GameCube Disc Cleaning Series: Part 1- Intro and basics
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- čas přidán 18. 11. 2021
- Part 1 of a multi-part series! We show you how to clean those tricky GameCube discs!
Here's the scoop. I got a stack of 8 GameCube games that were all deemed "damaged beyond repair". I've tested each one, and they do not play. At least for now...
In this series we will clean one GameCube disc per video, in increasing difficulty (based on visual inspections). I'll walk you through the steps and procedures of how I clean GameCube discs of all sorts of damage. (My assumption/hope is that I manage to revive all 8 discs).
This first video is an introduction to the structure, care, and cleaning of a GameCube disc. I review the basics and show you my method for using Novus Step 2 to repair a non-functioning disc! Links to tools and other important information below!
Thanks for watching!!
Tools I used:
Novus Step 2- amzn.to/3CxYiwe
Paper Towels
A GameCube for testing
Discord information:
Catch me on the Gameye discord, or send a DM to @Eldoug
Music I used:
Pixelland by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: filmmusic.io/standard-license
Tools I use! And affiliated links to buy them on Amazon!
(Let me know if you are outside of the US, I have suggested tools for most international countries too!)
Scotty Peelers-
amzn.to/3yxSRis
Heptane (Bestine)-
amzn.to/3FTBIS5
My gloves! Cosplay as me!-
amzn.to/3Mgm9WY
Mini heat gun-
amzn.to/3sv1si4
Gamebit screwdriver-
amzn.to/37Ezj0F
Thermal paste I use-
amzn.to/3FCllsQ
Insepction loupes/magnifiers-
amzn.to/3yxhtYs
iFixit Manta kit-
amzn.to/3a0fYYR
Magnetic parts tray-
amzn.to/3L99HqD
Brayer/roller-
amzn.to/3l5vDbu
Extraction fan for soldering-
amzn.to/3a0gbLD
Hygrometer/Thermometer-
amzn.to/3FMsmaE
The blue mat!-
amzn.to/3L8zdfp - Jak na to + styl
I’ve been looking around for specific GameCube disc advice and I haven’t found anyone explain it as thorough as you. Thank you! Need to buy some step 2!
Glad I could help! The rest of the series gets into specific GameCube issues, so we'll have plenty more videos and explanations on the way!
Brother I am eternally grateful I just fixed my Mario kart double dash disc that would only load to the Home Screen and then get a “disc is unreadable” notification. Love you brother God bless
Yessssss!!! That's what I love to hear, getting people back into games! And now that you've cleaned that one and brought it back to life, you'll find you can resurrect way more than you could before!
@@RestoreAndReplay will definitely be doing so might this problem pop up again in the future! you’re the man bro
I did not think I’d find such a thoughtful and detailed video on the subject. I’ve learned so much. I’m currently binging your channel because you have great videos on a lot of subjects. thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience
Thank you! I've got a whole boatload of more videos on the way too! The big challenge is having to wait for them to be verified by others first. So before a video is posted on here, it's shown to others and if they can recreate the results, the videos go up on CZcams! It's my way of making sure others can also get these same results! More videos will be on the way!
Found my old game cube games. 11 year old me didn’t take good of them unfortunately. This fixed it first try! Thank you!!
Excellent!
Part 2 is filmed and being edited! It increases the difficult a smidge, and we address resurfacing residue in the center ring! Stay tuned!!
What an interesting concept for a channel. Really cool idea.
Best GameCube Disc Cleaning Series: Part 1- Intro And Basics video ive seen in a WHIIILE
i appreciate that you actually know what you're talking about and share some genuinely good info and tips for those who maybe aren't even in the repair business but just want to play original hardware. Huge props to you.
Also as for what cloth to use, i've just been.. buying novus' kinda overpriced cloths they make lol. Figured better safe than sorry to go with what the manufacturer recommends, have had solid results, but maybe ill try paper towel to ease the wallet.
Thank you! Yeah I have the bad bad habit of using paper towels because that's all we had a GameStop, so it's a habit I need to break, but I get so picky about other towels too!
That “oh boy..eyyyyy” feeling always will I remember as a kid 😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭
Bro you just saved me from buying another copy of Mario party 6 it works great now wouldn’t even read it after a couple of adverts when the game starts thanks so much!
That's wonderful to hear! And any chance to play on Clockwork Castle again is worth it!!
This video is pretty old but it saved my life dude I had bought this Mario Kart DD from ebay and when it got here It wasn't working and so I searched how I can fixed it and I found this video the bought the product and it actually worked and like you said in the part three "it won't always work the first time" and so I kept going and on my like first try it started working thank you very much my friend 😃👍
I'm glad it worked! You'd be shocked how many times I've been given a disc and told that it was dead. A few quick polishes and it comes back to life!
Thank you so much my man! Your method brought back two badly scratched GameCube disc (barnyard and Pokémon colosseum) that I had already gotten resurfaced in a game shop with a two minute cycle. I really had to work at one though. At first it wouldn’t read at all but I ended up applying more pressure after another coat and used paper towel instead of micro fiber and it ended up working and actually playing through without any error messages after a decent bit of trial and error.
Not too worried about polishing them, just because I know there isn’t much surface life left in the disc but I find these videos really cool and interesting and didn’t know if you’re gonna release a video on your method for that.
I appreciate the compliments and I'm so glad they ended up working!! (I used to only use paper towels when I was at GameStop, they aren't great to use because they can scratch the discs, but awww heck I can't not use them! ) But that's what I love about these methods, you can increase the compund amounts, you can increase and control the pressure, I just feel like you have a lot more control over the resurfacing over letting a machine do it. You get to become one with the disc! Wax on Wax off!!
I will be doing a polishing video! The tricky part with a polishing video is getting down a method that's recreatable by others. So with each of these videos, I give a step by step list of directions to non-game-cleaners and see if they have the same level of success, if they do then that set of directions becomes a video! So the polishing method just takes some time. But some folks end up with a mirror like finish on their first try! (they do it by using a combination of Novus Step 1 and Step 2, but we'll get into all of that)
Ended up buying broken lot of gamecube games off eBay and out of the 20 disc I was able to revive 13 of them. The 7 that didn’t work I noticed either had little pinholes that you can feel with a plastic pry tool or scratches on middle ring. I’m guessing there’s not much I can do about these, but was wondering if you have any tips or expertise on if there’s anything that can be done. It’s the ring right outside the middle plastic hub. I think it may be called mirror band?
Thank you so much! I was able to get a verified dump for both my Pikmin 2 (which has a bit of disc rot) disc and my Super Mario Galaxy 2 disc!
Awesome! Pikmin is absolutely worth saving!
Bought mario sunshine and this dude didn't put the disc where it was supposed to be in the slot so it was just moving and getting scratched the whole way here. That horrified me. Thank you so much for helping people like me that know little to nothing about cleaning them :D
I'm just glad to be able to help gamers! I put so many stickers on cover arts during my time at GameStop that I'm happy to be able to repay my debt to society by showing gamers how to fix up their collection!
That’s exactly the same reason for me, same game and everything😂
The exact same thing happened to me recently, I was wondering why the package was rattling. Now the game won’t read and I’m trying to fix it.
Yeah will really scratch disc up pretty bad.
Thank you dude
I just used some McGuires plastic car lense polish. It made my $30 Mario kart double dash work. It did have an issue in a GameCube that was supposed to be bad. But it was fine in same system prior. So I adjusted the laser and it played fine. It had a spot on the intro that would drag, but that went away. So I won’t be hellbent on the small scratches as long as it plays according to your advise. Thanks
Absolutely! I primarily use Meguiar's in my car detailing, so I try to find Meguiar's stuff that will also work on video games, and there are a handful of their polishes that work wonders on discs. Maybe we can get them to make a 2-1 cleaning product!!
But for real, GameCube games can be so picky, and the GC lasers can be sooo picky as well. I love that little system, but it certainly has it's quirks!
Thanks for the info, i got a scratched disc and plays but i was worried that i'll crap on me in the future
Great video! I can say from experience the scratch 2.0 remover has worked for me also. Don't know how long term it is but if ya gotta use a little after playing many hours then no big deal. Takes two minutes or less to do.
Awesome to hear! Thankfully most discs that get cleaned tend to have less scratches moving forward, the days of discs constantly changing hands and people storing them improperly are becoming less and less.
Once a disc is cleaned the next thing that can start to collect is fingerprints and dust (mostly due to the brand new cleaned surface). But yeah, a quick polish of the disc will bring it back to life for years to come!
Nice
For those wondering if it works it does, 5 minutes ago my 1080 avalanche for gamecube wasn’t working and now it does, I’m not joking it looked like someone threw it on asphalt and slid the game around, thanks for the video man this is awesome lmao.
You used novus 2?
I love hearing success stories! You'd be amazed at how rough some discs can look, and with a little work they come right back to life again!
Going on my 7th ish pass of Pokemon Colloseum and still no luck but 3 times on Pokemon XD did the trick! Colloseum is pretty scratched, got it with my brand new GameCube in like 2005, but I'll keep trying. Thanks for the help and saving one game so far!
Do you have the issue with any other games? Sad to admit how many times I've been cleaning a game only to realize the laser lens is a bit dirty too. Why this is important is that if the discs are perfect, the laser reads no problem, but if the disc is scratched AND the lens is a little dirty then it feels like nothing will work.
Can you feel the depth of the scratches with your fingernail? Are they locatable?
@@RestoreAndReplay
My Mario Kart Wii has issues but other Wii and GameCube games play, so I really think it is the discs. I have super short fingernails but Colloseum definitely has some deep scratches that are easy to spot. No one in my area resurfaces so if another few passes don't do the trick, it might be time for Novus 3. Finding a copy is really tough so I hope I can restore it with my original save file 😔
@@RestoreAndReplay Update: One round of Novus 3 and two more of Novus 2 fixed Pokémon Colosseum!!! I can't thank you enough for these videos, you have no idea how happy this has made me. I haven't been able to play this game since 2006, thank you thank you!
That is awesome!! I can get like that too sometimes where I'll clean and clean and disc and it still won't work, and I'll do one more cleaning and BAM, back in action! All has to do with how much surface abrasion you remove and how clear the laser is able to send light through! So glad to hear it's working again!
perfect vid, love the sarcasm. going to work towards getting my old twilight princess disc I found in storage to function in the morning. Worried I may have deep fried it in the gamestop disc liquid as a kid. Will drop in the discord.
Did it work? Is it fixed???? I must know!
But also that GameStop disc liquid? It's nearly identical to Novus, which is why I tend to use it most often. My bread and butter!!
@@RestoreAndReplay I havent gotten to the twilight princess disk, but I picked up some novus 2 and did about a dozen polishes on a rebel strike disk that didnt read at all. After about 3 polishes it loaded up but then had an error after the initial credits. Its still at the point but I figure it'll just take more polishes. Thanks again for the vid its great to understand how the disk works and how the polish works rather than just hoping this product is a one time fix or no fix kinda thing. Gives me hope for the other disks
Got my Novus in the mail today 😁
Do you tend to use the step 1 after you've used the step 2? I understand it's just a cleaning fluid but does it have any use in this process?
Or is it better used elsewhere? Like when cleaning consoles etc?
I'm going to make a whole video on Step 1! But the short version is that I use it to shine and protect consoles! I use it similarly to ArmorAll. It also helps when used on games and consoles to help resist dust and fingerprints! (but it only lasts a few weeks!)
As a current SL at Gamestop I can confirm for you that we don’t have the intranet anymore. Most leaders just text each other in a group chat. Could be different in other districts, but we don’t have it in mine lol
Oh I've been out from GS since 2012, I figured that intranet was long gone. I bet y'all don't even have GameStop TV anymore. Imm miss the loudest blaring noise and talking at 9am when all I was trying to do was count 939 and consoles and start my morning. 😂
@@RestoreAndReplay HAHA well I don’t want to disappoint you but GSTV is still a thing. Though a lot of teams have complained enough about it where it’s gotten better from what you remember. They have monthly segments that keeps teams updated but most of the time its just trailers now. No one really listened or watched it so they decided to do it this way instead LMAO
I got some pretty rough gamecube discs from my childhood. I’ll have to give it a shot and see if I can bring their lives back 😂
You gotta save them! You can do it!!
Unfortunately I think my disk might have deep scratch on it but I’ll buy some step 2 anyways and pray for the best, thanks bro🙏🏻
You would be surprised about the depth of some scratches that still get polished back to working condition. Give it a shot and don't give up!
novus sounds real good
I have a gc and a ton of AAA games most are in good or very good condition but it’s very hard to find now due to people not taking care and scratching discs and damaging cases and even outer leaflets I ordered x4 pikmin 2 games from cex and they where all damaged somewhere. I also ordered a ton of others games and loads where damaged especially discs. That’s why I love my 3ds as all you have to worry about is the cases.
My pikmin 2 was vexing as in the centre where it sits in gc there was a bubble so I guess it’s two layered in that bit or entire disc? But I sold and replaced it because of that now.
How do you go about making sure a game works 100%? Obviously you can launch it up and see that it gets passed the title screen and whatnot, but sometimes discs can stop working further along the 'progression' of the game. I've been ripping my games to ensure that they work entirely, but is that a necessary/effective strategy?
Novus only comes as a part of a set, making this pricy solution. Can the other parts be used in any way? It would be fun to see you experiment with step 1 and step 3.
Absolutely yes! Novus Step 1 is my absolute favorite for cleaning up and protecting consoles (there's a video coming for that!)
Novus Step 3 will be featured very soon in a GameCube series video. It's for when you need some extra elbow grease and/or have deeper scratches! Both are definitely useful!
Im gonna get some from amazon for my mario gamecube game, i see they have 3 versions, whats your opinion on the number 3 green heavy disc cleaner novus?>
I have a Step 3 video coming out very soon! I use it for those extreme cases, which happen often with GameCube it seems!!
Dude you’re fucking insane to do a 24 minute video on how to remove scratches from a disc, and it’s only part one, lol. I love it, I subbed 👍
Thank you! My goal is to make videos that people can actually follow along with, and get some good detail! So while the videos might be longer than normal, it's all to be more complete! (you can also set the playback speed to x1.25 and you dont loose too much!)
Fixed my copy of luigis mansion with this!!! 70 dollar game! Woohoo!!!
And now you can play Luigi's Mansion to get prepped for the remake!
@@RestoreAndReplay ive had this copy since i was young, and never played the original actually cuz it was always too scratched!!! I cant wait to play it for the first time!!!(: thank you!!
ive never used novus yet but want to. i did use some nu finish scratch doctor,,i put disc on a counter top and paper towel under..i put heavy pressure on disc with nu finish and microfiber towel. i did it 4 times and also used plastx the last step. 5 times basically. i also used lens cleaner the very last step. it was badly scratched. now it really looks nice. ive not tried it yet but im optimistic. the meguires plastx alone gave some good results but not totally. ill find out soon but it looks alot better now.
Let me know how it turned out! Nu Finish works well for me, but does require a few more passes than Meiguiars!
is the date on the inner part near the hole or on the outer part?
Hi I got a scratched copy of colosseum novus 2 should come in tomorrow roughly how long would you leave the novus 2 solution on the disc before you buff it? Thanks in advance
I leave the Novus on just for a few seconds until it thickens up a bit. It helps with polishing. But you can also start to polish right away with wet novus. Try it out a few different ways and see what gives you the best and smoothest polish. You want light resistance but you don't want to have to force the polish. For starters just give it a count to 5 and start to polish!
Hi, Thanks for the video, I learned a lot. I've been trying to fix a gamecube disc, but it hasn't been working. I didn't try the method in this video, but maybe you could still help me out. I bought a disc off ebay in AS IS condition. I didn't know any better, but after seeing your video I should have noticed that the disc had resurfacing residue in the center. I saw this method on youtube where a person uses sandpaper (1000 to 3000 grit) to remove the scratches before polishing. I've tried doing this a number of times by hand, using 1000 grit and 2500 grit with various car polishes/waxes and headlight plastic cleaner. The disc wasn't working when I first received it, but I managed to get the disc to play until the title screen before it became unreadable. My main concern is that even after polishing, I can still see the haze from the sandpaper, and a lot of microscopic scratches. I can't feel any of the scratches with my fingernail, but there are a lot of them. Do you have any ideas of what I could try, or what else could be wrong? I tried to clean the resurfacing solution out of the center with tweezers like you mentioned in you next video. It worked well, but perhaps I separated the two polycarbonate layers in the middle? Would this effect readability? Would you think that Novus 2 would give me the highest probability of success?
I don't do the sandpaper technique primarily because of the inconsistency in the grit of the sandpaper. Unfortunately a side effect of the sandpaper method is still being able to see the streaks unless you polish those streaks out as well.
The center ring won't/shouldn't effect the gameplay at all (unless it's impacting the rotation of the disc, which is uncommon).
If you've tried the method in the video (using Novus Step 2 and/or Step 3 if needed) and it still doesn't play, check to see if the disc is warped at all. Set it on top of a book or flat surface to make sure it's not raised on one side.
I do not recommend separating the two layers of polycarbonate. You need special equipment to press them back together, in addition to a specific environment. I have separated discs before, but re-pressing them is usually not necessary for a scratch.
Have you tried checking the laser eye to make sure the laser from the device is clear enough to work on the disc? Also the hazing on the disc from the sandpaper could be impacting the readability.
@@RestoreAndReplay Thanks for the help. I was able to get it to work (barely) with car wax. This was encouraging, for sure. I can still see plenty of fine scratches. The game runs, but when it jumps to another data location on the disc (transitions in the game) it sometimes bombs. Takin the disc out and putting it back in seems to work pretty consistently, and no progress is lost. I'm still very happy about it, though. It's good to know that it wasn't permanently damaged or warped like you were saying. I'm no longer planning to try and make a return on ebay. I think I'll buy some novus 2 online and try polishing with that. I'll see if I get more consistent disc performance. Thanks for the videos, Keep it up, I'm subscribed!
I went for broke and bought an ECO auto smart machine which was mentioned in the video.
Hey nothing wrong with that! I always worry about stores doing bulk cleaning. But when people own one on their own, they tend to learn their machine better. ECOs have lots of capabilities. If I ever stopped cleaning games and reassembled the few I have in pieces I'd use them for simple polishing.
I have an odd situation. So I have 2 discs that don’t play in the GameCube but it will in the Wii. Is there a better placement for the laser or is the laser just better on the Wii?
Likely the GameCube laser is just starting to show its age. I've had a few GC games that play better on the Wii as well. Cleaning the GC discs help, but cleaning the GC laser also helps. The Wii laser, just by its age, is going to work a bit better than the GC, but it couldnt hurt to clean both laser lenses too!
@@RestoreAndReplay Good to know. The Zelda game with 4 games on it works like a charm on the GC but likely that’s giving it more to work with.
@@RestoreAndReplay I bought a modded one anyway. GC prices are way to high right now to completely stick to American copy’s or get RGB cables.
Hello, Love the video Novus 2 revived my Legend of Zelda Wind Waker. However, I have 2 other discs that I have been using Novus 2 on Super smash melee and Luigi's mansion. I have probably done it about 20 times maybe more and I keep getting a disc error. The Gamecube recognizes that these are indeed the game discs but as soon as you hit start error message. Thoughts? Is it time to go to Novus 3, and how do I know that I haven't damaged the data layer? I keep using my other discs as reference in hopes I don't make them too thin, but I haven't seen a noticeable difference other than the disk getting really shiny.
I have the exact same problem
@@SomeonesAlt22 So after messing with novus for a while I determined my disk were damaged beyond repair. I got a xeno chip that further proved these disks data layer had been damaged in some way. If you keep getting an error or the game plays and then crashes its probably just a bad disk. Highly recommend if you can solder even just a little to get a xeno chip or what I did was got the drive with the xeno chip on it. Solder the two cables (red) and (brown) to the new drive circuit and then get to burning. Cheap and you can play whatever.
You likely haven't damaged the data layer! That would require you having removed around 1.2mm of polycarbonate. I would suggest jumping up to Step 3, giving that a round, then trying again with Step 2. Remember that each time you do a round of Novus or any plastic polish, you're removing some material and some of the scratches with it.
I would love to see images of the disc, or even make an offer to have you ship the disc to me! It's honestly rare to find a "damaged beyond repair" disc, I wish I could find more of them!
I know this is an old video, but what do you think about Novus 1? My local Home Depot only had dual packs that came with step 1 and 2. Should I bother with the step 1 at all?
I really like Novus 1! It won't do too much to get rid of larger scratches, but it helps clean off dust and fingerprints from discs, and leaves a nice little protective coating that keeps dust off for a while!
@@RestoreAndReplay Thanks for the reply! Love your videos, thanks for sharing your knowledge and helping people fix their old games! My Mario Galaxy disc always freezes at the same spot in the same cutscene. After each treatment with Novus 2, it gets a little farther before it freezes. Ive done 4 treatments so far, Ill do 20 more if I have to! Lol
Okay I’m at 2:59 rn and I’m loving the video so far but as some who works with measuring devices I would’ve loved to see this video with that information 😁 I have a Zelda game of the year edition with the wind Waker demo and I had it professionally resurfaced at disc replay and they told me it could damage the disc but did have a possibility of fix it cause it was scratched and wouldn’t read so now that poses a question: would the manufacturer of each disc have a specific thickness in order for their discs to produce information properly?
Ok so I'm actually collecting a bunch of measurements and overviews for a big long "how to inspect a disc" segment. So you'll see me skip those moments in videos so the focused video will be more...focused. ya get me?
Professional resurfacing can damage the disc if done too much! Or if the disc is too thin! Problem is, disc manufactuers use a "standard" thickess with tolerances. So there's a variance in the final product (I mean most production has this type of variance, but still). So currently we know what thickness will not play, but the space between that thickness and production thickness is a pretty big gap. A minimum tolerance is the best we currently have as far as disc thickness goes. But I've had some discs that are right on the edge of that allowable thickness and they play just fine. It's currently a crapshoot until we get more solid data.
Makes complete sense I’ll begrudgingly be patient(I’m not patient person so it’s not personal 😂) but awesome to know that you already have plans for it I have a small collection myself and with not having a lot of retro console repairs readily available these days I feel I ought to know how to maintain the games and the consoles themselves. Do you know if any ways of how we can get more data? Places to look for games that may possibly be closer to factory width than others?
@@judevargas7239 Oh how I wish there was better information. It'd make disc age identification so much easier. Problem is the manufacturers had an assumed tolerance range for the disc thickness. So with each disc I collect I measure and document the thickness, and keep a running average. In some cases I'll buff down (using an actual resurfacing machine) a disc until it stops reading. That gives me my low end. But the last time I did it, soon after I found a disc that was even thinner and still ran! So the big challenge now is to find that sweet spot of right before a disc will fail.
A rule of thumb I roughly use (mostly with GameCube discs) is to have a control disc and just eyeball thickness comparisons to a question disc. "Usually" a GameCube disc has only be resurfaced once. Resurfacing those discs is still fairly new-ish. The machine resurfacers have attachments to do GCN discs, but even still it's rare to find in retail settings. In another decade or so we'll run into 2+ times resurfaced GCN discs, but we aren't there yet. I don't want to toot my own horn, but it's quite likely I'm the only one collecting disc thickness averages for GCN games in accordance with functionality. It just doesn't seem to be a focus for most. But with discs having a resurfacing lifespan (3-5 times professionally resurfaced before it's too thin), it's going to quickly become an important thing, whether people realize it or not.
Thanks for the material, though I have some questions. I bought the paste, followed your instructions and tried to remove scratches of my PSX games. They work, but I am testing out this method to improve quality of some pricey games I have. I have to say that I am strongly disappointed with the results (tried novus on cheap $5 games not to risk too much).
I've used either paper towel or microfibre cloth and all they seem to do is to spread out the scratches throughout the whole surface of the disk, "deeper" ones not even felt with nail don't come off. I tried repeating the process up to 3 times on a single disc and results are still far from satisfactory. Am I doing something wrong or I should leverage my expectations?
Do the games play? Getting a mirror finish using Novus (or any plastic polish) is something I'll cover in later videos. The methods shown in these early videos should help bring back functionality to the discs. You might also enjoy the next few GameCube videos where we dive into using Novus Step 3 for deeper scratches.
@@RestoreAndReplay Thanks, I'll take a look and play around with Step 3 :)
I must either be doing something wrong or these methods aren’t very effective with psx discs. I tried all the different pastes and the effect I am getting is a lot of thin scratches all over the disc. :/ probably gotta try disc regeneration services.
@@maciejkownacki3482 Explain your process to me! I've brought back games from the absolute death using these methods. I think there might be something we're missing here.
Alternatively, you can join the Gameye discord and we can tackle this thing together! discord.gg/GrWaxWg
The only reason I'm curious about the methods is that I started these processes on PS1 discs, those are some sturdy discs that clean up real nicely!
@@RestoreAndReplay So what I've done is:
- I prepare some dry and clean surface and some soft paper towel / cloth to put under my CD
- I put my CD on the secured surface
- I apply either novus 2 or 3 to the disc, not too generously, I spread it over the disc with paper towel / microfibre cloth
- I let it sit for a minute
- I begin polishing with paper towel / microfibre cloth circular motion in a single direction and I continue doing so for 30-50 seconds
- Once I am at the point where the paste covers the CD and paper towel doesn't absorb it anymore I take dry piece of paper towel and clean off the left over paste from the CD
Perhaps I'll join the discord, maybe I'll get some answers there, thanks!
Just got resident evil three for the GameCube it runs in the beginning shows all the ads but can’t get to the start menu. But I did get it resurface sure enough and it still does not want to work. What do I do???
Sounds like it needs a bit more resurfacing! Which happens. If it now shows the three ads at the beginning and stops, that means that it's getting closer to working! Just keep at it!
Would I feel a deep scratch with my fingernail, would this mean the data is lost? I tried removing the car scratch with car scratch removal compound. The game performance increased, however I get the feeling the deep scratch can't be removed.
Thanks for sharing this video! :)
It would be nice to see the before footage of the game disc not working before you fixed it. Because not showing the before footage kinda defeats the purpose of showcasing the product working, but only showing the after footage.
It'll make it seem like you're implying, "You're gonna have to take my word for it and that it just works". I'm not doubting your abilities or anything. People would feel a little hesitant to try this method without showing any before footage. It would be nice to see in future videos to showcase before footage of the disc not working and THEN show the after footage of the repaired disc working.
I have a gamecube disc that works and doesn't work at the same time. What I mean is that it works when it starts and it takes me to the main menu, but when I start the game, it shows me the beginning cutscene and then loading scene, but suddenly cuts to an error saying, "The disc could not be read. Please read the Nintendo Gamecube Instruction Booklet for more information." I bought it at a local game shop. The shop does resurface game discs, but I'm not sure if they already resurfaced the disc or not. I would like to try this method, but I feel a bit hesitant to try it.
Looking forward to seeing the other videos when they eventually come out! :)
On the cleaning and repair section of the Gameye discord, I go into a bit of detail as to why I don't show the "befores" on my channel, but I'll summarize it here. I don't want people to believe me. I want them to try it for themselves. I could fake the video, I could use a different disc, all sorts of tricks. I'm not trying to sell anyone on a product. I want people to try it for themselves and see what they think. My main goal is to archive and document every single method of cleaning and restoration. So while my preferences leak out from time to time, I don't want people to trust my videos at face value.
I will however start to show how I know that the games don't work, and with each video I will have an example of "this is how you know it isn't working" that's fair. I do need to include that. But I am always much much happier when people see one of my videos and think "I wonder if that will work for me, let me try it" and they run off and try it for themselves. That's the absolute best.
Whats funny is the 8 gamecube videos all came from a store that said they resurfaced them and they still didn't work, so there's gotta be something to it! The reason I lean more towards this method is that is it less impactful to the disc, because you are controlling the pressure. So you can do a round of plastic polish with light pressure, then try the disc to see if it works. Later on in the series I show you how to spot clean scratches too, meaning you don't resurface the entire disc, just a single scratch that may be troublesome.
But don't believe me! Please try these methods for yourself and see if they work! You might find a different better method that works for you!
@@RestoreAndReplay
Thanks for responding back!
Very much appreciated. 👍
I see what you mean. Sometimes you got to try something out to see what works or not. Yet at the same time, it could be a bit of a gamble if it doesn't work and you'd get stuck with a messed up disc.
I look for tutorial videos that are actually helpful and will get the job done without having to go to a place to have it fixed and to save money. Some tutorials are helpful, while others are not. I try to do as much research as I can before trying it myself. Just to make sure if a certain method will work and that it doesn't end up messing up the thing I'm trying to fix.
As for trying out your method, I'm still thinking about it. If I do end up trying it, I'll let you know.
Thanks!
I'll be excited to hear your experience with this method if you decide to try it! I've got a video that'll be out tomorrow that shows a similar method, but with car scratch remover and one with toothpaste!
@@RestoreAndReplay
Looking forward to seeing the video. 🙂👍
@@RestoreAndReplay
Hello, again!
I just wanted to let you know that I went ahead and tried the Novus 2 method. But before I tried this method, let me mention briefly about my game disc.
Like I mentioned in my first comment, I have gamecube disc that partially works. It's Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. It shows me the title screen, main menu, and the beginning cutscene. Then it shows me the loading screen and gives me the error message, "The Game Disc could not be read. Please read the Nintendo GameCube Instruction Booklet for more information".
Once I rewatched your video, I decided to put 2 dots of Novus 2 on opposite sides of the gamecube disc, (like you mentioned in the video), since I'm doing it for the first time. I followed everything you said. I went to go test the game.
The game takes me to the title screen, main menu, then start the game, shows me the beginning cutscene and then the loading scene, but then it gives me the same error message as last time. I have tested 2 other gamecube games and they both work on the backwards compatible Wii.
here are scratches on the disc and they look very minor scratches. You mentioned the ring residue. I notice there is something on the ring, like there's a "water stain" or something. It's not like the ring residue that you've shown in your second video. There really isn't much residue in there. So, that "might" be the problem. I notice that where this "stain" is that it's slightly opened. Perhaps, the people that I bought this game from might have used the machine to clean the disc? I'm not sure.
What do you think? Here's a post of the image.
imgur.com/z88GE5P
What process do you use to resurface/repair Blu-ray discs? I have ps3 games I want to try to fix. Thank you!
I'm gonna make a whole video series on it! (I''ve got stacks and stacks of bluray for testing and verification too). Basically you spot resurface instead of resurfacing the entire disc. So you just focus on the scratched area, and do a little at a time. You've got a tiny amount of polycarbonate to work with, so you have to be careful!
@Restore and Replay: Video Game Preservation Awesome! I am looking forward to that. I will definitely keep it in mind. I am binging your channel at the moment too. Take care my friend!
i may have put too much pressure on my disc since i did it with disc down on hard flat surface but it looks great.
The important part is a functioning disc. Did it even work?
I have a couple that didn't work but quite a few do after polishing. I've not got to use novus yet + I've used McGuire's plastix with fairly good results.
@daviddowns7552 Quite a few isn't really a lot but at least you even gotten a disc working. My Luigi's Mansion is extremely scratched and the game actually boots up but fails at the Nintendo logo. I might need a very effective polish to fix it and I am pretty sure it is fixable because a temporarily fix made it somewhat playable.
@@Mysticgames136 I understand+ I hope you get that one polished and playing again. Does novus work best from your experience.? I've not got any yet but I want to try that product.
It's really difficult to apply TOO much pressure onto a disc (you'll get a weird feeling before you start to do any damage, that is to say you can absolutely feel when you're about to break a disc). But I'm glad to hear the disc cleaned up nicely!!
Hi! I just recently purchase gale of darkness, it works fine just on top near the middle circle there’s a small plastic layer that’s like peeling off! At first I thought it was dirt but then realized it peels up so I just left it alone to prevent it from getting worst. Is this okay?
Near the center ring yeah? So sometimes there can be a thin piece of plastic that comes off. but it might also be the edge of the label. If you had a picture of it I could help identify what is it. It should be alright either way, but I'd be happy to check!
@@RestoreAndReplay awesome ty yeah I can send a photo! I saw your discord name but do you also have the # for I can send you it!
@@AkromaUW Sure thing! #4037
is there anything you can do when it has a scratch on the top of the disc? i know some games it doesnt matter, but some, like a copy of mario party 6 i have has a scratch on the top and it wont work, bottom is flawless
So back in the day we used to put masking tape over the top of the disc and it would prevent the laser from reflecting through the disc. Buuuuuuut with GameCube it's getting harder and harder to not get excessive label damage (look up "Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes label damage") For now I still use the tape trick until we refine how to seal and color in the labels, but it's a work in progress.
@@RestoreAndReplay thanks for the reply man I appreciate the info, ill try the tape trick, im familiar with metal gear solid on the gamecube lol, thats also one of those weird ones u could peel off all the art on the top and it will still work, gamecube games are weird lol
Wait so after you clean it with the Novus you don’t need to clean it off again with water or anything? It’ll read even with it?
As long as you wipe off the novus you're good to go! If you were to rinse it with water you might end up adding minerals back onto the disc (from the water itself!) A simple wipe afterwards with a clean cloth is all you need!
My endeavors with novus have been relatively successful! All the discs I've used it on have become mostly or completely functional all accept one disc, I've probably used novus 2 on it about 15-20 times and I've used novus 3 twice, but it still won't play, it gets to the loading screen of the game(before it didn't read at all so the novus worked a little bit?) but that's it, should I accept that the game is beyond repair and give up on it or keep going?
You should never give up on a disc! What's the disc? And for what system? Having to do 20 rounds of Step 2 and 5 rounds of Step 3, then repeating the entire thing isn't out of the question, it really just depends on how deep the scratches are.
Are you able to see any noticable scratches on the surface? Or feel any with your fingernail?
It's Sonic Heroes on the gamecube, the disc is cracked in the center ring and it goes into the shiny aluminum part which made me conclude that the disc is unfixable, and it also has one scratch that has somewhat reduced but isn't going away.
Center ring cracks rarely mean ruin. It depends on the width of the crack into the data layer and if the top and bottom layers of polycarbonate are still intact.
I'd be happy to take a look at it if you're willing to provide pictures! I would love genuinely irreparable discs to add to my collection (they tend to be salvageable)
picturre quality isn't the best but I'm sure the cracker is visible
So I have GameCube games that are badly scratched and I used the nova two and the GameCube still says can’t read the disc what am I doing wrong?
Might take a few more tries! I had a copy of Pokemon Gale that wouldn't come back to life until my 22nd polish (apparently it just didn't want to live), but I got it working! Check out my Part 3 of the GameCube series where I get into what to do if the Novus 2 just doesn't work (and I explain why it might not work right away).
@@RestoreAndReplay oh ok great and I finally got it to work took two tries thanks so much
maybe I like old receipts too :(
I keep them as well! But I keep them separate from the cases. GameStop went through a handful of different types over the years, so I'm paranoid the inks will leech at some point (I have nothing to base it on, just paranoia at this point!)
What about head light buffing compound
It will work! I use Meiguars Headlight polish for discs at times. I have plans to make a video covering a few headlight kits. With the buffing compounds you'll just skip the wet sanding steps they suggest, and instead add more or less compound to increase the abrasiveness!
I have a copy of Luigi’s Mansion with no scratches, my grandma only played it once for 5 minutes but it won’t read because there’s a ton of cigarette residue on it…. Will this help? I’ve tried cleaning it before but it won’t come off. 😭 The last time I played it was 2014 and it worked perfectly then, now all of my discs are having trouble reading… I accidentally touched the laser when cleaning so that’s my own fault. I’ve recleaned it many times but the only game that’ll still read is Zelda’s Wind Waker.
Are the discs sticky? Like physical nicotine layers?
I had both disc resurfacer you mentioned in this video the Venmill 3500 and eco autosmart. The Venmill I will agree isn't a good one and doesn't really fix the games. The auto smart on the other hand i've had for years NEVER once did it leave residue in the center of ANY disc i put through. Also 99% of the games I run through it with end up working that were once not working. So you might wanna do a little bit more research before making claims that pretty much all disc resurfacers are bad. Also its not true that if you can't feel the scratch with your finger nail it doesn't need to be resurfaced. I've gotten discs with the swirl marks on them that stop the game from playing. Not a scratch itself.
We can agree to disagree! I have a basement full of ELM and JFJ machines, and have worked on many more. Those machines are also expensive and not always an option for folks, so I am happy to give people alternatives!
But you are right about the scratches. Even if you can't feel it, it can still impact gameplay, swirl marks too. It's more of a rule of thumb that scratches you can feel may impact gameplay.
True! I’ve resurfaced games that before cleaning didn’t work, and after cleaning it, they worked. This dude got his facts mixed up
can you repair games that have water damage?
Yes, but it depends. If the water damage has impacted the data layer, that changes things. Thankfully most modern discs have a seam that separates the data layer from the internal ring. Even then there are methods of drying/baking (I use that term loosely here) that can remove water damage. The problem isn't always the water, but what the water leaves behind (mineral deposits and/or staining)
I used 3000 grit sandpaper and var wax...its not working 😢. Im gonna get some novus tomorrow ... I got all the large scratches off of it they're just extremely fine now....
So sandpaper resurfacing is its own thing entirely (I'm slowly working on that series), but to do it correctly you'd need at least 3-5 different grits of paper, otherwise you can't reduce the overall scratches. If you're looking for a mirror finish, look up polishing/sanding pads and add some water to that wax! (also be careful with the wax, as some of them have additives that increase the overall grit of the wax itself).
Everything I've tried to use Novus 2 on just adds more scratches. Disc's or otherwise. I must be bad at this.
It'll look like it! Heck sometimes it'll look worse than it did before! But you're removing the top layer of material and smoothing out the scratches that are making the disc not play! For the first 3 parts of the GameCube disc cleaning series, the focus is on getting the games back in working order. After that, we'll have videos on bringing a mirror finish back to the discs. (I'll admit though, I rarely worry about the look of the disc if it works, but we'll have a handful of "how to polish discs" videos to get that mirror finish!)
If you're using Novus 2 and getting scratches still, use more polishing compound and switch out the cloth more often. It's likely that the cloth is doing more of the scratching than the polish is. I need to stop showing cleaning discs using a paper towel, as some paper towel brands can scratch a disc very easily!
Did you actually try playing the game from start to finish? Just because the system can read the disc, doesn’t mean the game is fully functional. I know this because I have a disc with a scratch that’s causing the disc to stop reading once I reach a certain level in the game.
While I wish that was the case here, the disc wouldn't load at all. No start up screen, no nothing. Which happens with severely scratched discs, the system has to find a few specific spots to read before it gives the green light. And in the case of these games, it was a "no go".
@@RestoreAndReplay What I meant to ask is if you attempted a full playthrough of the game AFTER you resurfaced it.
Ah! Gotcha! Once the discs are resurfaced (at least the ones I do) they go through a microscopy inspection to verify there aren't any remaining significant scratches or abrasions. Depending on the title (and if it's for a customer or not), a full playthrough isn't always possible. But marking the scratches and substrate damage, then reinspecting after the resurfacing process, tends to be a solid QA process, at least for my efforts!
I saw a another tutorial that said to only go side to side I’m not to sure what works better
I've been told "side to side only" and I've been told "one direction only" or "clockwise circles only", there's lots of different approachs out there. I've been using my same method for 20ish years now and never had a problem. But try out the different styles and see which one gets the best results for you!
@@RestoreAndReplay I want you to know I was ordering the novus but thought why not try buffing it with toothpaste how you do and my game of the incredibles started working thanks so much and I was wondering if you could do like a full mirror finish tutorial I got the novus one and two pack
Did you actually test that it was indeed not readable by your system before you polished it? Some models are known to be more sensitive that others…
I do actually! I have both models of GameCube, 001 and 101. I usually don't show videos of the game not working because A. it'd be a blank screen and easily faked anyway, and B. I'd rather people try the methods out for themselves instead of just believing me! Consider these videos more as tutorials rather than declarations!
What if any GameCube Disc plays halfway through and it says, "The Game Disc could not be read. Please read the Nintendo GameCube Instruction Booklet for more information".
That means one of two things, either the scratch is "later on" in the discs data area (think of it like a CD that skips on the 5th track), or that the laser has trouble reading after running for a while.
If you've cleaned the disc and don't see any visible marks or damage, try to clean off the GameCube lens as well. Particulate from the cleaning compounds of the disc can also rest on the laser lens and cause issues down the road. Somewhere in that system or disc is the issue, it just might not be right at the beginning of the discs readable area.
There have been discs that I've cleaned before that work just fine with a test run, but halfway or even close to the end of the game the disc freezes up. Unfortunatly a disc isn't like a record where you can figure out what "halfway" in the game would be on the disc, so you have to clean the entire thing again.
I dont fini the product you use on amazon :( link is end
amzn.to/3DUOZu1
There's a link to the Novus set I use! There are a few listings for it!
Tried doing this with my Wii Sports around a year ago, didn't help it work. Turns out the disc was scratched beyond repair. Ended up getting a new copy for Christmas 2023. Might retry this with a scratched copy of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
Those "beyond repair" discs might surprise you. I actually actively search for "hopeless" discs. If there's enough polycarbonate to work with (you have to measure it with calipers), you'd be surprised what can be recovered.
@@RestoreAndReplay I got a new copy, and... guess what? IT LOOKS EVEN WORSE! Guess I have a lot of restoring to do!
I'm totally unimpressed with Novus 2 "Fine scratch remover". Believe me, i've tried virtually every non-professional disc-cleaning cream and gadget under the sun &, in my opinion, this is no better than any of them. It may work well in conjunction with a high-end cleaning machine but cleaning discs by hand with it shines them up pretty good but, rather ironically given it's name, leaves them completely covered in fine scratches.
I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with Novus 2! That stinks!
Interestingly enough, Novus 2 is the same chemical composition as most retail "disc fix" compounds, including the ones sold by GameStop and Circuit City!
What if in my local stores they don't sell Novus? What should I look if I need to remove scratches from a disc? would you make a CD-DVD scratch removing video?
Thank you very much for these tutorials, you are doing god's work my man
Glad I could help! I answered your questions in both the Gameye discord and HitSave! discord (I have cleaning channels in both. It was long answers).
But in short, there are lots of other plastic polishes and scratch removers that you can use that will also remove scratches! I have a video coming up soon where I use car scratch remover and toothpaste (although I wouldn't recommend toothpaste)
As for looking for scratches on discs, I honestly don't clean/resurface discs unless they don't play. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But if it doesn't play, or if you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, then you know it needs resurfaced.
I absolutely will make a CD-DVD scratch removing video! The upcoming video will cover game CDs and DVDs, but I have music and movie discs added to the list as well!
Thank you for the kind words! I just like helping people bring their games back to life!
They sell in on Amazon for like $6
You said that solution is disgusting and not to taste it, my question is how do YOU know… ?😎
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS! hah!
I should make a cleaning video using only edible things....
@@RestoreAndReplay so toothpaste it is! Oh shoot I’m outing myself here. I used to eat the crest kids toothpaste when I was younger, and I’m still alive so I think that counts as edible? /s
Did this to my Metroid prime let’s just say I have 2 Metroid primes now 😭
Wait what do you mean? Is this good or bad?
It is BAD I SPLIT THE GAME IN HALF
What happened? I can honestly say I've never heard of that before. I've snapped discs before, but what usually happens is the center ring will snap, then the center polycarbonate will snap. But it takes a great bit of force to do so. Can you explain the circumstances right before the disc snapped?
The disc is still severely scratched 😂
Hey, they work! That's what counts in this video! Later on I'll show folks how to get a mirror finish back to their discs. But most of the time I fix up discs back to a working state and don't go beyond that. The less resurfacing the discs have to experience, the better!
Do people really resurface games before seeing if they can play? That blows my mind…
Not just people, stores. Most of the stores by me resurface every single disc they sell. I have to remind them to not do that to mine when I buy them. Each resurface removes some of the polycarbonate layer of the disc, so as it gets resurfaced over and over, that layer gets thinner and thinner. Without verifying disc thickness, that resurface may be its last!!!
Maybe not that dramatic, but you get the idea. Bulk resurfacing is somewhat unnecessary, but done because customers want to see a disc that looks like it will work!