DC: Issues w/ Sonic Adventure

[bladerunner]

Ok, so I have seen many posts with people's DCs having issues with certain games and they basically have no idea why except that maybe the laser is dying, disc scratched, etc. So, with that in mind, I too am having issues with my DC, specifically with Sonic Adventure. I can load the game up fine, it plays through the entire opening video. I advance through the menus, setting up my save file, etc. I choose start adventure and it starts to load and then... nothing. It freezes at the Sonic Adventure logo. I have tried many times to get past this, but no luck. I wiped the lens with a cloth and blasted it with compressed air. I did a once over on the disk, which has a few light scratches, but nothing major. All my other games play great.

Is this just another case of mysterious DC disorder? Is there anything I might be able to do? I have seen weird things like, flip the DC upside down, etc. Is there a method anyone uses to clean a DC?

Out of curiosity, is there anyway to replace or repair a bad laser if indeed that is the issue? I've seen the thing where you tighten a screw on the drive assembly. Has anyone had any experience doing this repair? Does it work? It seems simple enough to do. Thanks in advance.

[Scooter]

My Dreamcast has always been really picky about Sonic Adventure. I had problems with numerous copies until I bought a brand new copy. There just seems to be something about that game. Since you've already tried cleaning the lens and (I assume) it plays other games without much issue, try having your copy of Sonic Adventure professionally resurfaced. I've saved numerous games that appear to have been used as coasters at some point. Some used game stores and stores that rent and sell DVDs often have a fancy machine that resurfaces DVDs and CDs. My local store charges $1 a disc to restore them.

[Hobie-wan]

I had a copy of SA that played fine in the one of my DC I tried as far as I could tell with 15 minutes of play. I traded to another forum member and they couldn't get it to go in their DC at all. I believe it was sold in the charity auction and I don't know if the new owner could play it or not. Certainly sounds like its a rather picky game.

[PharmaceuticalCowboy]

I must echo the other users here. My brother had a copy of SA that won't work in his DC, but will in mine. Needless to say, I have the game now.

[CRTGAMER]

I have seen this problem (although rarely) on the Dreamcast and even the Gamecube. Combination of dirty, marginal disc press (or scratches) and laser on console a little off. Laser can be tweaked but not worth risk of frying or shortening life of DC just for one or two games.

[pepharytheworm]

He got the game from me so I can testify that it played on my dreamcast. I get this problem sometimes too. My last disc of Shenmue won't play and there is no scratches; I could never get it to work. I eventually burned the last disc just so I could finish the game. I also had problems with disc one of Alone in the Dark. It would work eventually though, I just had to try it over and over again several times. The last game I had this issue on was Last Blade 2, I took it back to the store they resurfaced it and then it worked.

Is Battlecorps working fine? It played on my sega cd also.

[Hobie-wan]

... I took it back to the store they resurfaced it and then it worked.

The SA I had looked perfect as I recall. CG5 tried resurfacing it anyway and it still didn't work for him. *shrug*

[AppleQueso]

I have seen this problem (although rarely) on the Dreamcast and even the Gamecube. Combination of marginal disc press (or scratches) and laser on console a little off. Laser can be tweaked but not worth risk of frying or shortening life of DC just for one or two games.

I had this problem with the gamecube. It wasn't reading discs so I jammed my finger into the lens in frustration and then flipped out after realizing what I did. I put a game in to see if it'd work and suddenly it reads all discs fine. Has worked great ever since, and this happened over a year ago.

[pepharytheworm]

Maybe a cd cleaner would help. Has anybody used a cd cleaner on a cd-rom system? I used a DVD cleaner before on last and current systems.

[bladerunner]

Is Battlecorps working fine? It played on my sega cd also.

Yeah, it works fine. I just tested it out. For Sega CD, I usually play emu, but I am hardcore about being legit, so I always buy a copy of the game I want to play. Especially for Sega CD games, which are pretty cheap.

Well, I will probably burn a cdr of SA tonight and see. I also thought of having the disc resurfaced as well. I had to do that to my copy of Skies of Arcadia when I first got it for the same reason. This just seems weird as this SA disc is not very scratched (Skies was scratched) and it works great until I want to start a game.

This all just reminds me of how playing actual games as opposed to ROMs and ISOs is going to eventually be a fruitless venture when all this old hardware finally shits the bed. It may take another 20 years, but it will happen.