dreamcast s-video cable question (also sound)

[The Manimal]

today i dropped my dreamcast about two feet onto my bedroom floor (it fell off my bed). i tested it and it still works, though i freaked out because i was playing NHL 2k2 and the announcer voice was not maintaining a constant volume. nothing is rattling inside, hopefully the game has always been like this and i never noticed.

anyways, i have two s-video cables for my dreamcast. first is a 3rd party piece of crap, and my other is an official sega one. anyways, i bought the latter used (it's well past refund period) and i noticed that the plastic tab inside of the video cable is snapped off completely. the four metal pins are still intact. i tried it out and it works. what is that piece for, anyways? thanks.

[omnedon]

The tab is just a plastic placeholder to help avoid improper insertion. It will be easier now for you to accidentally break the luma chroma and ground pins when inserting. take care, and don't do it too often, and you should be fine with it.

[The Manimal]

The tab is just a plastic placeholder to help avoid improper insertion. It will be easier now for you to accidentally break the luma chroma and ground pins when inserting. take care, and don't do it too often, and you should be fine with it.

Well, I hook up the system when I want to play it, so I am constantly removing/inserting the thing, though I think I should be okay with this as I know which orientation it goes in and I doubt I'll be inserting it upside down

[SkiDragon]

I recently bought an s-video cable for the dreamcast, but it does not work at all. I do not get any sound or any video, even with the attached composite video (yellow) cord. I have not yet had a chance to test it with a meter. Any idea what could be happening?

[SkiDragon]

Any help here? I tested the cord with a meter, and everything seemed to line up with the pinout charts I found, but no luck getting a singal to the TV.

[jonjandran]

Ok this may be stupid . but.

Did you turn the Tv to Video 1 . Sometimes you have to push the A/V button on the remote or use the menu to switch to the video inputs.

If you've done this, sorry. But it's the only thing I could think of.

[The Manimal]

could be a loose cable, also. the wire will be soldered to the connector.....could be loose or off completely.

[SkiDragon]

I found what the problem was. The previously mentioned "plastic tab" in the end of the cord that goes into the system was pushed back into the metal ground(?) surrounding it. Kinda hard to explain. Anyway, hitting the end of the cord on a table pushed the tab into the correct position, and now it works great.

[The Manimal]

I found what the problem was. The previously mentioned "plastic tab" in the end of the cord that goes into the system was pushed back into the metal ground(?) surrounding it. Kinda hard to explain. Anyway, hitting the end of the cord on a table pushed the tab into the correct position, and now it works great.

Just be careful it doesn't snap off inside your *insert thing it's plugged into* or you'll have some repairs to do...