How to Repair a Dreamcast With Dead Controller Ports

This instructable shows you how to open up your dreamcast and replace a burnt out resister. I looked ever where to find out how to fix this and i could only find a quick easy shortcut that could destroy the system in the long run but no correct way to fid it. so i did some research in figure out what the resister was and came up with this method that a friend had tried.

I recently bought a dreamcast off ebay, then a friend gave me a free one...isn't that usually how it works heh. so I took a look through the box and noticed all the cables were ripped or cut in some way so after i fixed up the free deamcast i went to fix the ripped up controler wire. I soldered up the wires making sure i didn't cross any thing, i pluged the controller into the dreamcast i paid for and i fried the controller ports....great.

NOW FEATURED ON HACK A DAY  http://hackaday.com/2011/03/07/simple-fixes-breathe-new-life-into-aging-game-consoles/

I just want to make it clear that i am in no way responsible if you some how break your dreamcast, burn down your house with the soldering iron or electrocute yourself

you'll need 2 two 10 Ohm 1/4 watt 5% tolerance metalized resistors
some solder
soldering iron
some pliers and or forceps (forceps really help with holding things while soldering, or removing things where pliers can't reach)
Philips head screw driver
flux, if you want
de-soldering wick or de-soldering sucker
a dreamcast with nonworking controller ports

Now start by turning over your dreamcast and slide off the modem, there is a screw hidden under it remove it and then proceed with taking the 3 others screws one on each corner of the dreamcast. Once you have all 4 screws removed carefully turn the dreamcast back over and slide the top of the shell off.

start off with carfully removeng the whire ribbon cable on the right of the board. once your done with that remove the white plugs to the far right, i used my pair of forceps since plugs like that are always a pain to remove.

now take a Philips head screw driver and remove the four screws keeping the board in. once you have the screws remove carefully shimmy the board side to side and pull up to release it.

now locate the f1 resistor on the board is should be a small blue resister, desolder the resistors and make sure to keep the 2 holes in the circuit board clear so you can instale the new resistor bundle in. once you have the old dead resistor removed take two of the 10 Ohm 1/4 watt 5% tolerance metalized resistors and twist both ends of the resisters together making sure the leads will fit through the hole in the circuit board.  once they are twisted together i put some solder on the twisted parts to make sure there was a good connection between the 2 resistors.

now put each lead in a hole and solder it up making sure to snip off the excess lead coming out of the bottom

to give it a quick test without going through the hassle of putting the entire thing back together, connect the wires and ribbon cable to the controller port board. now plug the tv and power cable into the dreamcast, press the power switch, plug in the controller and see if it works, if it does continue to the next step.

if it doesn't work make sure you plugged the wires and ribbon cable in snugly and that where you soldered you didn't cross any connections.

your in the home stretch, screw the controller port board in place with the 4 screws. now pop the top back onto the dreamcast and screw in all 4 screws and the pop the modem in, plug the power and tv cables in and your systems as good as new

follow step three and four, then take the resistor labeled f1 and twist making sure the metal lead on the bottom touch and make a good connection. the reason this is a bad thing to do is, what ever caused the resistor to fry in the first place may fry your entire system. that is why the resistor is there in the first place to make sure a harmful surge wont destroy the system.