Japanese Dreamcast reboots with certain Games

[kite]

Hi

after reading for years i finally registered

Well my japanese Dreamcast won't start some Games.
It's always: DC Logo, Sega Logo, Laserposition resets, DC Logo..and so on

Other Games work just fine. Right now i testet it with Expendable and
SF Alpha 3, same Problem. The CDs are fine, SF Alpha 3 Disc is mint.

The Dreamcast is one of the last, refurbished Models.

Does anyone have an idea what's wrong with my DC?
I know about the toothpick-trick but it doesn't look like it oô

[Ziggy]

Did you try cleaning the lens? The games that don't work, what's the condition of them? Are any of these games CD-R's or are they all retail Dreamcast games?

[kite]

I tried cleaning the lens, yes. The Games are all retail, sorry i forgot to mention that.
One GD does have scratches, yes, but another GD does not and is in mint condition but does have the same Problem.

It just froze while playing the blue stinger intro.
But on the other hand it's playing Crazy Taxi (my DC "stress-test") just fine
for about 20 Minutes now and counting.

[Breetai]

Have you tried adjusting the laser? If you look up how on google, it's really pretty easy and just might solve your problem.

[kite]

Yeah i've done that several times with my PAL DC's. But i'd rather be sure about what's causing this because crazy taxi runs just fine and as you might know it's streaming it's data constantly.

I've heard that some GDs are just poorly pressed and don't play very well..?

[fastbilly1]

Updated topic title - please refrain from using the term "Jap" as some view it as offensive. Its not a big deal, but it was brought to my attention.

As for the issue, it sounds to me like the laser is just a notch off. That would explain why some games work and others do not. If you do decide to tweak it make copious notes. I 86ed a DC a couple months ago because I forgot to mark where it was and now it is just useless.

[Lost Monkey]

I have one that displayed the same kind of behaviour - it turned out to be the lid switch causing problems for me.

Mine seemed to work for about 15-20 minutes before it would start resetting. I thought it was the power supply fix at first...

If yours will not start up SFZ3 when "cold", then it may just be the laser.

EDIT - Whoops - just reread the initial post.. the lid switch doesn't cause it to recycle through the bios screen, it will just go back to the DC menu, re-detect the GD and try to restart it...

[kite]

Sorry i meant no offense. I just used it as an abbreviation. I'm used to it because of ebay for example..anyways: sorry

Hm ok then. I will try to adjust the laser just a tiny bit. I was hoping to avoid that but if it helps Thanks very much, i'll let you guys know if it helped fix the issue

[kite]

Ok here i am again with a naked DC.. and i discovered something really strange..

I adjusted the laser and tried to start SF Alpha 3 again.. well it worked, great, BUT..
it only works if the AV Cable is detatched. If i plug the AV Cable in, it's trapped in a
reboot cycle..detatched... no problem.. i re-attached it after the Dreamcast finished booting and i heard the game on my speakers but nothing on my TV.. oô I've never heard of such an issue before.

I tried the original SEGA RGB cable and a no-name RGB cable. Same behavior. Got a friend coming over in an hour with a composit cable to try that as well.

Is there a Problem with some japanese Games and RGB Video Modes? Could that be it?

[d123456]

Ok here i am again with a naked DC.. and i discovered something really strange..

I adjusted the laser and tried to start SF Alpha 3 again.. well it worked, great, BUT..
it only works if the AV Cable is detatched. If i plug the AV Cable in, it's trapped in a
reboot cycle..detatched... no problem.. i re-attached it after the Dreamcast finished booting and i heard the game on my speakers but nothing on my TV.. oô I've never heard of such an issue before.

I tried the original SEGA RGB cable and a no-name RGB cable. Same behavior. Got a friend coming over in an hour with a composit cable to try that as well.

Is there a Problem with some japanese Games and RGB Video Modes? Could that be it?

There are several games that are non-RGB compatible. You can usually find patches.
One time I had a backup of Cleopatra Fortune and it never gave an image with rgbcable. Then after years I had a VGA cable and then it worked. I was like wtf! what a pleasant surprise!