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Welcome to my troubleshoot & repair guide for Dreamcast game consoles. I have assembled much needed information about how to fix some common Dreamcast problems. This guide was created many years ago... the information is somewhat obsolete so I am giving it away for free!
If you find this information helpful and would like to reciprocate - please click on the links of our sponsors shown in the side columns of this website.
Cleaning the Dreamcast laser Lens
1) Press the eject button so that the lens is exposed.
2) Give CD tray a good blow to clear the dust away from the lens. (compressed air will also work great!)
3) Get out your rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip. Open the lid on the rubbing alcohol and dip the Q-tip in it. Now with your clean fingers, just squeeze the excess rubbing alcohol off of it. You'll still have enough alcohol on the Q-tip.
4) Gently rub the lens in a circular motion for about 1 min or so to give the rubbing alcohol time to evaporate off of the lens.
Controller Port Troubleshooting
Are you having problems getting a controller to play when you plug it into your Dreamcast? You can troubleshoot your controller port to see if it is working, or to at least eliminate the port itself from being the suspect defective component. We'll start off with some simple troubleshooting.
1) Will your controller play on any of the 4 port connectors? Plug it into the 2nd plug, and 3rd and so on. Does it work?
YES My controller works on port connector 2, 3 and 4.
Looks like port connector #1 has gone gimpy and your controller is good. Try cleaning the port connector, where it does not work, with some compressed air. If no luck, then try a hard, clean, dry toothbrush to try to get any dirt or dust out of it. If still no luck, then its a safe assumption that someone tripped over the controller while it was plugged in and the port is no longer connected to the controller board properly. The easiest fix is to get a new controller port board.
NO My controller wont work in any of the port connectors!
Looks like it’s either a dead port, or a dead controller. Try plugging in another controller. Borrow a friend's controller if you need to. If you plug the other controller in and it works, then YOUR controller (the one you originally tried) is broken. However, if your friend's controller won’t work either, the port controller board is fried. Refer to the section in this guide on how to repair the controller port board.
Here is a pinout for the actual connector.
Take measurements at the points shown below.
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1
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red
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serial data
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2
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blue
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+5V
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3
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black
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GND
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4
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green
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sense (ground return, connects to ground inside controller)
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5
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white
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serial data
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Pin 2, 3 and 4 look for voltages and compare with the chart. For pins 1 and 5 test for continuity only, through the connector port and through the controller itself. You can always verify that the voltages are getting to the connector pieces by measuring at the solder joints where the connector pieces are soldered! If you are not getting your 5V from pin #2, and ground from pin #3 then that right there will tell you the piece that you plug your controller into is damaged or broken. You see voltage entering the connector piece, but not leaving it (out to the controller) then you've just solved your riddle. If the voltages are ok, then there may be a problem with the serial data lines (pin#1 and pin#4) Aside from setting up an O'scope and manually injecting 5V and ground into the controller, you probably wont be able to troubleshoot this much further. It comes down to broken port connectors or a broken controller. You decide.
Dreamcast Controller Port Repair
Controllers not working? Well, were about to walk you through fixing that problem. All you need is a 10-Ohm resistor (available at any Radio Shack store), small needle nose pliers, small detail Phillips screwdriver (small and long enough to fit down the screw shafts and fit the small screws of the Dreamcast), soldering iron and solder. And of course, your Dreamcast.
1) Start by removing any games, controllers, power cords, memory cards, etc.. from the Dreamcast.
2) remove the modem. The modem is that block that plugs into the side, it has a phone jack in it. Just push the tab and pull it out firmly.
3) Flip the dream cast over and remove the 4 tiny screws. You'll need a long slender Phillips screwdriver. Be sure to get a small enough screwdriver to get a good grip on those small screws, you don’t want to strip them out.
4) Flip the Dreamcast over so that is upright again, and remove the top cover.
5) At the bottom, where the controllers go, you'll see the controller port. (Duh!) You'll need to move those 4 gold screws.
6) Gently, yet firmly, remove the flex cable that connects the controller port to the motherboard. The flex cable is that flat wide connector that is slotted into the controller port. Just firmly wiggle it away from its connector and it will come free.
7) Remove the fan connector. It has tabs on it, so it'll be tricky. You'll see what I mean.
8) Ok, now we are ready to remove the old resistor.
Please don’t try this if you have never used a soldering iron before, ask someone with experience to help if you need to.
Take your HOT solder gun and apply the tip of the gun directly to the solder joint (not to the resistor leg, and NOT to the controller port board, but in between the two where the solder mound is.)
The easiest way is to have pliers in one hand, and your soldering iron in the other. Slightly tug on the resistor with your pliers while you heat the solder joints from the backside. The solder will turn molten and your resistor will slide out ward.
9) Take your new 10-Ohm resistor and do the same thing, in reverse order. Heat the solder with the soldering iron, and one leg at a time, insert the resistor leg into the hole you are heating. Let the solder cool, it'll only take 4 seconds for it to harden. Clip the excess wire that sticks up from the solder joint. Use pliers and bend back and forth, back and forth. The excess wire will snap off.
You now know where all the screws and connections go. Just walk yourself though this, backwards, reinstalling the 2 connectors, 4 controller port screws, the case, then the final 4 case screws. Voila! Your controllers should all work perfectly again!
To avoid this from happening again, never use any controller or memory card that is not licensed AND MADE by Sega. Excessive current draw makes for toasty resistors, and you don’t want to be doing this every week!
On to the next section.....
Dreamcast, Sega Dreamcast and their accessories are registered trademarks of Sega. This informational list is copyrighted Aug 15, 2002 by William Schott and may not be replicated, altered, sold or distributed without written permission from the author.
Please note that attempting to open your Dreamcast game console will void the warranty. Use this guide to work on a Dreamcast at your own risk. The author is not responsible for damage you may have occurred by following this manual. Nor do we guarantee that by following this manual that your Dreamcast be fixed.
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