Is my Dreamcast's clock battery dead?

Andrew Ryan Chang wrote:
>
> So, I haven't played my DC very often in the last few months, but
> in the last few weeks, every single time I turn it on it asks me to set
> the clock. Can I swap out the battery? How?

Unfortunately I believe it requires desoldering the existing battery.
I'm pretty sure there's a page somewhere on it.

(Ted looks at Google)

You can probably find something better, but here's some instructions
about the battery re: the old swap trick:

http://www.ncsx.com/www/ncs110199/ncs1101m.htm

Dreamcast Swap Trick

A new DC swap trick to play all types of games on any Dreamcast was

recently submitted to NCS. The method has been tested by our company and

we have found that it will work on the majority of game titles. A step
by step

procedure follows to enable your DC to play Japanese games on your

American DC and vice versa. Perform this procedure at your own risk
but it is

fairly simple. NCS accepts no responsibility for any damage that you might

incur.

Step 1

Remove the four outer screws that hold the Dreamcast

shell together.

Step 2

Locate the DC controller port on the lower portion of the

Dreamcast.

Step 3

Remove the four screws that hold the controller port

down. Detach the white colored ribbon cable (CN3) from

the Dreamcast pcboard.

Step 4

Locate the battery on the controller port. This
battery is

ringed with a purple polymer and is labeled with the

manufacturer's name (Panasonic). It is directly behind

the second controller input.

Step 5

The battery is attached to the controller port with three

solder points. Your objective is to desolder the solder

point labeled with the BT1 designation on the pcboard.

This point is by itself while the other two points are in

parallel. The other points are labeled "+" and "-". A

simple way to desolder this point is by flipping the

controller port over and applying your soldering iron to

the solder side point and pushing the battery away from

the board as the heat melts the joint.

Step 6

Once the BT1 connection is lifted from it's recess, bend

the leg of the battery upwards. NCS has adapted a

simple switch to toggle between battery and no battery

but this may be not worthwhile for most who use this

swap procedure.

Step 7

Locate the GD-Rom drive assembly. This unit should be

fairly obvious to find as it looks like a CD-Rom unit.

Remove the three screws that hold the assembly to the

Dreamcast pcboard.

Step 8

Locate the drive door sensor on the upper right hand

portion of the GD-Rom assembly.

Step 9

Loop a size 16 rubber band from the sensor to the little

nub on the underside of the DC GD-Rom assembly.

Looping the rubber band once should provide the

proper amount of tension.

Step 10

Replace the GD-Rom assembly and screw it back in. Do

the same for the controller port. Replace the shell on top

of the DC.

Step 11

Pop the lid to the DC. Insert a game CD that matches

the territory of your Dreamcast. If you have an American

DC, insert an American game or demo.

Step 12

Power up. The DC screen will default to the time settings

menu because you have removed the battery

connection.

Step 13

The game that you have inserted will spin, and

spin...and spin for about 3 minutes. Allow it to spin. After

the 3 minutes, the disc will stop.

Step 14

Remove the GD and insert an import game into the

GD-Rom drive.

Step 15

Use your joypad to choose "Select" from the onscreen

menu and press the "A" button.

Step 16

Import gaming madness enabled...

Notes

Those who are unwilling to wait the full 3 minute spin
cycle may

opt to stop the GD in mid-spin and insert the target
game. This

will however almost certainly destroy your delicate GD-Rom

drive eventually. This new swap method method has
given us

an idea for a secondary function on the plug in mod
that will

stop the GD-Rom motor sooner by triggering the drive but

please await further details. The boot disc that you
use will

affect the performance of this method. On an American DC,

Ready 2 Rumble is a good master disc while any demo GD
is a

good boot disc for a Japanese DC to play American
discs.

It's also important to note that it's a rechargeable battery. Sometimes
just running the DC for a while will bring it back up to speed, then
just playing it here and there will keep it going.

Bel

And here's one with pics:

http://devcast.dcemulation.com/mods/batteryreplace/battery.php


Text for the news archive:

"Battery Replacement


Kyle Riffel - 15th May 2004
Note : All the pics were made by Bitmap,
and are very cheap and to the point.

Here we go... Your Dreamcast has been
unplugged for a while, or the battery is gone for some "unknown"
reason and your tired of going through the
date and time everytime you start the system, well, install your
own AA's or AAA's using this guide!
What you need...
1. Dreamcast controller board
2. Soldering iron and rosin core solder
3. Battery pack that holds 2 AA's or AAA's,
your choice
4. Possibly some wire or 9volt battery
connector depending if you battery pack needs that to connect.
5. NiCad batteries so they can recharge.
First things first...

The Dreamcast is constantly recharging the
battery when on, so you'll wanna make sure you use
rechargable NiCad batteries. Maybe use
normal alkeline for a test run or something to make sure it works
first.

Remove four screws on bottom of DC, and
carefully remove top. Remove the four screws holding controller
board down. Remove the fan connection VERY
carefully, and then the ribbon from the control board. Take
out the controll board and examine it...


Look at your battery, or where the battery
used to be. The side with 2 connections going to the board is
the neg. (-) spot, and on the other side of
battery where there is only one connection going to the board is
the pos. (+) spot.


Were gonna need to remove theold battery.
Simply place the soldering iron on each point until it melts, then
tug a little to loosen it. Each point may
take a couple times over until all come out. Tip: Melt the pos. (+)
connection first, and when its able to
move, simply bend the battery back from the neg. (-) spot to get the
pos. (+) pin out.

Ok... Get your battery pack ready. Strip
the tips of each wire unless alreay done for you. Simply solder the
pos. (+) of battery pack to the pos. (+) on
controll board, and the neg. (-) from battery pack to either neg.
(-) on controller board you want.


WAIT! Don't screw the system all back
together and all that before testing it. Put your batteries in, and
start the system up. Set the correct time
and date, and let the system stand for about 5 minutes, keeping
it on. Turn the system off, and unplug it
for 5 minutes. Now, plug it back in and voila, the time and date
should still be there. You'll know because
the menu should pop up instead of the time and date form.

"It didn't work!"
1. Check all your solder joints.
2. Put new batteries in, not those ones you
found in the drawer in moms room.
3. Reverse the pos. (+) and neg. (-) wires
on the controll board just for kicks. That may be the problem.
4. Put the batteries in the pack the right
way!
5. E-mail me for problems not answered in
this little mini troubleshooter guide.

For more information vist: http://djky2k3.tripod.com/
"

BelPowerslave <bel.RemoveThis@whipassgaming.com> wrote:
>It's also important to note that it's a rechargeable battery. Sometimes
>just running the DC for a while will bring it back up to speed, then
>just playing it here and there will keep it going.

Ohhh... I thought it would draw a little current while the
console was mostly off to charge up the battery. OK, I'll give that a try
then.

--
"In fact, [19th century American slaves] were freer than today's American
taxpayer." -- Paul Craig Roberts (among other things, assistant secretary
of the Treasury for economic policy under Reagan), Jan 29 2004.

Andrew Ryan Chang wrote:
> BelPowerslave <bel RemoveThis @whipassgaming.com> wrote:
>> It's also important to note that it's a rechargeable battery. Sometimes
>> just running the DC for a while will bring it back up to speed, then
>> just playing it here and there will keep it going.
>
> Ohhh... I thought it would draw a little current while the
> console was mostly off to charge up the battery. OK, I'll give that a try
> then.
>

It *should*. My DC was in storage for quite a while and the first few
times I booted it up it'd ask me for the date everytime. After a while
of having it plugged in and playing it though, it was back to keeping
time on its own.

Bel
--
Whip Ass Gaming: http://www.whipassgaming.com/

"Question: What is Web 2.0?
Answer: Web 2.0 is a combination of Web 1.0 and being punched in the dick."
- The Hogosphere, Something Awful

In article <Dcgsh.376$U81.204@trnddc06>,
BelPowerslave <bel DeleteThis @whipassgaming.com> wrote:

> It *should*. My DC was in storage for quite a while and the first few
> times I booted it up it'd ask me for the date everytime. After a while
> of having it plugged in and playing it though, it was back to keeping
> time on its own.

I think it has to be turned on to charge. I have one that I leave
hooked up, and when I play it again for the first time after a while, I
seem to recall that it always asks for the date.