Dreamcast starts to boot game, kicks back to main menu

[nmalinoski]

So I have one of those black NTSC-U Sega Sports Dreamcasts, and it seems to no longer like playing legit games. The only modification I've made is to replace the stock battery with a socketed one.

It had been sitting for maybe a month with no power and a bad clock battery. I opened it up to swap the battery, which works fine; it remembers the date and time no problem now.

Since I had it running, I figured I'd play a bit of Bust-A-Move 4, so I popped it in and tried to boot it. The console recognizes the disc, shows the Sega licensing screen (and the correct version with the Windows CD logo), but, right when it's supposed to start the game, it loads the main Dreamcast menu. No matter how many times I launch the game, or cycle the disc lid, or cycle power, it keeps doing this.

I gently cleaned the lens with a cotton swap soaked in alcohol, reseated the PSU, and reseated the GD-ROM; I even checked the game disc for disc rot, and it looks pristine.

What it will do, however, is load 240p Test Suite from an old CD-R. Sadly, I don't have another US game disc to test with, but I can track down a boot disc to try one of my Japanese games.

So what can I do? Is it as simple a fix as cleaning or greasing something? Do I need to get a replacement GD-ROM assembly? Where would I even get one now? They don't seem to be as available as PlayStation CD assemblies (nothing on Amazon, eBay), and GDEmus (as much as I'd like one) are expensive and not readily available.

[Xer Xian]

I have a DC drive that behaves like that too. Interestingly, if I 'pre-condition' it with one of those unlicensed boot discs (Blaze something) and insert the actual gd-rom next, it will start up fine. I think it's a Samsung-branded drive. Yamaha drives seem to be considered superior (or well, less crappy).

You should be able to fix it by calibrating the laser. You can read about this from several sources, here's a few:
http://retro-hack.blogspot.it/2010/06/s ... guide.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Dreamca ... ue-repair/
http://www.dreamcastarena.com/how-to-au ... ms-solving

I still have to get around to actually doing this.

[Dochartaigh]

You should be able to fix it by calibrating the laser. You can read about this from several sources, here's a few:
http://retro-hack.blogspot.it/2010/06/s ... guide.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Dreamca ... ue-repair/
http://www.dreamcastarena.com/how-to-au ... ms-solving

Bookmarked...I need to do this as well. Mine plays burned discs no problem...won't play my couple real (scratch-free) discs for the life of me...

[nmalinoski]

Trying to recalibrate the laser didn't improve my situation any.

Used Codebreaker to boot my Japanese games; both booted and played just fine, so I'm going to assume my Bust-A-Move 4 disc is now a coaster. Crap.

[neorichieb1971]

Isn't this a problem with using the VGA cable?

I seem to recall that certain games would reboot if the VGA cable was used. If you use a scart cable, composite or svideo it will boot fine.

[Syntax]

Right on the money, Bust-A-Move 4 is one of those pesky titles, you can find VGA patched versions or just unplug your cable and plug it in after you hear the drive "click".

[nmalinoski]

I have a Toro box that I had previously and successfully used with Bust-A-Move 4, tricking it into playing in 480p. With the Toro's mode switch set to 31kHz, the Dreamcast correctly throws the error stating that the game is incompatible with the video cable, and it will start to launch the game as I previously described when the switch is set to 15kHz.

Unfortunately, I get kicked back to the Dreamcast's home screen regardless of whether I use the Toro in 15kHz mode or a composite cable, so I'm not sure it has anything to do with the cabling.

[Dochartaigh]

If the Dreamcast is erroring out because of the cable, wouldn't it tell you that you're running the wrong cable (or some other warning I know came up on screen with that when I tried to play Bangai-O)?

[maxtherabbit]

If the Dreamcast is erroring out because of the cable, wouldn't it tell you that you're running the wrong cable (or some other warning I know came up on screen with that when I tried to play Bangai-O)?

yes, every non vga game I've ever tried says "this game isn't compatible with your av cable" or something

except an old rip of ECW hardcore - it boots in 15kHz rgb mode even with vga pins jumped

[Xyga]

My DC used to reboot because the lid wouldn't press the internal switch deep-enough anymore. Added a thin layer of hard glue to the thingy that kicks it and problem gone.

just my 2c, could be something else entirely.

[nmalinoski]

My DC used to reboot because the lid wouldn't press the internal switch deep-enough anymore. Added a thin layer of hard glue to the thingy that kicks it and problem gone.

just my 2c, could be something else entirely.

In my case, I could reliably boot Codebreaker and my two Japanese DDR games, and I could reliably not boot Bust-A-Move 4, regardless of whether the lid was shut normally or I was holding the switch manually with the top case off. :/

[neorichieb1971]

In my system non vga games just booted to the swirl intro and went round and round.