The Over-heating Guide

Here is a quick tutorial to get that old dreamcast you had in your closet working again, basically you want to do a few simple things. Like the 360 over-heating problems are a common occurrence for the dreamcast system because of design or an added aluminum plating that doesn't need to be there etc. Resets are a common factor of overheating. Its okay for mbs to get generally hot, but you don't want a motherboard with a lens reader or a lens reader card to get too hot. This area simply cannot be blocked by a fan (which is the exact reason as to why pcs and dvd players have internal fans btw?). This is usually done accidentally by aesthetics or faulty design such as a casing which covers that particular area of the mb/mb card. If you listen carefully no one will get harmed.

1. Obtain a four head screw driver to do the basic steps of removing the screws and casing. You just want to remove the card under the lens with the lens itself. Don't bother removing the power card or motherboard controller card etc. Don't bother removing the lens itself or lens protector either.

2. Remove three screws around the lens unit. You will notice it is a card attached to the motherboard via pins. Now you want to remove the aluminum plate around the card. Make sure to have short screws handy.

WARNING

THIS REQUIRES BENDING THE PLATE AND TAKING OUT THE SCREWS FOR ITS DISPOSLE. Use 3 thin aluminum screws for new dreamcasts, one on each leg of the laser lens...however old dreamcasts are susceptible to ware of the len's padding via compression, and thick washers were used for mine. BTW an extra set of shorter screws are required due to the length of the original dc screws, it may or may not hit the motherboard. This hardware hack is proven to read cdrs better upon the booting process, and/or load dreamcast games faster by not overheating the laser lens reader & giving the motherboard a direct connection (of which used to obstruct a connection with the motherboard via the aluminum plating).

3. After the lens with a plate and metal attachment is removed, and the aluminum plate itself is destroyed you want to take out the lens with the metal plate still in tact. Afterwhich, detach the lens from the mb and reapply the screws to the metal casing (not the aluminum one you threw away). Note the lens may need to be unplugged from its lens card, just use precaution here. Pls note, the idea is to add 3 washers under the lens to hold it up, not mb plate. Both options can be done, however the lens is the one to take. The screws next to the mb is for aligning the lens as close as possible and meant for experimentation or professional use. DO NOT CALIBRATE YOUR DREAMCAST EITHER, THE VIDEOS ON THE INTERNET ARE FALSE< THE VOLTMETER MAY DESTROY YOUR DREAMCAST PERMANENTLY.

4. Then get 3 washers on the three screws. The washers or orings can be those small ones that fit nicely around the screw (either 2 washers for each screw or 1 oring. This does what the plate was doing which is hold the lens up a few mm. Put the case on but before so doing test of course. WARNING UPON REASSEMBLY: ONLY USE SHORT SCREWS (PC size) OR YOU WILL HIT YOUR MOTHERBOARD THEN YOU WILL BUY A NEW DREAMCAST. Okay GL.:P

Use Precaution here: There are two methods a slanted method or horizontal method to establish here. The tricky part is the screws. For a slanted fix that only plays GDRoms (however scratched gdroms will read more effectively but cdrs will hit the plastic occasionally) You want 2 orings or washers on the left side but nothing on the right under the card reader itself (some dreamcasts by now are probably broken, or their lens is fallen in like the ill-fated ps1 where it can't detect the cds). For an aligned stable fix go under the lens reader itself or lift it up and slide in 3 screws on the 3 corners (i used a washer and oring for each corner). You DONT want to cushion with bubble tape, or use plastic in any way to lift the lens. The horizontal fix though is the safest, this will have the trick work with the card reader still hooked up to the motherboard in the best way. The 3 orings or washers work under the card reader itself (next to the mb), however you might have problems detecting the katana mb (2 washers on the right, none on the left under the card reader, not lens reader is the slanted fix to not confuse u). This way you can play cdrs using horizontal trick (3 orings and/or washers under lens reader not the slanted trick (2 rings on left side under CARD reader attached to mb). The Slanted trick helps the lens read scratched up discs because the gdrom stays horizontal. The third oring or washer on the left side is basically replaced by a thin washer on the isolated screw pin under the laserdisc lens and card reader. You don't want to hit that plastic. Put 3 washers under the lens instead of the aluminum plate where holding the card reader up is alot better and makes up for the lost mms. The aluminum plate is a weak contact to the motherboard as well as being a heater for humidity. Its the safest bet. Dreamcast will be working better than your ps3 doing that.)

Best Results? For best results you want to put two o-rings on the left side and one washer on the right. That way the laserlens and circuit board to it is leveled or slanted and cd not tilted. This precision creates a type of reader so precise as to be right next to the data. The data will be read under a pocket of air so to speak because the GDROm stays leveled. Since GDROMs are heavier than cdrs, and there center is larger it will not work with cdrs (unless tape is applied to center and/or bottom. Another warning about this method is that cdrs will hit the bottom, so you need a piece of tape under your cdr if your dreamcast games arent original. Advantages of this hack are: scratched GDROM games will play, games will load faster. Disadvantages are games which are cdr or other need tape under its center or around the rim. Key note: this is how ALL Compact and/or DVD disc players should actually be built. However, for safest results use 3 rings directly under the corners of the lens itself after pulling out the plate.

About Dreamcast and its Competitors.

Many manufacturers build there consoles in compact spaces. This creates stupid ideas like an aluminum plating (with cushioning?!?) that traps heat and infact creates humidity on the lens reader's circuit board. This tick or glitch in the system is present in almost all appliances. If you ever buy a dvdrw and notice it burns out after a few months or a 120gb hard drive that just 'dies' you will know what I am talking about. Unnecessary compact spaces in hot environments anywhere above 70 degrees. If a motherboard gets hot, it breaks (see also red ring of death), but if a card reader or power supply get too hot it can be hazardous or dangerous even, creating 'o-rings' on your favorite cds. Technology can be good though, and uber advanced. Just take a look at plasma tvs compared to crts a few years back, that's the kind of leap videogames made. Do you want the first tesla or a 1970 chevy gasoline guzzler? With an HDMI converter and vga you have a virtual ps2 without the AA problems, a gamecube which holds more than 1gig on its disc or a console which plays those hard-to-find racing sims with real time lighting effects and day night clocks and arcade favs. Get enhanced arcade games such as soul calibur or even mdk2/soul reaver for pc to get graphical upgrades or even PC equivalents on AAA ps1 ports such as panzer front, bmx/th or rayman. You also have the first system to play that is literally 2 years ahead of its time, destroying its competition with its own still usable web browser (as long as pdas are still around, web surfing will be a must on the internet for those who need emails, chats or a way to read their news etc in that crowded dorm room with one computer, or that kids house with net bandwidth limits). Some more facts are that it has vmus and rumble, 4 player games and even a network of hardcore gamers (currently i'm playing illbleed, fun but really hard). Try a game like border down, and this hack will prove to significantly increase your load times as well. The first and only console with a cloned arcade (SH4 cpu) chip that was not resized to save costs. The first revolutionary console as well which outpaced computers and arcade in their own gen or game. The first system to use bumpmapping as well ie A tree looks like a tree, a sign could be read, frames were 60fps and best of all, it streams from the disc straight to the vram, or loads without using system memory which even gamecube doesn't do yet xbox 360 does with its unified ram (creating longer load times but at the same time using ram for that fluid 60 fps experience of not stuttering or pausing..basically ram is essential for video graphics over motherboard memory in terms of game fluidity). Specs even say it has more ram than ps2 and wider pipelines than gamecube being over matched finally by only the xbox 1 in terms of quality in its spec sheet...and even then you don't get hdmi. You also have a console to play PC ports such as Trickstyle&Quake 3 perfectly if not better than the pc enhanced greatly on hdmi. On top of that, its better than pc because emulators have glitches, and are a hassle if you have one good enough& u get no menu options or apps usage via vmu. The only console with non-scaling hdmi is dreamcast. Unfortunately its not perfect, those copied games you get for free on the internet are often slow or corrupt with downgraded music because the hackers need to fit the data on a regular cd, besides that the dreamcast needs to read the data twice often succumbing to slow down and awkward pauses. As for its closest companion ps2 graphics, its not as good as dc. The Dreamcast does not upscale its res from 640x224 to 440 (this function on the ps2 inturn gets 'rid' of jaggies..howevr they are revealed in component mode), dc is higher...its 640x480. The ps2 is still the best at modding, just buying a hard drive and renting or borrowing games from your local bestbuy will render u set for life. The only console company to copy the Katana arcade board to the 't' and spend all its money doing it is SEGA though. On top of that, the videogame third parties won't earn money from these so-called 'glitches' in the industry of copy-and-share or 'try before you buy' mods and hacks. Ever play mvc2 on your plasma tv? How 'bout Rare Japan-made games which rival gamecube graphics&gameplay liek Giant Gram 2000 3, J-league soccer, Crimson x2, Godzilla 2: Generations or mech games like Frame Grid, Virtual on 2, Gundam FX or Macross M3? Who knows maybe the 90s snes/genesis war did actually come back during the sixth gen...Nintendo made gamecube for nintendo party games to compete with sega's arcade games, stealing the idea of sega all together...but that's to be talked about for another blog day. Check out DCisozone or PS2isozone for more info. Dreamcast has the ability to buffer out textures fairly well and stream these 100 mb textures (to 3 or so mbs) fairly fast. However so its the fastest console of the sixth gen (ps2 holds the largest environments or highest res, gc is the shiniest via 8x bumpmapping, xb is the most powerful with its high polygon count...however dreamcast is the most fastest giving this gen the most equality in the game industry ever produced, hence sonic adventure 1 can't be done as well). Not only does dc hold more space than gamecube, its faster in terms of raw power (loading time). Hence shenmue was never achieved or ported perfectly on any of the consoles and can not be. Proof even technology has its limits and Dreamcast is still the best.