
CN101 pins 4–12	Ground	Ground
CN101 pin 18	5 V AC (marked "~5V")	"MON"
Primary reservoir	About 130 V on C003 (150 µF, 200 V)	About 310 V on C007 (47 µF, 400 V)
Mains fuse F001	2 A, 250 V	2 A, 250 V
Shunt regulator IC101 (HA17431P)	4.1 V cathode, 2.5 V reference	3.88 V cathode, 2.38 V reference
Power switch control	Q002 gate +0.26 V on, +12.6 V off	+12.6 V marked at ZD002

Panasonic's own parts list for the 230–240 V board gives the fuse as 2 A, 250 V and the reservoir as 47 µF, 400 V, matching the drawing.

Working through a dead supply

1. Check the fuse F001. Panasonic's instruction is to replace it only with the same type, 2 A, 250 V. A blown fuse usually means a shorted part on the primary side; find it before fitting a new fuse.
2. Measure the primary reservoir. No voltage with a good fuse points to the mains inlet, the filter L001, the thermistor TH001 or the bridge rectifier.
3. With the reservoir charged but no outputs, the fault is in the switching stage: the switching transistor Q001 (2SC4953) on the 120 V board, or the hybrid controller MC001 and MOSFET Q001 (2SK2368) on the 230–240 V board, and their start-up components.
4. Outputs present but wrong point to the feedback loop: the shunt regulator IC101 and the optocoupler PC001.
5. Check the output capacitors C101, C102 and C103 and the secondary rectifiers D101 and D102. Values are on the Panasonic FZ-10 Capacitor Replacement Guide.

Where the board cannot be saved, a replacement supply built around a PicoPSU is sold for the FZ-10.

Picture and sound

Picture and sound faults

Symptom	Probable cause	Action
Picture on one output but not the others	Cracked solder joint on an output socket	Resolder or replace the socket
No picture on any output	Supply rails or capacitors; then ANVIL and memory	Measure +5 V and +9 V; work through Panasonic's table
Rolling black-and-white picture	NTSC console on a PAL-only set, or the reverse	Use a television that accepts the console's standard
No sound with a picture	Mute circuit Q500, Q501, Q260 to Q263	Check the base of Q500; Panasonic gives a high base as the fault

Disc reading

• Check the disc against a bright light first; pinpoints of light mean a damaged metal layer that no polishing will fix.
• Clean the lens; a fogged or scratched lens means a new pickup.
• The laser is the Sanyo SF-92.5 in its short-wire version, the same type as the FZ-1's. Much of the SF-92.5 stock on sale has the wrong flexible cable arrangement.
• Console5's test points for checking the drive with an oscilloscope are EFM at TP700, RF at TP720 (or pin 7 or 10 of IC720, an AN8803NSB), VREF at TP721, focus error at IC720 pin 27 and tracking error at IC720 pin 25.
• Setting the laser current needs an oscilloscope; turning the preset by trial and error can destroy the laser or blow the fuse.
• A healthy FZ-10 can read CD-R, but it is harder to read than a pressed disc. Burn slowly on good media before blaming the drive.
• Panasonic's table gives the traverse unit as the cause of sound or programs stopping occasionally.

Games that will not run

The 3DO has no region lock, but Japanese games that need the kanji ROM fitted only to Japanese consoles fail on other models, and some games run only on PAL or only on NTSC consoles. ConsoleMods notes that the ANVIL boards may cause difficulty with homebrew and some game compatibility.

Related pages

• Panasonic FZ-10 R.E.A.L. 3DO
• Panasonic FZ-10 General Maintenance
• Panasonic FZ-10 Capacitor Replacement Guide
• Panasonic FZ-10 Documentation
• Panasonic FZ-1 Troubleshooting Guide
• Capacitor Failure Symptoms