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Saturn Problems

Chris5687 - Jun 1, 2004

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		Chris5687		Jun 1, 2004
			not so long ago i bought a modded saturn from one of the members here. The saturn worked great for about 3-4 months. Just recently, I started having random freezing in my games. then the saturn just stoppe dworking all together. Now the problwm is weird and I'm hoping some one knows how to fix it. The has power. The green light goes on. However, the CD does not rotate. And, although the power goes on, there is no start-up whatsoever. It just stays at my TV's blue screen. What's up here!? i jsut bought a $100 saturn, and i don't what it to be useless. Any ideas oh what to fix?? The saturn is modded, which i'm sure is why it happens. -Chris

		fistandantilus		Jun 1, 2004
			Well if it was just the cd not rotating i would have said the 21 pin connector from the cd controller to the mod chip or mod chip to the main board had come loose. But you get no saturn logo or anything? If the mod chip or cd unit failed you should still get video ie the saturn logo. If it was just video gone then you should still get sound and the Cd would rotate. Is the Saturn modded for 50/60 Hz, I don't know what would happen if no signal was connected to the chip? Doesn't seem to be your power supply either if you are getting power to the unit. I would open the saturn up careful and see if any wires have come loose. If no obvious wires are loose, try disconnecting the mod chip (don't disconnect the power or signal wires though it won't make a difference) and place the 21 pin cable from the cd controller straight into the mainboard bypassing the chip. Make sure you note how it was so you can put it back the way it was, a digital camera is often handy for this type of thing. If it works with the chip removed then you might need a new mod chip if it still doesn't work it sounds like something more serious. There is also a fuse on the power supply you could test although if that blew i doubt the power led would come on). Failing that its hard to say without seeing the thing in action., unless its a loose wire I doubt its to do with the mod. If you lived in the Uk and were willing to post it I would have a look at it for you but a oversea's return posting would cost too much to be worth it, because it sounds like your saturn may have bit the dust Please just make sure the power is disconnected while opening the saturn, don't want you lighting your eyes up

		Chris5687		Jun 1, 2004
			Arrgh! I don't want a dead saturn, i'm just barely bought a modded. Another modded one would be too mcuh money =( This really really sucks, I'll try what you said, and i really hope i can figure things out. I put some pictures on a geocites wesite. I don't know how long they'll stay, if geocities finds out they'll probably remove it for picture storage, but have a look while you can and see if there is any obvisous problems. mod... EDIT: Took out the chip and put the ribbon directly to the mainboard and cd controller, still the same crap. I reconnected th mod chip and of course same. This is reallyl depressing!!

		fistandantilus		Jun 1, 2004
			Can't see anything obviously wrong from looking, its a different version saturn to mine also which doesn't help. Is the board region modded too??? If it is the wires are on the bottom half of the board. I am not sure what a saturn without a region selected would behave, never tried it, anyone else know. Without getting down and dirty with the board and a multimeter nothing much i can do mate, sorry. Hopefully someone else will have better knowledge of this model of saturn. Can't you drop it down the stairs and claim on the house insurance?? lol just kidding

		Quakester2000		Jun 1, 2004
			I heard random freezing on the saturn can also be down to a bad PSU unit.

		fistandantilus		Jun 1, 2004
			If you have a friend with a saturn, it might be worth changing the power suppliy to test it. A partially working power suplly could well explain it. You would need to unsolder the wire to the psu from the mod chip, but other than that it is easy to swap. Two screws at the back of the case, one at the front of the psu and unclip the connector at the top and lift it vertically off the connections beneath. Just don't remove the plastic seperator beneath it. If it is the psu, you can usually pick them up cheapily on ebay, if not seperately, in non-working saturns (providing its not the psu that isn't working lol)

		Chris5687		Jun 1, 2004
			OK well, you guys are probably right, it probably has to do with the PSU. well i ruined my other saturn by attempting to mod it , the psu should still be good. It seems easy, the only thing is the soldering. Last time i soldered, it wasn't pretty. Gues si'll give it a chance... i mean might as well. about the psu... i don't know how exactly to get that connector at the top. i don't wanna hurt it. someone help please.

		fistandantilus		Jun 1, 2004
			the connector, the white thing, if you look at the back side of it there is a little catch, just release the catch and it will slide right off. As for soldering there is a knack, its easier to hold the soldering iron against the item you are soldering to for a second or two to heat it up and then add the solder to the area, remove soldering iron. Easy. This is why you don't solder directly to chips if you can help it as the prolonged heating can damage the chip. If you solder to cold objects you just end up with dry solders, ie bad coneections.

		Chris5687		Jun 1, 2004
			thanks guys, you've really been a help. there probably no other place on the net with people with this much knowledgee on Saturn modding. And i'll probably solder better now. Not only by your tips, but also from experiance. Last time i soldered i learned a lot, as i knew nothing and was doing the best i can and now uinderstand better. I hope this woorks guys, i'll be sure to let you know.

		Chris5687		Jun 1, 2004
			Arrrrrrrrrgh! didn't do anything at all. same old crap. there was a problem though. The psu boards were completly differtn. the orignal was much bigger. it had 5 of those things you solder the red wire to, while my old one has 4. I put it in...not very well.... and it just did te same thing. I'll give pictures to show in a moment here. OK pictures can be viewed at http://geocities.com/chris5687... the one to really look at there is the camparison. the saturn were both the same model number, and both has the same power source, yet they looked os different.. the question is here... should i buy a psu the same as the one is in there? Or since it did the same thing with the one the did actually start up on the old saturn, should i bag the idea that it is a problem wit the psu and try other things? I really, really don't wanna have to spend the cash on another modded saturn.

		dj898		Jun 1, 2004
			Saturn is well known for that. I have five grey Saturn including one prototype and they looks all different inside. Interesting thing is later model# of grey Saturn has the PSU attached to the bottom half shell whereas the earlier ones have the PSU attached to the top. I also see small differences in my M2 Saturn - white, Sonic, skeleton, and US - but not that much of difference... cheers

		mal		Jun 1, 2004
			If the mod isn't dead (it might not be) then you wouldn't have to shell out for another modded Saturn. The mod you have certainly looks to be 64 pin compatable. It worked at some stage and it's in a 64 pin Saturn. With a bit of luck you can get your hands on another Saturn with round buttons*, reinstall the mod with minimal soldering to the PSU, and away you go. If the mod is dead as well, then you'd be back to square one. *hoping it isn't one with a Sanyo CD, but the mod you have may work with that too, who knows?

		Chris5687		Jun 2, 2004
			I have made some nice progress here. I have narrowed down what the problem isa, and it must be the motherboard...i'll explain why. the PSU powers up so it's obvosusly not borken. I have taken the CD-Rom out of the saturn and put it in my old one. The only thing that could be is the motherboard and as far as i know, it's unfixable. and just my luck, i can't put my old motherboar din because they are completly different. The problem with my old saturn was the cd-rom. soldering was a mess. When i start-up the machine, it doesn't have the start-up animation and the cd does not rotate and it tires to check disc. so i put in the other cd-rom and it does the start up animation and it rotates the cd and it checks disc. except it doesn't start the game it just plays the music on the game. (keep in ming the mod chip is COMPLETLY detached) here's an intersting part. I put the ribbon (the one the would go to the mod chip) from the newer saturn on the old one and it went back to it's old problem with no animation etc. I put it's on ribbon back on and it does the music thing. Now as far as i know they do the same thing, and it doesn't matter which one is on there right?? Is there a specific way tp put them on... i had it so the side with the writing is not shown and you see the white side. The little metal pins are a little messed up on both, but messed up more on the one that doesn't work at all. Would simply getting another ribbon work??

		mal		Jun 2, 2004
			Any chance of seeing a pic of this other Saturn? It could be useful.

		Chris5687		Jun 2, 2004
			I put some photos at http://geocities.com/chris5687... scroll down to see current ones. the are older ones that might be a use if you wanna take a look.

		fistandantilus		Jun 2, 2004
			if the problem with your old saturn was you cd unit and the problem with your new saturn is the motherboard, can't you place the new cd unit and mod chip into the old saturn. All you would need to do is resolder the power wire to the mod chip to the power supply on the old saturn.

		Chris5687		Jun 2, 2004
			that was exactly what i was thinking to do. but for whatever reason all it does is play the music of the games and not the game itself. it's weird cause there is no mod chip in there... so i'm trying to figure out how to fix it and my best lead is a dman ribbon cable which doesn't sound promising.

		fistandantilus		Jun 2, 2004
			if there is no mod chip in then any cdr game will just play as an audio disc because the mod chip isn't patching the cd protection code. Try an original game and see if it works, if it does, transfer the mod chip across too and your in business

		Chris5687		Jun 2, 2004
			hahah i'm not stupid.... i'm am using a regualar game and it will just play music...that's the problem

		fistandantilus		Jun 2, 2004
			you need to be more discriptive and point these things out in your discriptions then lol I don't know much about if the cd units can be moved between different types of motherboard, I'd try it with the mod chip in though, what have you got to lose. It might fix the saturn not getting the protected boot code to start games up

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