So your playing away at some game, and all of a sudden your
dreamcast resets and returns you to the main Dreamcast menu
screen, you choose to ignore it the first time, but after a few
days the problem gets worse, and eventually your dreamcast becomes
unplayable.
Why is it doing this!?
In nearly all cases the reset problem is caused by two things:
#1:
Heat expansion of circuit boards inside the dreamcast.
#2:
poor
electrical connections.
This is what happens inside your dreamcast and how it causes your
dreamcast to reset:
As you know the dreamcast takes mains supply voltage straight into
the back of the system, and this voltage (240v Europe, 110 v
America) needs to be stepped down and converted to a stable DC
current that the electronic components can handle. As the
electricity enters your dreamcast it passes through a step down
transformer which reduces the voltage, unfortunately step down
transformers generate heat and as things warm up they expand, the
step down transformer in the dreamcast is located on a separate
circuit board, the main power board, which is on the left hand
side in the dreamcast above the Main mother board and to the left
of the GD rom assembly, this is why the left side of the dreamcast
gets warmer.
The main power board is connected to the dreamcast mother board by
six aluminium pins, as the power board heats up it expands lightly
putting pressure on the pins and over time this will bend them
slightly, resulting in a poor electrical connection that will
cause your dreamcast to reset at random.
This is what you do to fix the problem:
You need the following:
a screwdriver with + blade
some common sense
and make sure that your dreamcast is out of warranty as the
following will void it.
1) Disconnect from the mains, remove all
cables from the dreamcast and
any disc that may be inside
2) Remove the modem
3) undo the four screws in the base of the
Dreamcast and KEEP SAFE
4) Remove the lid.
On the left hand side you will see: the
Main power board, with the GD rom
assembly to the right, the input port
Circuit board at the base, and in the
bottom left hand side you will see the
power on/off switch, this switch is
Connected to the power board with a grey
cable , at the power board end of the
cable their is a white connector, grip
the connecter at the base and lift clear.
5) undo the two brass screws that hold the
Power board down and KEEP SAFE
6) towards the base of the power board you
will see a white connector, it has six
pins sticking out, gently lift the power
board out of the dreamcast and off the
pins.
7) Under the power board there is a clear
plastic insulation sheet DO NOT REMOVE
THIS, IF YOU DO PUT IT BACK.
8) look at the pins and clean any dirt off
them DONT USE ANY LIQUID to clean them
with
9) GENTLY apply SMALL amount of pressure to
pins pushing them towards the back of the
dreamcast DO NOT BEND THEM, JUST APPLY A
SMALL AMOUNT OF PRESSURE
10) Re assemble your dreamcast and the re-
sets should be no more.
Thanks to someone (I forget who, sorry) on the Dreamcast message board at gamefaqs.com who directed me to dcemulation.com where I got this from :)