'delicateness' of Dreamcast controller ports?

[NoahsMyBro]

I've read a lot about the common problem people have of Dreamcast controller ports blowing a resistor/fuse. I even have a DC I purchased for $10 from someone here (maybe butta?) that had a blown fuse. I thought I'd be able to find the replacement part and fix it. I haven't found an exact replacement and don't want to jumper the connection or put in the incorrect resistor, as the DC FAQ suggests. (The guy selling the resistors on eBay is selling resistors of a different value than the original.)

The reason I am bringing this up is to ask about a specific controller. A few weeks ago I purchased at EB a 'Topmax Enforcer' joystick for the DC. I thought it would be perfect for Ikaruga. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, and noticed yesterday that the small print on the box states the stick is not licensed, made by, or endorsed by Sega. I then realized the DC logo is absent from the packaging.

Do any of you have any experience with this stick. Am I likely to blow the ports on my functional DC if I use this stick?

[CPUWIZ]

I am not sure about this specific stick but usually un-licensed peripherals don't go through an official QA process so it is possible for them to draw too much current and blow a fuse (or worse). This used to happen all the time on the PS1 with crappy cheap joysticks.

I probably wouldn't risk it, unless you have piles of DC's laying around.

Just my $0.02 !

[bargora]

I just bought a used joystick for my Dreamcast. It was the official licensed one produced by Agetec. I was talking to the sales guy at the Software Etc. during the sale, and he pointed out that unlicensed controllers are dicey with the Dreamcast because they can blow out your controller port if you connect or disconnect them while the power is on. Of course, I think it's common knowledge and sense to not do that, but I guess he was saying that you run a much higher risk of damage to your Dreamcast when using an unlicensed controller than if you did it with, say, a PS2 and a dual shock. Take it for what it's worth.

[NoahsMyBro]

Well, I've thought about this a bit, and I think I might go ahead and repair the system with the dead ports using either a resistor of a higher value than the original (as per the FAQ), or just jumper it with a small bit of wire, and use the stick on that system only.

As the system is already kaput, and I just had my house rewired to code with brand new circuit breakers & a new breaker panel in the garage, I figure I haven't got much to lose.

Of course, if you can see something horrendously ignorant in my plan, feel free to jump in here and clue me in.

[lionforce]

Always Goes With the Official Gear, 100% Safe, but if you are tech savvy than go for it :)

[cheezymonkey999]

ive got 2 dreamcasts... one works, one doesnt now. im pretty sure its the controller ports, the fan and led are on and working but the controllers themselves dont work at all. no power even going to them.... you guys have been talking about a blown resistior... know where i can get a new one? or a new set of ports?

[Xexyz]

There's a pretty good controller port repair FAQ for the DC over at Gamefaqs.com. It even mentions how the official Agetec controller has a tendancy to blow out the resistor too. Basically it suggests using a replacement resistor with a higher ohmage to prevent it from blowing out again. Sega used a pretty weak controller port resistor for this system.

[omnedon]

10 ohm does the job. Confirmed.

[googlefest1]

I personaly would replace the fuse and leave the original resistor in

i dont know about the DC but i had a PSone that constantly blew a fuse after a couple hours of play so i finaly replaced the fuse with a diferent one -- same ratings just diferent package (original was a SMT and the final one was a through hole) and it hasnt blown since

[Flack]

The day I got my Dreamcast I bought 3 3rd party joysticks to go with the one official one that came with it. I've never had a problem. I have third party Xbox and PS2 controllers too and have never had a problem. I know this gets kicked around online from time to time but I haven't experienced it personally in 25 years of gaming now. I don't know anything about fixing Dreamcast ports, but the last couple of pawn shops I've stopped by have had Dreamcasts with a controller for $20 ... which explains why I have a stockpile of them.

[omnedon]

I've seen more DC's with blown ports than I can count.

[jdc]

I was lucky enough to recently score a very clean Dreamcast that had been brought in to the local shop to have a brand new drive and controller ports installed.......and when the job was completed he never bothered to pick it up!

I have both 1st party and 3rd party controllers. The 3rd party ones are made by Performance that, I think, were "approved" by Sega as official 3rd party controllers. I assume that this would make them okay to use? Having read this thread, I don't want to ruin my "new" Dreamcast.

[goatdan]

I've got that joystick, and truthfully I have never had a problem with ANY controller or joystick. And if there was a problem with any of them, I should know about it. To test all of the GOAT Store's controllers, I took a Dreamcast that was on and kept pulling and replacing controllers while the game was running. Over 50 controllers later, and I never had a problem with the controller port.

Once in a while I plugged in a controller that was bad and it just simply stopped the Dreamcast from working, and I had to wait about ten minutes before it would start again (VERY strange) but that was it. Oh, and that controller did the same thing on three different systems. All of which were okay.

[cheezymonkey999]

thanks for the help... i got to impatient to replace the resistor so i just used a jumper. works fine now... hopefully itll continue to.