How to mod a 21 pin Saturn

[mal]

OK. Let's see if we can clear it up a bit.

"Model 1" Saturns have oval power and reset buttons and can have either a 20 pin ribbon cable (common) or a 21 pin ribbon cable (uncommon). The ribbon cable is not the only difference between the two, but it's all that's really relavant right now.

The 21 pin "Model 1" Saturns have the 64 pin IC on the CD board.

"Model 2" Saturns have round power and reset buttons and all have a 21 pin ribbon cable. There are several variations of mainboards and CD boards.

The CD boards have the 64 pin IC, the 32 pin IC or "no IC's" on the CD board. The "no IC" CD boards are made by Sanyo and have a PC Trap board in between the CD board and the mainboard.

At this point in time (with the mods that are currently available) only Saturns with the 32 pin IC on the CD board are moddable - to the best of my knowledge.

AFAIK Saturns with the Sanyo CD board are the last revision of Saturn hardware:

21 pin CD board chronology

64 pin IC

32 pin IC

Sanyo CD board

BTW I really can't figure out your logic. Never did I say that the majority of Model 2 Saturns are 64 pin, nor did I ever mention that there is such a thing as a 32 pin IC in a Model 1 Saturn. I think you're own preconceptions are clouding your thinking.

 

[HighFive]

I think you're own preconceptions are clouding your thinking.

Most definitely.

I've been reading, and re-reading, this thread for over a week now and I've been trying to make sense of it all.

Your latest post is exactly what I needed to spell everything out...thanks bigtime->

 

[mal]

No worries. :thumbs-up:

 

[Rynex]

Might I suggest that this thread be archived and renewed? It's not too easy (for my n00b self, at least) to navigate for relevant info... I think that all the (useful) information here could be summed up in one uber-post.

BTW, thanks for all the helpful info so far, Mal :thumbs-up: Can't wait till Jandaman restocks so I can try this out on my MK-80000A 64-pin 😎

 

[Cyber Akuma]

Ok, I read through this entire topic and I am still confused

1. How can I tell what type of model 2 saturn I have? I had a model 1 for a long time but I recently bought a model 2 and I want to mod it.

2. What about that sorta work-around that lets you solder the signal wire right back to the chip? Does that work? Does it damage anything?

3. Where can I find a picture that actually shows where on the chip I am supposed to solder the wire?

 

[nim]

is your sat a white jap one?

 

[Cyber Akuma]

No, its an american.

 

[mal]

Originally posted by Rynex@Apr 4, 2004 @ 11:57 AM

Might I suggest that this thread be archived and renewed? It's not too easy (for my n00b self, at least) to navigate for relevant info... I think that all the (useful) information here could be summed up in one uber-post.

Well, I'm going to get my hands of a digital camera in the next day or two (touch wood) so maybe I'll do something like that. 🙂

Hopefully with some pictures it will be simple enough for everyone.

 

[Cyber Akuma]

Good to hear, I really hope that my Saturn is moddable, its the main reason I got a model 2 in the first place.

 

[mal]

The digital camera didn't eventuate. 🙁

Fear not - one of the guys at work has one and when I go back on Monday I'll see if I can borrow his.

I'm determined to get this pictorial happening. 🙂

 

[jammerboy]

I thought I would add my name to the pile of 64 pin IC disasters. First let me just warn you about the distributor I got my MC from ttp://www.playstationmodchip.com/product_details.asp?ID=1923 .The card looked like someone decided to dump flux resin all over it. The only positive, if there is one, was the shipping and delivering time. I ordered it Friday and received it today, and the packaging was fine. My Saturn is a Model 2 (Round power and reset buttons), 64pin IC, made in Malaysia, and the model number is MK-80000A. I used Mal’s A-B link method for soldering the clock signal to the Mod board. I made sure +5v was supply to the card. The card was facing the components outward, opposite of the 32pin IC mod. And 0014 was selected on the Mod Board. When I started up my Saturn, with an original game, it looked like it would boot just fine then it went to the Music CD loading screen. I’m not the type that can read into something and figure it through just thought. I had to physically look and exam what I was doing to grasp Mal’s concept, which is accurate. I sat there and Pinned-Out the 21 Pin ribbon cable. The bottom of the ribbon cable is the number one pin on the CD board and the top on the Motherboard is the number one pin. Thus the reason for turning the Mod Board outwards. I also pinned-out the Mod-chip for the A-B link method and that was just like Mal had said previously. I guest my only question is; for the Saturn’s that have the 32pin IC what is the Model number and the place of Manufacture? I guess my only option is going to find a 32pin IC Saturn. I went to all the local Paw Shops today and I kinda feel funny asking if I could open their Sega Saturn before I bought one. Kind of like looking under the hood of a car; I guess. I work Mid-Shift and since I have nothing better to do I’m going to try and Map-Out the Mod-Chip and post it in this forum. I don’t have a digi cam so I used my scanner. I think they came out pretty good.

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

I just found a 21 pin ribbion cable / 32 pin IC saturn at a local pawn shop. I plan on modding it in the very near future.. anyways.. here are the details of mine:

Model No": MK-80000A

Serial NO. 067005893

Manufactured in Taiwan, August 1996

I dont know if this will help you out or not.

Oh, and here is a page with some pictures for moding, they even mention Mal's discovery of soldering point A and B together. Have a look: Pictures

 

[mal]

Sorry to hear that you couldn't get it to work jammerboy.

Originally posted by jammerboy@Apr 20, 2004 @ 12:00 PM

The card looked like someone decided to dump flux resin all over it.

That's not surprising. I think all of the mods like yours that I've bought have come that way.

 

[jammerboy]

Originally posted by RitualOfTheTrout@Apr 19, 2004 @ 09:17 PM

Model No": MK-80000A

Serial NO. 067005893

Manufactured in Taiwan, August 1996

I dont know if this will help you out or not.

Yeah it help's thanks ROTT. I think someone else in this thread said they had a SS from Taiwan that was a 32pin IC (mine has the same model number). Hey Mal you actually have a modded 32pin IC SS that works right? Who's the Manufacture and is your model number the same as ROTT's. And what site did you get your ModChip from? I know you probably answered these questions already but as you can till this thread is really really LONG! Maybe someone can start a new thread with the most current info possible. What's models work, what IC arrangement are know work, and other info. I guess I'll go to the swap meets this weekend and look out for one. I'm still going to fiddle with the Mod Board; at least I can try and help to the cause. It's kinda of a bad habit once I start something I won't stop till I'm.... well I won't stop. The only other project I've done was DC-to-JAMMA conversion. That was fun. Here's the best site for that kind of thing if you're wondering what it is. http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_sat4.html Fun stuff.

 

[mal]

Yeah, I'm planning on writing a brand new thread complete with pictures in the near future.

I'll get whatever details from my Saturn that I can, but mine's a PAL one and there's less info on them.

 

[mal]

My main (modded) 32 pin Euro Saturn's details are:

Model No. MK-80200A-50

Serial Number 169103407

Made in China

 

[jammerboy]

Hey guys really quick can somebody check this url. I'm at work and they have "smartfilter" enabled, so I can't check it. http://www.geocities.com/mountainhell/ssmodchip.html I've been trying to map out the modchip; with voltages and continuity. I'm not done but I have the voltages for the input pins, output pins, and the three IC's that I could reach (i took the voltages with the modboard installed in the Saturn Motherboard.) Just keep in mind that this is not complete and I still have some progress to make. Thanks!

 

[Cyber Akuma]

I still havent found any information on how to mod a 64-pin saturn in this topic, but I heard that it has been done hundreds of times 🙁

 

[jammerboy]

:agree I know your frustration. I own a 64 SS and I personally have no reason to believe any of the others that say their 64 SS actually work. I don't understand why it isn't suppose to work but they're not. I think and don't quote me but I think Mal said he had switched the CD Boards out of a 32pin SS and a 64pin SS and the mod or just the Saturn its self worked fine, so why isn't this mod working then.... Well I don't have the answer so what I'm doing is just my part and maybe someone can figure it out. In the mean time I'm looking for a 32pin SS.

 

[mal]

Let me tell you a story...

I never really used to know that much about modding Saturns. In fact I killed the second one that I attempted to mod. It was a 64 pin Saturn. I went a little overboard with the solder and was unable to remove it without killing the 64 pin IC. Anyway, I digress.

Now that mod I tried may well have worked in the 64 pin Saturn if I'd installed it properly. I didn't know then and I'll probably never know.

Fast forward 6 months or a year - I really can't remember, but do it anyway.

Curtis was buying a mod for himself from Lan-Kwei and I got him to get me one too. When the mod arrived I started looking at the (now partially disassembled) 64 pin CD board and worked out where the 8th pin on the 64 pin IC connected to and confirmed it by tracing the relevant pin on a 32 pin CD board as well. That brings us to the start of this thread.

Now, prior to this I had no real info on modding 64 pin Saturns. IIRC there had been many threads in the past with people having toruble modding their 64 pin Saturns, but whether that was due to poor installation or software incompatability, I don't know.

I don't even know I'm right that the current mods are really incompatable with 64 pin Saturns. I can only guess based on my and other people's experiences.

Then along came Xai (I think) who bought a mod from Gamegizmo and hey presto, the A+B mod method worked with 64 pin Saturns. People who bought mods from Lik-Sang and Lan-Kwei (myself included) didn't have any luck with theirs, but he did. So in turn I bought some mods from Gamegizmo, borrowed a 64 pin Saturn form ajnin, and had similar success.

Fast forward once again.

Gamegizmo closes down and causes much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Once again it appears that the only mods available aren't compatable with 64 pin Saturns.

Jandaman says that his ones are, but I haven't tried them myself, so I cannot be sure. They may be the same as the ones Gamegizmo used to stock for all I know. Maybe I'll buy some soon and test them. We'll see.

He could always send me a test sample. :lol:

So really I can't say for sure why anyone's 64 pin Saturn is stubbornly refusing to be modded. I suspect that there's been some minor change in the software in the mods (corruption perhaps?) and that this is causing the problems, but I JUST DON'T KNOW.

At the end of the day, without getting a couple of dozen Saturns and double the number of mods from different sources and doing a rather large survey - which I'm not terribly keen on doing - there's no real way that I could be sure.