Saturn not reading burned games properly (SOLVED)

[sgwas]

EDIT 06/01/18: Hello viewer! I suppose you're here for answers to your Saturn not accepting burned games or your CDs not coming out right. Well, prepare to be disappointed; neither were not working for me, and the problem was the swap trick I was performing. If you can't get the timing right, here's a guide to help you out:



1. Tape up switch under the Saturn's cover to make the disc spin while the lid is open for swapping (it's pretty simple to open it up, so I won't tell you)

2. Put everything back together and plug in the power and video cable

3. Put your burned game in the Saturn and turn it on

4. When the white flash starts to fade out, switch your burned disc with your real one (this is when it checks for security)

5. Wait for the Sega logo screen, then reset the Saturn

6. Repeat part 4, this time switching the real disc with the burned one



And viola. Now enjoy reading our efforts to "fix" my Saturn that would become meaningless due to my stupidity.

Hi,

I'm having some problems with burned Sega Saturn games. Some of them have different levels of non-function to them, and the ones that work have insufferable load times and take too long to load some audio files on the disc. Some also have weird graphical glitches and just stop spinning after a while (Sonic 3D Blast, which has been tested working in an emulator). Here's what I've been using and how I've been burning them:

-Imgburn program
-Maxell CD-Rs at 4x speed
-All images are BIN/CUE
-Mostly Darkwater releases
-American Sega Saturn Model 2 w/ this swap trick
-Real games work perfectly

Could it be a problem with the laser, or am I doing something wrong in the burning process?

[dra6ko82]

First use some more good media.
I use only Tayo-yuden burned at 8/16 speed burned.

[sgwas]

Yeah, Maxell discs are better for music CDs. I heard that Verbatim discs are good for burned games; I may be able to find some of those locally, but most of our stores have stopped selling CDs due to the age of the medium.

To the Internet, I suppose!

[zyrobs]

Use a different burning app, Nero for example, at 16x speeds. Imgburn is known to be bad. If the discs still don't read, the laser on your Saturn is too old.

[dra6ko82]

I read many topics for CD media and everyone recommend Tayo,it's the best and if the problem still there with Tayo then your optic is bad.Don't try with Verbatim,only with the best to know the answer from the problem.There have a lot at ebay,they are not cheap but the best.
I use Nero and Imgburn at 8x or 16x,no difference for me when play.
Don't think the burning soft is the problem.

[sgwas]

I think I'll use Verbatim CDs to burn the games on next time; Taiyo Yudens are a little on the expensive side.

Is someone able to test some Darkwater images in an emulator or a real Saturn (burned properly)? The computer I use to test them on I don't see very often, and my other computers aren't good enough to run a Saturn emulator.

[dra6ko82]

As you wish,but with not perfect media CD,you will always have doubt.

[assman]

I've burned a number of Darkwater images, using ImgBurn no less, and they've all played fine in a real Saturn as far as I can recall. Like dra6ko82, though, I stick to Taiyo Yuden for that kind of stuff.

[sgwas]

Thanks for your help everyone. I made the same topic over at DC-Talk that erupted into a flame war about the swap trick doing damage to the motor or not.

Anyways, I'll make a backup of one of my legit Saturn games and burn it off again with the Verbatim CDs I ordered when I get the chance. There's a possibility that there's a problem with my burner.

[zyrobs]

Jan 2, 2018 10:02:27 GMT dra6ko82 said:

As you wish,but with not perfect media CD,you will always have doubt.

Every time I bought some unit that couldn't read CDs, or couldn't read burned CDs after modchipping, the problem was the drive not being calibrated - either the pot needed a minor tweak, or the tray needed readjusting. After that, they read everything fine. I had several Saturns that could even read cracked discs.

I burn any random disc; Verbatim, Sony, Phillips, whatever, they all work if the Saturn has a working drive. Taiyo Yuden only makes a difference if the drive is near dead or miscalibrated, in which case using more expensive CDRs only makes so much difference.

Also, Imgburn is known to cause bad burns without telling you so.

edit: and no, swap trick doesn't hurt the motor, you'd need to keep the motor held down for way longer than the window you have for swapping. It's always either the tray getting out of position, or the laser naturally degrading, but people always blame it on the motor.

[sgwas]

Jan 3, 2018 0:25:21 GMT zyrobs said:

Jan 2, 2018 10:02:27 GMT dra6ko82 said:

As you wish,but with not perfect media CD,you will always have doubt.

Every time I bought some unit that couldn't read CDs, or couldn't read burned CDs after modchipping, the problem was the drive not being calibrated - either the pot needed a minor tweak, or the tray needed readjusting. After that, they read everything fine. I had several Saturns that could even read cracked discs.

I burn any random disc; Verbatim, Sony, Phillips, whatever, they all work if the Saturn has a working drive. Taiyo Yuden only makes a difference if the drive is near dead or miscalibrated, in which case using more expensive CDRs only makes so much difference.

Also, Imgburn is known to cause bad burns without telling you so.

edit: and no, swap trick doesn't hurt the motor, you'd need to keep the motor held down for way longer than the window you have for swapping. It's always either the tray getting out of position, or the laser naturally degrading, but people always blame it on the motor.

My Saturn still plays real games perfectly. Even if this is the case, would it still be a problem with my drive?

[zyrobs]

Yes, it is possible for originals to work but CDRs to fail. They have different reflection properties which makes it more difficult to read them for a drive that isn't calibrated or is failing. It is true that Taiyo Yudens are better in this regard, but if the drive is so far gone, then it will eventually stop reading originals too.

A calibrated drive should be able to read all CDRs properly.

[sgwas]

Thanks for the info. How would I go about calibrating the laser in a Model 2 machine? All of the tutorials I'm finding seem to be for Model 1; or does it matter which model it is?

EDIT: Whoops...I was searching for replacing the lens. You mean cleaning it with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol?

EDIT 2: Nevermind; you mean calibrating the power of the laser with the orange screw on the assembly, right?

[sgwas]

Alright, I calibrated the laser by turning the orange screw clockwise slightly, and it didn't do anything.

Must be a problem with the CDs, my burner or the burning program. I'll try it again using Verbatim CDs and the CloneCD program.

[sgwas]

Argh! It's still not working. I've tried re-calibrating the laser and everything. I might have to use a different burner.