Dreamcast disc woes

[Joe Redifer]

I realize this isn't a Dreamcast site, but I don't think that one even exists, so I will ask this here.

Last night I decided to enjoy two of the 24 or 25 games I actually enjoy on the system, Soul Calibur and Daytona USA. I play these games quite a bit, but probably haven't powered up the Dreamcast in nearly 6 months or so. Soul Calibur worked great. Then it was time to put in Daytona and enjoy it's awesomeness (from the makers of Super Monkey Ball and F-Zero GX). The disc tries to boot and the Sega license logo comes up, but then the console resets. WTF? The game is always stored in it's jewel case sitting vertically on a shelf. The same thing happened about a year ago with all of my Shenmue 1 discs. Fortunately my friend just gave me his copy of that game and my life was saved. But I'm not so lucky with Daytona.

Do Dreamcast games have some sort of "laser rot" issue? Is there anything that can be done?

[David J.]

Laser rot? Sounds like your having the resetting problem... Does the disc actually look bad?

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/dc-reset.htm

[Joe Redifer]

The disc is certainly not perfect, but it's no worse than the last time I used it and it worked fine. I'll try what that page you linked to suggests in about an hour or so and then report back, thanks!

Oh, and "laser rot" is a term used to describe old LaserDiscs that, well, went bad over time.

[David J.]

I know about laser rot with laserdiscs, but the resetting problem is kind of common and random with Dreamcast systems.

[Joe Redifer]

Well that didn't turn out to be the problem. I didn't think it would help, but it couldn't hurt. The game always reboots right after the Sega screen, every time. I guess Dreamcast discs aren't meant to last (I honestly feel it is Sega's worst system). I am typing this post on my Dreamcast now using the broadband adaptor. As you can see the system works fine, it's just those discs that wear out for no reason. At least I can still download lots of porn on my Dreamcast. It's why Sega made the system, I am guessing.

[David J.]

Yeah, the Dreamcast isn't a very reliable system.

Mine is OK, but seeing that they are very weak, I barely touch it... let alone have a intrest in the DC much. It has some great games, but I don't get as much enjoyment as I do out of my Genesis, or even Saturn. Shit, I haven't bought, or touched the DC in a while.... well over a year was the last time I actually sat down and played some games, instead of just checking something... like a cheat code.

I should take that back, I think the battery kind of crapped out in mine. When I turn it on, asks me for the date and time, everytime I turn it on. If it was every so often, OK fine. But I can play for a bit, turn the system off, and when I turn the system on fifteen minutes or so later, it still asks me for the time when I turn it on. Not good, but not something that's going to make me shit my pants.

Oh yeah, I loved Daytona, once you changed the senstivity control... Awesome, awesome game. But I think Demolition Racer: No Exit is a slightly better racer.

[Joe Redifer]

Mine likes to ask me for date and time as well. I'm not sure if the DC uses an internal battery or a capacitor charge like the TurboDuo. Anyway the secret to Daytona is to always press UP on the thumbstick and steer that way. At least that's what I do. I may try getting the disc resurfaced to see what that does, because I'd really hate to be without this game. Now if POD Speedzone stopped working I wouldn't be so upset.

[VinnyT]

Mine did that too. Luckily I just got the game so I quickly returned it and anything else I got worked fine (Unreal Tournament is pretty fun even if I can't really go online with it)

[Elusive]

Virtua Tennis and Ecco have been crapping out on me mid-game lately. I think the discs are just picky and/or delicate. Crazy Taxi's scratched to fuck, but it still keeps going :)

I think it's an issue with the DC getting an unexpected result from the laser (as a result of picky discs), filling its trousers and panicking, then resetting rather than show a bluescreen or something.

[Psy]

The GD format is junk, what the hell was Sega thinking with creating a high density optical format from off the shelf CD parts?

As for it dying after the Sega logo, it sounds like the Dreamcast is having problems reading the higher density parts of those discs as the boot and security is in the lower density part of the disc.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Weird, I've never had any problems with my DC or with its games. My only complaint is abysmal VMU battery life. Maybe I'm just lucky.

The GD-ROM was pretty weird though. Poor Dreamcast. It tried to swim in that murky place between CD and DVD and ended up drowning.

[Joe Redifer]

I think you are lucky. I imagine the discs that fail likely come from a certain manufacturing plant or two, whereas the discs that don't fail come from a different plant. That's the only sense of it I can make, anyway.

The VMU battery life wouldn't bother me if it wasn't for that beeeeeeeeeeep every time I turned the system on. If you have four controllers with 2 dead VMUs each and it's gonna be LOUD! It's hard to keep track of which VMUs hold what data, since they have such a tiny amount of space. I ended up having to print out a list and write numbers on the VMUs themselves with marker so I could keep track.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

I ended up having to print out a list and write numbers on the VMUs themselves with marker so I could keep track.
Ha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who ended up doing that.

I heard somewhere that leaving your VMUs in the controller really drained the batteries. So what, you're just supposed to take them out every time you turn off the DC? Come to think of it, the controllers should have recharged the VMU. That would have been severely awesome.

Damn your battery-loving short-sightedness, Sega.

[David J.]

I have a third party 8x VMU, but it doesn't work with Windows XP.... and the software for the 4X and 16X VMU's won't work. It's been a while since I looked at it, but I'd love to be able to use it again with my PC at some point.

I don't touch my Dreamcast at all... so it's not a big concern.

[Joe Redifer]

Please send me your GD-ROM drive.

[David J.]

Hell no! I got hopped up on Demerol and Grape Soda, so I screwed it up!

[Lan-Di]

Man, I had my (jap) DC since June 1999 and it's still lives on!

that's why I still release things for it;)