Can I sneak in a Dreamcast tech issue?

[Jay See Double You]

Hey Guys!

A couple years ago I lent out my Dreamcast AV cable to a friend, and never got around to taking it back from him. Well, I decided to just order another one and let him keep it. This means my dreamcast hadn't been played in that time, plus a period of about a year or so sedentary time before that. The cable came yesterday, I tested it out, using first, Trickstyle, then Ecco, then Ready 2 Rumble Boxing.

Trickstyle: I had already turned the system on before I put the game in. I put the game in, close the lid, it gives the "checking disc" message, makes the happy bling, screen goes white, the produced by or under licence screen comes up, and then it goes right back to the system menu. Now, if I choose to listen to the CD music on the game, I can do that. But try as I might, I cannot get the game itself to run. I moved the laser assembly to the center from the edge, I cleaned the lens with a q-tip, and still, same results.

Ecco: Seeing how Trickstyle wasn't working, I thought I'd try a different game. I go for Ecco. It initially works, I can play through the whole first segment of the game, and then when it was loading the second segment (with the splash screen of Ecco being chased by a shark) it goes back to the main system menu. I didn't try Ecco again.

Ready 2 Rumble: I played this game for an hour or better, making it almost all the way through with Afro Thunder, and then making it all the way through with Tank Thrasher. Never once did I have a single problem. The thing worked like a champ!

So I'm confused. Years and years ago, I couldn't get the system to play any game. I did a little googling and found that it had to do with the open/close switch being dirty, and the system not thinking the lid was closed. I was able to fix that at the time, and get the system up and running. I would like to hope that the solution to today's problem is that simple, but why would Ready 2 Rumble work perfectly, or even Ecco work intermittently? Even with trickstyle, it will give the checking disc message if I boot the system without the game, and then put the game in. A part of me worries that the laser is either failing, needs adjusting, or needs a better cleaning, but then why did R2R work fine? There are some scratches on Trickstyle, even one or two circular scratches near the center of the disc, but I don't know that R2R looked better. Plus, Trickstyle does work flawlessly as a music disc on the DC system menu. Do the games simply go bad on these discs?

So I'm totally confused. I was very excited to get the cable, because it meant I could use the Dreamcast again! I was feeling pretty nostalgic for it, and wanted to spend some good time with it. I hope there's nothing wrong with it that I can't fix. I'd hate to have to either buy a replacement of a system I hardly use, or worse, say screw it and not have a dreamcast, when that system is an important part of my gaming past.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

[sheath]

I'd take a q-tip with some rubbing alcohol to the GD lens and see if that helps. Secondarily to that I would try using a Gameshark or Utupia Boot disk to see if that helps. Finally, I would take the system apart and unplug/replug everything, especially the GD-ROM unit.

[Chibisteven]

Dreamcast games are very sensitive to scratches due to the pits being packed more tightly. Circular scratches are usually pretty bad for all CD-based mediams. (very likely)

The next thing is that maybe not enough power is getting to the motherboard, caused by expanding and shrinking of the prongs that connect the powerboard to the main board (warping connection points). Solder in wires in the place of the prongs if reseating all parts doesn't fix it. (not very likely)