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Fixing a botched Saturn Mod install
doctorBone - Oct 11, 2002
  doctorBone Oct 11, 2002
Hi, just need some advice here. I just bought a used Saturn off ebay, its not currently modded, it powers up, but the cd drive doesn't spin. I took the unit apart, and found there are some globs of solder on the 64 pin chip. I'm thinking this is the problem, because some of the solder goes over a couple of pins. So, what works best to pick up used solder, would it be best to get a seperate tool or pick up some desoldering braid? I know that it might be better to just get another one, but I don't want to run the risk of getting another broken model. I'm kinda new to this soldering stuff, I know how to weld, so I figure it can't be that tough

 JonnyCasino Oct 11, 2002
I got some bad news, I originally had a 64pin chip saturn and just could not mod it succesfully, I used a desoldering braid ever time I messed up, but after trying every pin recommended in the many guides none of them worked, I eventually ended up in a 2nd hand games store where luckily the owner let me open every saturn (they had 4) and check the chip inside. The first one I checked was 32pin but the owner asked me to check em all incase others were interested in modding saturns and he had 3 of em (bet he took advantage of them and knocked prices up).

Managed to mod 32pin saturn first time no probs, so unless theres anyone here who has managed to mod a 64 pin saturn and can tell you exactly which pin, Id start looking for a 32pin one if I were you.

Again to answer question soldering braid is probably best.

 doctorBone Oct 11, 2002
I know a 64 pin can be done. I think Mal may have done it with a gamegizmo mod, which I happened to have recently puchased. So i am confident I can get a 64 pin to work. First things first though, I gotta get it to work on regular games. Thanks for your advice on buying soldering braid, I'll have to get to Radioshack tommorrow and get some.

 mal Oct 12, 2002
Yeah, you can mod a 64 pin Saturn with a Gamegizmo mod. Just don't bother trying to solder to the 8th pin on the IC. Clean up the mess that's already there if you can, but just bridge the 'A' and 'B' points on the mod instead.

Xai posted some good instructions... for modding 64 pin Saturns.

 JonnyCasino Oct 12, 2002
Thats cool, I remember how frustrated I was when we were trying to mod my 64pin saturn and nobody here had seen or been able to mod a 64pin saturn, great news that a way has been found now maybe I can mod my 64pin version for my nephew.

 mal Oct 12, 2002
Be aware that most Lik-sang and Lan-kwei mods won't work with 64 pin Saturns. Damned if I know why. ???

Gamegizmo mods work fine though.

 doctorBone Oct 12, 2002
Thats very strange. Because if you look at the instructions at Lan-kwei, the pictures look exactly like the ones off Gamegizmo. My chip seems to have matched up the same with both sites' instructions, so I'm wondering if Lan-Kwei and Gamegizmo get their mods from the same supplier. Oh well, I just hope mine works. Thanks for the help.

 mal Oct 12, 2002
Been there, done that.

Mods from a three look the same, but there is still some major difference that causes the incompatability.

I've tried for hours to get both a Lik-Sang mod and a Lan-Kwei mod to work in a 64 pin Saturn and neither would work no matter what I did. They both worked fine in a 32 pin Saturn, so the mods were OK.

I can only think of two people that have got a non-Gamegizmo mod to work in a 64 pin Saturn and many that haven't.

 megametalgreymon Oct 13, 2002
ive modded 1 64 pin saturn using the wire to the 64pin ic without a problem, with a lik-sang mod, so either im lucky or the saturn/chip in question was different

this was probabbly around a year ago now that i did that one though, and its not my saturn so i cant really check it over/post pics to see if theres anything ive done different to anyone else, else i would do (my modded saturn is a 32 pin one)

fyi i usually use a desolder pump to remove most of the soldering on the board, then clean up the remains with desolder braid, the important thing is to avoid holding the iron on the chip for longer than is necessary, since you dont want to overheat the chip in question

either way, as mals said before, if you can get it to work with the a+b technique its easier than using the older way

 PUNJABEE Oct 13, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by doctorBone@Oct. 11 2002, 9:10 pm



I know a 64 pin can be done. I think Mal may have done it with a gamegizmo mod, which I happened to have recently puchased. So i am confident I can get a 64 pin to work. First things first though, I gotta get it to work on regular games. Thanks for your advice on buying soldering braid, I'll have to get to Radioshack tommorrow and get some.


Youre right dude, Ive modded 2 64 pin Model 2 Saturns without a hitch. Ive also modded 2 32pins perfectly. Ive tried to mod a PCTrap model, and I dont know what went wrong. I followed the directions perfectly, and it never worked. I think something may have been bad witht he Saturn, because the chip worked in another 64pin Saturn perfectly.

With those 64 Pin systems you only need to solder 1 wire to the actual saturn construct. Just loop the blue wire (or, whatever color it is, the OTHER one, rather than the power line) to the other point right next to it. Or, just put a glob of solder on them both, connecting them, and viola, youve got a modded Sat.

 doctorBone Oct 17, 2002
Okay, I removed the different spots of solder off the chip. However, pins 8 and 9 had so much solder on them that the spots they were connected to on the cd board are gone! I don't know where pins 8 and 9 are supposed to go. I was thinking that if someone knew where they end up going to, I could take some wire and connect them that way. I tried checking the mod chip install instructions as a reference, but most of them had something in the way. So if there was a detailed diagram or picture that shows what goes where on the 64 pin chip that would work, it would possibly save me from having to buy another saturn. If anyone can help, let me know. Thanks

 mal Oct 17, 2002
I've got a dead 64 pin CD board at home that I partially removed the chip from, so I'll have a look for you when I get home.

 doctorBone Oct 18, 2002
cool, thanks mal.

 mal Oct 18, 2002
Pin 8 runs back to pin 1 of the ribbon cable connector.

Pin 9 appears not to be connected to anything.

 doctorBone Oct 18, 2002
okay, i'll give it a shot. Thanks for your info, I'll post here if I'm successful or not.