Does the Dreamcast have a known freezing issue?

[Rick Dangerous]

So a year or so back when I was playing Grandia II my dreamcast used to freeze after playing for a few hours.

 

Recently, on a different dreamcast, I played about four hours and then popped in Worms World Party. On my second game it froze.

 

Is this a problem with the dreamcast or a bug in the game? Any way to prevent this other than not playing for very long? It does seem like certain games more than others so I have to wonder if it's a glitch in the game not the system.

 

Thanks!

[nanochess]

I think there is a glitch in the system, probably a memory-filling bug.

 

I play from time in time Resident Evil Code: Veronica, and after two hours it would always get stuck loading the next scene, I would reset it and continue playing. Isn't overheating because then it would not continue working.

[mbd30]

Is it overheating?

[covertagenda]

As mbd30 said it sounds like overheating.Check that the fan is running and the inside of the console is not full of dust or dirt etc as it is quite tight for space and needs good airflow.

[Rick Dangerous]

Are they known to overheat? I don't recall that from when they were on the market. Did anyone make an aftermarket cooler or larger fan for the DC?

[Tempest]

They've been known to overheat, but not like the PS3 or 360. They do need proper ventilation though, don't block those vents!

[+thegoldenband]

I've played dozens of hours of Worms World Party with my wife, and we've never seen a crash. Like other posters, I suspect it's hardware.

[Rick Dangerous]

Will try to vent better then. Anyone ever invest in an aftermarket high powered fan?

[covertagenda]

Will try to vent better then. Anyone ever invest in an aftermarket high powered fan?

The Dreamcast has a three wire fan,the third wire is for speed sensing,without this the console will shut down as it needs to know the fan is running.There are mods to accommodate two wire fans and if you are competent with a soldering iron and can read a circuit diagram not too hard to follow.

[+Cafeman]

I've gone through 2 or 3 Dreamcasts over the years. On 2 of them, they'd start to reboot mid-game and sometimes not recognize some game discs. I traded them in and bought another one. I've had my current DC on the carpet , and twice it rebooted after playing a while, so i put it on either a hard book, or even on a manilla folder so that the vents were not blocked. That seemed to do the trick, no further problems so far.

[+Austin]

I've had varying freezing issues and general glitches on different systems. On one system things will be fine, on another things get glitchy or freeze more often. I suspect hardware, it's the only thing I can think of.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

I just did a ton of research on this subject last night.. The early models with the heat pipe were interesting.

I'll probably be doing some kind of cooling mod when I get my DC. I might overclock it someday and it would definitely need extra cooling in that case.

[Nebulon]

Although the game Worms does have its share of bugs, it shouldn't cause your DC to freeze-up.

 

I agree with other posters that the most likely cause of the problem is overheating.

[+thegoldenband]

Although the game Worms does have its share of bugs, it shouldn't cause your DC to freeze-up.

 

I agree with other posters that the most likely cause of the problem is overheating.

 

What bugs did you have in mind? I can't think of any I've encountered in Worms World Party, except the excessive loading times and CPU think time. Worms Armageddon, though, I haven't played nearly as much.

[Nebulon]

I was thinking of Worms Armageddon.

 

One that stands out is the all-too-numerous occasion when you blow up something like a bridge only to discover that the grenade you tried to hurl across the screen still bounces off the (now invisible) bridge.

 

Regardless, I really like the game a lot.

 

Generally speaking though, I've found the Dreamcast games that I've played to be almost entirely bug-free.

[+Cafeman]

I played a version of Worms Armageddon on X360, it was a lot of fun. Never got to play the DC version back in the day.