mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Jun 3, 2017 21:21:35 GMT
Backup your saves to a memory cart! sounds like a dodgy battery tbh. Replace it, and clean the contacts. Yeah probaby is a doday battery so I might have to take a look at it. I originally thought it was because my internal memory has 0 space left as it is full to the brim so perhaps the memory needed to be on at least 1 to maintain the clock functions. I'm not actually worried about my game saves as I already have them all backed up on my laptop and the AR cart so if anything wipes I'll just get the files from my laptop and upload then back onto the Saturn. Fair enough. The CR2032 batteries are pretty cheap. I got 20 for like £7 IIRC. The one in my Saturn has been going for about 5 months.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Jun 3, 2017 21:08:07 GMT
I feel like I should know the answer to this already bit thought I'd check anyway. Most recently my Saturn has been requesting I set the Date & Time occasionally when I turn the machine on. Despite having set it on occasions it still reverts back to the factory default date and time. My first thought when this happened was the obvious one which is the lithuium battery had run out. So I went to Memory Manager to check if my save files were still on the Internal Memory Manager and bizzarely they were. This has been going on for a few weeks now but all my Internal Saves still haven't been wiped. So my question is, Is the constant revert to default settings of the systems Date & Time a clear indication that battery is running out? Is this the systems way of telling me that my Internal saves will soon be wiped out as well? Like a warning signal, I guess. Backup your saves to a memory cart! sounds like a dodgy battery tbh. Replace it, and clean the contacts.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Jun 2, 2017 20:55:56 GMT
I want to get a VCD card for my model I Japanese Saturn. Which is the best? The one with the latest software are the ones bundled with the HK/Asia Video CD Saturn (MK-80229-07 / MK-80230-07), and the JVC RG-VC3. Thanks!
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Jun 2, 2017 16:23:04 GMT
I want to get a VCD card for my model I Japanese Saturn. Which is the best?
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on May 30, 2017 10:17:48 GMT
That's pretty kickass!
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 21, 2017 11:21:25 GMT
Good job on fixing it, but a pirated copy of Dark Saviour? Aren't you a little old for that shit? Stealing is for penniless kids. Not going to get into a flame war over this, but unless Climax Entertainment re-release this game for the Saturn I'm not stealing from them at all. The game retails for well over £50 in this country still which doesn't go to the games creators but a second hand reseller, but that's what a mod chip is for isn't it? The whole point was to test that the mod chip works. No need to throw in the "penniless kids" insult. And I'll add that most copies on ebay by now are fairly scratched so how long will they last for? Thats what cdr backups are for. I got a pristine Japanese version for about £6. A nice, legit thing. Not a blank CDR with some ugly permanent marker on it. And I thought you were installing the modchip for region-free. Guess not!
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 21, 2017 10:53:11 GMT
Also one thing that was annoying me, is that the Saturn would not boot if the metal RF shield was not screwed down. This made testing a pain in the ass. It looks like the RF shield covers some ground points on the board, so most likely its used as a ground. Do you have to put the shield on every time you want to test the motherboard? Or is there a way to get around this? Good job on fixing it, but a pirated copy of Dark Saviour? Aren't you a little old for that shit? Stealing is for penniless kids.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 20, 2017 20:58:30 GMT
Hate to say it, but I warned ya...
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 20, 2017 0:28:28 GMT
Just because your grey Saturn is fine, does not mean that those units don't yellow. I have perfectly fine white units too, but we know that those may end up yellowed! Do you have any numbers on how much power the unit uses on its own, and how much the PSU can handle? They have enough juice to handle various add-on cards like dual mpeg decoder ASICs and entire modems, so I don't think the modchips would tax them any more than what they are designed to handle. Fair point. I have a PS1 controller that yellowed horribly. Those are expected draws though. Trying to remember this stuff from a few years ago. IIRC, it's where the modchip gets wired up to that's the issue.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 19, 2017 20:37:47 GMT
That eBay one looks fine too. You can't be serious. Look at the photo with the lid open, you can clearly see that the plastic under the lid is a different colour than the rest of the top - normal light grey, while the rest of the top is heavily yellowed. a mod chip can be risky due to the PSU overloading. The PSUs are problematic with and without the modchip. The ones with a TOP PWM can go faulty. This is true for both 110V and 220V units, and true on an unmodded console as well. Luckily, it can be fixed. Soldered the IC20 pin to the earth on the PSU pins, but it is now overclocking the system even when the sw4 pins are not connected. The display is distorted. Do I need to put a resistor in or find a different ground point? You shouldn't wire directly to the PSU, since then you bypass the filtering chokes and caps on the board. For the PLL, the easiest way is to connect the pin to the wide pads on middle of the chip, which are all ground - this requires a very small piece of cable, like half a centimetre. Also, you don't need such a heavy cable for that, I'd use thin kynar wire for such a mod, it's way easier to handle. Obviously, make sure that you only solder to pin 1. If you accidentally solder to pin 2 and ground it, the screen won't be able to switch to 352px mode (which most 3d games use). Anyway, if this causes you problems, leave the pin disconnected, and if it works fine like that, leave it like that. Weird. My gray Saturn is the same color in the disc tray as outside. Wonder if it's a trick of the light. The PSU runs close to maximum draw IIRC. The added draw of a mod chip can significantly shorten the PSU's lifespan at best, and blow it at worst.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 19, 2017 6:29:13 GMT
I still remember the first time I saw Model III stuff as a kid around '98. Blew my tiny mind lol. Shame the DC model 3 ports were lacking really. The hardware was considerably more powerful.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 19, 2017 6:24:28 GMT
Why not just buy a Saturn?
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 19, 2017 6:17:30 GMT
With a 60hz switch I think Jap games play fine on a PAL saturn, either region mod or action replay of course. Yeah, but finding the info on my PAL Saturn was hard, as it seems to be a rare revision. Also, some games have issues with AR, and a mod chip can be risky due to the PSU overloading. So much easier to get a JP Saturn and run it in English language mode. Some games will even change the in-game language to match the console setting. Oh yeah, and you don't have to worry about fucking up while soldering!
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 19, 2017 6:04:38 GMT
Fair enough. I still prefer getting a JP Saturn tbh. Games are way cheaper.
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mattius
Advanced Saturn Gamer
Joined: March 2017
Posts: 384
Location:
PSN: Artabasdos
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Post by mattius on Mar 19, 2017 5:26:09 GMT
The model I gray Japanese Saturn doesn't yellow, only the white mark.II. Yes they do, it's just not as prominent since the base colour is grey instead of white. But they do yellow just as much. Just look around on ebay, you'll see plenty of examples, like this: www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Sega-Saturn-Gray-Console-Tested-HST-3210-System-Japan-Import-C-/142314666179If you do only that much on a PAL console, you'll have - sync problems on digital displays, since PAL 60hz MDs don't output NTSC standard 59.97hz. This can be anything from offcenter picture, to jumping picture, to no picture. Less problems on a CRT though. - no colour, unless you use RGB SCART cables - Japanese carts won't fit in the cart slot - region locked games giving you the "This game only runs on PAL Megadrive systems" message. Only way around that is to switch to 60hz after the game boots up, and hoping that it won't glitch up that way. Some PAL games may end up running the music too fast though. Either way, you need a switch installed, if you cut that single trace, all carts will think you are trying to run them on a US Genesis. I have a gray Japanese Saturn. It looks just like '94 photos. That eBay one looks fine too. My 60Hz modded Md I works perfectly on an HDTV, although I use it on a CRT with RGB SCART. The slot is modded for JP carts, and I have an adapter for any with copy protection. Also, somehow my modded MD I works flawlessly with my PAL MegaCD I in 60Hz. I have no idea how.
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