Sega Dreamcast optical eye replacement

[fredthezombie]

Hello I am planning on replacing the optical eye in my dreamcast, as games although are perfectly fine no scratchs new at times, it wont boot the game most of the time. Especially when I burn backups, plays fine once or twice, than never again. Anyway I plan on getting a new lens. How difficult is replacing the lens? Only ever hard modded a system once. Do I have to worry about recalibration? Or do I just pop it in and go? Do I have to get a certain model number or are all universal to dreamcast? I have a standard US NTSC model if that helps.

[Ziggy]

I won't pretend to be an expert on optical drives, but, the actual lens isn't the problem. The lens just focuses the laser. That being said, if you wanna get replacement parts, no, they're not all universal. Generally, you don't replace parts within a drive. You just replace the entire drive. But either way, the Dreamcast has a GD-ROM drive which is as proprietary as proprietary gets. I'd be very interested to know of any available replacements, I am not aware of any. And if replacements suddenly popped up, I'd be very weary of the quality of them (à la replacement PS1 drives which are pure junk).

If a replacement drive was acquired, the only calibration that should have to be done is if there's a trim pot to adjust the intensity of the laser. From what I gather, it's best to start at a low point and adjust upward until you have just enough power to read discs correctly.

When these old game consoles start failing to read or even recognize discs, some people try adjusting the trim pots. Increasing the intensity of the laser might make it able to read discs again. At least, it will work for a while longer until you have to increase it a little more. Then a little more, and a little more, until eventually it's just completely dead. At least, that's what some people say.

If you're gonna do this, what you wanna do is first clean the lens (lightly dampen a cotton swab with isopropyl alcohol and gently rub it on the lens for a few seconds, then immediately repeat with a dry cotton swab) to make sure it's not part of the problem. When you adjust the trim pot, you first want to probe it with a multimeter to see what the resistance is from the start so you have a point of reference. When you increase, you only want to increase the smallest amount (very small turns - a few degrees at a time). Increase it just until discs can be read without error, no more that that.

If you do get the drive working again by adjusting the trim pot, I would keep playing burns to a minimum. Most people argue that burned discs cause drives to wear out faster because of the extra effort needed to read them. For games that you play often or for long periods of time, I would suggest buying authentic copies of them if possible. If you must play burns, there's a few things you can do that will help. Use good media, not the cheapest Memorex and drug store brands. The argument here is that a better quality CD-R with a better burn will be more easily read by the drive. Some people argue slower burns speeds, while other say it doesn't matter. I say it doesn't hurt, so you might as well burn as slow as possible. The images that you burn are just as important. There's a few projects out there (example: DCRES) that aim to build the best quality image for game, citing better file order that makes a drive work less.

[CRTGAMER]

Not just the laser eye, but the entire Laser Assembly could be a repair option. I replaced a lens assembly in a Wii drive, there should be something similar for other game consoles as well. I have seen them for PS1, not sure if the Dreamcast is as common though.

The entire Dreamcast console can be bought used inexpensively. On newer consoles the laser replacement is more viable due to locked to console saves and downloads.

[Ziggy]

Not just the laser eye, but the entire Laser Assembly could be a repair option. I replaced a lens assembly in a Wii drive, there should be something similar for other game consoles as well. I have seen them for PS1, not sure if the Dreamcast is as common though.

Replacement PS1 drives are plentiful. The problem is that they all suck. They don't work *at all* and are just a giant waste of time. I haven't ever seen a replacement DC drive.

[8bit]

It seems to me like a replacement console in known good working condition would be a better route. For $35 or so, a good condition used console should be hard to beat considering a replacement drive is probably going to be $15-$20 plus your time to install and fiddle with it.

[CRTGAMER]

Not just the laser eye, but the entire Laser Assembly could be a repair option. I replaced a lens assembly in a Wii drive, there should be something similar for other game consoles as well. I have seen them for PS1, not sure if the Dreamcast is as common though.

Replacement PS1 drives are plentiful. The problem is that they all suck. They don't work *at all* and are just a giant waste of time. I haven't ever seen a replacement DC drive.

I was meaning just the Laser Assembly not the entire drive, a new one of course. I went this route on the Wii due to locked to console game saves. This gave the advantage of a brand new laser which still works beautiful even with dual layer Wii games.

However, as mentioned earlier, probably cheaper just to get another Dreamcast.

[Ziggy]

It seems to me like a replacement console in known good working condition would be a better route. For $35 or so, a good condition used console should be hard to beat considering a replacement drive is probably going to be $15-$20 plus your time to install and fiddle with it.

At the end of the day, this is probably the easiest and cheapest thing to do. If you hunt, you can find a DC for less than $35 (with out hookups or anything - but you don't need those if you already own the console).

I would first try and tweak the laser with the trim pot. A lot of times this can get a drive to read discs again, if only for a little while longer. It's easy and fast enough to do that if it doesn't even work then there's no real loss.

I always feel the need in these circumstances to state my cardinal rule: Don't ever throw anything away. This is why I'm hesitant to make certain suggestions, because I cringe at the idea of consoles and carts getting tossed because they're "broken." In my mind, things are never broken. They just don't work temporarily.

You could always get a replacement drive from another DC that is broken in some other way. For example, there might be a DC with a blown PSU or something but the drive works fine. Or, countless times I find on eBay with various consoles, a DC with no hookups that's dirty/yellowed and sold as "not tested - as is". If you hunt for a little while, you can usually always find these. You'll eventually find one with a low starting bid, and no one will bid on it because of the state that it's in. Just swap the drive over. But this is why I bring up not ever throwing anything out. Because what happens to the DC that you took the drive out of? It can still be useful to some one else.

[s8n]

Replacement PS1 drives are plentiful. The problem is that they all suck. They don't work *at all* and are just a giant waste of time.

+1 .............


although i have read a couple of cases where they work but most come DOA , i believe out of 10........... 2 work and 8 come DOA


ive read with the DOA cases the buyer gets a refund

[Ziggy]

I didn't have high hopes for them from the things I read, but some time last year I decided to give a try anyway since they're so cheap (the cheap price tag should be a dead give away). You could tell that they're cheaply manufactured, and have no real quality. Mine had fitment issues, and failed to read a disc anyway. It was so cheap that returning it wouldn't have been worth the hassle.