DC Black Screen Problem

[DANGEROUS]

Whenever I turn my DC on now, the screen is basically black but you can make out a shadowy image of whatever game is playing in the console.

Does anyone know what the problem is or how to fix it?
I'm using a scart from DC to TV but I can't find the original RF unit that the system came with.
Could it be possible that this problem is related to the scart cable?

[Kongster]

Erm...have checked that the scart cable is plugged in properly?

It might be the scart cable that's faulty or worse still, the video chip in the DC.
Try another cable to find out for sure.

Some games on the DC have the RGB scart bug that gives you a black screen.

[Soundwave]

Mine does exactly the same thing & the reason mine does it is because my main TV cant handle 60hz over scart

It's fine on games like Street Fighter 3 where I can select between 50 & 60hz but on most of my Jap games which are obviously 60hz only I have to use on my pony 17" LCD in the bedroom

Might be the same issue for you??

Oh my TV is a JVC 32" HV32P37S just in case you were wondering

Neil

[DANGEROUS]

Thanx guys I'm going to investigate the situation by re-buying a DC RF unit, and trying different games. Hopefully this will work.
If neither of these options does anything then I guess I can assume the video chip has died and the console needs replacing.

[Shinebi]

Normally this has to do with selecting the wrong scart socket in the TV, if there are two, only one supports the RGB signal...
Should be put in that one.

[fallenangle]

Mine does exactly the same thing & the reason mine does it is because my main TV cant handle 60hz over scart

It's fine on games like Street Fighter 3 where I can select between 50 & 60hz but on most of my Jap games which are obviously 60hz only I have to use on my pony 17" LCD in the bedroom

Might be the same issue for you??

Oh my TV is a JVC 32" HV32P37S just in case you were wondering

Neil

That's not true: that TV actually defaults to composite output when using RGB SCART for 60Hz games on most platforms. The problem for the DC is that it doesn't support PAL60, which is what the DC uses. This means it will refuse to display properly NTSC or PAL games 60Hz options. However, using a DC-X boot disc you can get round this but, as that runs in PAL60 too you need to turn up the brightness to max to see the output selection menu.

So my guess is that either his ^ TV doesn't support PAL60 or it is, indeed more likely, a faulty SCART cable.

[JamesS]

Unlike most consoles, The DC doesn't output a composite picture when the RGB SCART output is enabled. There's a signal on the composite line (as it's used for sync) but if you try to view it, you'll just see a mostly black, ghosted image.

So, if this is what you're seeing, you need to make sure you're plugged into an RGB compatible socket and that the TV's in the correct mode.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Don't spend too much looking for a solution as you could buy a replacement 2nd hand Dreamcast cheap with the money.

[fallenangle]

Don't spend too much looking for a solution as you could buy a replacement 2nd hand Dreamcast cheap with the money.

Err.......but there's nothing wrong with his DC. It's either a straight foward cable fault, a TV fault or, as described above, a TV settings/socket issue.

However, I'm not certain that info ^^ about the DC not outputing a composite signal through RGB SCART is correct. I'd have to check to but I'm fairly sure that if you're using a fully wired SCART with the DC you can use it for either RGB enabled TV sockets or standard AV only ones. Perhaps that info applies to the official DC SCART cable which wasn't fully wired.

[JamesS]

What isn't wired up on an official lead? The composite line has to be connected as it's used for sync.

Edit: Looking at the pinout, the DC seems to have separate pins for composite video and composite sync. I guess the official lead wires up the sync whereas other leads use the video.

[DANGEROUS]

I was plugging the ****er into the wrong scart socket!

Yeah, my DC lives again!

And after performing the special internal operation it no longer resets itself. So I have been getting down to some sweet VF3tb action while I get excited about VF5 on 360.
Though my girl has a PS2 at her place and I reckon buying VF4 will serve me better in terms of training for VF5.

My DC working again means I can now buy loads of new (old) games from ebay which is nice.