weasels wrote:
hmm this makes me curious if my DC has junk in it. it's working just fine...but you never know right? plus it's due for a small clean anyways.
probably not, I've been inside several and most look mint aside from the aforementioned dust/hair accumulation. Never hurts to blast some air duster on it, though.
Oh, and speaking of air duster, ALWAYS HOLD THE CAN PERFECTLY VERTICAL! Tilting the can will both waste your spray and make the fluid come out in liquid state, which you do NOT want. Hold the can steady and move your system around as needed (careful not to turn it more than about 45 degrees from upright since some things aren't screwed down, namely the CD drive which is just slid over some vertical rods and is only clamped down when the top of the case is in place.
Just for maintenance's sake, I cleaned my DC a couple months ago. I made sure the PSU pins were making clean contact, removed all dust, gently cleaned the laser with alcohol, etc.
It should be completely dustless in there; it's only been a few months.
Out of curiosity, do you guys think its breaking had anything to do with my playing my DC for so many hours straight (like 8-9)? I doubt so, but who knows. Just trying to figure out why it stopped working this time and not another. Probably was just its time.
Reprise wrote:
I've since bought 2 Dreamcasts just so I have a spare in case. One is in average condition and didn't cost me much off Ebay. The other is in almost mind condition, like new and still in it's box.
This is a good route to go. Dreamcasts are readily available and you can get them real low cheap. I'm eyeballing a third one on Craigslist right now that includes system, three controllers, three VMU's, 23 games (including Project Justice) for $125. Great thing about most DC's you buy is that the person who is selling it usually didn't put that many miles on them. I've found that most of the time when I buy a DC from someone the reason they are selling it is because "I never played it once I got PS2/Xbox."
Beak wrote:
Out of curiosity, do you guys think its breaking had anything to do with my playing my DC for so many hours straight (like 8-9)? I doubt so, but who knows. Just trying to figure out why it stopped working this time and not another. Probably was just its time.
were you playing a real copy of Fatal Fury MOTW or a CD-R copy? I don't know about the real copy, but the CD-R copy I have has the laser track constantly to play the voice samples, so if the real game does that too (or you have a CD-R copy), I could see that certainly causing a problem. I'd say you'll have to check out the drive assembly inside and out and look for anything that looks like it might be heat deformed, etc. I've always noticed that DCs run kinda hot, so I usually limit my sessions to 2 or 3 hours at the most (I rarely play video games for more than that in one sitting).
Did you try my suggestion of cleaning the spindle and making sure to press the disc down firmly with a triangulated finger press to make absolutely sure it is sitting flat? If you hear the laser moving at all, I think it may be spindle related (slipping).
Reprise wrote:
I've since bought 2 Dreamcasts just so I have a spare in case. One is in average condition and didn't cost me much off Ebay. The other is in almost mind condition, like new and still in it's box.
This is a good route to go. Dreamcasts are readily available and you can get them real low cheap. I'm eyeballing a third one on Craigslist right now that includes system, three controllers, three VMU's, 23 games (including Project Justice) for $125. Great thing about most DC's you buy is that the person who is selling it usually didn't put that many miles on them. I've found that most of the time when I buy a DC from someone the reason they are selling it is because "I never played it once I got PS2/Xbox."
Would just like to point out that I meant MINT condition and not "mind" condition
But people probably realised that.
Yeah, it's weird (maybe I'm bordering on obsessive), but I always find myself eyeballing a third Dreamcast when ever I see a good deal too. It's ridiculous how much Dreamcast stuff I've picked up along the way, I have like 6 or 7 controllers for some odd reason, and 2 microphones. That deal sounds great though LBjeff considering it includes Project Justice too (although I'm not a huge fan, it is quite the collecters item now).
Agreed on Dreamcasts often not having too many miles on them as well. Even the one I have in "average" condition doesn't seem to actually be used too much.
Own: Mega Drive, Saturn, Dreamcast, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, PS Vita, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Wii U, Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox, Xbox 360
17DaysOlderThanNES wrote:
were you playing a real copy of Fatal Fury MOTW or a CD-R copy? I don't know about the real copy, but the CD-R copy I have has the laser track constantly to play the voice samples, so if the real game does that too (or you have a CD-R copy), I could see that certainly causing a problem. I'd say you'll have to check out the drive assembly inside and out and look for anything that looks like it might be heat deformed, etc. I've always noticed that DCs run kinda hot, so I usually limit my sessions to 2 or 3 hours at the most (I rarely play video games for more than that in one sitting).
Did you try my suggestion of cleaning the spindle and making sure to press the disc down firmly with a triangulated finger press to make absolutely sure it is sitting flat? If you hear the laser moving at all, I think it may be spindle related (slipping).
It was a CD-R copy. I tried cleaning the spindle and so on.. Still doesn't work. I don't think the laser's moving at all.
As a last resort, after going through cleaning disc, blowing out dust, cleaning laser and spindle, checking door switch and Internal contacts, you can always see if re-tweaking the laser might help.
Beak wrote:
It was a CD-R copy. I tried cleaning the spindle and so on.. Still doesn't work. I don't think the laser's moving at all.
If the laser's not moving, it's either the laser assembly binding up (you might have to use a flathead screw driver and push the outer rectangular plastic housing of the laser [the small one inside the larger outer case of the whole assembly]. I know it sounds horrible, but doing it on rare occasions isn't going to hurt it) or the lid-closed switch is in a need of cleaning or, more likely, will need to be ripped off and have the traces soldered together so the DC thinks the lid is always closed (it won't hurt function, it just means it won't stop if you pop the lid, no big deal). Lid closed switches go out all the time (or at least jam up until the lint buildup is removed) and are the most minor of minor problems.
DO NOT ADJUST THE POTENTIOMETER AS SHOWN ABOVE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXHAUSTED EVERY OPTION AND HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE! 90% OF THE TIME IT WILL NOT WORK AND WILL TOTALLY BONE YOUR SYSTEM! ANY TIME THE POTENTIOMETER FIX WORKS, IT IS BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE WAS WRONG AND IT AFFECTED THE CALIBRATION OF THE LASER!
Did you blow out the laser assembly? lots of dust gets in there, there's alot more that needs to be clean than just the top of the lens. I just cleaned out an XBOX 360 drive today and it had all kinds of dust bunnies shoot out of it.
17DaysOlderThanNES wrote:DO NOT ADJUST THE POTENTIOMETER AS SHOWN ABOVE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXHAUSTED EVERY OPTION AND HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE! 90% OF THE TIME IT WILL NOT WORK AND WILL TOTALLY BONE YOUR SYSTEM! ANY TIME THE POTENTIOMETER FIX WORKS, IT IS BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE WAS WRONG AND IT AFFECTED THE CALIBRATION OF THE LASER!
Is this guy trolling again? I just posted that tweaking was the last resort.
Actually the last resort is having to put up with "17DaysOlderThanNEW" non-courteous posts. Who are you to dictate and chop at other members suggestions again. BAN BAN BAN this guy already.
17DaysOlderThanNES wrote:DO NOT ADJUST THE POTENTIOMETER AS SHOWN ABOVE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXHAUSTED EVERY OPTION AND HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE! 90% OF THE TIME IT WILL NOT WORK AND WILL TOTALLY BONE YOUR SYSTEM! ANY TIME THE POTENTIOMETER FIX WORKS, IT IS BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE WAS WRONG AND IT AFFECTED THE CALIBRATION OF THE LASER!
Is this guy trolling again? I just posted that tweaking was the last resort.
Actually the last resort is having to put up with "17DaysOlderThanNEW" non-courteous posts. Who are you to dictate and chop at other members suggestions again. BAN BAN BAN this guy already.
I honestly did miss you saying last resort, but everyone immediately says "POTS POTS POTS, SCREW WITH THE POTS!!!!" and then the system ends up in the trash can. I've seen it too many times. For some reason, everyone with a non-working system swears it could never be a dust/oxidation related issue and they jump straight for the potentiometer adjustment because it seems more 1337, only to completely screw their laser up.
Seriously, turn down the ego, you're about an 11, we need you at about a 3. This isn't my first repair rodeo, cowboy.
