"clicking" noise when CD spins

KrYPt0SE wrote:
> I just got a DC from a friend and it worked fine for a day, but now
> when I put a CD in it starts spinning, the makes a cliking noise, as
> though the CD were hitting something, makes the noise about 4 times,
> sepereated bye a few seconds, then eventually slowes down and stopes
> spinning. Any ideas why or how I could fix it? Thnx in advance!
>
> JT
These symptoms most commonly describe a problem with the laser
transport movement limiter switch, or the drive gear(s) for the
transport itself. The limiter switch allows the drive control hardware
to know when the laser transport is at the hub(center) of the CD. If
the switch becomes too dirty, or worn out and fails to engage properly,
the Dreamcast won't know when it has hit the hub of the disk and will
try to push the laser beyond the center of the CD causing the gears to
click. Alternately, the gears themselves may be misaligned(can be
caused by rough handling, in shipping for example.) In this instance
the clicking sound is caused by the gears not meshing properly, but the
result is the same.
Although I have disasembled my Dreamcast in the past, I have not opened
the laser transport assembly as I have not had these problems with a
Dreamcast so far. I have had this happen(and fixed both problems) with
Playstations and other CD players.

You didn't mention what the Dreamcast displays on your TV. Does it
boot to the bios? If not, your problem is likely something more
serious.
HTH-

--Wrkonit
 >> Stay informed about: "clicking" noise when CD spins