Dreamcast Help?

[Flake]

I wanted to throw my hat into this. It always sounds weird to me when people blame it on a laser going bad. As most cases it seems to be one game just not responding....

Each game is printed differently. Each laser dies a different death. I had one Dreamcast that wore out and wouldn't play ANYTHING - except for Sonic Adventure. Refused to play the 10 or so games I had back then, all legit, but it would play Sonic Adventure like it was nothing at all. I did the laser adjustment and for about a week I got my 0079 side story on - and then it was back to Sonic Adventure.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

It doesn't really matter when your Dreamcast was manufactured, it's a myth that some don't play backups. All of them can.

Flakes right though, sounds like the laser is worn out.

how can it be a myth?

http://www.dcisozone.com/tutorial/9/new ... round.html

there is a technicality to it.

I stand corrected, however, I have an October of 2000 model that plays any burns I throw at it. I've also actually never heard of anybody having problems playing backups that weren't user error. Usually it's because they didn't burn at a low speed.

[Hobie-wan]

Some copies of Sonic Adventure are cranky too. I had one that I acquired and worked fine with the DC I got it with. I sold it to someone on the board here and it wouldn't work for them despite arriving safely in its case. They passed it on to someone else and I don't know what happened at that point. When discussing the first person's difficulties, others mentioned issues with the game too.

[Hatta]

I have a copy of Sonic Adventure that I tried on 2 Dreamcasts and it wouldn't work on either. Downloaded and burned a copy and it works just fine. Who knows?

[Xanimaus]

Alright i opened her up and tried to calibrate the laser but the GD Rom connector ribbon came out of its socket, after fiddling with it for a good two hours it was pretty bent out of shape with a little ding in the side. I put the console back together and now it spins the game for about 10 seconds and then just goes to the menu screen and the disk wont spin after that. I'm pretty sure i just murdered my beloved Dreamcast.

[Flake]

Alright i opened her up and tried to calibrate the laser but the GD Rom connector ribbon came out of its socket, after fiddling with it for a good two hours it was pretty bent out of shape with a little ding in the side. I put the console back together and now it spins the game for about 10 seconds and then just goes to the menu screen and the disk wont spin after that. I'm pretty sure i just murdered my beloved Dreamcast.

Oh man, this is turning into something out of www.dontevenreply.com !

I have pulled the ribbon out before - trust me, it's tougher than it looks. Look at the indentions on it and try to discern if it's pushed all the way back in. It sounds like you only have it part way.

[CFFJR]

Some copies of Sonic Adventure are cranky too. I had one that I acquired and worked fine with the DC I got it with. I sold it to someone on the board here and it wouldn't work for them despite arriving safely in its case. They passed it on to someone else and I don't know what happened at that point. When discussing the first person's difficulties, others mentioned issues with the game too.

I had similar issues with Grandia 2 back in the day.

The original copy I bought never worked with my old dreamcast, even though the game worked fine at the store I bought it at.

The second copy I bought, from the same store, worked fine on my old DC and my current one.

I still have that first copy. I should see if it works on my other DC.

[Anthony817]

I tried playing a Bleemed version of Megaman X5, as it was re-ripped, and killed my laser almost. Nothing would play, not even GDR's. I had to recalibrate the lens and after that it was good as new.

http://www.dcisozone.com/tutorial/1431/ ... lense.html

[brunoafh]

Someone should make a mega-DC guide that covers all of these laser issues.

[Xanimaus]

^This