well,i tried installing racketboys chip on my model 2 64-pin ic chip and 21pin lense cable saturn today...tried everything there was to try,read every post here on SX...and guess what...saturn wont play games 🙁 onlyt audio tracks...so should i just give up?
How to mod a 21 pin Saturn
- Thread starter mal
- Start date
I've recently sucessfully modden my 64 PIN sega saturn.
I got the mod from here:
http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/shop/saturn/saturn.htm
After buying my second saturn from ebay (the first one had a 20pin CD connector cable
) I spent ages reading up on this forum of how to mod it. It was the first saturn I tried to mod and so I was worried I'd never get it working. Especially after reading all of the problems people were having on this forum with 64 PIN saturns. It's a UK Pal Saturn model MK-80200A-50 with a twisted CD ribbon.
Whilst looking through this forum, which I found extremely helpful I tried to work out which mod chip to get. At first I hadn't received the second saturn in the post so wasn't sure it was a 64 PIN machine. After then getting it and seeing that Janderman no longer sells chips I was worried of where I would get a chip as they don't seem to sell them anywhere anymore.
I then read on this forum that no one seemed to have any joy with the V2 chips sold on the robwebb.clara.co.uk site. In the end I decided I'd get the chip anyway. It's cheap and if it didn't work I could always get another saturn on ebay and hope it was a 32 PIN version..
Well anyway it WORKED. It was SO easy to install. One solder connecting a wire to the chip and then pusing the other end of this wire into a power connector on the motherboard. I then plugged the unplugged CD Cable into the chip and plugged the other included cable into the saturn. The chip sits upside down which I knew it would due to the twisted cable I had in the first place and I had to also solder point 0014 on the chip instead of 0019. I turned on the saturn and it worked first time, all copied discs load up, although I have problems reading the discs if they were burnt at speeds higher than 4x.
So I throught after I'd write up on this forum to just say that for me the chips from the mentioned website do work. Maybe they don't work on all saturns but they worked for me.. Easiest mod i've ever had to do. I also wanted to say thanks to all the people on here who've posted, as it's made the whole experience much easier. This forum is easily the best mod site for the saturn.
Thanks
James 😀
I got the mod from here:
http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/shop/saturn/saturn.htm
After buying my second saturn from ebay (the first one had a 20pin CD connector cable
) I spent ages reading up on this forum of how to mod it. It was the first saturn I tried to mod and so I was worried I'd never get it working. Especially after reading all of the problems people were having on this forum with 64 PIN saturns. It's a UK Pal Saturn model MK-80200A-50 with a twisted CD ribbon. Whilst looking through this forum, which I found extremely helpful I tried to work out which mod chip to get. At first I hadn't received the second saturn in the post so wasn't sure it was a 64 PIN machine. After then getting it and seeing that Janderman no longer sells chips I was worried of where I would get a chip as they don't seem to sell them anywhere anymore.
I then read on this forum that no one seemed to have any joy with the V2 chips sold on the robwebb.clara.co.uk site. In the end I decided I'd get the chip anyway. It's cheap and if it didn't work I could always get another saturn on ebay and hope it was a 32 PIN version..
Well anyway it WORKED. It was SO easy to install. One solder connecting a wire to the chip and then pusing the other end of this wire into a power connector on the motherboard. I then plugged the unplugged CD Cable into the chip and plugged the other included cable into the saturn. The chip sits upside down which I knew it would due to the twisted cable I had in the first place and I had to also solder point 0014 on the chip instead of 0019. I turned on the saturn and it worked first time, all copied discs load up, although I have problems reading the discs if they were burnt at speeds higher than 4x.
So I throught after I'd write up on this forum to just say that for me the chips from the mentioned website do work. Maybe they don't work on all saturns but they worked for me.. Easiest mod i've ever had to do. I also wanted to say thanks to all the people on here who've posted, as it's made the whole experience much easier. This forum is easily the best mod site for the saturn.
Thanks
James 😀
Glad to hear the forum was of such great help to you. 🙂
I would also have to agree with you that this is the most comprehensive guide to the saturn you will probably ever find.
I would also have to agree with you that this is the most comprehensive guide to the saturn you will probably ever find.
I modded a normal model 2 pal 32/21 pin saturn and it appeared to work but reguarly the start up animation would crash and it really didnt want to play guardian heroes, it would crash either at the character slect screen/ just after character select or just after the first scene, if it got past that then it was fine. Any ideas as to why this was happening?
This really annoyed me but I also had a sanyo saturn that I had bought but decided not to mod because I had no experience with soldering, but Ive just done it now and it works fine.
A tip for any body else I used the ribbon from my normal saturn to do the no pc trap on the sanyo board, and I then used the pc trap on the normal saturn and it worked.
This really annoyed me but I also had a sanyo saturn that I had bought but decided not to mod because I had no experience with soldering, but Ive just done it now and it works fine.
A tip for any body else I used the ribbon from my normal saturn to do the no pc trap on the sanyo board, and I then used the pc trap on the normal saturn and it worked.
here is something interesting- i had just bought a chip from racketboy and installed it using the a-b method in what appears to be a sanyo board(US model 2). when i tried to boot a regular cd-r it would come up to the cd-player screen and play the audio. now here is the interesting part- a saturn cd will now boot in about 1/2 a second where as before it would take up to 3 seconds. this has made the swap trick exponentially easier (i can do it every time on the first try as opposed to having to keep swapping for 15 minuets) so i am satisfied with it, not happy but satisfied 🙂 just some thoughts on what the sanyo boards could be doing with the cd. i also beleve to have one of the latest model of saturns. i had actually found it new at a k-mart in 2000 after the saturn was very much dead. also i am kinda wondering what the pc trap is for. i currently have it removed from my saturn in an attempt to see it that would let me just boot a cd-r and it seems to work the same with or without it.
you cant use the AB method, after reading this thread extensively, I found you have to solder to the 71st pin of the bottom middle sanyo chip on the underneath of the CD drive and bridge 019, I did this and it worked fine, the 71st pin bit is REALLY difficult tho, one small shake of the hand (I mean tiny shake) and youll miss it.
I also found out what might have been the problem with the laser, after reading another tutorial it said that for normal model 2 saturns if it was a newer SS lens (dont know what this is) the you need to solder 019, I didnt do this so I cannot confirm if it is correct, if this will fix the boot animation crash and the inability to play some games the I might try and mod my other saturn again and give it to a mate.
I also found out what might have been the problem with the laser, after reading another tutorial it said that for normal model 2 saturns if it was a newer SS lens (dont know what this is) the you need to solder 019, I didnt do this so I cannot confirm if it is correct, if this will fix the boot animation crash and the inability to play some games the I might try and mod my other saturn again and give it to a mate.
I'm having some real trouble modding my 64/21 Model 2 Saturn. First I got a chip off Racketboy - this one come up with the usual checking disc format message for a about ten seconds or so, and then plays whatever you stick in there as an Audio CD. I've since picked up one of the V2 chips from here - http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/shop/saturn/saturn.htm - to find that it still doesn't work. With everything connected up securely, it comes up with the checking disc format message, although only for a second or two before going on to play it as an audio CD. I've tried it on 0014 and 0019 with identical results.
The model is MK-80200A-50, and it was made in Indonesia. The serial is AD65138994. There's some text on the CD reader, EXL-P604.
Can anyone think of anything else to try, or should I just grab another one and hope for a 32-pin model! 🙁
The model is MK-80200A-50, and it was made in Indonesia. The serial is AD65138994. There's some text on the CD reader, EXL-P604.
Can anyone think of anything else to try, or should I just grab another one and hope for a 32-pin model! 🙁
Chances are it cannot be done with any chips that are avaiable. I heard some people say Racket's chips work on 64 pinners and some say they dont work, also some people reported that the chips from robwebb work on 64 pinners while others report the exact oppostie.
I wonder if all the 64 pin Saturns that work were made in a specific location or a certain month / year? Or if on some Modchips they have a different IC revision or something? The only way to tell for sure was if everyone who did and did not get it to work posted the info on there systems then we could try to identify some sort of pattern.
EDIT: I love it when my first post to a forum makes no sense. Sorry.
Just to clear things up, and sorry in advance to the regulars who have been around since this thread began ( PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG):
For a 64-pin IC (this would be the black square on your left as the machine faces you, the other one is 80-pin, right?), you need to either get a signal from pin #8 or do an A+B, and either both will work or neither will and you're screwed.
The chip should go in backwards, with the ribbon cable's pins facing UP (REALLY not sure about that one).
Just to clear things up, and sorry in advance to the regulars who have been around since this thread began ( PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG):
For a 64-pin IC (this would be the black square on your left as the machine faces you, the other one is 80-pin, right?), you need to either get a signal from pin #8 or do an A+B, and either both will work or neither will and you're screwed.
The chip should go in backwards, with the ribbon cable's pins facing UP (REALLY not sure about that one).
hi!
i'm planning on getting a chip from racket boy, and i wanna know...what's the best model saturn for this chip? im looking for US model saturns.
i already have a saturn(transparent black), but i don't wanna chip that one.
i'm just looking for a cheap solution to playing backups. thanks!
i'm planning on getting a chip from racket boy, and i wanna know...what's the best model saturn for this chip? im looking for US model saturns.
i already have a saturn(transparent black), but i don't wanna chip that one.
i'm just looking for a cheap solution to playing backups. thanks!
Hi guys.
I have a VA7 UK PAL Sega Saturn motherboard, it has a Sanyo CD drive assembly.
This is the one which has the "PC - TRAP" device.
Before attempting the mod chip mod, I fitted a UK/US/JP multi-region switch, tested it and it worked perfectly.
I then fitted a 50/60hz switch, tested it and it worked perfectly.
I have three mod chips, they are the dark blue colour, I got all three in a trade with a friend, he made no guarantees as to them working. Two of them look like they have corroded chips on them. I tried the one that looked *perfect* apart from some bad soldering on the AB pads and 0014/0019 pads.
Firstly I tried bridging AB, and using 0019, connecting to the Sanyo laser array through the PC TRAP assembly - no boot up sequence goes straight to CD player, says checking disc, two green squares on screen, after it has checked, nothing happens, the play, etc controls are greyed out, and the disc does not spin at any point during bootup or after the disc has been checked.
Then I tried using 0014, and the above setting, exactly the same result.
Then I tried the above using a different mod chip, the same result.
I tried the original perfect condition mod chip, removed the PC TRAP board and connected to the mod chip directly - same result !
I tried soldering a wire to the A pad, and then taping the end to the chip leg as described by someone else here, and also setting the mod chip to 0019 and still the same result.
Ive tried wiggling the chip about - same result.
So Ive got one chip left to try, been at this for a few hours, seemed that other peoples Sanyo CD arrays would at least spin, and play music CDs with the mod installed - mine doesnt spin and will play nothing at all.
The funny thing is, I left the sodding PC TRAP out, connected the CD drive directly to the main board, and the unit worked fine - playing UK, US and JP games.. just as it does with the PC TRAP connected, and no mod chip.
Beats me what this PC TRAP is for.. I'll email Sanyo, but dont expect a reply! !
Does anyone have any suggestions, its really annoying and I dont even know if these mod chips are any good.
The guy that got his to work by taping to the leg of the chip underneath the Sanyo CD unit - did you put the wire from "A" on the mod chip - to this leg on the Sanyo chip underneath the CD board? - its not clear in the posts, nobody mentions and the pic doesnt work..
Cheers !
<_<
I have a VA7 UK PAL Sega Saturn motherboard, it has a Sanyo CD drive assembly.
This is the one which has the "PC - TRAP" device.
Before attempting the mod chip mod, I fitted a UK/US/JP multi-region switch, tested it and it worked perfectly.
I then fitted a 50/60hz switch, tested it and it worked perfectly.
I have three mod chips, they are the dark blue colour, I got all three in a trade with a friend, he made no guarantees as to them working. Two of them look like they have corroded chips on them. I tried the one that looked *perfect* apart from some bad soldering on the AB pads and 0014/0019 pads.
Firstly I tried bridging AB, and using 0019, connecting to the Sanyo laser array through the PC TRAP assembly - no boot up sequence goes straight to CD player, says checking disc, two green squares on screen, after it has checked, nothing happens, the play, etc controls are greyed out, and the disc does not spin at any point during bootup or after the disc has been checked.
Then I tried using 0014, and the above setting, exactly the same result.
Then I tried the above using a different mod chip, the same result.
I tried the original perfect condition mod chip, removed the PC TRAP board and connected to the mod chip directly - same result !
I tried soldering a wire to the A pad, and then taping the end to the chip leg as described by someone else here, and also setting the mod chip to 0019 and still the same result.
Ive tried wiggling the chip about - same result.
So Ive got one chip left to try, been at this for a few hours, seemed that other peoples Sanyo CD arrays would at least spin, and play music CDs with the mod installed - mine doesnt spin and will play nothing at all.
The funny thing is, I left the sodding PC TRAP out, connected the CD drive directly to the main board, and the unit worked fine - playing UK, US and JP games.. just as it does with the PC TRAP connected, and no mod chip.
Beats me what this PC TRAP is for.. I'll email Sanyo, but dont expect a reply! !
Does anyone have any suggestions, its really annoying and I dont even know if these mod chips are any good.
The guy that got his to work by taping to the leg of the chip underneath the Sanyo CD unit - did you put the wire from "A" on the mod chip - to this leg on the Sanyo chip underneath the CD board? - its not clear in the posts, nobody mentions and the pic doesnt work..
Cheers !
<_<
Ok today I got out the last chip I had not tested (mod chip)
I took out a 32 pin CD drive from another saturn, installed it on it - now I get the red circles !! wow!!
Apparently this means that the ribbon cables arent in properly - ive tried putting them all sorts of ways, and when they are in correct way they are definitly tight etc.. still red circles.
I removed the 32pin CD drive and put the Sanyo back in - tried mod then - red circles again
I put the PC TRAP board back in - tried then - red circles again.
Then I tried a backup game (Radiant Silvergun NTSC-J) - I accidentally left the little plug that goes into the PC TRAP board unplugged and got the following:
I got a result which has not been documented here. A red circle on the left and a yellow circle on the right on the CD player screen??
Here is a pic of this so you know im not lying.
WTF does this shit mean??
I took out a 32 pin CD drive from another saturn, installed it on it - now I get the red circles !! wow!!
Apparently this means that the ribbon cables arent in properly - ive tried putting them all sorts of ways, and when they are in correct way they are definitly tight etc.. still red circles.
I removed the 32pin CD drive and put the Sanyo back in - tried mod then - red circles again
I put the PC TRAP board back in - tried then - red circles again.
Then I tried a backup game (Radiant Silvergun NTSC-J) - I accidentally left the little plug that goes into the PC TRAP board unplugged and got the following:
I got a result which has not been documented here. A red circle on the left and a yellow circle on the right on the CD player screen??
Here is a pic of this so you know im not lying.
WTF does this shit mean??
BTW: I have deduced, that the Sanyo CD board models can be identified easily without removing the case.
Look on the back of the case, if it says "Made in China" it will have a Sanyo CD board.
I am 90% sure this is correct, and if you dont want this unmoddable system now you can easily check!
Look on the back of the case, if it says "Made in China" it will have a Sanyo CD board.
I am 90% sure this is correct, and if you dont want this unmoddable system now you can easily check!
ok 2 more ?'s
1st does anyone know where to get a replacement SS cd drive?i bought a system lot off ebay for $20 shiped and i got it reading cds about 9/10 and with cd-r's you have to tillt the system backwards for them to load.took me forever to get it where all the disc's would load,but its kinda buggy and im sure it wont last long.
and 2nd,can you use the game shark to save/store game saves?
1st does anyone know where to get a replacement SS cd drive?i bought a system lot off ebay for $20 shiped and i got it reading cds about 9/10 and with cd-r's you have to tillt the system backwards for them to load.took me forever to get it where all the disc's would load,but its kinda buggy and im sure it wont last long.
and 2nd,can you use the game shark to save/store game saves?
