My DC has a bit of a problem.....

[uncledrax]

Howdy guys,

I have been looking around the forums to see if anyone else is/has had the same problem as me but found mothing (though my searching skills are pretty bad). I just dusted off my dreamcast to give it a whirl again, and when i went to turn it on (just had the power and AV cable plugged in) the light game on then suddenly turned off. Now when i turn it on, nothing happens but i can hear and feel the fan spinning.

What do you guys think, PSU blown or motherboard toasted?? does the dreamcast need a controller plugged in to turn on? could i just replace a fuse on the PSU, would that fix it??

Any ideas would be most welcome. Thanks

[Elven6]

Could have been a electrical surge, or your battery died out.

[beetroot bertie]

I had a similar problem which occured as well as random resetting of the DC. I followed a tutorial to clean and lightly bend the power prongs in the DC to ensure better contact and mine's been fine since.

Here's the tutorial:

http://www.tachikoma.co.uk/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=37&MMN_position=38:9

I can't say for sure that it will help you but quite a few DC users have fixed the resetting problem this way and mine behaved just as yours so I hope this will help.

[uncledrax]

Thanks for the replys. Ive bought some contact cleaner and wire gauze. I'll tell you how it goes :)

[JKKDARK]

Could have been a electrical surge

I had this problem with my PSP, so it died. Luckily the PSP was new and I got a new one :)

[uncledrax]

well i tried the contact cleaner and bent the pins slightly with no effect. I am going to change the fuse in the PSU (250V 2A Ceramic) and see if that works, though i doubt it because the fan turns on. Any other ideas?

[s8n]

uncledrax , i would try a Dreamcast Laser Calibration Fix.......

[uncledrax]

even if it doesnt turn on (no display on screen)?? well ill do a search and try it out. It cant hurt

[mcvader]

@Bertrude, I've been having the random reset problem (mainly when playing shenmue :( ) so I'll try the guide you posted, thanks

[beetroot bertie]

I hope it works for you. I tried the fix on my DC over a year ago now and it's still working, although I have to admit it doesn't get that much use now.

It's not too tricky as long as your careful.

Laser calibration info here:

http://www.whoneedsoxygen.net/index.php/2004/04/23/dreamcast-laser-calibration-trick/

http://www.consolevision.com/?Dreamcast:Tutorials:Fix_to_GD-ROM_calibration