Dreamcast Boot issue

Neogeoman106st

Crossed Swords Squire
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Posts
191
Ok so i have a Japanese dreamcast that does a boot loop when it tries to load up a game. I Checked the power supply and connection's. they are clean and look to be connected fine. When i turn on the system it will load to the main menu fine without a game but once i place a game in the Drive it reads the game then boots to the Sega logo Flickers black then i can hear the drive spin down a bit but them ramp back-up. it shows the DC logo them Sega and just keep looping this way. at first i though it was due to the controller ports because once i put in a VMU the game started a few times with out issues. but recently its not working at all just looping.

Also something to note i have checked the controller board and replaced the battery for the system.

DC system is a HKT-3000
 

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Posts
8,788
Are you doing RGB or HI RES VGA? Some games aren't compatible depending on the video output. Is it doing this with all games?
 

ChuChu Flamingo

We have purposely, trained him wrong, ...as a joke
10 Year Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2010
Posts
2,763
Years ago my dreamcast would randomly reset similar to yours either during in game or when loading.

It seems to be a common problem. Basically the power board doesn't make a good connection. After bending it to ensure good connection,cleaning, and reseating the resetting went away. It might be worth checking the article below.

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/dreamcast-random-reset-and-common-fixes/

Also what Razo stated may be true. Make sure you have a compatible game

https://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?56169-Dreamcast-VGA-Compatability-list-amp-Guide
 
Last edited:

Neogeoman106st

Crossed Swords Squire
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Posts
191
nope using horrible yellow/red/white. picked up the DC for a friend in the US.it was working but them after some more testing it started acting up. Also I was testing using an official copy of SNK Vs Capcom 2(only game i have right now) :)
 
Last edited:

Neogeoman106st

Crossed Swords Squire
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Posts
191
Years ago my dreamcast would randomly reset similar to yours either during in game or when loading.

It seems to be a common problem. Basically the power board doesn't make a good connection. After bending it to ensure good connection,cleaning, and resetting the resetting went away.

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/dreamcast-random-reset-and-common-fixes/


Also what Razo stated may be true. Make sure you have a compatible game

https://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?56169-Dreamcast-VGA-Compatability-list-amp-Guide

I noticed that too and tried it(will look into this more later). my issue is its looping right as it starts to boot the game. its not something that happens over time or anything like that.its right from a cold boot. Also the system never turns off at any point.
 

Neogeoman106st

Crossed Swords Squire
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Posts
191
Update: Did some more testing today for a bit and i think it does have something to do with the power. it seems like once the Sega logo pops up it starts to Draw more power to boot the game and thats were its failing. i need to check the Pins again on the connector and maybe check to see if i have some cracked joints or bad caps.
 

Geekman1222

Kula's Candy
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Posts
290
Update: Did some more testing today for a bit and i think it does have something to do with the power. it seems like once the Sega logo pops up it starts to Draw more power to boot the game and thats were its failing. i need to check the Pins again on the connector and maybe check to see if i have some cracked joints or bad caps.

If you already tried ensuring the pins to the PSU are making good contact to the Katana board you may want to consider a recap, I have fixed a couple systems either not reading or in a power cycle loop by using a different PSU or refurbishing one.
 

madmanjock

Bare AES Handler
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2002
Posts
7,724
My dreamcast did something similar when the laser was failing. Could you try putting a game in the drive, gently turn the console upside down, and see if it boots when powered on? If it boots, likely your laser is on the way out. Mine had a power pot that could be adjusted that brought it back to life for a year or two, but eventually I replaced it with a GDemu.
 

Neogeoman106st

Crossed Swords Squire
Joined
Aug 29, 2017
Posts
191
So it turns out the asshat who owned this before me must have bent the pins too much and the socket they go though was very loose. Not sure why I missed this the first time I checked. Also I noticed the solder joint on the socket looks odd. So I removed and resolderd it . After that is working like a Dream...cast bad pun intended!

7CADDCE1-3D86-4298-93EA-00180CA26824.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Top