Ebay Dreamcast with a Surprise Inside | Refurb; Recap, Mod - BIOS, Power, USB-C

[@geraldv203]

Needing force, resulting in lifting solder pads, just means you don't have the right tools for a 4 layer PCB with huge ground planes. You need at least 80W iron, and SMD requires flux (it's so easy to prevent or remove bridges with it). To desolder SMD chips properly you can use low melt solder like ChipQuik kits.

[@Lierofox]

4:40 I just started twisting those style of caps back and forth (like twisting a watch dial) until the leads snap off and then removing the remnant of the leads with a soldering iron afterwards. Done several of my consoles like that and I've never lifted a single pad with that method.

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

nice, pretty slick! I wouldn't trust my luck doing that 😅 seen people use flush cutters and I'm like '.. erm.. ' lol

[@Lierofox]

@@PedroPlatinumGaming honestly I didn't believe it until I tried it, can't remember which creator I saw do it first but after they mentioned it I grabbed a random PCB and some needle nose pliers, reached in and twisted a cap back and forth, and off it came with zero drama. I was shocked! If you've got some junk ewaste pcbs give it a try.

[@mikeyp4690]

Recapped my Saturn the other day. Tried removing caps like this video at first and managed to lift a pad. Decided to twist the rest off and it all went smoothly. Once you've got the knack you can get those suckers off quick!

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

Aren't ones on the Saturn also secured with some epoxy? I haven't yet worked on one, but I know there's a console that has adhesive to help secure the caps. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. I've encountered few epoxy secured bits and it sucks of ya don't have a hot air station (currently using since the vid) to get em off or do the flush cutter method.

[@Lierofox]

@@PedroPlatinumGaming I know the Game Gear is like that, the caps are shrouded in a case and then epoxied down. For those the solder pads are more accessible though so I cut the legs and then twisted the capacitor shroud until the epoxy broke free.

[@narniaphuket]

I like how it output video when the AV cables weren't plugged in

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

ah! 😂

[@casey_shame]

Love this video! But somebody come give my boy some flush cutters!

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

Thanks - glad ya love it! :D I got a hot air station now. Idk how I managed doing it the way I did before but also, now have handy flush cutters too; specifically for about of those held down with some adhesive haha

[@casey_shame]

@PedroPlatinumGaming I gotta get a hot air station myself! Seems so useful when doing things with smaller components. I break things too often to risk it otherwise, haha.

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

That's one of the reasons I got one. Some places are a bit tight with a soldering iron, and I can't say I never lifted pads using the iron method; nothing some UV resin can't help fix up, but not something I'd want to make a habit of. I find using hot air to be easier and safer after ya get a handle on it - bonus points for making it easier to deal with ICs on the board lol

[@marcelomassayuki7899]

Nice modding! I also own a Dreamcast VA1 with GDEMU and I've noticed something at around 12:56 that might be also happening to me: You can see that in the letters when you choose the fighter they show some kind of weird points in the texture (These points also appear on Press Start Button), is that related to the AV output? Cause when I play games like Shenmue I can also spot those points or texture glitches...

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

Thank you very much!! I'm not sure to be honest. it may be because of the AV Out, the 3rd party AV cable, or the GDEmu itself. Didn't really notice anything since I've never had a Dreamcast before and had no expectations in terms of video quality so it may just be how it is. It'd be great to get the actual GDRom and OEM AV cable to compare the GDEmu with as well as the Retrogem once it's released for the DC to compare video quality. Could also be a thing with the Retrotink 5x Pro since I'm running the last firmware version before the button functionality was removed in favor of only using the remote which I think was a dumb move. Sorry I couldn't really give you an answer. I'm not sure what it could be right now and don't want to mislead ya D: I do have more Dreamcasts to refurbish so maybe that could be another point to check once I get to them.

[@djgokou]

Legit usb c mod! How did you print out that usb c holder? I need this mod!

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

I have my own SLA printer to print the mods I design out of ABS like resins. Elegoo is my fav right now. Lots of trial and error even with calipers xD I'll actually be making an announcement about this stuff in the not so distant future, so you'll be sure to nab one no problem :3

[@markb7081]

Pedro the pad ripper

[@Projectdarksource]

Are you selling any moded Dreamcast on eBay?

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

Not at this time. I'll be opening my online store on the 10th however selling refurbished and modded consoles. I should have a number of Dreamcasts ready closer to the end of July to the early August.

[@Projectdarksource]

Are all the Dreamcasts you sell going to be Gdemu?

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

That depends to be honest as not all are compatible with GDEmu. Got a bit more work ahead than originally thought between versions of units I have lol that said, I'll probs be selling some with GDEmu and some without it on a per unit basis. Sadly, I don't believe I'll have any ready by the end of the month like I originally thought I would, sorry. I'll definitely be posting up when I will have them available though!

[@js100serch]

My original PSU is dying, and I{m debating whether or not to buy a DreamPSU but all I can find online is polarizing opinions on the unit. Have you had any issues with the Dreampsu so far?. Should I buy it to replace my dying PSU?.

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

Suck that the original PSU is dying! I haven't had issues with the DreamPSU so far and even got more of em. The issues I can easily see are the barrel jack bricks which seems to be the root of opinions; I've not had the best experience with those. The PicoPSU looks interesting (just found out about it) so that may be something to explore though it too goes off a barrel jack brick. I don't believe replacing the OEM with the DreamPSU will damage your unit so you should be good. I would caution vetting barrel jack bricks, maybe going with OEM laptop manufacturer ones that match specs or USB-C mod it like I did. You want 12v 3A (more amperage is fine) supply. There's always locking in another OEM Dreamcast PSU too. Hope this helps!

[@smokeyarcade]

@@PedroPlatinumGaming I have 2 modded Dreamcasts with GDEMU's & Noctua fans, both with DreamPSU's (I think one might be pico?) but both use the barrel plugs for power.....I'm wondering if that's why i'm having issues? My Dreamcasts (both) will randomly restart to the Bios menu? I've cleaned the pins for the power supply and it still does it. Could it be the actual barrel plug/power brick causing this issue?

[@PedroPlatinumGaming]

@@smokeyarcade Since you cleaned the pins for power I think it could be couple of things. One issue could be the barrel jack if it's a loose fit, another could be the power brick if it's not able to supply enough current (at least 3 to 3.5A), it may be that the SD card extender needs to be re-seated as sometimes the connection with it isn't great - could remove the extender and place the SD card where that went, or it may be that the GDEmu itself needs to be re-seated onto the motherboard. Can use contact cleaner spray to clean out the connections mentioned, let it dry, and test again. Something interesting could be the gdemu.ini settings. If the problem happens when playing only some games. Perhaps try these settings below of cleaning the other contacts and repositioning the SD card doesn't work. Some images may not work if image_tests isn't set to 0 (something I didn't know before) open_time = 2000 detect_time = 2000 reset_goto = 1 image_tests = 0 worst case, which would be weird, is that both DreamPSUs are faulty and need swapping out - can always throw in the original PSU to see if the issue persists. I say weird since both systems are having the same issue. The noctua fans are mad nice so don't think it's an overheating issue moreso when the PSUs have been swapped. I hope this helps smokey!

[@smokeyarcade]

@@PedroPlatinumGaming Thanks man. I'll get around to doing some tests. :-)

[@nullbyt]

Was having this issue until I switched to openmenu and built my SD image using the tool I have no idea why this fixed it but I'm under the impression that my sd wasn't setup correctly.