Is my DC broken?

[boyukan]

Right, first of al sorry for the maybe already posted topic but i could not find anything about my problem

Second , this is my first time posting a topic about something EVER in my life
and i dont know al the short term lingo besides lol brb and lmfao so please please i beg you i will not understand anything like this

Problem :
Dc starts up with the dc logo but no sound and no splash ,just the screen for about 2 minutes and then into the dash if it is with a cd in it or not ( GD or Music)
I have opened it up and checked everything with power to and from different places and found nothing out of the wierdness but only that the drive will spin up and tries to do something with the laser coz i can see it focus ( i think) i can see it go up and down but after that the drive cuts the power to the motor and it spins till there is no more momentum so no polarity switch or something that would slow the disc down ( call it brake)
when the lid is opened and a cd will be put in it will not register lid open or closed so no errors of put a dc game in of something ,the dash stays there and nothing happens and the settings are on auto play
when i put a music cd in end select the player it does not recognize anything and stays blanc

What can i do ? is this one just dead or is there a bios problem ? or just a brick for under my wobbly table/ paper weight
Can any one help me ?
Sorry for any spelling errors and punctuations thats been left out coz i forgot or dont know where to put them ( Dutch )

[noiseredux]

When you try to play the game from the menu do you get a disc read error? You may have a failing lens which you can try to fix.

[nightrnr]

My guess would be the lens as well.
I have no idea how you would go about fixing it (beyond maybe a slightly damp q-tip lightly touching across the lens to rule out dust; fixed a Saturn for me once at least),
but I've been looking into ways to re-purpose failing consoles.

If the laser is broken, you could probably find a replacement GDrom drive or laser some place online, but I went another route:

Optical Disc Emulators (ODE for short) (to play game images via flash memory).

GDEMU:
https://gdemu.wordpress.com/installatio ... tallation/

or

USB-GDROM
http://3do-renovation.ru/USB-GDROM_Controller.htm

Neither options are cheap, but are a good investment for the Sega fan.
I have a GDEMU and love it to pieces. It's not the easiest to get a hold of (and even if you do get an order in, you better understand all his terms and conditions so he doesn't ignore your e-mail if you forget some crucial info).

In any case, I've never trusted the Dreamcast laser; always sounded like a sci-fi battle was happening in my system.
Just DO NOT throw away or trash your Dreamcast, in any way or under any circumstances. People are always looking for a spare system to re-purpose (as I've suggested) or use for parts (worst case scenario).

So far, I've got permanent, digital options for Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, and soon PS1 (has a similar drive emulator in the works called "PSIO"). Nothing like playing on classic hardware via modern tech .

[CD AGES]

Remove the entire top lid portion of the console. With the entire top removed, put a game on the drive. On the upper right corner is a small black lever. with you finger gently pull it back so the system thinks the top lid is closed. Now turn the system on.

Update on the results.

Goodluck

[boyukan]

an update

I have tried cleaning the lens and so far......nothing nada ,the same thing over and over again
The very long wait (without the drops sounds or moving swirl), just the logo and it goes to the dash

ive truned it over and removed the lid ( yay for sega not having stupid screws in there)
and held the black switch
but still the disc is just boosting up and i see the lens go up and down ,cd looses momentum and ......nothing happened
So instead of waiting to boot up i waited for the cd to stop and held the black switch with a pen this time and pressed game in the dash and i get "insert game disc "
tried a different one repeated everything but this time the gd rom did nothing
and when the black switch is released it still comes up with the " insert game disc"

So i deffo know there is something wrong with it and its not just a lens but more drastic

[noiseredux]

this sounds like it is the lens - the old "lens pot tweak" is my guess. CD AGES will be able to confirm and point you in the right direction to fix it if I'm correct.

[Exhuminator]

Shot in the dark, but it sounds like the GD-ROM is not sending some kind of validation signal to the BIOS?

This could be because of something as simple as a dislodged connector. The GD-ROM has its main data ribbon cable, and two power cables, check those for secure connections. There is also a green cable that transmits between the GD-ROM's control board and the main system board, so check that cable is not loose. Here's a pic to help:

If the cables are all secure and it still won't work. The laser could have died, a limit switch inside the GD-ROM could have died, who knows.

Your option then is to replace the GD-ROM with another one:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Sega+Dream ... ement/1589

I've heard of people using PC CD-ROMs to replace the GD-ROM in their Dreamcast too, but that's kinda legal grey area stuff so I'm not linking to it.

If the laser simply isn't reading a disc, you could also try this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Dreamca ... /?ALLSTEPS

[boyukan]

@ Exhuminator
Thanks for the pics
I haven't seen the links yet tho deu to work
If i look at it now i will be late for work

My dreamcast gdrom cables does noet even look the same with mine

The ribbon cable goes to the back as does the motors wires with the stop switch for the laser track
And as for the green wire you are talking about . there is none on mine
I'll post a picture later in the day (work) when i figure out how
with what precicely happens and how my dc looks like
I have circled my mind for a HDD option coz i'm not afraid of using a soldering iron and i do have alot of patience but first i want to know if its worth it and i like to have a working Gdrom on it for the originals i still have
And if i want to know if this mobo still works fine to load games or not

[boyukan]

and here my dc with a different kind of laser
I have tried a lot of thing but still ending up with same results
Turning the pentomethor ( wrong spelling i know) counless times and didn't work
Cleaning the lens
I even checked with an multimeter if the ribbon is broken or burned not that seems fine
I have chencked the power supply if the voltage was dipping or not present what i would find odd of the logo i'm getting on the screen and some activity from the GD Rom drive

But everything from the power button goes as followed

No animation no sound just the dreamcast name and logo
Disc will spin but stops after 10 turns or so and lens wil go up and down but stops after 3 times doing so
Goes to dash with cd in but the animation of the selected curser is working
Pressing on music ,it will not recognize anything and stays empty
By switching the cd's and having no lid on now i can use the switch for the open or closed lid and by closing it (holding switch) i do not even get a loading indication like a darkenned screen what i can remember
But the only thing it does is make de cd spin 10 times or so and the lens will do 3 tries by going up and down and that's It will not find a cd if its music or not

Time for a nother dc and scrap this one ?
Or is this with some hope still ?