keropi wrote:

last time I checked, the rob one was half the price 😁

If the shipping isn't outrageous, then I'll probably go that route. $15 is a more realistic price for a modchip IMO.

YAY, it has arrived! Cleaned the contacts on one of the two controllers and it works perfectly!

There's a bad spot in the AV cable, so you have to jiggle it a bit and be careful not to bump it. It's kind of close to where it plugs into the back, so I'm not sure if I can repair it or not. If not, it's a cheap piece to replace.

Also need a battery. Came with Daytona USA in the drive WOO HOO!

The console itself has some light scratches. The controllers are pretty beat up but so long as they work I'm all good.

Sega Saturn...

I never own one. I remember when I was a teenager. Me and my brother went to a computer convention in Vienna and they had had the Playstation and Saturn on display (this was before the launch).

All I remember was that the Playstation (they had Ridge Racer, Wipeout and Tekken) stole the show. Sega had Sega Rally on display and maybe another game.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Sega Saturn...

I never own one. I remember when I was a teenager. Me and my brother went to a computer convention in Vienna and they had had the Playstation and Saturn on display (this was before the launch).

All I remember was that the Playstation (they had Ridge Racer, Wipeout and Tekken) stole the show. Sega had Sega Rally on display and maybe another game.

I worked at a video store then and I'd play the display unit on my break sometimes. It had some time-limited Sonic demo on it.

I never had a PS1 until this year. I picked one up for $3 at a yard sale.

FYI Most of you probably already know this but.. always clean the contacts on the controllers and RCA's when you buy an old game console. I could have sworn I needed to open up the cable, but it turns out it's mostly fixed by cleaning gunk (I couldn't even see) off the cables. I think I even transferred some of the gunk to my TV's video port bc if I jiggle pretty hard it cuts out a bit. Nowhere near as bad though after a good cleaning. So now I need to work lose the gunk from the TV's port. Might even be the port itself bc plugging in works just fine now (no need to tweak). Will try another console later..

So I thought I'd try the swap trick before I bought a mod chip. I want to make sure the laser isn't weak and will read backups first. I have the MK80000A, but the unit has been taken apart and I haven't actually pulled it apart enough to see the actual mobo. I tried both model 2 swap trick methods and I just get a black screen. The unit came with Daytona USA and that plays fine. Any ideas?

simbin wrote:

FYI Most of you probably already know this but.. always clean the contacts on the controllers and RCA's when you buy an old game console. I could have sworn I needed to open up the cable, but it turns out it's mostly fixed by cleaning gunk (I couldn't even see) off the cables. I think I even transferred some of the gunk to my TV's video port bc if I jiggle pretty hard it cuts out a bit. Nowhere near as bad though after a good cleaning. So now I need to work lose the gunk from the TV's port. Might even be the port itself bc plugging in works just fine now (no need to tweak). Will try another console later..

I've had this happen with old computer mice, too. The oil from your skin and the dead skin that falls off mix to become a gooey, tar like substance that works it's way inside and coats everything. Because it's sticky, it also attracts dust, hair, and other airborne contaminants and becomes a really big mess over time. I've opened up mice that had lumps of this stuff inside that looked a combination of earwax and a coughed up hairball.

Well I got one game working that was mds/mdf not bin/cue.. I also burned at 16X instead of 48x or 32x and I used PowerISO instead of ImgBurn. Not sure what part of that was the magic formula.. but I'm super stoked that it works period!

edit: Turns out this was all to do with my swap technique.. After several successful runs, I had the problem again with discs that previously worked.

So no coasters after all, and I got a duplicate copy of one game. I can live with that.

I'm still going to do a mod chip and region switch. I don't want to wear out my laser, plus I want to play retail imports.

keropi wrote:

regarding modchips: you can read here and there is also another store that carries a chip... you just have to email them as it i […]
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regarding modchips: you can read here and there is also another store that carries a chip... you just have to email them as it is not listed - but they DO have it. I have installed 3-4 of those chips, they work nice.

regarding imports: you can actually replace the BIOS on your saturn with a region-free patched one , best place to order a BIOS is this Bad_Ad84 here

here are some pics for your viewing pleasusre of the bios replacing process... since I did this I had no reason to plug in an Action Replay 4in1, a super-cheap 4MB RAM expansion is all one needs 😀

and it just works , you get the Japanese AFAIK bootscreen and you have a region free machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z2Ilwur_mE&li … Yv8voQA&index=8

I was just wondering.. are the 4MB RAM carts region locked? Most of the ones I've seen have Japanese writing on them.

simbin wrote:

I was just wondering.. are the 4MB RAM carts region locked?

Nope.

how big are the leads on IC? Bigger than they look in the pics i'm guessing. I'm assuming you soldered it on the board?

The region mods look cool, but I'm going to use patched backups for my imports. I think I can handle the standard modchip install.. but everything else looks above my skill set. Besides, I can't afford hundreds of dollars for some of those imports anyhow.

I emailed Rob, pricing on the modchip is:
Saturn 21pin modchip $22.47
Saturn 20pin modchip $27.32

I still have to pull my system apart to see which one I need, but I won't be able to order one until after the holidays.

I ended up installing the Rob Webb chip. It was super easy, even for a soldering novice such as myself. Ive been involved with other projects, so I haven't spent much time playing it.

I cant recall if I got my mod chip from liksang or lankwei but those sites were the best. I would just rip games and change the region then burn them. Originally I just modded my saturn so the drive could be opened while playing and then swap the disc out after it read the copy protection. Shining the holy ark is the best game. I wish they remade it on modern hardware. I never got a translated copy of shining force scenario 3. Shame.

You don't have to buy a mod-chip to play imports, just to play copied software in general.

See here: http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=imports:sega_saturn

Check out the rest of gamesx.com for neat stuff about your Saturn. I love this site for console info. Took a crack at building the VGA output box for my dreamcast, but never finished and bought a Sega original. 🤣