Dreamcast powers up but nothing happens.

[Berty]

Hi,

i tried searching for other instances of this but had no luck.

Anyway, i have got a dreamcast that powers up, (the light comes on) but it doesn't do anything, no picture, no sound.

Any ideas apart from the obvious ones?

[omnedon]

Has it been disassembled-reassembled?

If re-assembled incorrectly, one long screw where a short screw goes, will literaly grind out a portion of the AV port's circuitry, ending with the result you describe.

[Avatard]

Yea, I'd disassemble it and remove it from the case, then sit it on some cardboard outside the box and see if it works. If it works you know there is a grounding issue with the case.

Swap out power transformers too, ya never know, it could be bad and only giving enough power to turn on the lights.

[Berty]

Thanks, ill give it a try when i get homw from work, fingers crossed.

[InsaneDavid]

A similar question came up recently so I'll just recycle my post from there...

Could be a problem with the internal Dreamcast power supply. Lots of them started to flake out from people leaving their consoles on nearly 24-7 when Phantasy Star Online was released. One of my DC's has a power supply problem too, from the large amount of emulation testing I do on it.

Basically sometimes it will lose picture but remain on, and sometimes it'll reset continuously - kinda like the old NES flashing screen problem from dirty connectors. While no picture would be displayed the power light remains on and the system still running. If this is the case (power light is on, you hear the system running and feel air coming from the fan but no picture) it has nothing to do with your TV connection at all, but with the internal power supply.

You can try unplugging the power connection, plugging it back in and trying again. If you can get it to halfway boot up on the screen even for just a few seconds then it's the power supply. You can buy a new power supply for about $20 all said and done and change it yourself or simply keep your controllers / power cable / TV connections and look for a dirt cheap 'console only' on eBay or at local yard sales / flea markets.

Hope this helps.

[Fabsy]

Hi everyone, first post here.

I have the same problem with a friend's unwanted Dreamcast and I would love to salvage it from the dead. (I have another friend's working dreamcast to test out.

The Dreamcast powers on, but gives absolutely no output (the screen doesn't even flicker or anything.

1) Could someone please tell me which screw goes where so that I don't ruin a motherboard in future? (I already opened up the DC, but it already had the problem before I opened it up. So I'm not sure if it had been already opened and badly re-assembled)

2) There are a few broken dreamcasts floating around in the local game shops. If it is indeed a motherboard problem: would I be able to use the parts from my broken (Japanese) system to salvage those other broken Dreamcasts? (Assuming the other broken DCs have GD-Rom or fan or power supply circuit problems) Would this "fix" only work between Japanese region systems?

Thanks,

Fabsy

[omnedon]

Welcome Fabsy!

Yes, for the most part you can swap parts from one DC to another. There are fan revisions, that can make one motherboard not work correctly with a controller block from another DC, but you should be good to go.

If you buy another DC, just make sure it doesn't suffer from the exact same problem. Remember, it will be the region of whatever region the motherboard is from.

Good Luck!

Steve

[Fabsy]

Could someone please tell me where should I avoid putting a long screw in? (So that I don't ruin any motherboards in future )

EDIT: Nevermind, I figured it out.


For the record:

The short screws should secure the disc drive in place and not thel ong screws. (all the screws securing the motherboard have little holes that they go into).

[Fabsy]

Alright, an update on my a/v out situation:

Turns out I didn't put in the disc drive with the long screws, so it seems my motherboard is safe.

I also checked for signs of grinding/motherboard damage and seemed to find none.

I found a post on a random forum saying that sometimes the problem can be due to the tab thing in the av out port loweiring and losing contact. (It sounds unlikely, but apparently, it worked for this fellow)

The forum poster suggested raising that tab slightly using a flat head screwdriver. So I'm going to go try that out now myself.

If not, I'm going to give up and assume it's motherboard trouble.

Also, I've been having problems getting the mother board out of the lower case. These are my specific problems:

1) I'm scared of breaking anything, so I don't know how to safely disconnect the mother board and the controller port chipset.

2) Same as above, only with the connection between the fan and the controller chipset.

Any advice?