Dreamcast console shuts down after any GD Rom drive activity

[CD AGES]

My oldest Dreamcast console that I've onwed started giving me problems yesterday. I was playing Spawn and at some point the console booted itself back to the BIOS screen. Open the disc lid and closed it and as soon as the lens started to move the console simply shut itself off. I unplugged and plugged back the power cable and turn on my system with no game. As soon as insert a disc and the system attempts to read it, it quickly shuts off again. Could it be the PSU board? I've had this one for while now but don't use it as much.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

It's Rev 0 unit, August 1999 with an internal VGA mod built in a few years back.

[Aleron Ives]

If you leave it on the BIOS with no disc, will it stay there for a while without resetting? It does sound like the PSU may be unable to handle the extra draw from powering the drive, which would explain why it only dies when you insert a disc. You might want to stop testing with the original PSU, because if it's faulty, it could provide bad power to the rest of the components and potentially fry them (whereas if you swap in a working PSU now, you might be able to save the rest of the unit).

[CD AGES]

If you leave it on the BIOS with no disc, will it stay there for a while without resetting? It does sound like the PSU may be unable to handle the extra draw from powering the drive, which would explain why it only dies when you insert a disc. You might want to stop testing with the original PSU, because if it's faulty, it could provide bad power to the rest of the components and potentially fry them (whereas if you swap in a working PSU now, you might be able to save the rest of the unit).

Correct!

That's some very good advice. Thank you!

[krssn]

That's the beauty of having more than one console in the house. You can replace one part at a time until you find the problem... ^^

Try the powerboard first, and if that doesn't help, switch out the lensblock...