Black Screen, Dreamcast won't boot, most likely broken

Shenmue_fan

New member
This is a sad day for me. Yesterday i finally got the time to install my DC HDMI. At first, everything seemed to work great, although the soldering process was really hard for me. I connected the dreamcast to my TV, and had a picture and sound. Nice. I went into post Install, and then everything went wrong. I followed the Install Video and when I tried to set the VGA force mode (?, not sure how it is named) Dreamcast went black. I turned it off and on again (like in the video) but nothing, no Picture on TV, and nothing on the VMU Display (it did beep though and went through the init process). I panicked and that was when I made every mistake possible. I reopend the DC and managed to rip of the flat cable :-( I tried to de solder what was left and now I probably have ripped off pads from the DC itself.

I am considering to get myself one of those replacement DC Motherboards off ebay (and hopefully don't get ripped off) and order a new flex cable. However, before i do so, I need to understand what actually happened and if i am even able to reuse the dchdmi as it is now.

The reason I am asking is, the DC had this regionfree bios mod on it (can't remember the link right now, but i might google if necessary) and it was set from PAL to US or JAP(i don't remember it had the orange whirl however). The cable to modify the DC Bios was still there when I installed DCHDMI.

So I wonder, when DCHDMI was set to force VGA, was there also a bit set in the DC bios? And could that have caused my trouble, because it somehow interfered with the region bios mod?
If i manage to get a replacment board and install DCHDMI to it, will that even work now? I am totally guessing here, but *if* dchdmi did (try) to set something on the DC Bios, won't it expect that now on the replacement Mobo too? Or had i the wrong idea and it should just work (assuming i don't f*** up again) if i install it again on a new board?
 

citrus3000psi

Administrator
Staff member
The BIOS wouldn't matter. The force VGA just simulates inserting a VGA box into the back of the console.

There are multiple reasons for a black screen scenario. Did you confirm composite video worked or did not work? If the GDROM drive is not properly seated you can also get a solid black screen.
 

Shenmue_fan

New member
I see. I don't remember if I had a composite signal. I just know that everything seemed to work fine (all hearts, no X at self test) and when i changed to force VGA, nothing. No signal from hdmi, no signal from composite, VMU remained blank. And as I said i ruined it afterwards, I can't get that board back to work. For now i will put it aside and start over with another board.
But just to be absolutely clear, what you are saying is, that, given my replacement DC Board works and i don't mess with it again, the dchdmi Board should just work?
Another question, if i ever consider to relook into my ruined board, what are the shortcomings with those removed resistors ? Given they are near the audio circuit, will it still work, but just without sound?
Also, I thought that for my next run, I might do an additional test Step, where i connect the console via composite, but without the dchdmi connected. Will that work? Or has the dcmi board to be connected, as soon as the flatband is soldered?
 

citrus3000psi

Administrator
Staff member
I imagine your DCDigital board is fine. I've only seen one DCDigital board die, and the AC mains were crossed and fried everything.

If I was you I would just purchase a replacement flex and install into a new mobo. This is assuming your old mobo is really bad. Not sure what the pads look like that you say are partially ripped.
 
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