After the A-Bus capacitor replacement failed to improve Sophia’s condition, I moved on to the mainboard. I’ve now replaced most of the electrolytic capacitors there, and the result is considerably more promising. The Hakko 808 works wonders on these old boards.

This is the first really strong indication that at least part of Sophia’s trouble is on the mainboard. Replacing the majority of its capacitors produced a substantial improvement. I still have several capacitors on backorder, so I am not calling the diagnosis completely finished yet.

I am very happy with the results so far. The CD mechanism still has its own known problems as well. We already established that while testing the drive in a retail VA0 Saturn, so that remains a separate repair job.

I should probably inspect the power-supply boards too while I am this deep into it. Apparently there is no such thing as replacing just one capacitor on Sophia. The good news is that she is finally looking alive again.