Rowe Ami cd jukebox problems

I recently acquired a Rowe cd100e jukebox. It had no cds in it, but I do have the manuals( volume I and II). After reading the manuals I placed a cd in the magazine and went through initialization process for one cd. The cd was picked up and placed on the player. It spun about a half turn, stopped, started and stopped three or four times. The cd was then picked up and placed back in the magazine, picked up again and placed in the player, started and stopped twice. Picked up the cd and placed it back in the magazine. I have tried this several times. If I try to play a track on that cd I get the message "NOT ALWD NOT NI". That, I assume means that the cd is not initialized. This is all that happens. All of the proper lights are lit on the CCC and the MCC, with no error lights lit. The player is a CD PRO. The juke is a Rowe CD-100E Laser Star IV. I suspect that the problem is with the cd pro player. Any help will be appreciated. Also any suggestions on where to send the player to be repaired would be helpful.

Thanks,
Francis

Sounds like the CD player (laser, reading mechanism) is bad, unfortunately. The half-turn sounds like it's sending the motor pulses to spin, and either the stepper motor isn't returning signals that it's spinning (so the player can't tell how fast it's spinning, which is a necessity for CD players), or the laser/reader isn't picking up that a disk is over the lens. (No laser, or dirty laser lens, or laser pickup isn't registering.)

My guess is the player also--however, depending on which version chips are installed, there are a couple of things one can do--
Check which version chips are in that phono, and let me know--
Ron Rich

Thanks to both of you for responding! Ron, how do I go about determining which chips are in the box? This is my first experience with a cd jukebox, so I am relying completely on the manuals and advice from all of you. Thanks, Francis

Hi Francis,
My favorite expression--RTFM--it tells you in there how to determine which chips are installed ( hint--I think? 80)
Ron Rich

LOL! Thanks Ron. Please excuse my ignorance. I've gone through the manuals several times, especially section 5 page 80, 81 and 82. I've yet to find any reference to a "chip" or "chips". Doesn't mean it's not there, just means I haven't found it. It also means I don't know what I'm looking for. Please help to narrow down my search. Thanks.

Electronically handicapped

Francis

Hi Francis,
OK--this is gonna cost you, as I now am forced to climb up into the "hinterland" to get the manual down, then I gotta find the page---
After 5 minutes, I'm back--really gonna cost you now--got hit on the noggin with two books--
It's in the "Menu & Commands" section, # 88 (which is what I remembered--but was not sure, so I wrote "80's" before)
Ron Rich

Hi Ron. Sorry you got hit in the "noggin" LOL. Yes Ron, I do owe you, along with many others on this forum, and others! Thanks for that!!!! Once I realized you were talking about the commands menu it was clear what I was looking for(and not a page #). Here is what I found.

CCC - version 32
Mech - version 53
Volume Control - version 77

This is what I got from the 88 command.
Many thanks again!
Francis

Hi Francis,
3.2 is an early one--4.1 and 4.3 are the latest --only difference between them is "default pricing".
Mech was up to at least 5.7 ( maybe 5.9--need to look)
VC--I dono, as I never used them-
Have you attempted to clean the player lens ? See the instructions in the manual--Only follow them if they are for a CDM 12, or CDM PRO.
Ron Rich

Yes, I did attempt to clean the lens following the instructions in the manual, but they are for a CDM-4 as this is what this machine came with according to the manual. What now?
Thanks,
Francis

far-1967 wrote:Yes, I did attempt to clean the lens following the instructions in the manual, but they are for a CDM-4 as this is what this machine came with according to the manual. What now?
Thanks,
Francis

Do ALL CDs act the same way? (i.e Did you try another CD?)

Hi Francis,
Do you have a CDM-4 player in that phono ?--lens cleaning procedure is vastly different between the 4 and 12 ! In cleaning the 12/PRO's, you do not want to follow the 4 instructions, as you will ruin the later units !
Are the CD's you are trying, clean ? Did you attempt to initialize those that display the "not allowed NI" sign ?
(PLEASE, read your PM's ! )
Ron Rich

Yes, the CDs I am trying are good and/or new. All CDs behave the same! Look at my first post! The juke presently has a cd pro installed, according to the manual it originally had a cdm-4. I went through the initializing process for every cd I tried. Same thing every time. And yes Ron, I did clean the lens using the instructions in the manual(Q-tip and lens cleaner). But the problem was present before the cleaning. Thanks to both you for trying to help. Sorry I didn't notice the PM. I hope I have that corrected now.

Francis

Hi Francis,
It's a bad player--almost 99.9% of the time, when they do that--
Ron Rich

Thanks Ron. It rarely is an easy solution!!! I read on a previous post that you rebuild those. If you still do, please PM me with the specifics.

Francis