How to mod a 21 pin Saturn

[ZoNeD]

This is the data I have collected from this forum. I tryed the above modboard on my 64pin with both 14 and 19 with no luck.

================32pin====================

US

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO. 067005893

Manufactured in Taiwan, August 1996

PAL

Model No. MK-80200A-50

Serial Number 169103407

Manufactured in China, ?

US

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO. ?

Manufactured in Philippines,October 1996

US

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO. ?

Manufactured in Philippines,September 1996

?

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO AE66011341

Manufactured in Malaysia, September 1996

===============64pin======================

US

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO. ?

made in Malaysia, ?

US

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO. 065022388

Manufactured in Taiwan, July 1996

US

Model No.: MK-80000A

Serial NO. ?

Manufactured in Taiwan, July 1996

my two 64pin saturns from july 96 have different parts. I was surprised to find that the power supplies are totally different. Also even tho the design of the CD board and motherboard are the same, the type of parts used have changed. This could mean they have cheaper parts or it could mean they have started to setup for a new design(32pin). From this data, after August is a good bet.

 

[dj898]

hmm...

maybe I should open all my JP Saturn and see the difference...

let's see whether I will have this weekend... figers crossed...

cheers

 

[SD_DRACULA]

is it possible that if points A and B are soldered together, it still doesnt work unless A its soledered to the saturn motherboard for a PAL 21-pin saturn?

 

[mal]

AFAIK there is only one type of 32 pin Saturn that does require you to solder to the CD board (not mainboard). It's a japanese Saturn and there is no crystal on that type of CD board.

In my experience, all other 21 pin Saturns can be modded without soldering to the CD board if you have the right mod.

So AFAIK, that's not likely to be the case in a PAL Saturn

 

[ceckery]

hey everybody,

what a great post here

just got my mod from Jandaman

I can't make heads or tails of any of this

I'm pretty sure I got a 21 pin ribbon cable

and a 32 pin IC, but how do you tell for sure

and how do you get this thing all hooked up

Thanks

ok I now know for sure that I have a 21 pin ribbon cable

and a 32 pin IC,

few questions, do I have to soder this stuff

ok this is a stupid question, can i just glue or tape the wires down

do I soder from the 014 or the 019?

or bridge them? I've never sodered before

all help appreciated

Thanks Again

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

I never soldered before either until i modded my saturn. I would recomend soldering because then you really do not have to worry about anything coming loose over time or developing a bad connection. Just play around with the soldering iron before actually soldering inside the system til you get an idea of how the molten solder behaves and you should be good.

You need to brige or solder a wire from point A and B, you can use tape to test it at first. Thats what I did so if i needed to change the 014 and 019 bridge i wouldnt have to desolder / resolder anything. Try the defualt setting first, if that doesnt work then change it.

Also could you list the serial number and the location and date of production like in some of the earlier posts. I would like to see if your 32 piin falls under the same date range as those we have so far.

 

[ceckery]

Hey thanks a lot for the info

i'd be happy to provide all serial number and dates

at work right now, but I will post those later tonite

when i go to soder this puppy

do i need any special wire?

don't they call it "gauges"

is there a difference in the red or blue wire?

or any particular kind of sodering iron

Thanks

correct me if I'm wrong but the 014 is the default right?

manuf ctober 1996

serial no:067091828

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Did your modchip come with 2 wires on it already? If so you dont need anything else.

I just finished working on my Saturn Modchip install guide. So have a look.

Modchip install guide

Its hosted on my personal webspace, there is a link on the righthand menu. Let me know if you find it useful.

 

[Cyber Akuma]

Why isnt anybody describing how to mod a 64min saturn?

 

[Alexvrb]

Originally posted by Cyber Akuma@May 13, 2004 @ 09:39 PM

Why isnt anybody describing how to mod a 64min saturn?

There are both 32- and 64-pin Saturns with a 21-pin cd cable (note it says 21-pin in title). The normal modding method is pretty similar for both, and by normal I mean soldering a wire to the 32/64-pin IC. The success rate of the A+B method doesn't seem to be all that great for 64-pin units. Further, some mods don't like 64-pin ICs at freaking all, AFAIK. But of course Mal/others can probably elaborate on that better.

 

[mal]

Originally posted by Alexvrb@May 14, 2004 @ 10:51 AM

But of course Mal/others can probably elaborate on that better.

Well, I would, but I can't be bothered spoon feeding people the information any more.

All the info you need is either in this thread or elsewhere in the forums.

 

[Cyber Akuma]

I searched this thread

The only methods I found for the 64pin saturns was the A+B method, which I heard is expiremental and not too reliable.

 

[mal]

Originally posted by mal@May 14, 2004 @ 12:57 PM

All the info you need is either in this thread or elsewhere in the forums.

I guess you didn't read that part and made some poor assumptions as well.

I'll bet that you have just as little luck soldering to the 8th pin of the 64 pin IC as you would by doing the 'A+B' connection.

There is nothing experimental about the 'A+B' method. It's perfectly reliable if you have a mod that will work in a 64 pin Saturn.

 

[ceckery]

hey thanks for all the info so far

my chip came and the wires were not attached

I've heard you can soder between points A and B

is that with or without the wire

also, what do you fellows think of the "swap trick"

any way to do this with an import?

no success with the saturn convert program

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

You can solder a wire to the two points or simply make a solder bridge. If your mod did not come with wires the bridge would probably be the easier of the two.

I never have done the swap method, I dont like doing things that can cause repeated physical harm to the console, and I think the swap method does just that.

As for playing import games with the swap method, to my knowledge it wont work, of course I could be wrong. Satconv will work with just about any game, you need to rip the game to iso or bin que then apply the region patch and then reburn the game to cdr. So to play them you need to have your modchip working.

 

[Cyber Akuma]

If the sturn copnversion program was pointless, then the only other thing you can do is get a cardridge that allows you to play imports.

 

[ceckery]

thanks again

I have an st-key, but I'm trying to play import backups

any info on this...thanks

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

Originally posted by ceckery@May 18, 2004 @ 03:54 AM

I have an st-key, but I'm trying to play import backups

any info on this...thanks

Like i said b4, rip the cd to iso or bin que using CDRWIN. then use Satconv which you can get here at SX. Satconv lets you change the region, so u can change the region of the iso to whatever region your saturn is. Then reburn the newly modified iso and it will boot without the need for any carts or whatnot.

 

[ceckery]

AWESOME

thanks for the help

I apologize to everyone for all the off topic

chatter, please forgive me

I do realize there is a forum dedicated to

this matter, so thank you again

anyway

I've read about different version of the mod chip

floating around, but I gather is really doesn't matter

which one you have, as long as it's a 21 pin saturn right?

has anyone used the satconv function on the sega cue maker

no luck here, it allways says run-time error 53, crap

everytime I try to play a backed up import, i get a all black fuzzy screen

 

[kuroiryu]

Okay, it's time for me to chime in with my problem. I finally got ahold of my mod from Jandaman (the USPS was giving us both some problems), and I just installed it in my 64-pin US Saturn (MK-80000A, made in Taiwan). At first, the CD unit wouldn't respond, the cubes on the CD player screen were both red "spheres", and all the system sounds were being played at an unusually low pitch. Eventually, I flipped the ribbon cable over going into the mod, and after some more wiggling, I got some weird results that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread or any other thread I've read. Originals boot perfectly, but backups come up either as audio CDs, or I get the "Disc unsuitable for this system" message. That is to say, it's like there's no mod installed at all. I've wiggled the perverbial crap out of this thing, but nothing makes a difference. Has anyone else had this problem? It seems that all the data moving between the CD board and the motherboard is going through without any consideration, which is something I thought these mods wouldn't allow. I haven't touched the 0014/0019 bridges yet, so there's still that yet to try, but if anyone else has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

So, uh, to sum it up:

-Mod installed with pins pointing outward

-Ribbon cable inserted with pins pointing upward

-A+B bridged with wire (soldered to A, wrapped through B)

-Power wire soldered to +5V pin on power supply

-Originals boot

-Backups don't

I don't want another postal battle, so I'd like to get this chip working if there's any chance. Damn 64-pin ICs... :rant