Controller ports 2 and 3 not working (I’ve already replaced the fuse, capacitor, battery, and resistor)

[heartseeker]

First time posting.

I’ve recently gotten a Dreamcast and sadly the 2nd and 3rd controller ports are out of commission. I’ve seen in a great number of places online that this is typically due to a blown fuse on the sub bd 2. I’ve replaced all of the components that are typically recommended and I’ve noticed no change. 2 and 3 still don’t work. Does anyone have any additional ideas? Pretty devastated I can’t play 2 player games due to most multiplayer games requiring port 2 and don’t accept port 4.

In addition, since taking the photos attached,I've tried bending the pins upwards a bit to ensure contact to the controller. Still no dice.

[polly_85]

Hi,

I had the same problem with my Dreamcast did all the fixes you describe and even bent pins in the ports. What fixed my issue is that I had to reflow the contacts on the ports on the bottom of the board and all the ports started working again.

[nextlie]

You tried this fix? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFOAP28p5z8

[powergames]

Same problem same fix, reflow all the soldering contacts on the bottom of the PCB.

[Ian Micheal]

Had this just replaced the whole board easy fix many cheap dc's with no reading drives to take working boards out of..

[AdamL]

Have you tried thoroughly cleaning the controller ports with 99% alcohol/electrical contact cleaner? This is usually the fix for me when I come across non-working cartridge games/systems and controllers.

If that doesn't work, then I'd take a look at the board for continuity and try reflowing the solder.