SegaXtreme

New Switchless Region mod

MrSporty - Dec 1, 2003

		MrSporty		Dec 1, 2003
			Hi guys, im just looking for some feedback on a new type of region mod ive developed, just to see if anyone is interested in them. The mod consists of a single microcontroller which when wired into your saturn provides both region and 50/60 Hz switching via the DPad. Currently the mod has a 3 second window on boot up where the user holds down a direction on the DPad. Upon resetting the console , it then reverts to that region. It will hold that setting even after power off until the user selects another region. At any point after the 3 second region change .. the user can press a combination of buttons (currently X+Y+Z+Right Shoulder), this triggers a swap from 50 to 60 Hz or vice versa. Again , the settting is stored after power off and the console will restart in whatever setting was last selected. Fitting the mod isn't any harder than fitting switches, so if your happy with that proceedure .. this would be a doddle. It uses 15 wires and most are wired to easy to find solder points. lemme know if theres any interest MrS mrsporty@N-0-5-P-A-Mhotmail.com... ...

		IBarracudaI		Dec 1, 2003
			Wow sounds interesting... I'd like to see some pics of that

		MrSporty		Dec 1, 2003
			Ill post some pics up of the saturn im deving it on later tonight. Its just in a regular protoboard at the mo but a full set of install diags would be provided of course.

		Jaded God		Dec 1, 2003
			Yes please keep us informed on your project... Any project on the saturn is a good project in deed. :smash

		Krelian		Dec 1, 2003
			I'd be very interested in a Switchless MOD... I could never bring myself to harm my Saturn cosmetically... ~Krelian

		antime		Dec 1, 2003
			I assume you're planning on selling pre-programmed controllers?

		MrSporty		Dec 1, 2003
			TBH id probably see if one or two vendors of retro stuff were interested in buying a batch of pre progged micros. Maybe jandaman or the likes .. MrS

		Scared0o0Rabbit		Dec 1, 2003
			I too would be interested in seeing this.

		Jeffrey		Dec 1, 2003
			My monkey is ready to test it.

		remysf3		Dec 2, 2003
			I thought I saw something like this before. Here...

		Scared0o0Rabbit		Dec 2, 2003
			that's different, it runs off your reset switch, this is running off your controller if I read it correctly.

		MrSporty		Dec 2, 2003
			Yep it runs from the Directional Pad to set your region. Up is JAP , Down is USA and Left is Europe. All you have to do is power up the machine or hit reset. You then have about 3 seconds to select the region. A further reset will restart the machine with the chosen region setting. In an ideal world id liked to have the ability to set the region in real time so the user could just hold down the directional pad for the region disc they wanted to boot. Unfortunately , the saturn checks the region jumpers BEFORE it enables communications on the controller port. This means that for instance if the mod is set to USA , it will only boot USA disks even if you change to JAP .. the second reset is necessary to restart the console in the chosen mode. After the region change , pressing buttons X , Y , Z and the Right shoulder button at the same time will swap from 50 Hz to 60 Hz and back again at 0.5 second intervals. This can be used at ANY point .. even during gameplay. MrS

		antime		Dec 2, 2003
			For completeness sake, wouldn't it be a good idea to add the "T" (Asia NTSC) region? Admittedly it's not a big concern and it would mean having to use the jp8/jp9 pair as well, but still.

		MrSporty		Dec 2, 2003
			Sure thing , i used all 4 of the region jumpers anyway. Consider it done .. Right on the DPad is now Asia NTSC. MrS

		Pearl Jammzz		Dec 2, 2003
			Is there anyway to have the Saturn auto-detect a country?

		Pearl Jammzz		Dec 2, 2003
			add to above post and also without having to reset the console......just boot up and it auto-detects what region and sets it to that. So no need for anything, does it on it's own.

		MrSporty		Dec 2, 2003
			If it was possible i would have designed the mod to be just that... unfortunately IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO HAVE AN AUTO REGION MOD. Sorry for the shouting but i really cant stress this enough. After powering on the console , there is a VERY small delay before the chip that has the region jumpers attahced to it samples that data and uses that for the hardwired region. This means that there is NO time for selecting different regions or attempting to auto detect the region from the disk inserted. My mod works by storing the user selected region in a non volatile region on the mods microcontroller. Thus , upon reset or powering up , it loads the region jumpers with the last stored region settings and sets the console to the given region. MrS

		Pearl Jammzz		Dec 2, 2003
			so w/ yours....I could pop in Smaurai Showdown III and then turn the power on, then hit reset while holding left or whatever country I want and it'll load up to that country? Sorry for being so slow, I just am not fully sure as to how exactly this thing works.

ExCyber

Dec 2, 2003

	
	
		
		
			My mod works by storing the user selected region in a non volatile region on the mods microcontroller.

How many cycles is it rated for?

		MrSporty		Dec 3, 2003
			What you'd do is : Pop in the game you want , reset OR power up the console whilst holding the direction of the region the game is in. After 2 or 3 seconds , let go of any buttons and hit reset again to play. The console will remain in the region you selected for any further resets. The non-vol area is rated at 10 million erase/writes. It would take just under 2 months of constantly changing from 50 to 60 Hz to push this area past its manufactured spec. Id replace the chip for anyone that actually acomplished this feat without developing some sort of siesure MrS