Fixing the Sega Dreamcast I just Bought
Вставка
- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- After only a couple of weeks owning my own Sega Dreamcast problems start to arise. After looing online and seeing everyone's comments from then previous Dreamcast video, I take a look inside the console to solve the problem. Never expected having to go inside the system but hey that what happens with these old consoles sometimes. After some testing with games like Sonic Adventure 2 and Crazy Taxi, I hope this solution is all I need to keep this little guy chugging along. Thank you to everyone for all the support in the previous videos, from tech support to game recommendations like Skies of Arcadia, Seaman, and Power Stone. I hope to continue to make videos to entertain you as I experience these games for the first time. Only a matter of time before I get the guys to play Sonic Shuffle.
Like the video? Leave a Like and Subscribe for more.
Main Channel: / @squiggy
Twitter: / squiggy28
Dreamcast Playlist: • Sega Dreamcast
Sonic Playlist: • Sonic The Hedgehog
Lethal Company Playlist: • Lethal Company
Mario Playlist: • Super Mario 3D World
#sega #dreamcast #sonic
That's a shame, somehow my dreamcast hasn't aged a day, It still works like it's 1999 again!
@@CPH676 that’s good to hear, luckily my other retro consoles like my PS1 and N64 still work great so at least I won’t have to operate on them too.
@@Squiggy That's good to hear!
Lucky for you. I bought 2 of them when Dreamcast was popular. Lucky for me emulation is a thing now. Very easy to emulate the Dreamcast.
@@100Bucks Yeah but Sonic Adventure isn't the same without the "REEEEEEEEEEE" coming from the dreamcast. But considering how expensive Dreamcast is, emulation is a great option for sure!
@@CPH676 One more comment. For those that only emulate. I highly recommend downloading a program called ShaderGlass. This program emulates a CRT television. This program actually works and very convincing your modern TV is a old ass TV.
Edit: Glad you recognised that the store you bought the console from is a bad store. They charged over the going rate for a console that clearly hadn't been cleaned or properly tested and initially gave you a faulty third party controller with it? That's unacceptable.
In terms of Dreamcast memories, I got mine Christmas 2001 with Sonic Adventure, Metroplois Street Racer, House of the Dead 2 (with the gun) and Dynamite Cop (aka Die Hard Arcade 2, just without the license, really fun beat-'em-up). As time went on, I got Soul Calibur, Shenmue, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Sonic Adventure 2, Shenmue 2 (yay for living in Europe) and a handful of other titles.
For real. Bad stores are not worth supporting. It's a shame people think they can cut corners with such a niche and expensive hobby.
Oh yeah, MSR is so good. Forcing you to drive cleanly was a new concept for me after playing Need for Speed 3 hot pursuit on PC. Loved it and the Kudos system. I'm glad the concept worked out and they were able to make sequels on the Xbox.
Here is another hidden gem if you like shmups : Psyvariar 2... It's not easy to pick up and the scratch system is weird but it's also rewarding to fly by enemy shots to increase your power. The spin thing isn't well though out either but it's still a fun but hard game. Single player though. I tend to go back to Mars Matrix, tons of unlockables and it's fully co-op.
Man I really wanna get a SEGA CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast great video!
I have a Sega CD, so I can give you some advice: Get a model 2 unit and don't cheap out on it. It's worth noting that a Model 2 CD will work with a Model 1 Genesis and vice/versa. The Model 1 Sega CD is prone to mechanical failure. So is the Model 2 to an extent, considering these things have 30+ year old lasers. There's also a fuse that's prone to blowing but it's easy enough to replace. That's why you need to make sure the seller is legit and the unit works.
My last note about the Sega CD is that it uses a CR2032 battery to power the Save RAM. That means, like a cartridge, your save data will be GONE when that battery goes. You can remedy this with a save data cartridge or a Mega Everdrive X5, assuming you don't want to solder in a battery holder to put new batteries in. I still need to do this to mine so I can start playing Snatcher.
DO IT! just in the reverse order! lol you'll have more fun that way. or get Saturn First then DC.
I'm not gonna "hate" on the Sega CD but it's def one (that when you compare it to the other two) that can "wait" lol you'll have a lot more fun with the Saturn and the DC trust me on that one.
the CD, "was" nice and for pure nostalgic purposes, amazing, in 2024 though, it's well, if you've played it, you've played it. nothing "new" going on is all i'm getting at.
where the Saturn and DC have VERY active fan bases still and there are still games being made for both consoles (indie homebrew stuff and ports but still for the consoles "NEW" content) so you'll just def have a better time with those and more fun because bigger game library for both consoles.
I say get a Saturn, DC, then the Sega CD last, to just collect and maybe "try out". if you've never PLAYED any of them before (especially the Sega CD) then def get it first. i just say, "skip" it if you have experienced it, is all. just because in 2024, it's not doing anything, idk, different. Saturn and DC are doing things still in 2024. which will always be amazing.
either way, get them! ^_^
@@JCSmooth My money's worth on the Sega CD came from its lack of copy protection. There are a few great games here and there but they're normally pretty rare and expensive, so only the bad crap is affordable, give or take.
Nice video man!! Important information:I watched in another video that the reason of the gdemu is getting hot is because after you remove the cd driver, the power supply still sending 12v signal but now for the gdemu which does not need it. There’s a way to disable this 12v signal or you can install a different fan.
Oh funny story, I used to have a copy of Sonic shuffle and one day while moving my games it got lost and I never saw it again.
@@CPH676 NOOOOOOOOO!!!!
@@Squiggy Hopefully I can still find it I still live in the same house, and once no joke my mom found my lost SADX disc in a cook book.
@@SquiggyI found a Dreamcast at disc replay and wanted it but then I needed to get my 360 fixed or replaced so had to scrap that idea
F
the dreamcast was the first console i fully customized, i installed an GDemu, custom psu, a Noctua fan, and a transparent blue shell.
I had the issue of the drive not reading burned or official disks, thought the laser was bad until i found info online to use rubbing alcohol and a qtip and rotate in a clockwise rotation and it fixed my problem.
Dont feel bad, I went thru 3 Dreamcast because of Laser issues in 99 and 2000 lol! I ended up buying the Black Sport Edition and that one never messed up🤣
Reminds me of when I got my Dreamcast for free when I was like 10 years old. It was having trouble reading discs and I went through with adjusting the laser pot. Somehow, it's lasted me the past 11 years with zero issues. I remember being so scared of ruining my console lol. Nowadays I'm opening stuff just to open it. Hope you have fun with your Dreamcast! I adore this thing. Be sure to put Jet Grind Radio and Shenmue on your SD card (Legitimately, of course *wink wink*).
Yes Legitimately of course ;) (Jokes aside I would love to grab the actual cd's for collector purposes).
@@Squiggy I completely understand. The only problem is that Dreamcast collecting can be quite expensive.
As a Nintendo boy growing up, the DC was my first Sega console I was pumped for from the jump and I was there at launch day when it was finally, and half heartedly, released in Australia.
I support piracy because i refuse to spend over $100 for sonic adventure 2. Thats heinous and criminal.
its probably because the pc port sucks and you cant buy it on modern console. once that changes itll go down
@@kooljokez The game rip is going to be online forever, little just buy a dreamcast and use a USB like this guy did or just play it on steam. Also on pc you can just mod it to play it like the original for DX.
@@Tronic-X1 I have it on GameCube and dreamcast. But games usually drop price when a new way to play is available. It happened to marvel vs Capcom 2 and now it's happening to paper Mario thousand year door
@@kooljokez Its sad how expensive games are physically, this is why I opt for emulation and everdrives and the like. The price might go down for a while but I kind of doubt its anything significant. These games are so artificially inflated in price its so sad, and a collector it ruins the hobby.
Lol 😂
You may have well over paid for this, but now that its all said and done I hope you love it! It's such an amazing console and I'm so happy to see new people discover it.
Note for that clock battery, when you replace it in the US off future make sure you get the actual rechargeable battery. A lot of people try to use the same batteries as the VMU, and that's wrong. Also, when you replace it, replace the controller fuse too. The Dreamcast has a fuse on the controller board that can blow if you remove the controllers while the console is on. The one in there is a one time use, once it's blown it's blown. The replacements reset themselves any time you turn off the console, thus they'll be much better in the long term. That being said, my clock battery still holds a charge for at least a month and my fuse is fine, so it's not am immediate concern if it works.
As for Seaman, I highly recommend the route I went. The game is like $100+ complete, but $50 by itself. There's a game called Alien Front Online that came in a bundle with the Microphone in the US. You can get Seaman by itself and a copy of Alien Front Online for cheaper than you can get a complete copy of Seaman. It's a great way to do it! Good luck with your future Dreamcast endeavors!
@@NottJoeyOfficial thanks for the advice with the battery. The game shop had seaman for about $120 I believe and it was boxed and everything. Except the little foam for the mic. I don’t mind paying little more for a full set of a thing but if the game is sold by the time I go grab it I can always do what u said.
I would absolutely recommend Q*Bert. It’s a very cool twist on the original formula. It’s a very difficult game though. It’s relatively cheap around $20. And it has one of the most underrated game soundtracks in my opinion
A similar thing happened to me because I got mine a few months back, and worked at first but got worse over time. Eventually I had to tighten a screw on the laser.
The one issue I had with my PlayStation was the disc reader. I had to buy two more units to replace, but instead of that working, I asked my dad to buy me one more.
@@PAPicturesOfficial disc readers seem like it’s always the first thing to go, hope my ps1 doesn’t clock out anytime soon. Love that thing
@@Squiggy I feel you
I didn't grow up with the Dreamcast, but when I bought one second hand, there was a horrible smell coming out of it, but I just passed it off as being old, but 1 hour later it shuts off and the smell got way worse. I returned it to the eBay seller and got a full refund. I ordered another off of CeX (company I think only in the UK) and it came with a 2 year warranty and for them to sell anything it has to work with no catches so I knew I could trust it. I plugged it in and it worked fine. 6 months later, I've still got it. 😀
I would really like to get a dreamcast but I don’t think I can afford one (or at least one that works). I’m happy you were able to experience what this console has to offer, id like if you made a small video about sonic adventure 1 and 2 dlc.
Aaahhh, the disc drive is starting to die on you, eh? Yeah, that happens.
Great video you are so underrated i firts tought you have atleast 15k subs i got shocked when i see 967 i wish you luck!
Speaking of party games one time my sister and I were playing Mario Party 2 and she was in last and I was in first. After the bonus stars though she won and we were both flabbergasted
Considering your cases are a little damaged, i highly recommend getting some good condition sports games for parts or remanufactured cases for your games! theyll become really nice shelf arts!
I jad also Laser Issues but not as notorious as you had. it could freeze up occasionally but Shenmue was my dealbreaker. i had one loading screen of death.
for me the calibration was perfect. No issues since then.
Great video! I still have my original dreamcast that I bought on launch day in the US! It's my very favorite console! Next, I suggest looking into better video options. I use an Akura box that plugs directly into the console and outputs to HDMI. It uses the VGA signal to give you really sharp 480p and much better color accuracy!
Yeah a lot of people recommended the VGA output for videos, the problems with fixing the console delayed me looking that up. I just got an Kaico Dreamcast HDMI adapter which does VGA and sets the output to 4:3 so I don't have to tweak it when editing. If this doesn't work well I'll definitely look into the Akura box, thanks for the recommendation.
GDEmu ia great, all of my systems are either ODE or flashcart now.
Lol it's funny I just commented on your other video about GDEmu, nice work! Edit: I also have played Seaman, awesome game! You can get the mic alone and uh fabricate it 🏴☠️ onto your GDEmu lol
@@AwakeEthelwulf yeah this thing is awesome to play so many games. Also added a fan mod after making this video. Once I get a mic I plan to play seaman, already ⛴️🏴☠️it on the GDEMU.
The disc drive in these things was known for being faulty. Luckily it's not too hard to replace.
@@FSAPOJake yeah considering I’ve never opened any of my consoles outside of cleaning them, it was pretty easy to mod the Dreamcast. I just replaced the fan for a more powerful one to deal with the additional heat the GDEMU makes.
Nice Nep Nep by the TV there. 10/10.
I just realised I made it into the vid lol.
I agree with them, Shenmue is a great game to chill with; an atmosphere and story to really pull you in.
good content alert! good content alert!
Definitely get your friends involved for Sonic Shuffle. The opponent AI is notoriously for making the game difficult. However with 4 people it’s a really fun time.
I have so many fond memories playing this game with my brother and 2 of our childhood friends. Even though we live in different places we still reunite every so often to play Sonic Shuffle again. I love this game - warts and all. But with the right group of people it’s a blast!
A few game recommendations:
Soul Calibur
Fur Fighters
Toy Commander
4 Wheel Thunder
The fan problem isn't that the gdemu board heats up. The problem is that since the original gd drive takes more electricity to run and that draw isn't there anymore, some of the capacitors heat up as it has to "stop" more power when converting.
This isn't really a problem in countries where 110 volts is the norm (america and stuff), but in places that use 220 like in europe it basically requires you to remove some capacitors entirely so you don't slowly melt the internal psu
I really love SEGA Dreamcast, I would always recommend Jet Set Radio, Ikaruga and Shenmue.
Thanks for another Dreamcast video, we need more of this types of video!
Glad you enjoyed it. I plan to do more Dreamcast vids in the future, next time it'll be an actual game now that the major issues are handled with.
dreamcast community is da best xd subscribed
you need to purchase Shenmue..Its an open world game set in Japan in 1987 but its way ahead of its time. Best game on dreamcast and they rereleased it on playstation a few years ago and it still holds up.
A game I recommend is Sega Bass Fishing, bonus points if you can find the Sega Fishing controller that is compatible with the game.
If I ever do a video for Bass fishing I would 100% buy the fishing rod controller for it. Wouldn't be right without it.
Dreamcast vmu memory cards has two Button cell batteries, i recommend to just remove or replace them with new ones, with new batteries you can move your Chao in it, and use the vmu like a Tamagotchi.
I have a fun story about trying to fix a ps2 disk drive. I ended up adjusting the potentiometers and making the issue I had 1000 times worse (it wouldn't read PS1 games). After doing that it ended up just not reading anything at all. I gave up on it and just bought a whole other ps2 all together that did work.
That sounds horrible, at least you got another PS2. The only story I have with the PS2 was my brothers and I trying to fix our guitar hero 3 disc, a lot of toothpaste later and it didn't fix it. We just bought a new copy.
As I was growing up in the early 2000s. I took an interest in Retro Gaming. My first Retro System was the N64 with Lylat Wars (I loved it), I learnt that the Star Fox series started on the SNES so that was my next system and I fell in love with Kirby for many weeks. I gave the NES a shot and then finally the Saturn which unfortunately couldn't read discs either because everything in the store was scratched to hell or "just because". The Dreamcast . . . I can't remember when I obtained one. It was unceremonious. I think I got it some time in secondary school during my Xbox Live (360) days. A part of reality did want to catch up with the system but the games were like £50 to £120 so it's only now that I'm starting to turn a bit of my attention towards it . . . and I'm not sure if I'll love it if I finally give it the time of day.
Outside of a brief SA1 test and 30 minutes of Skies of Arcadia . . . I believe I've played on the Dreamcast more times/longer at Conventions or Stores (it was always SA1 and Soul Calibur) than I have at home on my own system.
Burned CDs wouldn't have worked. They would have made it worse honestly. Every game that you mentioned that didn't work is extremely high I/O with a high sector seek. The games that worked require far less seeking. CDRs actually made the drive work even harder on seek than GDRoms (even if they were slightly easier to read for the laser).
The main issue is the laser's lense wobble/focus. This can actually be tested by starting a game and flipping the entire console slowly over and sitting it cover side down (and as flat as possible). This will fix seek errors 99% of the time and confirm it's the laser focus. Flipping it changes how the laser's lense sits on the drive and stabilizes it.
You can swap out the laser/lsense fitting with an aftermarker part and usually fix it 100%.
My housemate has a DreamCast that's broken. I might recommend him a GDEmu if that's his issue.
:)
@@gabycute5128 :3
:]
:D
c:
Dude, I spent around $117 for my Dreamcast in a flea market, and it came clean, properly working, and with a controller
And this was literally in June
I picked up a skateboarding game, Jet Set Radio, a Vmu (and batteries for it), and my setup still isn't even $200😭😭
1:33 YOOOO, I WAS IN THE VIDEO!!!
the saturn is the most underrated console ever made, with a action replay cart you can play japanese games. The japanese versions are much cheaper than the us versions, the saturn outsold the n64 in japan. Get one youll love it.
I kinda want to start collecting retro game systems but there seem to be no good retro game stores in my local area, I mainly got my stuff when it was sold in stores like my PS3 but got some things handed down to me like my Sega Genesis.
I’ve heard that the VA0 revisions are slightly higher build quality as it was made in Japan with a Yamaha laser, a metal fan, and a metal pipe cooling system (or whatever that’s called). Only thing that does suck about it is that you can’t install a GDEmu in it due to the differences in voltage between the VA0 and VA1/2 motherboards. But considering I have all of my games burned, played them for a good few hours, and it still works even to this day, I’d say I’m content with sticking to just burnt games until the laser eventually dies.
-Also if you do eventually get to it, you should get Puyo Puyo Fever/Puyo Pop Fever, it’s Japan exclusive but it has an option for English, plus from my experience burned out of region games boot up like any other game-
A good bit of advice for shenmue. I recommend getting the European version so you can get the European version of Shenmue 2. The reason is simple, like Mass effect, it will detect your completed save data from shenmue and pull that data to be used on the sequel. Otherwise, you have to deal with preset data. Another heads up, sometimes the controller ports can potentially funky the moment that happens, get a new controller and a replacement controller port. Trust me when I say this, it's quicksand.
That aside, the console had a great library. Sega's true swan song. I would give a story or two, but I am not a good story teller for this sort of thing.
However, I will say this, if you wanted to pay over $150 for a dreamcast, just means that you highly value it.
You can solder in a resetting fuse, no need to swap the controller port.
@VilifiedOne Nice to know there are new developments on that issue. Research, back in the day only suggested what I mentioned.
I got a Dreamcast for $150 too. It came with 2 controllers a VMU, a 3rd party memory card, 2 rumble packs, and 10 games. I eventually found a Green Dreamcast with a bad disc drive. I went with an ODE to replace it. The stock power supply and fan are doing good in mine. I eventually traded my original console and games for a Sega Saturn.
Damn definitely got more out of your $150 then I did haha.
The Saturn is quite a high maintenance system. It's games outside of a few common picks can be very expensive and I feel a big part of its appeal is with playing recently translated games. What I'd suggest is getting a Japanese Saturn (please do a bit of research and give it a US PSU or ReSaturn), get a Fenrir (or get a Satiator), get someone to install some FRAM memory Chips and stock up on a few watch batteries. I'm on my Third Saturn now as my first two attempts didn't work out quite so well.
One time I bought this copy of Sonic R for only 60$ and cleaned the disc, but I guess the scratches were too bad because when I put it in my Sega Saturn and selected the grand prix (I think that’s what it’s called in Sonic R?) none of the player models would load, not even on the player select screen, and the music would go from from loud to quiet to silent all the time. And it was playing in reverse..other than that the game played okay with occasional slow down. I still have it, but I haven’t touched it in a long time.
@@TankDudeYT honestly since it still works it’s good you kept it. The glitches are something funny to show friends.
If you do get a saturn they are worse when it comes to the laser. But I think a little bit easier to fix cause I think people sell replacement lasers that are actually new.
@@jay-zz3co maybe in the future, but I’d also love a genesis to collect games for too.
@Squiggy That's a good one to collect for a lot of great games for good prices!
I want to see you get a Sega Saturn because the disc drive for it compared to the Dreamcast is actually good, would highly suggest you pick up a Psuedo Kai Saturn cartridge because it's basically mandatory at this point considering how expensive a lot of the US or PAL games are now either get import Saturn games from Japan or just burn games on CD-Rs.
Really? I'm surprised, I would imagine the previous gen console would have a worst disc drive. If I did get a Saturn I would love to get Nights into Dreams.
I have a ps2 with a similar problem
Interesting you had to go down the route of gdemu. I have a dreamcast and like you prefer to play the console with genuine game discs. I replaced the disc drive once, and never had any issues. I’m not sure if it matters what brand disc drive you use as well.
I saw posts online mentioning you needed the same brand of disc drive, not sure how accurate it is but I'd probably find another Samsung one just in case. At least you got a new working disc drive, I still plan to collect the physical disc even if I don't need them.
When I purchased my Dreamcast about a month later it completely stopped reading discs at first I thought it was the games but turns out it was something to do with the laser had to take it apart and adjust some really tiny screw to get it to read discs again dreamcasts are very finicky lol
Glad you got it working again, it's nice that the system is easy to open up and tinker with.
im your 980th sub
Crazy story I bought an import Dreamcast Japanese version at first it was working and played all my games for two years but overtime the console kept resetting so I took it to my retro game store and sadly they were unable to fix it so I traded a North American Dreamcast to replace the broken one that’s pretty much my story
Yo dude I think you should collect a gamecube next as it has so MANY amazing games more sonics then the dreamcast like adventure DX and heroes also some classics in my opinion its like the dreamcasts brother got bullied but now is looked back on with love
@@jacobizcool6980 Got a gamecube, loved it. Played sonic, Mario party, sunshine, Mario kart, wind waker, all the classics.
Shenmue 1 and 2 are the dreamcast Magnus Opus
I have a story that is off topic that is not about the dreamcast but when i had a gamecube found it in a recycle outside of the place had 3 controllers and the 3rd being the WaveBird and 1 game being mario sunshine and soul calibur 2 but later in that year i lost them in my house and never saw them when i moved still sad that i lost them 🥲
@@noahfloofster4271 years ago my friend randomly dropped by with 2 N64 controllers he found on the side of the road, still worked. Also my family had Mario kart 64 and somehow it disappeared, I lost my mind for years trying to find it :(
@@Squiggy that sucks I am so sorry for you :(
bro i losing his life savings on the DreamCast
@@WolfMeister_69 worse case scenario I sell a kidney.
You should mod the av ports for a hdmi upgrade
Yeah if you can buy a Dreamcast that doesn't read discs just mod it with a gdemu cause the game prices are out of control.
Similar problem but this time it wasn’t with the disc drive I bought a unofficial GameCube controller I had Sonic adventure DX I didn’t get to play it till 4 weeks ago I’ve nearly 100% the game
Loved playing DX growing up, took a while to beat the story cause I never did Big's campaign, but it was still great.
Holly crap. Don't buy games at those prices. Not worth it even if only to collect. X ) The prices are so volatile, you'll be loosing in the end if you don't sell them soon enough.
I'm very curious, but how are you able to backup your dreamcast games? I've been wanting to backup my copies for a while, but I haven't found any tutorials on how to do so.
When I was thinking of using burned CD's I went searching online on how to back up the games, but same issues I couldn't find a tutorial for it, so when I went to using the GDEMU I went an archive site to grab the CDI files for the four games I had. Sorry, wish I had a better answer regarding backups. From what I played the CDI Files online seem good to use.
cdi files are compressed versions of the games, id recommend you get gdis if you want uncompressed games. cdi files are usually negligible in difference but sometimes the compression algorithms can be prone to crashes (aka skies of arcadia) or down sampled audio
@@shira7211 ok, I’ll look around for the gdi files then. Appreciate it
get the saturn :)
jesus sa2 is 170? sucks the drive doesnt work would feel kinda pointless to buy games for it. SA2 gave me problems on my first dreamcast it would power down. I think its a more demanding game maybe. Luckily theres a fix for that too. Dreamcast is such a easy console to take apart. I put a noctua fan in mine. As for games I like I played a bit of kao kangaroo and fur fighters.
Yeah I'm surprised how simple it was to open up and everything. Yeah it was crazy expensive haha, but hey it's considered to many as the best Sonic game so why not get it.
Damn, well at least you got a replacement dreamcast to play. Still sucks the first one couldn't be repaired.
@@Squiggy there's replacement power supply and guides to replace capacitors in a Dreamcast it's cool how it's kept alive
My Xbox 1 doesn’t load anymore
@@frozenminecraftmario Sorry to hear, at least the Series X/S can play One games.
send me your broken disk drive, I want it.
OH NO
omg bnuuy
Get Sonic Adventure 2
269TH LIKE LETS GOOOO
My original DC is still kicking. no mods ever done to it, no upgrades. just a prime, beautiful 99-2000 DC (I want to say 2000, cause I believe that's when the "sports" edition came out, which is what mine is, but I could be off by a year I def know it wasn't 98, the launch and I know it def wasn't 2001) I've never tampered with the CMOS, Mainly because, I just don't get the "point" of having an old, outdated console (such as Sega Saturn, another console that does the same thing) have "updated" time and date settings etc?
if you're like a YTer, aye whatever, but a general person, that seriously "who" the f is caring. just makes no sense, to not only do all the extra needed, but buy the parts, install them, and my whole thing, you tamper with the "original" aspects of it all.
I get some people want to do the GMEU or whatever it's called mod, but honestly, it's not like there are "that" many games that require it (pretty much just "atomiswave ports" are what you get that thing for) and the DC was such an amazing system, that you just truly don't "need" to ruin any of it's original hardware to idk, do the things you need to do with it.
import games, called the cdx, then pretty much ANYthing else, burn to a CD and your DC will be able to play it (whole process that legally I probably can't go into details lol but just google lol) as long as it's a DC within the "dates" some later DCs can't play burnt discs.
idk, so, me with games, is like a car person.
i have pinball machines (all original) and idk even my consoles. I just try to keep them as "original" as possible. that (imo) is what matters.
because the "argument" can always just be, go play emulation (especially NOW-a-days, back then, maybe I wouldn't advise or suggest because it was iffy but NOW, DC emulation, literally has no "major" issues) i still stand, that if you're someone using the "original" hardware. keep it original.
I honestly don't see what the "mods" for DC are about anyways. aka "purpose" wise.
the common ones are the CMOS and the GDEMU but as i mentioned, what's really the "point"? the time and date stuff. just skip (when the system boots up) and continue playing the DC like normally, it's not like the DC UI is, idk, like the XBOX 360 as an example. i think all you "new" kids are missing the POINT!''
like DC didn't have this "home page" (even to get BACK to that "home" page, it wasn't just a "home" button press, you had to push pretty much all the buttons and start at the same time) it was, more of just a "stand by" screen, aka when you're in the game, it's not like you could check the time\date etc.
so i just don't see the "purpose", the only time, when you're on the DC, where you're looking at the date and time, is in that standby menu, but we're in 2024, MOST people will most likely have a CELL PHONE\SMARTPHONE RIGHT NEXT TO THEM!
so, like even to "use" the date and the clock, on a DC, you have to "reset" your game every time, to get back to the menu, to see the date\clock, then restart your game? because, like I'm saying, this isn't like xbox, where there is just a "home" button you can push, and the time and date casually show up WHILE YOUR STILL PLAYING.
it just makes no sense, to take apart your DC, install a new part, that truthfully, does "nothing" lol
now the GDEMU mod.
again, why? if you have a LATER DC (one that simply can't play the burnt CDS) then i 100% get why YOU would do it. but if you already have a DC that plays burnt discs. again. why?
why waste the money, the time, n possibly breaking your DC, n again, just simply ruining the "original parts etc."
the DC was not "region locked" you just need the "CDX" and ANY DC can play import games. pop the CDX in first, it bypasses the "region lock" that doesn't exist, pop in the real game you're trying to play. boom. no "Mods" needed.
the atomiswave ports, aren't many. so to "convert" your entire system, for like what? 6 games? IF even that, n mostly fighters, just seems absolutely pointless.
The DC, alone, is a pretty amazing console.
you want to play imports, CDX
you want to play any other game just burn to a cd and boom.
literally one of the best systems out there, that you DON'T NEED TO MOD because it was literally built and equipped with what it needs in the first place.
anyways, I hope you get it fixed, up and running, and gaming again. DC is a blast.
2024 and I still play my DC at least 2 times a week.
no mods. all original and still kicking strong with it's all just original parts. never been upgraded, updated or repaired. lol still kicking.