Agetec stick problem on DC controller ports

I've just gotten a new Agetec stick, and while it works like a dream, it appears that I've just blown out all controller ports on not only my main DC, but also my backup. I can't get any controllers to work on any port on either of my DCs.

The stick worked in one of the DCs for a while, but in the middle of playing Ikaruga, the VMU went dead and the stick became non-responsive. I tested the stick in my backup DC and it worked fine before blowing out those controller ports as well. So I've got two doorstop DC systems now. I've heard about this happening, and I'm wondering how I can prevent this in the future.

I believe the Agetec stick is American, although the two DC systems were Canadian. I always assumed that they were 100% compatible, but is there some power difference that would cause this? Any help would be very appreciated. Suddenly, I'm DC-less and very annoyed!

Sorry to hear that, man. I always thought controllers were compatible across different regions of systems. I'd like to know what the culprit was too.

Just take the resistor out of R7, and replace it with either (2) 10 ohm resistors in parrelel, or (1) 4.7ohm resistor, I've done this fix on 4 dc's takes less then 2 minutes (excluding soldering iron heat up time).

Yeti 0f Doom said:

Just take the resistor out of R7, and replace it with either (2) 10 ohm resistors in parrelel, or (1) 4.7ohm resistor, I've done this fix on 4 dc's takes less then 2 minutes (excluding soldering iron heat up time).

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Eek! It sounds simple, but I'm pretty much a lost case when it comes to serious electronics repair. Do you know of any website that would have diagrams of this or a very in-depth step-by-step guide?

Also, this may be a stupid question, but if I replace the resistor is it possible that this could just happen again when I plug in my Agetec stick?

gmw said:

I've just gotten a new Agetec stick, and while it works like a dream, it appears that I've just blown out all controller ports on not only my main DC, but also my backup. I can't get any controllers to work on any port on either of my DCs.

The stick worked in one of the DCs for a while, but in the middle of playing Ikaruga, the VMU went dead and the stick became non-responsive. I tested the stick in my backup DC and it worked fine before blowing out those controller ports as well. So I've got two doorstop DC systems now. I've heard about this happening, and I'm wondering how I can prevent this in the future.

I believe the Agetec stick is American, although the two DC systems were Canadian. I always assumed that they were 100% compatible, but is there some power difference that would cause this? Any help would be very appreciated. Suddenly, I'm DC-less and very annoyed!

Click to expand...

all accessories except VMU's are universal....

hmmm......interesting! I have a dc with blown ports as well......


but mine was a backup! IMO, bad idea to try a controller on a 2nd dc after it blew out one already. Reminds me of that experiment Lisa Simpson did on Bart with the electrically charged cupcake,lol..

@Scanline - While of course it's true that all DC accessories are universal, my question was aimed at figuring out whether the Canadian DCs draw or accept more power to the controller port board. The problem with the Agetec seems to be a power problem with the resistor.

NGT said:

hmmm......interesting! I have a dc with blown ports as well......
but mine was a backup! IMO, bad idea to try a controller on a 2nd dc after it blew out one already.

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I'd actually never heard of this issue, so when my controls went dead on one DC, I went to test it out on the other (to make sure it wasn't the stick itself) and promptly fried that one too. Talk about bad luck for me.

@Yeti of Doom - I found a longer description/walkthrough of the process you're describing, so I'll be picking up some 10 ohm resistors and solder at Radio Shack tomorrow, and settling in with the soldering iron. Let's hope I don't fry the systems for good!

Every radio shack Ive been to doesnt carry anything less then 27ohm resistors. So you may be stuck there, and the Agetec stick has been known to do that to every DC, even ones in America, and Japan. So don't worry about it, just replace the resistors, and you should never have to worry about it again.

Aside from the GD-Rom units burning out, fried controller ports are the second most common problem. I sincerely doubt that it's the agetec arcade stick specifically causing the problems. It's more along the lines of general useage, after four years of consistant usage the controller ports on my dreamcast are starting to become a bit sketchy as well.

There's no difference between the consoles in Canada and America consoles. There's a North American version, a Japanese version, and and a shared European/Australian version. The only "weird" DC units would be the Hong Kong units that were released without a modem.

So that'd be no because the Dreamcast consoles sold in Canada are absolutely identical to the units sold in the United States...

Yeti 0f Doom said:

Every radio shack Ive been to doesnt carry anything less then 27ohm resistors. So you may be stuck there, and the Agetec stick has been known to do that to every DC, even ones in America, and Japan. So don't worry about it, just replace the resistors, and you should never have to worry about it again.

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Check out Radio Shack part # 271-1301 for 10 ohm resistors. I'll probably have to order them and wait a few days.

Now that I've done a bunch of reading of older Dreamcast repair sites, it seems like this is a really common problem with the Agetec stick - has anyone else had this happen? Does anyone know specifically what the problem is - does the Agetec draw slightly too much power or something?

two 10 ohm resistors?

I only use one....

Anyways, GMW, Send me your mailing adress and I'll ship 2 10 resistors to you free.......

Certain third party/ hacked controllers will cause to much power to flow or down right short out.

This blows the fusable resistor.

Once you have a non-fusable resistor in, it shouln't cause any problems.

my friend had the same problem with 2 of his DC's with the official game pads.

It turns out that his son (rat-boy) chewed thru one of the cables causing a short.

norton9478 said:

two 10 ohm resistors?

I only use one....

Anyways, GMW, Send me your mailing adress and I'll ship 2 10 resistors to you free.......

Certain third party/ hacked controllers will cause to much power to flow or down right short out.

This blows the fusable resistor.

Once you have a non-fusable resistor in, it shouln't cause any problems.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation and the offer! Very nice of you, sir - PM on its way.

One thing to keep this things from happening is to never add or remove controllers and VMUs while the dreamcast is running, you get small powerspikes when you do and over time it WILL wear the fuse out. This might not be the only reason but one of the bigger ones at least.