Fanboy

I just purchased a Dreamcast S-Video cable from EBX, got home and hooked it up, started the DC, saw the swirly logo and -blink-! The whole screen goes blue like there is no signal.

Everytime I restart the Dreamcast the same thing happens, the connection will work through the swirly logo and then go blank. I have power to the system, and the picture appears fine in the beginning, so I'm not sure where the problem could be. The television is brand new as well.

I had to unplug the DC to set up the new entertainment unit the TV is sitting on, so the first time I started it up with the s-video cable I saw the time/date setting screen. Then -blink- blue screen of semi-death. After that, only the swirly as mentioned above.

Anybody have any idea what is happening here? Do I need to set up the machine first using the A/V cable, then make the cable switch? I know without a hands-on, it's kind of nebulous, but any help here would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Shuki

Did you try reverting back to the standard connection to see if your DC is still putting out the signal? If so, there must be a problem with your s-video input on your tv. Do you have a DVD player that you could hook up via s-video to check the input on your TV? Just some random thoughts.....

And no, you don't have to hook up the DC with the a/v cables first and then make the cable switch to s-video. I just plugged in my DC right into my s-video input and it worked fine.

Fanboy

Thanks Shuki,

I'm going to grab another set of cables on my way home tonight and see if that might remedy the problem. I certainly hope it isn't the s-video input on the TV, it's brand new and heavy! I wouldn't look forward to bringing it in to service.

Here's hoping!

Shuki

this might be a dumb thing to check but make sure you are "toggled" onto the right input. By that I mean my Toshiba has three different inputs to toggle between. Maybe your jvc isn't like that. If it is, you will need to check the manual and figure out how to toggle it to the s-video input. But before I hauled it into the service center I would try to hook something else up to the s-video input to see if it is the input. Maybe a friend has a dvd player you could borrow or maybe you could rent one with the s-video output on it to check the s-video input on the TV. Anyway, Good Luck!!

Fanboy

I had the right input working, because I had the little swirly come up, but after testing it using the composite connection I discovered that the problem didn't lie with the cable nor with the television (*whew*)!

The problem lies in the Dreamcast itself... like McCoy would say: "It's dead, Jim" (This is, of course, assuming that DeForest Kelly wasn't dead and that he thought my name was Jim). Goodbye DC, I hardly knew ye.

Time to go and get a new DC, and return the old one.

Thanks Shuki for your help in this matter, may all your Dreamcasts burn long into the night.