Another Dreamcast done...

 I did the same battery mod to my original Dreamcast done tonight. I also managed to swap out the LED to a yellow one, but it's really dim. I may swap that out later for a brighter one, but that's later. Plugged it all back up and did a quick check. Looks like everything worked fine. 

I was also planning on stripping down my really old and yellowed Super Nintendo, but as I got down to getting the reset and power sliders off, the tabs started to crack. I though long and hard about if I want to continue or just leave it alone and enjoy the aged look of it. It was the original one that I bought weeks after I came back from a Japan trip in 1992 (bought Street Fighter II there). I'm gonna enjoy the aged look on it. As I put it all back together again, I realized that the case had a hole in it where I first put in an S-Video mod so I could use a standard S-Video cable, but I since removed it...not sure why.

Pretty simple stuff tonight. I also ordered some caps to do a future PC Engine project as well as a model 1 Sega Genesis adapter repair. Stay tuned!

Dreamcast battery mod...

I ordered some parts to swap out the battery in the Dreamcast. I bought a vertical mount CR2032 coin cell battery holder and some BAT85 diodes. 

 Here's the controller PCB out from the console. I desoldered that battery since it's pretty much dead. Even if I left the console on for a few days, the battery would only hold the charge for no more than day. I also desoldered part of the resistor to the left. The mod that I learned from Voultar (mod instructions found HERE as well) was to add a diode to the longer end of that resistor to cut the charging circuit so it won't try to charge the removable, non-chargeable battery. 

I had to squish and zoom in for this shot. Here's the vertical battery holder and the diode installed. The cathode (-) of the diode is facing toward the mainboard and the anode (+) to the resistor.

Top down shot of it. 

It does power back on after the mod, and I did set the time. Testing it the next night (I did this the day before), and it seems to have kept the date and time settings just fine. So glad it'll be easier to swap out the batteries when it dies. I'm gonna have to open up my other Dreamcast and do the same mod for it.

That's all for now. 

Dreamcast mod START!

I've been thinking about the next mod work I plan to do. Been pretty reluctant to get buy parts to work on stuff since usually January and February have hidden bills that come up and I want to stay ahead of that. 

...usually I'd be reluctant to buy any parts...but then I got around to testing a Dreamcast that I got last month.

It was a Sega Sports edition Dreamcast. When I tested it, it powered on. The only mod that I can see that has been done to it was that the LED was changed out to a blue one...not really a fan of the blue. I'm planning to swap that out with a yellow one, but the ones that I have are too dim for it. 

...Yellow is the color that I swapped out all my Sega console's LEDs to..when I can...anyway...

I also ordered an S-Video cable for it as well. As soon as it came in, I connected it to the Dreamcast and tested it with my RetroTINK Pro. Glad to say that it worked perfectly. I then burned a disc to test the drive. The game image was remastered so a modchip was not needed. 

The drive clicked several times, then stopped. It wouldn't read the disc. I also tested with a music CD and got the same result. I also tried reburning the disc and got the same result. 

I pretty much marked the drive as dead, so I went looking for a replacement. I though about getting another CD drive, but I ended up getting an ODE for it. 

Granted it's a clone, but it'll suit me for what I need. I don't think that there's any games that won't be compatible with it, but again, not too worried about it. Of course, it's coming from overseas, so it'll be a while until I get it. 

In the meantime, I also was planning on installing a DC Digital HDMI mod to it. My old Dreamcast already has been modded for VGA. It works perfect, but I'm not satisfied with how I left it. 

I mean, it's not BAD, but I just didn't like how the VGA connector is on the outside. This was also before I got my better soldering station. I was using a 20w pencil soldering iron with a REALLY rounded tip...I don't know. I guess I'm ok with it (my own personal system , modded in 2012).

Going back to the HDMI mod, I think I'm gonna wait until I get the ODE and make sure that works fine before I decide on doing it. I'm following the creator(s) on Twitter, so if there is a last call for them before it's discontinued, I'll probably jump on it then.

To test this Sega Sports Dreamcast, I grabbed one of my old Dreamcast controllers. It did work fine, but there was some freezing when trying to navigate the main menu. When I took the console apart to clean the case, I noticed that there was a soldering iron burn near one of the control port screw holes. Not sure if that's what was causing it. 

So I have it deep cleaned and reassembled. At this time, it's sitting sidelined, waiting for the mod board.

In the meantime, my old Dreamcast controller was in need for a retrobrighting treatment.

Into the UV bin it goes! I gave it a generous coating of developer cream (not going overboard), wrapped them, and now they're just chilling in the UV bin. I may let it sit for a day and a half.

Since I have some PC Engine work to do next, I'm gonna work on getting some of those S-Video boards done...I may have to order more parts...later...