I haven't used my DC and GDEMU very much recently - probably not since before christmas. So today I updated a load of games on my SD card and popped it in to the DC to check everything was working. I was halfway through browsing the list in the menu and then the DC froze, before I could unplug anything I heard a fizzle and the DC fan went full speed... then the magic smoke came out. This is the result. My HIT-0400 BBA that I've owned for the last 16 years went pop. Big style. You can see the SEGA IC has totally blown out its core! Question is, what was the cause? The PSU going out of spec? GDEMU power draw? Or the BBA itself going bad?
If it were the GDEMU drawing too much power, I wouldnt have thought the chip would fry. If the console itself seems to be working (as you dont mention that) and fuse didnt blow, I would say the PSU isnt out of spec. I would say the SEGA ASIC itself is the most likely cause.
I've just completely stripped the DC - I can't see any evidence of any blown IC's, caps or regulators, but on reassembly (albeit with GDEMU disconnected and no expansion module installed) the unit now won't power on. I just get a shrill, high-pitched hum and I turn it off straight away. Crap.
I've just ordered a PicoPSU - I'll give that a try, as I have a feeling it's the PSU board. If not, then I'll pick up another DC and use the PicoPSU with that instead. I just hope my GDEMU didn't bite the dust at the same time as the BBA.
Ok, it was definitely the power supply. Replaced it with a 80w PicoPSU tonight.... and it lives again! Shame the power supply had to take out my BBA though
Holy shit! That thing blew straight through the top of the chip. Damn, really saddened to hear a rare piece of hardware you have owned since the beginning had to die due to a bad PSU. That is absolutely crazy. My condolences.
Tested the GDEMU this morning and it all seems okay. Controller ports are okay, VGA/audio out is fine. It's crazy that the BBA and PSU went pop, but nothing else. I wonder if the expansion port has a direct power line to the power supply? It's the only thing I can think of that would explain why it went pop and nothing on the main or sub-board. I'll have to source another BBA as I use it in my 'old' Dreamcast (the one I bought around 2000) to rip my original games. I try to use original GDI images wherever possible.
