Easy Fix Consoles?

[Hobie-wan]

They're not the little tiny surface mount ones. They're the ones that are cans with the square plastic bottoms. I still haven't done mine yet, but it should be easy once you have the replacements if you can solder decently. There are a few different board layouts too, so some have a few different chips and thus different caps inside.

[thelolotov]

They're not the little tiny surface mount ones. They're the ones that are cans with the square plastic bottoms. I still haven't done mine yet, but it should be easy once you have the replacements if you can solder decently. There are a few different board layouts too, so some have a few different chips and thus different caps inside.

On a whim, I plugged mine in, and it did something it hadn't done in ages, stay on. It does have the screen problems, so it does have bad caps.

Gonna pick up a decent looking condition, but as-is Genesis system, seeing as it's a cartridge based system, and toploading, I bet it will work, if not, what's the most common problem?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

They're not the little tiny surface mount ones. They're the ones that are cans with the square plastic bottoms. I still haven't done mine yet, but it should be easy once you have the replacements if you can solder decently. There are a few different board layouts too, so some have a few different chips and thus different caps inside.

On a whim, I plugged mine in, and it did something it hadn't done in ages, stay on. It does have the screen problems, so it does have bad caps.

Gonna pick up a decent looking condition, but as-is Genesis system, seeing as it's a cartridge based system, and toploading, I bet it will work, if not, what's the most common problem?

It's a Genesis, there aren't any common problems. AKA: Either it works or you need to clean the cart slot, some kid spilled soda in it, or the caps themselves all need to come out and be replaced which is tedious and annoying.

Make sure your brightness dial isn't just finnicky, Game gears are notorious for having wonky brightness and it's usually unrelated to the caps.

[thelolotov]

Make sure your brightness dial isn't just finnicky, Game gears are notorious for having wonky brightness and it's usually unrelated to the caps.

Is there any procedure to check besides just spinning it around both ways? There is almost no contrast either, or maybe there is too much.

[bacteria]

On a side note, anybody know why a Dreamcast would stop powering up entirely? The power light blinks for a second and then goes out, it's not the PSU, I've swapped it with a PSU from a working DC before.

Thanks!

Might be the fuse on the controller board. The fuse looks like an upright resistor but it's a fuse; I think it's green in colour, as I recall, near the round battery. Change the controller board for another one if you have one.

[thelolotov]

On a side note, anybody know why a Dreamcast would stop powering up entirely? The power light blinks for a second and then goes out, it's not the PSU, I've swapped it with a PSU from a working DC before.

Thanks!

Might be the fuse on the controller board. The fuse looks like an upright resistor but it's a fuse; I think it's green in colour, as I recall, near the round battery. Change the controller board for another one if you have one.

Well that sure was, exciting, for lack of a better word.

I went and pulled that dreamcast out, hastily assembled it, and in said haste, I forgot that plastic shield that goes between the PSU and the main board's rf shield. I plugged it in, the circuit was shorted, hence, giant spark, and I accidentally touched it, so I got a nice shock too. If something wasn't broken already, I finished it off then. Fortunately, the controller board was unscathed, so my other Dreamcast still works.

D'OH!

Oh, and the first time I reassembled the working Dreamcast after this, I forgot to plug in the fan, so you can imagine the panic I felt when it wouldn't start up, XP

Moral of the story: Use an ifixit guide next time.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

On a side note, anybody know why a Dreamcast would stop powering up entirely? The power light blinks for a second and then goes out, it's not the PSU, I've swapped it with a PSU from a working DC before.

Thanks!

Might be the fuse on the controller board. The fuse looks like an upright resistor but it's a fuse; I think it's green in colour, as I recall, near the round battery. Change the controller board for another one if you have one.

Well that sure was, exciting, for lack of a better word.

I went and pulled that dreamcast out, hastily assembled it, and in said haste, I forgot that plastic shield that goes between the PSU and the main board's rf shield. I plugged it in, the circuit was shorted, hence, giant spark, and I accidentally touched it, so I got a nice shock too. If something wasn't broken already, I finished it off then. Fortunately, the controller board was unscathed, so my other Dreamcast still works.

D'OH!

Oh, and the first time I reassembled the working Dreamcast after this, I forgot to plug in the fan, so you can imagine the panic I felt when it wouldn't start up, XP

Moral of the story: Use an ifixit guide next time.

Don''t forget that the DC you shorted still works! All you did was blow the fuse, so replace it and all should be well.

[Hobie-wan]

If you're opening something up for the first time and not sure you can remember, don't have a guide someone has made, or don't have another one of the console there to reference... take pictures as you go.

[thelolotov]

If you're opening something up for the first time and not sure you can remember, don't have a guide someone has made, or don't have another one of the console there to reference... take pictures as you go.

It wasn't my first time, I just got sloppy because I was in a rush.

And no, I don't think it's just the fuse on that one that shorted, because afterwards, I tried the controller board from the working one on it, still didn't work. Tried swapping PSU and Controller board from the working one, and after that, what else is there worth replacing? :\

Might just sell that one for parts. Or keep it for parts, since I don't trust those GD-ROM drives to last forever, that's the problem with today's disc based consoles, much more fragile.

EDIT: Would a faulty GD-ROM drive cause problems? I was pretty hard on it, might be broken.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Meant the fuse on the motherboard itself, not the PSU or Controller board.