SEGA Saturn: Whilst playing, screen goes black/no sound

[NeoGeoNinja]

Yep. This is my umpteenth Saturn to have issues. They really are, technically speaking, a pretty sh*tty console.

For all the grief the PS1 gets levied towards it, I've never had the technical problems I've had with the 6 or 7 Saturn's I've been through in my lifetime. Not to mention... dat cart slot!

Was playing a game before when, mid game, the screen went black and the sound went dead. Disc still spinning, but not being read. In the past (recently, tbh), the screen has gone black BUT I can still hear data being read, as if the game is still working, but there's an AV issue somewhere. This time, it was different.

Power remains constant and the system has not been reset. However, when I reset the system, nothing happens. IF I turn it off and on again, an undetermined period later, the issue re-arises after short term normal operation.

Any ideas guys?

Hopefully this can be sorted as this is my MAIN switchless 240V modded JPN White Saturn doing this now

Cheers...

[samspin]

I'm not fully sure as there's not much detail there, but it could be a problem with the capacitors on the motherboard possibly on their way out. I've personally not had this issue but from the looks of this video it's an easy fix if you can solder. IF this is the problem.

[buckoa51]

I can sort out capacitor replacement and other repairs for you NGN. If we can't fix it all you pay is return postage.

(shameless touting for business is shameless)

[samspin]

Mar 16, 2015 23:38:01 GMT buckoa51 said:

I can sort out capacitor replacement and other repairs for you NGN. If we can't fix it all you pay is return postage.

(shameless touting for business is shameless)

Touting for business? Rather brave to be honest. I'd feel very nervous taking someone else's equipment into my hands and soldering into it, with the risk of further damage. If it were my Saturn with this possible problem I would try it however.

[buckoa51]

Oh, won't be me doing the work, but my tamed and very skilled hardware engineer

[MIK]

Sorry to hear your having problems with yet another Neo!

You could always have two machines on the go so if one messes up it's not so much of a pain, kinda sharing the overall usage between them, but yeah not desirable really...

sorry again though.

[zyrobs]

Have you tried swapping out the power supply? Might be what caused the problem.

[NeoGeoNinja]

Mar 17, 2015 20:44:10 GMT zyrobs said:

Have you tried swapping out the power supply? Might be what caused the problem.

I can try that.

Has this been the cause of the issue in your experience Zyrobs?

Would the PSU cause the system to still function? (disc still loading/reading but visual and sound output gone?)

Cheers

[buckoa51]

If the system isn't getting the proper power then yeah all kinds of strange things can happen. I'd say that's definitely worth a shot, in fact I'm sure it's something Ray would try if you sent it to us.

[zyrobs]

Mar 17, 2015 22:36:11 GMT NeoGeoNinja said:

Mar 17, 2015 20:44:10 GMT zyrobs said:

Have you tried swapping out the power supply? Might be what caused the problem.

I can try that.

Has this been the cause of the issue in your experience Zyrobs?

Would the PSU cause the system to still function? (disc still loading/reading but visual and sound output gone?)

Cheers

The disc system is entirely independent and will keep working even if the main system locks up. Though at that point it is only doing its basic tasks (like keeping a disc spinning in anticipation of later reads, or spinning up on reset, stuff like that).

Power Supply is one part which does have known issues and known dodgy components, so it is a good start for looking for errors. Which reminds me that I should get some replacement TOP PWM switches.

[NeoGeoNinja]

Thanks guys.

I'll see what I can do and report back with any issues/progress

[punx2511]

I have a similar problem on one of mine the screen was flickering between the game and going black and sound would cut out .killer blow