SEGA DREAMCAST ?

[poiurewqfdsa]

hey guys, i got a question that i hope can be answered...
I was looking around on Ebay for a Dreamcast and the people/potential buyers&sellers seems to stress what year it was produced as well as a number of somesort that starts off with HKT....(some examples include HKT3020 etc.) What exactly are they talking about here and why is it important? THanx!!

[thugangel]

Any Dreamcast consoles manufactured before June 2000 would be able to read burnt games and any ones after would not.

As for the HKT-#, they are the model numbers of the system. It looks like the early numbers like HKT-01 is a Katana dev kit, HKT-3020 are the regular consoles, and HKT-3030 are the PAL versions. Not sure about HKT-5000 and such.

But mannn, I'm glad you brought this up. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that Sega started selling Dreamcast again bundled with a game called Radilgy. Though, through Sega Direct of Japan online only and the systems seemed to be refurbished. Sega of Japan brought the Phantasy Star Online servers back to life, but I wonder if I could play since I'm in the U.S....

[chackyngaka]

i wanna paly chuchu rocket!!!!
maaan... i hope that the sistem will arrivew in america... coz i don't know.. i wanted also a dreamcast....(it has so many cool gaes on) but i don't know... i don't think that games will be easy to download... since no one has really a dreamcast... but i hope to find a dreamcast with lots of games and cheap....
but if star phantasy online iut back again... i really think that we can play from america... it just that u have to connect to a japanese server isn't it??? anyways all the comments and messages will be in japanese... not very uiefull

[poiurewqfdsa]

so what are "Katana dev kit", and "PAL versions"?? I also heard that sega dreamcast is known to have disc reading problems since the parts sega use is not very good or something...I experienced this first hand when i got my dreamcast yesterday. Sometimes, the disc will read, sometimes it will not. Sometimes the game will shut off during the middle of the gameplay and it also has loud scratchy noises....anyone else experienced the same?

[thugangel]

"Katana" is the codename for the system before they released the system. Dreamcast was the final name that was decided. Development kits are tools that are needed to develop a game on the system. The most basic types of televisions are either NTSC or PAL. NTSC is universal that is mostly used in Asia and the Americas while PAL is mostly for Europe. PAL tends to have higher resolutions (or more lines) and have faster refresh rate.

What year was yours manufactured? The newer ones uses more of plastic components while the older ones uses metallic ones. Thus, older ones ending up with better quality. How bad are the scratches on the GD-ROM (your game disc(s))?

It's healthier for your system when you open the lid before turning it off. It will lessen the chance of scratching the drive's len's surface and will position the lens to its starting point.

Don't play your Dreamcast on the carpet. Place it on a flat surface so there will be ventilation coming from the bottom. And yes, don't block any air holes. Little or no ventilation for the Dreamcast will cause the system to overheat and halt. This is also the reason why the older ones are better since metal (for the small heatsink you'd see on the side of the case) dissipate heat better.

One of the tricks I learned when your Dreamcast is having hard time reading the disc is titling the system in some kind of angle, on its side, or upside down.

[poiurewqfdsa]

Wow, looks like you are the expert on this! THe game discs that i have are in pretty good condition, with some minial scratches but i still get shut off during gameplay, error reading disc, and that outrageous sound. I'll certainly try the methods you recommended to me...i'll let you know how it goes oh, mine was made in 2000 btw, guess no metal parts for me.

[poiurewqfdsa]

you said that i should open the lid when i shut the system off...should i do this as well even when there's a game disc inside? also, i noticed that once my dreamcast has problem reading discs (usually starts when the system shuts off during middle of gameplay) it will make a "shizz" noise and the message "reading disc" will keep popping up by itself even when there's no game disc in the dreamcast, any idea as to what's going on?

[thugangel]

Yes, open the lid before turning the unit off. This will help the drive to start properly when you turn on your system. Turning off the unit suddenly will shorten its life since the laser will try to move to designated positions but then you suddenly cut off the voltage which could cause harm to the GD-ROM drive. Ever wondered why you need to hold on the power button when trying to turn off a PS2?

I could think of 3 or 4 more reasons why your system messes up during game play:

1) The door lid is loose. May need an additional weight to keep the door closed.

2) The system needs cleaning. You may hafta open up your Dreamcast and clean almost everything including the holes that connects with other parts with methynol or alcohol and cottonbuds (make sure the unit is unplugged and you're grounded). Clean the lens as well.

3) There may be something wrong with the wirings. Make sure the controller port bay is well placed since they are very sensitive and could cause to shut or halt your game. Same goes for the LED bulb since it is connected to the controller port.

4) The motor in your GD-ROM may just be too worn out. May need to replace the drive .

[poiurewqfdsa]

but wouldn't opening the lid while the game disc is still playing be bad? As far as cleaning the system goes, I wiped everything off with isopropyl alchohol before i started playing...but i didn't wipe the lens since there's a warning message that says "NEVER TOUCH THE LENS" in four languages lol. Hmm... I think the controller is plugged into the dreamcast snuggly, so i don't think it's controller port's problem. I really hope nothing's wrong with the drive...this means the death of my dreamcast.

[thugangel]

No, it's good if you need to turn it off. Doing it a bunch of times just for the heck of it is bad.

I'm not sure if you understood. When I said almost everything, I literally meant almost everything, especially the pins which stuff connects to. And make sure everything is well connected, especially the ribbon that connects the controller port to the motherboard.

But, yeah, I'd think that it's mostly the drive. Have you tried playing it in a different room? Does it shut down randomly or does it stop in some certain amount of playing time? Does it do it to your other games or just this particular one? And where did you buy the system from? lol, sorry for asking so many questions.

[poiurewqfdsa]

oh, no i'm the one that needs help and i really appreciate your replies. Now that you mentioned it, i remebered that the video cable (the one that has white, yello, red) on the other end that connects to the dreamcast, some of the copper thingy is missing. I didn't think too much of it at first since the system works when i plugged everything in and this is my first time in contact with a dreamcast and so i'm not sure if it is supposed to be like that or not. (is there supposed to be evenly spaced copper thingy spread across?)



I've tried playing it in different rooms, same thing happens. It will shut off regardless of the game i'm playing and does so at random. Also, once the dreamcast randomly shuts off during gameplay once, i won't be able to play it for a while since the "checking/reading disc" message will keep popping up and won't recognize anything i put in it. Oh yeah, i bought this thing at my local video game store.[/img]

[thugangel]

I don't think the RCA cable (the one with yellow, red, and white) is the problem. Your Dreamcast should keep running whether if the cable is connected or not since all the cable does is transfer the output to a display.

I wonder if you could ask for a replacement from your local vid store since yours could be a defect. If you still get the same problem with the replacement, then I think it has something to do with your house. But I doubt it... Also, was the system used? Refurbished? Or was it completely new?

[poiurewqfdsa]

i don't think my house is the problem since i've brought it to my friend's house and it did the samething. This dreamcast i bought is definately used...not sure if it's refurbished or not. So you definately think it's a defect then? I guess I have to return it if it is...

[thugangel]

I would think it is a defect since it's not running as it's supposed to.

[poiurewqfdsa]

lo , i guess then this is the end of my dreamcast...the hunt continues once again...l