Dreamcast not working correctly

[sega dude]

I just got a copy of Virtua Tennis from eBay. I put it into my Dreamcast, it starts it and gets to the the game's main menu. But when I select any menu item the Dreamcast goes back to it's main menu. It does this every time. The disc has minor scratches on it, nothing too bad. The laser looked dusty, so I blew it off with compressed air which made it worse, it went back to the dreamcast menu after the Sega screen. So I cleaned the laser with alcohol and now it's back to doing the same thing described above. What can I do?

[s8n]

hi sega dude , have you got any other Original Dreamcast games ? if so how do they perform ?

Also you may want to try a downloaded version of the same game and burn it , if it runs fine its got to be the game you bought off eBay thats the problem.

Checkout TuxTheWise's or ReviveDC releases for their versions of the game




s8n

[bacardipr05]

I would try what s8n said. Except with one exception. Do you have another original (non burnt) game for it. I would try that to see what happens. I have 4 DC each with their own personality. What im trying to say one game will work on one DC and not another. One DC doesnt take to kind to playing burnt games, while another one loves them etc.

[Mechblue]

I just got a copy of Virtua Tennis from eBay. I put it into my Dreamcast, it starts it and gets to the the game's main menu. But when I select any menu item the Dreamcast goes back to it's main menu. It does this every time. The disc has minor scratches on it, nothing too bad. The laser looked dusty, so I blew it off with compressed air which made it worse, it went back to the dreamcast menu after the Sega screen. So I cleaned the laser with alcohol and now it's back to doing the same thing described above. What can I do?

Is it actually going back like you selected cancel or is it resetting back to the companies before the main screen? Does this happen with only this game or with some of your other games?

I may have come across this and fixed it before.

[sega dude]

I just got a copy of Virtua Tennis from eBay. I put it into my Dreamcast, it starts it and gets to the the game's main menu. But when I select any menu item the Dreamcast goes back to it's main menu. It does this every time. The disc has minor scratches on it, nothing too bad. The laser looked dusty, so I blew it off with compressed air which made it worse, it went back to the dreamcast menu after the Sega screen. So I cleaned the laser with alcohol and now it's back to doing the same thing described above. What can I do?

Is it actually going back like you selected cancel or is it resetting back to the companies before the main screen? Does this happen with only this game or with some of your other games?

I may have come across this and fixed it before.

It goes back to the Dreamcast's main menu, the one you get if you turn it on with no game in. My copy of Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 worked ok, it at least played Streets of Rage 2.

[Mechblue]

It goes back to the Dreamcast's main menu, the one you get if you turn it on with no game in. My copy of Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 worked ok, it at least played Streets of Rage 2.

Try a few more games and see if you get that issue. Sounds like an problem a friend was having, turned out the problem was the laser.

[ice445]

I got a used Dreamcast that did this, it's more than likely the "lid sensor" switch next to the GD ROM drive. If it's flaky the console keeps thinking you've opened the lid when you haven't. You can test this by taking the top of the case off and holding the switch back with your finger after putting the game in that isn't working. If it works while you hold the switch, that's your culprit. As for fixing it, I just ended up taking it back and getting the other one they had (which was a launch model, yay historical value). I'm sure there's a way it can be fixed though.

Word of warning though, when you put the top case back on, make sure the lid is OPEN. Otherwise you can break the switch (even worse) when you try and snap it back on.

[sega dude]

I got a used Dreamcast that did this, it's more than likely the "lid sensor" switch next to the GD ROM drive. If it's flaky the console keeps thinking you've opened the lid when you haven't. You can test this by taking the top of the case off and holding the switch back with your finger after putting the game in that isn't working. If it works while you hold the switch, that's your culprit. As for fixing it, I just ended up taking it back and getting the other one they had (which was a launch model, yay historical value). I'm sure there's a way it can be fixed though.

Word of warning though, when you put the top case back on, make sure the lid is OPEN. Otherwise you can break the switch (even worse) when you try and snap it back on.

Unfortunately, that's not the problem. I held the sensor back and selected the first menu item and it went back to the dreamcast menu and the disc was still spinning full force.

[ice445]

Try cleaning the laser eye with a Q-Tip or cotton swab and some isopropyl (preferably 70% or higher). If that doesn't work, there are two other things it could be. One, the power pins aren't making good contact, or two, the laser is on its way out. You could try upping voltage a bit with the potentiometer screw.