How to mod a 21 pin Saturn

I thought I'd give a few different variables a go and one I tried was to totally remove the solder that bridged to either 0014 or 0019. You end up with three small squares with no solder connecting them.

Unfortunately I'm at a loss as to why your Sanyo CD Saturn isn't working. I've never actually seen one and was surprised to hear that Mike G's one worked. Any chance of seeing some pics Mike?

Umm... I'd give changing the solder bridge to 0019 a try. 3rdman has a Saturn with a CD board that sounds the same as mine but would only work on 0019.

Actually, considering mine works on 0014 and 0019, maybe just try reheating the solder bridge first. It could be bad soldering by the manufacturer. I may be reaching a bit on that one, but anything is worth a try.
 
I tried changing mine from 0014 to 0019 and it still didnt make any difference. I know the mod aint fried because it wouldnt boot up at all if that was the case. I'm just wondering if my solder job isnt good enough or something...I have no idea. I did all I could but maybe theres something I'm missing. we'll see what Mike's pics look like and then maybe if its possible, someone could help me with mine? thatd be cool cuz i've lost about all patience with this thing ???

Derrick
 
I've got the 64 pin Saturn but I've made no real progress yet...

I did however isolate the issue down to the CD board itself. While my 32 pin Saturn and the loan 64 pin Saturn have different main boards, the 'A + B' linked mod and 32 pin CD board would go in the loan Saturn and work OK.
 
Wow, that's one strange looking Saturn. I can see why it didn't appear to be able to be modded. Thanks Mike.

I'm kind of running out of ideas at the moment, but I'll try adjusting the ribbon cables to make sure all the pins are connected properly once again.

I'm also going to try a few experiments with deliberate faults on the 64 pin CD board to see if I can find similar charateristics compared to the 32 pin board. If a pattern does emerge, then it could signify that the Saturn's current behavior (only reading audio tracks) is related to the solder bridges. If so, I may then try something a bit more radical...

What perplexes me the most is that unclecuddles has been able mod a 64 pin Saturn using the instructions that are on the 'net. The one I have here follows the instructions to the letter, yet I can't get the damn thing to work. I'd feel happier if no one had managed to do it and that the instructions might be wrong.
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cool pics of the sanyo saturn install! I couldnt have done it better myself!! good job! now I can order a modchip for it and test it out myself...neato!! Then I can sell the damnned thing!!
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Hooorayyy!! I guess this just leaves 1 little saturn mod problem left...the 20 pin ribbon model 1 saturn units....I guess those are still a bitch to find mods for?
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Oh well...hopefully well fix that next....oh and I guess the 64 pin saturns will stay the same (intall the wire to pin 8 of 64) but I did it in my first try and it was pretty easy!! So at least you figured out the Sanyo problem!!
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You get a cookie for that. Enjoy...Its a peanut butter cookie!
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Your progess (or lack of) is interesting. The fact that you can swap the 32 pin board with the 64 and successfully mod it means that the pin out of the ribbon cable must be identical. Logically, this would mean that the pulse signal is still traveling to pin one of the ribbon cable (well the 32 pin board must make some use of it).

There must be some other property of the 64pin board that prevents this mod from being successful.
 
Originally posted by FAKK2@June 08 2002,23:00

oh and I guess the 64 pin saturns will stay the same (intall the wire to pin 8 of 64) but I did it in my first try and it was pretty easy!!
Click to expand...

If only it were that easy. I've soldered to pin 8 and and it's a good connection, there are no shorts. I've tried it with both solder bridges too. All appears to be correct, yet it will only play audio tracks.

I'd like to get it to work at all before trying my method. Mind you with the blue wire attached to the 8th pin I still get continuity between 'A' and 'B'. Go figure.
 
What we need here is someone else with a 64 pin saturn to test that it's not the saturn itself that's faulty.

Have you tried using your other modboard in this 64 pin saturn - just to ensure it's not the modboard that is in some way faulty?

It's official - mal is leet as hell
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As far as I know there's nothing wrong with the Saturn itself. I've played originals in it without the mod and I've played CDRs in it with the 32 pin CD board and mod installed.

I might try my other mod in the 64 pin Saturn. Right now anything is worth trying.

Originally posted by Curtis@June 08 2002,23:42

It's official - mal is leet as hell
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Click to expand...
Nice.
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does anyone live here in the states? I would be willing to pay someone a few dollars or something if they could test my mod chip. I've only got one saturn and so I can't test the mod on another system. I've got the problem only able to play audio tracks. I'm not that great with soldering, so maybe someone could get it working for me?
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Derrick
 
Bloody Knuckles, have you modded your Saturn the same way as Mike G did? He's posted some pictures of how he did it further up this thread.
 
yeah i modded it the same way as Mike G but mine STILL doesn't work which makes me think that I'ma retard with the soldering iron or something. I refuse to believe that the mod chip is messed up because the saturn will read the discs and play the audio tracks with the mod installed. frustrating as hell... ???

Derrick
 
Not much progress yet.

However I've worked out what the 0014 and 0019 bridges do, but not yet their relavance. When 0014 is bridged one of the pins of the square IC (PAL?) is connected to pin 14 of the male 21 pin connector. When 0019 is bridged the pin is connected to pin 9 (not 19).

A PCB typo perhaps? Or just another partial coincidence?
 
hey ive done it!!!!!

i have a model 1 saturn, 21 pin ribbon cable and it has a 64 pin ic. i did what MAL has done. i jumped the A and B. and took the red cable to the 5 volt spot. and 0014 in bridged. my cable is twisted from the cd-drive to the motherboard. all i did with the chip is install the chip backwards, and the ribbon cable is going over the modboard into the passthrough slot on the chip-the same way you would insert it into the mod board(if the chip was not there.) also when you are checking to see if your mod works with the cover off, make sure you hold down the cd-cover switch becase the saturn will think the door is open.

another note i just recieved my modboard from gamegizmo an hour ago. i orderd it lastweek. this is the first time i installed one into my system. im going to play some more to see if it has any side affects. i dont have any pics yet but ill try soon.

http://www.playthegames.com/satpic16.jpg

there is the picture of the normal way model 2 saturns.

mine in istalled the opposite way. but my ribbon cable is twisted about twice then goes into the modboard. maybe someone else has a picture of the twisted cable im talking about.
 
my chip does not have the capacitor, resistor, or the crystal. i dont know if that matters or not. its working fine though. ive tried both backups and originals. it all works perfectly.
 
That's great news norberto!
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I just wish I knew what it was that is different about your installation.

If you could get a pic or two online I'd really appreciate it.
 
ok I tried out MAL's way of doing it on my Saturn model 1 21pin ribbon cable unit with the 64 pin chip, results- success!! GOOD JOB MAL!! Now the units are a breeze to modify, please note I still needed to twist the cable around the chip, and put the chip in backwards from the playthe games method, the modboard faces outside of the system....ABESOLUTE SUCCESS!!!!

Also NOTE I simply soldered a bridge on A and B and the points 0014 are connected not 0019 and my system is model 1 serial#MK-80,000 AE62066240

sorry for no picture I do Not own a PC Camera......
 
It's a bugger having a few threads going at once...

FAKK2 that's great news!
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That's two now.
 
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