Broken Disc Reader in Need of Repair

JouzuJon · Post by **JouzuJon** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:20 am

hey guys, I've got a Dreamcast with sentimental value, so I won't just toss it out for a new one now that it's stopped reading discs. it seems to be a hardware problem, so I'm hoping there's some way to fix it on my own instead of sending it to sega-parts.com for $55. anyone have this problem before?

Smurph · Post by **Smurph** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 7:53 am

Does the laser move along the track? you should be able to hear it.

Ominous 0nionfrog · Post by **Ominous 0nionfrog** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 12:46 pm

If where you live is anything like where i live.. you should be able to pick up a used Dc at a garage sale for like $15-20... If you love your old one so much, you could just get another one for cheap and swap out the gd-rom drive in that one into you sentimental DC...

Smurph · Post by **Smurph** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 12:48 pm

Just make sure they're both the same revision.

JouzuJon · Post by **JouzuJon** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:35 pm

Smurph wrote:Does the laser move along the track? you should be able to hear it.

it moves along the track if I pull it away from the center... but then it travels right back and doesn't move. I don't hear it scanning the disc, either.

Caboose · Post by **Caboose** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:03 pm

The tracks have most likely worn out. Try putting some sort of lubrication on the rails (I'm not sure what really, I heard vaseline works). I wouldn't try anything yet though (about lubricating it) until someone reccommends something they know will work to you.

crc73 · Post by **crc73** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:20 am

If possible, try to check all parts of the DC before deciding that the GD-ROM is at fault - check this post:

http://www.dcemulation.org/phpBB/viewto ... highlight=

What does the DC tell you when you put in a disk? Check to see if the fan is blowing full whack - it should be loud, and pushing a good volume of air out of the system. If it's not, it could be a Power Board problem, like I experienced and reported in the post at the above link.

JouzuJon · Post by **JouzuJon** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:12 am

thanks all of you for your advice so far... crc73, my Dreamcast will display "please insert game disc", regardless of what I put in the drive, when I select the Play function from the console menu.

crc73 · Post by **crc73** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:11 am

Well, that's exactly what mine was saying when I discovered that the Power Board was faulty. I presumed it was the GD-ROM unit, but I transplanted all parts with a known working unit (using every combination), and found that the GD-ROM was perfect. I guess a component on the power board isn't performing as it should, and isn't supplying the correct voltages to the other boards. You could probably test this at the pins if you have the knowhow - me, I'd prefer not to mess with power boards, and was luckly enough to pick one up cheap on eBay.

The only way you can know for sure (I guess) is to check against a known-working unit.

The other thing that I noticed with my faulty power board was that the fan wasn't blowing nearly half as much as it should have been - this would be another indicator, although it's probably difficult to gauge if you don't have another DC unit available.

My advice: If you're really into your DC, start gathering units/peices - you never know when something is going to fail, and it probably will, eventually.

rustcoal132 · Post by **rustcoal132** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 11:04 am

jouzujon

i put a scratched up disc in my dreamcast...it was a vcd, after running dcmovieplayer, i swapped it in.
anyways, it didnt work, and the laser was straining.

i then tried to play nesterdc and it said please insert disc, the laser wasnt moving, it was stuck at the very bottom of tracks

i opened it up and lifted the gdrom, moved the gears with my fingers until it was at the center of the tracks, closed it back up and the dreamcast worked.

dcmodder · Post by **dcmodder** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 4:41 pm

(if you're going to do it) for lubing up the rails i'd suggest a marine bearing lube. it's white, non corosive to plastic and highly moisture resistant.

Alexvrb · Post by **Alexvrb** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:37 pm

Most any decent marine/automotive grease should do though, I would think. You can pick up a little squeeze tube of white lithium grease (they also have aerosol cans of it, but you're just asking for a mess there) for a couple of bucks.

Anyway yeah, sometimes the assembly gets stuck. As long as your gears aren't mangled, it isn't usually a big deal.