Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Consoles => Topic started by: Frosty on February 05, 2006, 02:39:58 pm

Title: Sega Saturn mod chips
Post by: Frosty on February 05, 2006, 02:39:58 pm

Well, after being given an old Saturn from a buddy of mine that was moving, I've quickly become a Saturn junkie...

My question is, anyone have any experience with modding a Saturn?  I had heard something about it being difficult to mod a 21-pin connection (oval buttons on the front) Saturn.  Is this true?

Title: Re: Sega Saturn mod chips
Post by: stellarola on February 05, 2006, 11:00:27 pm

I had a saturn modchip i installed...it was like 2 wires to solder. Super easy. Also a solder bridge on the chip. Jandaman.com sells them.

Title: Re: Sega Saturn mod chips
Post by: ChadTower on February 06, 2006, 11:41:58 am

I've done a bunch of them.  Takes less than 5 minutes.  You don't even have two wires to solder with the chip that gets used most often.

Remove ribbon cable to drive... insert new board into slot... insert ribbon cable into board... solder one wire between the +5v on the power supply and the board... drop a solder blob onto the board between the two points of the one jumper config.

Then you're done.  If you're even a novice solderer you will spend more time removing and replacing the case than modding.

Title: Re: Sega Saturn mod chips
Post by: forbiddenlyrics on February 06, 2006, 01:17:14 pm

Quote

I had heard something about it being difficult to mod a 21-pin connection (oval buttons on the front) Saturn.  Is this true?

Taken from Janaman.com

Quote

How can I tell if my saturn has a 21 pin cable? If the power/reset buttons are round, it's almost guaranteed to be 21 pin. If the buttons are oval, it's most likely to be 20 pin. Open the console and count the number of pins on the cdrom cable.

So correct me if i'm wrong but don't oval buttons mean you are dealing with a 20-pin cable not the 21-pin?

Title: Re: Sega Saturn mod chips
Post by: ChadTower on February 06, 2006, 02:28:00 pm

You want one with round buttons.  That is the second model... the one with the oval buttons is the first version and much harder to mod.

There is no price difference between the two.

Title: Re: Sega Saturn mod chips
Post by: Frosty on February 06, 2006, 03:07:08 pm

Quote from: forbiddenlyrics on February 06, 2006, 01:17:14 pm

So correct me if i'm wrong but don't oval buttons mean you are dealing with a 20-pin cable not the 21-pin?

Yeah...that sounds right.  I must have a first model (oval buttons, made in early 1995), so it looks like a tougher mod unless I can get an older model.

Thanks for the input, CT--I'll check it out.