Saturn UK/US/JP mod grief.. help!!

[chaoticjelly]

Hey..

Spent this afternoon modding my Saturn.. VA-7 PAL model.

Followed the guide on mmmonkey.co.uk

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/do...ion-switch.pdf

Everything seemed ok, re-assembled the console, tested UK/US/JP game (one of each) each on the three different switch settings, - no luck.. nothing worked at all, for each disc it said that the "disc was not suitable for this machine" or something along those lines..

Looked at it all again, couldnt see anything wrong with it, checked the jumper pads underneath the board, looked ok, pulled them slightly to check they were soldered on solid.. JP12 comes off, complete with pad...

Is this Saturn now screwed? I still dont know why it didnt work in the first place?

Ive checked all the wiring a few times, and everything seems to be in place..

Oh and mmmonkey used a switch with three poles, mine is DPDT with six poles.. I attached the jumper pads to the switch, on three of the poles, and left the other three poles unattached -- is that correct?

[msm13579]

regarding the solder pad, you should be able to use a volt meter to find the pin of the chip to solder straight to that on the other side of the board.

[Mofoman]

The Saturn will not be screwed, you can just take the mod out and re solder the jumpers correctly, this mod is not very difficult but if any solder spills or there is something not on quite right , it can cause problem's, best to take some pics for us then post them and then we can tell you what went wrong bro.

[chaoticjelly]

Hey, well thanks for the replies so far..

I have a multimeter, I tested some of the wires on top of the saturn - the ones to the switch, and got 5v, 0v, 5v, which seems correct as the middle is ground, and the other two are connected to 5v ?

I tested a few points on the veroboard, and it seemed ok - I couldnt test the jumpers - how do I test those, because you need everything plugged in, and then the bottom isnt accessible?

I actually gave myself a shock from the mains yesterday, had the saturn wire plugged into the mains, didnt realise, plugged it into the saturn when I was farting around with the multimeter and accidentally touched where the mains goes in !! bet I sound like a right idiot.. anyway..

I took some pics, here they are:

Picture of the connections to the Saturn board, for 5.2v power and grounding..



Picture of the switch terminals (DPDT centre-off)



Picture of the jumper pads (with JP12 broken off) :-(



Picture of the top of veroboard with hex inverter IC etc..



Picture of the bottom of the veroboard (track side) - messy soldering I know, but made a couple of mistakes and had to correct them. Picture has come out terrible, but I dont think any tracks are joined up with solder..



Oh, and how would one go about finding the chip leg on the other side of the board using the multimeter? I set it to 20v, and then what am I looking for, there are quite a few legs.. where do I put the prongs??

[msm13579]

Oh, and how would one go about finding the chip leg on the other side of the board using the multimeter? I set it to 20v, and then what am I looking for, there are quite a few legs.. where do I put the prongs??

i recon set it to a low ohms setting, and you are looking for near 0, ie no resistance so it's the same connection, otherwise it should be -1 or something to denote infinite resistance. you might have to scratch a very small bit of the board away where the pad was to make a contact with the track with one of the probe things, then touch the other probe on each of the legs of the chip in turn, only of the region select chip. good luck

[chaoticjelly]

Do I need the console turned on to do this? and if so, how do I manage this as the PSU disconnects, and I need to get to the underside of the board..?

Cheers..does anyone else have any input?

[msm13579]

no you don't have to have it turned on sorry i have no idea about the mod.

[chaoticjelly]

You dont have any idea?

From looking at pictures on the net it looked as if the jumper pad which has come off goes along a track, im afraid scratching a bit of where it was will damage it further?

Wheres the experts when you need 'em

[chaoticjelly]

Ok i've got the multimeter and tried something - instead of scratching away any of the board yet, I put one prong on a switch terminal, and then the other prong on where it goes on the veroboard - the result is a low value, but it does go up and down (less than 1 ohm)

I tried this for the second terminal and same result.

I tried it for the third terminal and the only result I get is "1" i.e. the thing isnt changing at all - why is this? if I put one prong on where the third terminal goes on the veroboard, and then the other prong on either the first or second terminal, I get a low result then...

Im totally confused now and I dont want to ruin the Saturn beyond repair.. please please could someone with expert knowledge contribute to the thread :-(

[chaoticjelly]

Having now scratched away part of where the pad once was I am now thoroughly pissed off - there is nothing underneath - no track, no copper, ive put a prong on it, and on each leg of the chip on the other side - no reading whatsoever.

[Saurian]

Disconnect everything and correctly test and isolate the jumper points.

You're using JP6/7, JP10/11 and JP12/13 - make sure these sets are not connected in any way, on some models they are connected via surface mount 0 value resistors and on others you'll have a small track connecting the points. With a scalpel cut the points connecting the sets together and then you'll be ready to test with your meter.

With the machine switched off (no need to test with power on, you'll be under a risk of getting a shock off the PSU): -

Touch one probe to the 5v line of the PSU, and the other to a point on a jumper set (for example JP6 and 7) the jumper point which gives a zero reading is your 5v line, no reading at all is your common point and a reading of 500 ohms or so (if I remember right) will be your 0v line. Then touch a probe to the 0v line of the PSU and test the points on the set again, the point which gives a 0 reading is your 0v line.

Once you know which is which make sure the common points are not connected to either of these lines, use you meter to test between the common points and the 5v and 0v lines - you should get no reading. If you're getting a reading you've not cut the track or removed the resistor.

Once you've identified what's what on each set - connect your wires and label them before laying them out in a neat path to the top side of the motherboard and shield casing.

The switch assignment I've found that works best is: (DPDT)

Switch 1
0v ----------- 5v
jp12/13 ------ video mode select
5v ----------- 0v

Switch 2
0v ----------- 5v
jp10/11 ------ jp6/7
5v ----------- 0v

Switch 1 is PAL NTSC select - switch 2 is English or Import. PAL + English = UK, NTSC + English = USA, NTSC + import = JPN, NTSC + English = not used. Once you boot in PAL for UK settings you can switch switch 1 over to NTSC to play PAL games at the correct NTSC speed.

[wheelaa]

Or just buy a jp saturn..unboxed for ?30 or less these days

[Saurian]

Or that!

I saw boxed up mint White Saturns for next to nothing when I was on holiday, but just the thought of carrying consoles back with me put me off completely.

[chaoticjelly]

Saurian:

Please read the thread.. the pad on JP12 is broken off - I have a VA7 board, which works with the mod page on mmmonkey.co.uk

The jumpers are arranged the same as the mameworld and mmmonkey mods.

I was going to make a 50/60hz switch afterwards - I dont have switches arranged like that..

Wheelaa:

If I had a jp saturn - I wouldnt be able to play UK or US games, would I? I want to complete this mod so that I can play all three regions on my UK saturn.

[eastyy]

hmm i got a action replay 4 in 1 so i could play imports i just dont have the skill to mod systems