Dreamcast Life Cycle

[Porksta]

I have two Dreamcasts. One I bought from a friends years ago that is a launch system. It worked great and then would sometimes freeze. So I bought another one. That second one has worked great up to a year ago when I stopped playing DC.

Forward to today. I realize the DC I bought from a friend has been sitting on m floor in front of my television for a few years now gathering dust. I thought I would use it for parts but never did. So I listed it on CL for free. A guy emails me and wants to know what the problem is. So I go downstairs and boot it up. Low and behold it works. So I'm like what? it still has the occasional freezing but works great. So I go to the second one I bought that has been sitting on my shelf and worked great the last time I played it and try it out. It doesn't read discs. So it looks like I will be giving that one away on CL. I hear people complaining about 360s dying, but what about Dreamcasts? Is there a magic model number I need that doesn't break? Is it normal for DC to just die like this? Also, my friends DC is a model 0. It is not a kiosk unit, but I can't find anything on it.

[zektor]

I have had half a dozen DC's (well, my entire family and myself combined) and never had a single issue. Are you maybe blocking the internal cooling fan?

[walrusmonger]

Yes! Maybe not as common as the 360, but Dreamcasts suffer from the non-spinning disc issue.

I have had 1 system do this to me- but when I worked at a game store I would say more than half of the dreamcasts we had all had the same issue. I don't remember what the exact problem is, but it's something stupid.

[Sinnbox]

of all the Dreamcast's I find at Garage sales, over 50% of them have broken controlelr ports, the owner of the local Video game store told me he has the same problem with them.

[josekortez]

Yes! Maybe not as common as the 360, but Dreamcasts suffer from the non-spinning disc issue.

I have had 1 system do this to me- but when I worked at a game store I would say more than half of the dreamcasts we had all had the same issue. I don't remember what the exact problem is, but it's something stupid.

I've noticed this happens with Dreamcasts that have been stored upside down or on their sides with their laser eyes going backward. When I push the laser eye all the way forward before booting them up, I've been able to get the few non-spinning Dreamcasts I've had to run. Of course, I've only run into that problem with two out of six.

The only non-running one I have that won't power up at all is a former kiosk Dreamcast that my old Kay-Bee Toys manager gave me when I finally stopped working there years back. I just keep it so I can say I have an original kiosk Dreamcast.

[darkslime]

Anyone have any idea what the problem is when it freezes on the first screen that says dreamcast?
I have one with that problem. Probably have had 20-30 other ones and they all work perfectly... That's weird.

[Sinnbox]

Anyone have any idea what the problem is when it freezes on the first screen that says dreamcast?
I have one with that problem. Probably have had 20-30 other ones and they all work perfectly... That's weird.

20-30 other ones? wow the DC was so under loved here that I don't even think most of the local Game-Store-Owners could say that, heck, I have gone to Garage sales off and on for the last 6 years and have only owned 5 and that is including my original from my 16th B-day!!

[Astrocade]

The only time mine freezes occasionally is during the boot process when it's playing a burned game, it will read as a music disc. I just turn the DC off and wait for it to boot normally, sometimes it gives me no trouble and sometimes I have to reboot it six or seven times.

I've had six or seven DC's in my day, and never had one go bad. My friend, on the other hand has gone through two or three that didn't work.

[Sinnbox]

I've had six or seven DC's in my day, and never had one go bad. My friend, on the other hand has gone through two or three that didn't work.

I notice quotes like this about all systems, to me it just proves that most systems go bad because of user error, all my friends that have had 360's go bad have had 2 or 3, but the rest have had our launch consoles for ever!!

[CosmicMonkey]

The only real problem I've had is the console randomly resetting. That's easily fixed by cleaning and slightly bending the pins that connect the PSU to the MoBo.

The laser in one DC was a little unhappy with playing GDs after a long stint playing homebrew on CD-Rs, but it got better eventually.

[Phyeir]

I've seen the recentering issue for the laser a couple times (had the same issue on a Saturn also, after it just not running for a few years). Just push it to center and see what that does and if that doesn't work, open it and move the laser around on the line (carefully) and hit it with a can of air... worked for me.

[Chainclaw]

I think my Dreamcast suffered from randomly freezing up or something. I forget exactly, it was about 5 years ago.

Anyways, the problem was apparently really common, and was due to some piece of metal inside stretching out from overheating. It was a really easy fix, just open the system up, push the metal bit back into place, and it's been working ever since.

[shopkins]

Both my Dreamcast and my brother's got to the point where they would only read some brand new disks, and even then it was dicey. Everything else refused to load. I don't know what he did to his but I was able to fix mine with a laser calibration fix I found online. I think it might have been this one. Something similar, anyway. It was an easy fix.

http://www.ilovetheinternets.com/200...bration-trick/

[squirrelnut]

The issue with the dreamcasts was the lasers needed to be calibrated. I was a loyal fan from 9-9-99 til present and kept up on everything. Most everyone who complained that it was dead did the laser adjustment and it magically worked again.

It's still one of the best damn consoles ever made.

[bcks007]

I would like to say i went through 3 dreamcasts when they where still being produced. So 2-3 year range. I've never had to replace any systems, cept for a ps1, one time. Maybe i was just unluckly, but they did seem to burn out on me very fast. I also used my dreamcast alot back in the day.

[eskobar]

I've had dozens of Dreamcasts since it was released and i only had 1 problem :

Dreamcast resetting after minutes of playing ... and that was fixed easily, i had to enforce contact of the power supply with the mother board by moving a few pins.

I would think that you can use a dreamcast for 5 years without problems, using it regularly.

[Pete Rittwage]

The ones I had that failed to boot or reset to the menu ended up being the lid detector switch.

The plastic leg that presses the button on the motherboard gets bent over time and the system thinks the lid is open. Therefore, no motor spin.

It's more likely to happen the longer the system sits closed, which is most of the time.

[darkslime]

20-30 other ones? wow the DC was so under loved here that I don't even think most of the local Game-Store-Owners could say that, heck, I have gone to Garage sales off and on for the last 6 years and have only owned 5 and that is including my original from my 16th B-day!!

Really?
I see them constantly. They're the most common thing I find other than N64 and PS1.

[Kiddo]

My first Dreamcast had a malfunction where the disk drive would not spin. For that I got a replacement.

My second one's also gone through a few DIY repairs - one of the most ridiculous of which being the one where my little bro transplanted the laser from the previous broken one into the second one. Since that one I haven't had any permanent problems. I worry, though.

[otoko]

I currently own three Dreamcasts (I'm a sucker for them I admit) and my original one my parents bought for me less than a month after launch eventually died with a bad motherboard (no video) and the other two both work. The last one I bought does not like Jet Grind Radio.. I found that odd but other than that I have not had problems with my Dreamcasts. (Sure the motherboard dieing it pretty big but I used that dreamcast 10x the amount of any other system I do own.)

As the laser goes, I believe it's the later models that have problems because of the short ending life of the Dreamcast and the sudden drop in price due to lack of interest. My sister had (still has) her Dreamcast that she bought at the end of it's life span (Seriously like a month or two before the last one rolled off the assembly line) and it died of a bad laser motor a few years ago.