Dreamcast no video or Audio

[toyer1]

Hi everyone,

I know this has probably been covered before. Had a fully working DC, took it apart to check the mobo rev, put it back together, seems I may have used too long a screw putting the rom drive back, pierced the mobo and now no video or sound. Power is fine, fan works, rom drive spins up, orange light comes on when powered up. I have read about using too long screws, my question is what damage could/would it have caused? and can it be repaired?

[Bob Dobbs]

Check the AV port first. If the tabs are being pressed down too much, it could be that the device is actually functioning properly, but no clear contact is made with the socket when the cable is plugged in.

If you used the wrong screws on the back of the Dreamcast where the video port is, it will make contact with the board. Try removing all the screws found in the back of the Dreamcast, then test.

Another user had this issue which turned out that his fan was not properly connected to the board. His worked after refitting the connector.

Last 2.5 cents is that the AV cable is bad, but I don't think this is the problem here. My other Dreamcast had the weird cable ism where I really had to push really hard on the AV socket where I thought I was going to break it. It still works to this day.

I did have the same issue over a decade ago on my main Dreamcast but a person here told me to tighten the screws at the AV port. I did and it fixed it 100%. I still use that same Dreamcast today.

[megavolt85]

you can restore it, but you need a microscope and a very good soldering skill.
P.S. you interrupted the connection between the CPU and GPU