Sanyo IMP-21J TRY Troubleshooting Guide
Fault-finding on the Sanyo IMP-21J TRY centres on its disc drive, which is the Sanyo mechanism used in the GoldStar GDO-101 and GDO-101M.[1] The Goldstar GDO-101M Troubleshooting Guide has the full drive procedures, including the laser change. The sections below give the TRY's own repair reports and the points where its construction differs.[2] Opening the case is described on the Sanyo IMP-21J TRY General Maintenance page.
Before you start
[edit | edit source]- The TRY is a Japanese NTSC console rated for AC 100 V, 50/60 Hz.[3] Find out what supply it has been run from.
- Check the video and audio leads and the television input first. The TRY has composite, S-Video and stereo audio outputs on the rear and no RF output.[4]
Symptoms
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Probable cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Tray opens and closes, but games do not load; the start-up logo flickers | Flexible cable between the drive's boards cracked where it folds at the connector | Replace the cable with a longer 30-way, 1 mm pitch one, or trim and reterminate the damaged end |
| 3DO logo, then a black screen, repeating | Drive microswitches or the flexible cable | Check the cable, then the switches |
| Odd noise from the drive; discs never spin | Composite gear between the sled motor and its worm gear destroyed | Fit a replacement gear, or an optical drive emulator |
| Lens runs into the spindle; tray does not stay open; no disc detected | Sled home switch or the open and close detect switches | Clean or replace the microswitches |
| OPEN/CLOSE button does nothing | Not established; on one TRY the board behind the button was loose, and resoldering it did not cure the fault | Check the switch and its board |
The drive's flexible cable
[edit | edit source]NAO's TRY opened and closed its tray but would not load a game, and the SANYO start-up screen flickered. Inside, the drive's flexible cable was limp and sharply folded beside its connector. NAO cut off the folded end, marked the insertion length, scraped the insulation thin to expose the contacts, and refitted the stiffener from the old end. The logo then showed steadily and games loaded.[5] ConsoleMods recommends a new cable instead, longer than the original: 30-way, 1 mm pitch, 200 mm, contacts on the same side at both ends.[1]
Laser
[edit | edit source]The 3DO Development Repo lists the TRY's laser as the GDO-101's Sanyo SF-C93AQ, as used in the Sega CDX, but marks this as unverified.[7] Read the part number off the pickup before ordering; the change itself is described on the GoldStar guide.[2] On the TRY the lens sits on the tray.[8]
Optical drive emulators
[edit | edit source]The USBto3DO emulator has a version for the TRY. It takes the TRY's 14-way power and 30-way CD-ROM flexible cables in place of the drive, in 1.25 mm pitch sockets on the emulator board, and its instructions say to remove C53, the capacitor beside the battery on the main board, before use.[9][10]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Sanyo IMP-21J TRY 3DO
- Sanyo IMP-21J TRY General Maintenance
- Goldstar GDO-101M Troubleshooting Guide
- Capacitor Failure Symptoms
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 3DO:Sanyo Disc Drive Repair, ConsoleMods Wiki, 25 June 2025—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Community repair guide for the Sanyo drive used in the IMP-21J and the GoldStar models: failure points, symptoms, and the replacement flexible cable.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Goldstar GDO-101M General Maintenance and Goldstar GDO-101M Troubleshooting Guide on this wiki: the Sanyo drive procedures (cleaning, switches, flexible cable, SF-C93AQ laser change, gears), with their sources.
- ↑ 【ハード】SANYO IMP-21J TRY, 3DO FAN (blog), 20 January 2021—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Release date, price and a full specification table (CPU, memory, video and audio outputs, drive, ports, size, mass, power). A community page; the table follows Sanyo's specification format but its source is not named.
- ↑ Photographs by Evan-Amos (public domain): front, File:Sanyo 3DO TRY IMP-21J.jpg; rear, File:Sanyo 3DO TRY IMP-21J rear.jpg.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 3ＤＯ「ＴＲＹ」修理。, Ameba, January 2023—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Owner's repair: a TRY whose tray worked but which would not load games and whose start-up logo flickered; case and drive screws, and the drive's flexible cable trimmed and reused.
- ↑ 3DO地獄, ナカムーオンライン (blog)—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Owner's account of junk 3DO consoles, including a TRY with a faulty drive whose eject switch board was loose; resoldering did not restore it.
- ↑ Laser assemblies, 3DO Development Repo—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Lists the IMP-21J laser as the same as the GDO-101's Sanyo SF-C93AQ, marked as needing verification.
- ↑ 3DO, Wikipedia (Japanese)—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Section on the console models: the TRY's release on 1 October 1994 at ¥54,800 (citing Weekly Famitsu no. 330), open price from summer 1995, and the reading lens mounted on the tray (citing Dengeki Oh, 1 March 1995, pp. 152–153); sales section on its limited distribution through Sanyo's appliance shops.
- ↑ tzmwx, USBTO3DO-SANYO-TRY-IMP21J, GitHub repository, README (in Chinese). Optical drive emulator board for the TRY: 14-way 1.25 mm power and 30-way 1.25 mm CD-ROM flexible-cable sockets, and the instruction to remove capacitor C53 beside the battery on the main board.
- ↑ 3DO:USBto3DO, ConsoleMods Wiki, 26 April 2026—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Lists the USBto3DO versions for the FZ-1, FZ-10, Sanyo TRY IMP21J and GoldStar GDO101M.
