Help!! My Dreamcast Keeps resetting

[BooBoo2003]

Hi, all. Its been a long time since i was on this message board (was BooBoo02 but i could no longer log in with that name??) Anyhow onto my dilema. Many months ago i started downloading a heap of movies (divx) from the internet and could not be bothered waiting days to convert them to VCD so i could watch them on my Saturn, so i watched them using my dreamcast.

Soon after this i got an Xbox for my birthday so the Dreamcast was left alone for a month or so. Upon playing my Dreamcast again, the screen would go blue (This is the color my screen goes when an AV signal is lost) after playing for 30 mins, somtimes less. this would stay like this for a few seconds then the Dreamcast will reboot the game again. I then tried watching another Divx movie on it and the same thing happened only worse. The Dreamcast continually kept resetting itself untill i finally hit the power button to switch it off.

Before ever watching Divx movies on my beloved Dreamcast, everything was fine. Does that have something to do with it, or is it just signs that my Dreamcast is starting to die even if i had never played divx files on it??

 

[aaron]

i've seen a dreamcast that does something similar to this, only it was about every 3 seconds, not every 30 minutes. that's not much help, but it might be a clue as to how common the problem is.

 

[Taelon]

This is a long shot, and probably way off but still worth a thought...

I remember that if you shorted out some wires on a Commodore 64 video cable (or was it the Amiga?), you could actually reset the machine that way. If the Dreamcast is the same way, and your video cable is frayed or otherwise damaged, causing a short, it might lead to the continuous resetting... Like I said, improbable but who knows...

Other than that, I would suggest you try logging in again with your old account

SegaXtreme has just had a problem preventing many of us from logging in for a few days, and you might just have tried right then...

 

[antime]

First thing to try is to clean the connection between the power board and the main board. While you've got the machine open, check that there's nothing blocking the vents and clean out the dust as heat can be a problem too.

 

[BooBoo2003]

Thanks for the replies guys, i'll sus out the Dreamcast connections when i have time. BTW aaron, my Dreamcast did reset itself every 3 or so seconds when watching the last Divx movie i had in it. I switched it off and then back on and it didnt reset for about 30 mins. Havent touched it since.

 

[Curtis]

If it is a heat related problem, then watching Divx on the DC may be causing extra resets because the processor will be working harder, longer.

The damage shouldn't be permanent though.

 

[leeperry]

that's a known problem

there was some explanations on the Dreamcast section of isonews.com

you can search for it, but their website is available at www.stolemy.com now

basically you need to open the DC, and gently clean the metal pins that connect the power supply to the motherboard.

sounds silly, but it worked for me :cheers

 

[Alexvrb]

Originally posted by leeperry@Mar 25, 2003 @ 03:15 PM

basically you need to open the DC, and gently clean the metal pins that connect the power supply to the motherboard.

sounds silly, but it worked for me :cheers

You nailed it!

 

[Cyphix]

my dreamcast had this problem and it was an easy fix. Normally what happens is that the heat expands the metal PowerSource pins and weakens the connections between the psu and the mobo. Heres what you do:

Open the DC

Unscrew the 2 screws and disconnect the grey cable from the PSU

Pull out the PSU

Tou should see 6 metal pins sticking out where the PSU was, just simply push them towards the back of the dreamcast, but be very gentle, do not bend them too much!

Put it back together and try it, if this didnt work, just clean the lens.