Malfunctioning Dreamcast

[TuZhao]

Hi there!
I bought a used DC for a friend of mine, but after an hour or so of testing, it seems to have some problems. Sometimes the games hang, or crash back to the main DC menu. After 15-20 minutes the situation get worse because the console don't even recognize some (original) game discs, while other games start fine.
This DC doesn't seem to emit different sounds than my other DC when the drive spins. Within some games (e.g. Sonic Adventure) the screen at times freezes, while the background sounds and music go on playing, and after 10~30 seconds everything goes on like nothing happened. During the pause I don't hear sounds coming from the lens motor.
The console seems to run backups fine.
I opened it but found no loose screws or something. I just cleaned the lens but I really don't know what else I can do.

Please help this poor DC  :unsure:

(edit: some grammar )

[Agentspikey95]

I had this problem, take a good look at your game discs, if they're the lest bit scratched you'll have a world of trouble. otherwise, check to make sure the cooling fan is working, if not it's just faulty

[eek]

You might want to try doing a google for the infamous 'dreamcast keeps resetting problem'. Basically it explains how certain pins inside the DC get all dirty over time and can lose shape and conductivity causing games to reset to the menu after periods of operation.

My beloved Dreamcast started resetting for no reason a few months back and after I opened it up and gave the correct pins a good clean (they were near black with filth/ stuff/ whatsit), the problem went away. However, the problems you've described sound a bit nastier but you could do worse than to give it a try.

[TuZhao]

Thanks, I'll take a deeper look into it. The last time I just opened the plastic case, now I'll take apart every board. At least now I know what to look for
What scares me is that the more the DC is running, the more it gives problems, like the heat could mean something.

[Agentspikey95]

Like i said, make sure the fan is working, but don't start it with the case off, that's one mistake i will absolutely never make again. err...

[TuZhao]

I just finished to open up the whole console, I checked every single part, I even opened the GDROM drive to check the black flat cable (it's firmly attached to both ends). Everything seems to be in order, clean, and stable (I found no loose screws).
The fan spins happily, the drive's moving parts are clean, no dust or dirt in the gears...

I put everything back in place but nothing changed.  
Maybe I should try to swap the GDROM with another one pulled from a working DC, just to understand where the problem lies.

When playing Sonic Adventure, it happened that it hung just after defeating the first monster (Chaos 0). The background music kept playing, I waited some 10-20 seconds then as I was about to press the "open" button, the game went on, like nothing happened.
Whoa, this really confuses me!

[Agentspikey95]

happened to me, check the discs, and check em' good. i have a friend who looks at the disk once and says"it's okay, not scratched." if there are alot of scratches, the discs are shot, you should see my copy of sonic adventture, it can't even load after Chaos 0, and all the SFX like the cops and the light ball are sharp static.

But try swaping the GD drive.

[ravuya]

The GD discs are extremely prone to scratching problems. I can't remember if you can have them resurfaced or not, but probably so.  Most video rental places will resurface your discs for a small fee, which beats the hell out of the "Game Doctor" wet-sand op; they spray on a new layer of polycarbonate and everything.

[TuZhao]

I never mentioned it before, but all of my discs are new or in mint condition I bought my first DC just 3 months ago.

[Darklegion]

I'd check the pins on the power supply again mate,this problem is very common and most of the time this is the cause.Its usually the 3.3v pin on the far left(looking inside from the front,its marked anyway).Make sure this pin,as well as the rest,are making good contact and if they are not try and bend it so it does.Give it a good clean with metho as well while your at it,this helps as well.Another common reason for this happening is the pins in the fan connector pins not making good contact.but as you said the fan is turning,so its working Sega really cut corners on the later models,so these problems tend to turn up more often.

[TuZhao]

I swapped the drive with the other from my working Dreamcast, and it seems I hit the problem: I played with Sonic Adventure for almost an hour without a single lockup.

What can I check on the malfunctioning drive? The black cable connecting the lens to the drive's board is firmly in place. No dirt or dust in the rotating gears.

[Agentspikey95]

maybe the drive's just shot, you can buy replacement ones.

[Darklegion]

You can just swap out the cdrom assembly(lens,motor etc) rather than the whole board if you wanna be cheap.Any cdrom lens will do,you'll need to solder the wires in though as the connectors are different.
It could also be the gdrom pcb thats acting up,in which case you would need an official gdrom drive but I doubt thats the problem.

[TuZhao]

Any cdrom lens will do,

GDROMs and CDROMs share the same lenses? So the differences between the two are just in the mechanics/electronics?

[Agentspikey95]

i wouldn't try doing something like that id you want your DC to acctually work, just buy a replacement GD Drive from Lik-sang, it's worth the wait.

[Endymion]

The GD discs are extremely prone to scratching problems.

Thanks for the laugh, man. I needed that.

YOUR GD discs are extremely prone to scratching problems.

For that matter, any GD that you actually touch anywhere other than the edges is going to be prone to scratching problems.

My GD discs aren't prone to scratching problems. Try and figure out why...

[Agentspikey95]

cause your a cleanfreak wit ur CDs?