vrocko Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Okay this may be a dumb question but I hope someone can help me out. I own two Dreamcasts and play them on a regular basis. My nephew had borrowed my copy of Sonic the Hedgehog, I got that one when the DC came out back in '99. He had purchased a Dreamcast at a retro videogame store in the area. He tried out Sonic but it did not work and would not load. He also borrowed San Francisco Rush 2049 which loaded just fine. I tried to run Sonic and it wouldn't load on either of my machines. I know Sega had issues with the, then new, GD discs but all my games worked when they came out back then and I didn't have any problems. Now Sonic won't run. Is this a disc issue or a hardware issue? Anybody else have this issue? I've not tried to download Sonic and burn it to a CD but I might try it and see what happens. I know that with Hydro Thunder back in 1999 some people had to take theirs back because it wouldn't run at all due to an issue in the original factory burning (I think), mine runs ok. I remember Vanishing Point had an issue that you had to insert a memory card with the Planetweb save information on it before it would run, my Vanishing Point runs too. So anybody have any suggestions? Still love my DC and play it all the time, just would like to get back into Sonic and play. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorfcadet Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Have you checked for significant scratching or smudges? A GDrom is like any other disc; it can have imperfections that get worse over time. Sometimes what looks like an air bubble or water like pocket inside the plastic can be a visual cue. I've never had a commercial release go bad on me or even an audio cd. He only discs I've ever had go bad were recordable cdr, dvdr, etc and the few 360 games my system ruined back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorfcadet Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I will say you are better off just buying a new copy of Sonic. Its not one of the pricey ones and cdrs can put a lot of miles on your DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kida0723 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 If your discs look good, It might be a laser calibration issue. Its a fairly easy fix. All you need to do this is a screwdriver. http://m.instructables.com/id/Dreamcast-cd-reading-issue-repair/?ALLSTEPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kida0723 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Or clean the laser lens with a qtip or something. Rub lightly. Id try this first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 It could be a combination of both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vrocko Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks! I'll try it out. Do CD-R's do physical damage to the DC? I've used them before without an issue but I don't want to use them any more if they will ruin my DC's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kida0723 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I've had no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorfcadet Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I've heard from many places that cdrs can weaken the laser faster than regular gdroms. It could be nonsense, but I do have a DC I use just for cdr stuff just to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenegg Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks! I'll try it out. Do CD-R's do physical damage to the DC? I've used them before without an issue but I don't want to use them any more if they will ruin my DC's. They don't do physical damage, but they can wear out the drive. The reason is that traditional CDs are written from the centre to the edge. File order is rarely considered on a CD. GD-ROMs are written from the edge to the centre, to optimize read speed. They also place larger files closer to the edge to minimize seek time. When using CD-Rs, the laser will be seeking a lot more than with GD-ROM media. There are ways to pad the images to have the data optimized better on a CD, but most people don't bother with that. All that said, I've seen systems that have gone through extremely heavy use of CD-Rs and I've yet to see one fail. I don't doubt that some people have had drive failures through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 They don't do physical damage, but they can wear out the drive. The reason is that traditional CDs are written from the centre to the edge. File order is rarely considered on a CD. GD-ROMs are written from the edge to the centre, to optimize read speed. They also place larger files closer to the edge to minimize seek time. This isn't really true. A real backup will work the same way as a disc. Some newer CUE + BINs will actually be arranged even better than the GDROMs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenegg Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 This isn't really true. A real backup will work the same way as a disc. Some newer CUE + BINs will actually be arranged even better than the GDROMs. No. When you make a backup of a GDROM, you're not simply creating an image of it like you would other media. Because of the method that's used, you lose the layout of the original disk. The newer images have been properly padded and optimized, but the majority of rips are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gredler Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 No. When you make a backup of a GDROM, you're not simply creating an image of it like you would other media. Because of the method that's used, you lose the layout of the original disk. The newer images have been properly padded and optimized, but the majority of rips are not. Depends on the method. And I noted that newer ones are optimized. Still, though, you're not likely to burn out your drive using a burn every once in a while. You'd have to be exclusively using bad burns for hours a week for a long time to get that result, which you noted above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vrocko Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 Ok well I don't use it for extended periods of time, except when trying to beat a difficult boss or level, so hopefully my DC's will last. Hey they got from 1999 to 2014 and are still working so here's to another 15 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmetal88 Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 My copy of Sonic Adventure 2 somehow had a bit of the label side of the disc, including part of the data layer, flake off. I'm not sure what caused the damage, but it would always freeze while loading the first level because of it. I ended up burning a CD-R to get through the first level, and now I have a save on my memory card that I can use to play other levels on the actual disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGameCollector Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 One time I had a faulty burn of Sonic Adventure where it failed to write the last ring object for exiting the sewer where you get the light speed dash. That missing ring made it almost impossible to exit the sewer! I think I did eventually do it somehow before I owned an actual copy of the game. Certain cutscenes for Knuckles also only showed up as black screens while you listened to the dialogue. I'm glad those problems are a thing of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 One time I had a faulty burn of Sonic Adventure where it failed to write the last ring object for exiting the sewer where you get the light speed dash. That missing ring made it almost impossible to exit the sewer! I think I did eventually do it somehow before I owned an actual copy of the game. Certain cutscenes for Knuckles also only showed up as black screens while you listened to the dialogue. I'm glad those problems are a thing of the past. Not entirely in the past. A recent (in the past 4 years) faulty ROM kicked me entirely out of the emulation game. Told myself I wouldn't chance it anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGameCollector Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Not entirely in the past. A recent (in the past 4 years) faulty ROM kicked me entirely out of the emulation game. Told myself I wouldn't chance it anymore. I'm just talking about this one particular game. A backup I made myself from the original didn't have the problem so I don't have to deal with it again. The older disc I had was one somebody else burned. It was included with the used Dreamcast lot my uncle bought from his friend and gave me for Christmas 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaytonaUSA Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Hey. You should know there were warehouses where these games were stored where they were not stored properly. They warped basically. The information layer got effected. A famous game this happened with was space channel five. Finding a copy where it works from beginning to end without graphical issues can be hard. I once went through five copies till I found a perfect one. So no. Its not your system. If your DC can run OK on any other game I almost guarantee this is your problem Hope I helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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