laser replacement

[dudeguy]

I replaced my laser and afterwards I cant get a single game to work. Went back to the old one. The part they sent me matched the model (HKT-3020) but the laser itself looked different in a number of ways. It still went in perfectly though and everything fit. Wondering if they sent me the wrong part or if it was a dud.

[marauder666]

There might be a blob of solder somewhere that needs removing, its to protect against esd when the laser isnt installed in the drive mechanism.   Seen this on other console lasers, not sure where on a dc.

[dudeguy]

On 9/26/2022 at 5:33 PM, marauder666 said:

There might be a blob of solder somewhere that needs removing, its to protect against esd when the laser isnt installed in the drive mechanism.   Seen this on other console lasers, not sure where on a dc.

yeah i removed it, still doesnt work. i dont know if its possible to jack up the laser assembly while removing the anti static blob. i cant return it now that ive removed it. only other thing i can think of doins is adjusting the pot

[str0m]

To be honest the best thing you could do is get a cheap GDEMU clone and just put that in instead

[Matt300ZXT]

Was it a new new gdrom or just one from a parts machine? A lot of the gdrom's lasers drifted out of spec and need a pot to be tweaked to get the proper value.  If that's beyond your scope or patience level, then I'd recommend the gdemu like the guy above me.  I actually just ordered one today and for the past 3 days have been downloading the entire US Dreamcast library to put on sd cards to have every single game available in a handful of sd cards.  I'm doing the same for my Genesis/Master System/Sega CD, TurboGrafx/PC Engine, and SNES as soon as I can get the multicart for it.

[dudeguy]

I'm not interested in using an SD card loader to play Dreamcast games, as I spent hundreds of dollars on the games themselves, and it takes away from the experience to use equipment that was engineered and made in the last two years when the entire point of what I'm doing is to feel like I'm living in the year 2001 again.

[str0m]

Weird reply. It does feel the same, the loading times are not that much quicker, you are still using the original hardware so it's nothing like using an emulator. It just means less getting off the sofa and less wear on the DC or risk of damaging discs etc by dropping them as you wander across. If I had spent hundreds on a game(s) the last thing I would want to do is actually risk using the physical disc, much rather use an image of it off an SD card!

[imstarryeyed]

@dudeguy

I used to own a classic videogame store and I have never had luck with replacing a Dreamcast laser with new ones right from the box.

 

I  have tried many Dreamcasts with many new lasers and I could not even get one to work.  I think the reason is that the laser was good.

 

I started an investigation back then with the theory that the laser does not necessarily go bad but the driver board underneath the laser assembly. 

When you replace your drive assembly with a GDEMU you are removing the entire assembly and not just the laser, so your GDEMU would work.

 

I honestly think that the driver board is high suspect here and I hope someone can investigate it properly with a scope or some tool as I think that is the culprit.

 

I know there are those who will debate the "..do burned games over drive your laser?", many said it does not and they may have been right, but no one was thinking of the driver board being the weak link.

 

Over the years it seemed to me on all of our Dreamcasts we got in the store, the ones with dead "lasers" were always the ones with no game traded in on the same trade or have a stack of burned games that they wanted me to buy, which I never did.

 

Dreamcasts with a stack of games almost always worked.

 

I just like you prefer to play my games with original hardware and original software if possible.  I do not want to die with a mint collection for someone else to just sell for pennies on the dollar as they do not have the interest and passion 

as I do for this hobby.  However I respect anyone who wants to play games their way.

 

I think if a new board or the cause of board failure can be found, many Dreamcasts can be saved.  Just my observation and opinion.

 

 

Just found this webpage that seems to agree with my theory... I will need to see if I can try these out.

 

https://dragoncity17.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/dreamcast-lire-les-jeux-graves-reparations/

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by imstarryeyed
updated post with a link

[dudeguy]

On 2/10/2023 at 6:25 PM, str0m said:

Weird reply. It does feel the same, the loading times are not that much quicker, you are still using the original hardware so it's nothing like using an emulator. It just means less getting off the sofa and less wear on the DC or risk of damaging discs etc by dropping them as you wander across. If I had spent hundreds on a game(s) the last thing I would want to do is actually risk using the physical disc, much rather use an image of it off an SD card!

No, it doesnt feel the same. And I take care of the discs. If theyre not in the Dreamcast, theyre in their cases. As far as wear and tear, uh yeah, thats the entire point of using things. everything has wear and tear if you use them. you buy shoes just to leave them in a box?

[dudeguy]

21 hours ago, imstarryeyed said:

@dudeguy

I used to own a classic videogame store and I have never had luck with replacing a Dreamcast laser with new ones right from the box.

 

I  have tried many Dreamcasts with many new lasers and I could not even get one to work.  I think the reason is that the laser was good.

 

I started an investigation back then with the theory that the laser does not necessarily go bad but the driver board underneath the laser assembly. 

When you replace your drive assembly with a GDEMU you are removing the entire assembly and not just the laser, so your GDEMU would work.

 

I honestly think that the driver board is high suspect here and I hope someone can investigate it properly with a scope or some tool as I think that is the culprit.

 

I know there are those who will debate the "..do burned games over drive your laser?", many said it does not and they may have been right, but no one was thinking of the driver board being the weak link.

 

Over the years it seemed to me on all of our Dreamcasts we got in the store, the ones with dead "lasers" were always the ones with no game traded in on the same trade or have a stack of burned games that they wanted me to buy, which I never did.

 

Dreamcasts with a stack of games almost always worked.

 

I just like you prefer to play my games with original hardware and original software if possible.  I do not want to die with a mint collection for someone else to just sell for pennies on the dollar as they do not have the interest and passion 

as I do for this hobby.  However I respect anyone who wants to play games their way.

 

I think if a new board or the cause of board failure can be found, many Dreamcasts can be saved.  Just my observation and opinion.

 

 

Just found this webpage that seems to agree with my theory... I will need to see if I can try these out.

 

https://dragoncity17.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/dreamcast-lire-les-jeux-graves-reparations/

 

 

 

Now that I think about it, my Dreamcast was working fine until some point after I started using a CD-R with the 240p test suite on it. And after I got a different Dreamcast, all the games worked for the most part but struggled with the same 240p disc.

 

Long story short, don't use CD-Rs on the Dreamcast if you want to be able to use it

[eightbit]

I have been using CD-R's on Dreamcast consoles since before it was released stateside. As a matter of fact, I still burn and use CD-R's on the same exact mid-summer '99 Asia Dreamcast console and my laser still works fine. 

 

That being said, I call the whole "CD-R kills the Dreamcast laser" business hogwash to a degree.

 

Now, when I say "to a degree" I mean I can see where incorrectly burned CD-R's can cause the drive to seek in strange ways. You'll know it when it is making a lot of noise...well...more than it usually does

 

You'll notice if you had been in the scene back in those days that eventually DC scene releases were set to fill the entire disc. You can fill the disc as well using a dummy file. The idea was to move the data to the outer portion of the disc, data reads faster, and quieter. If you have ever burned an early release that did not fill the disc (like Kalisto's release of Crazy Taxi) you can really hear and feel that laser hurting itself.

 

Since the 240P suite is really tiny I can see the laser having issues seeking to the inside of that disc for that tiny bit of data. 

 

There are (were) tools online that can automagically add a dummy to a CDI image and make it large. As for games, any CDI you find nowadays probably already is 700MB in size and self-boot anyway...and those won't hurt your Dreamcast as long as they are burned on quality media. I use Memorex and Verbatim.

 

Anyway, just adding this info for FYI. Not condoning piracy or anything!