dead saturn

[snow-katt]

today i took one of my model 2 saturns out of storage to give it a whirl
dark clouds started to gather when i heard something ratteling inside the machine
a quick test later confirmed my fears the machine didnt boot any more
so out comes a screwdriver and i opend up the machine to see a piece fo hardware fre floating around the inside of my saturn
its a small pcb with 4 chips on it and a ribbon cable with both connections on the pcb
a red torn wire is stil attached to it
a blue yellow and orange wire are also severd
what exactly is that small pcb

and more importantly can this be repaired ?

[Snowcat.]

:/ i guess its broken, ..... and is it worth fixing? you can pick another one up for £10

also this didn't need a new thread, we have just been discussing a broken saturn

[mick_aka]

What you have there snow-katt is a mod chip.

Does it look like this:

[termis]

Definitely a modchip. If your saturn still powers on, you can disregard the modchip, get the ribbon from the saturn to directly to the laser unit, and it should go back to being a "stock" saturn. Even if you want the modchip back in there, I'd start at this stage to make sure that the saturn works okay in the first place.

Then if you want to fix the modchip, then you'll have to reinstall it with the wires connected in the right places again. Google around to see some saturn modchip installation manuals, and see if you can see spot the same modchip board, and try to identify where all the wires go. Solder them back into place, and try to reinstall them, like the guide suggests.

[snow-katt]

yes it looks exactly like that
so thats a modchip huh ?...didnt even knew i had a modded saturn guess its not modded any more

the saturn stil boots i tried it just now and played a round of daytona my crap performance not withstanding in the game the saturn performed just fine

im just puzzeld by the fact it refused to boot at first and now works fine again

what do you mean by get the ribbon from the saturn directly to the laser unit ?
from what i can see the ribbon is connected to the laser unit

im not too botherd about not having a modchip in the machine any more im more pleased with the fact its stil working
..and i cant solder

[mick_aka]

I will take it off your hands if no longer required

[snow-katt]

the modchip ?

[mick_aka]

Yes

[snow-katt]

well okay but i got no idea if it actually works

[mick_aka]

I was joking but if you are giving it away I will pay you the postage for it, they are only £12 brand new lol

[Yart]

I had the same problem. When my modchip crapped out it would keep going to the CD Player and the little cubes that pulsate when music plays were stuck as full red spheres even if nothing was going on. No CDs would boot. I think it even skipped the beginning animation.

Is that what happened to you?

I just replaced my modchip and it was working again. Heck, even when I pulled it out with no chip in place.

[snow-katt]

Feb 26, 2009 3:06:16 GMT mick_aka said:

I was joking but if you are giving it away I will pay you the postage for it, they are only £12 brand new lol

if you want it ill send it i doubt il ever put it back in my saturn again
i cant even solder so rightnow its a piece of hardware lying around

[snow-katt]

Feb 26, 2009 3:14:01 GMT Yart said:

I had the same problem. When my modchip crapped out it would keep going to the CD Player and the little cubes that pulsate when music plays were stuck as full red spheres even if nothing was going on. No CDs would boot. I think it even skipped the beginning animation.

Is that what happened to you?

I just replaced my modchip and it was working again. Heck, even when I pulled it out with no chip in place.

hmm no the whole midchip was floating loose in the saturn
with torn wires and all the saturn refused to go on untill after i removed the chip and then it sparked back to life again
...quite bizarre actually

[termis]

Feb 25, 2009 23:19:29 GMT snow-katt said:

yes it looks exactly like that
so thats a modchip huh ?...didnt even knew i had a modded saturn guess its not modded any more

the saturn stil boots i tried it just now and played a round of daytona my crap performance not withstanding in the game the saturn performed just fine

im just puzzeld by the fact it refused to boot at first and now works fine again

what do you mean by get the ribbon from the saturn directly to the laser unit ?
from what i can see the ribbon is connected to the laser unit

im not too botherd about not having a modchip in the machine any more im more pleased with the fact its stil working
..and i cant solder

If it works, I'd leave it alone. What I meant by the ribbon is the flat white strip that's sitting on top of that board in the picture above. There should be one of those coming out of the laser assembly, (should be towards the right hand side of the laser head unit), and that's supposed to go directly into the motherboard (should be near the right-bottom corner).

Anyway, once again, if it works, best just to leave it alone... and if you care, try a one-to-one CD copy of your Daytona and see if it works -- that'll also verify if your modchip board is still works or not.

[snow-katt]

i think il just leave the saturn alone
it works and i am not too interested in having a modded saturn