14 year old Saturn modchip giving me issues? Help please.

[loganm187]

Bought and installed my saturn modchip from here in 2007 and have never had an issue since. Well, the other day I noticed one of my burned games froze after the title screen then it would not load at all and you can hear the laser going crazy trying to read it. I try another burned game and the same thing - it just makes the laser go crazy.

I pop in a legit game and it immediately boots. No issues at all for hours, so I adjust the pot on my laser thinking this thing has to be worn out as hell at this point, but the burned game(s) either stall when trying to read OR they get to the main menu then just freeze.

Now, I have 5 different saturns. 1 of them is literally freaking new old stock I have had for 15 years on my shelf. I decide to just pull the laser/drive out of that unit and put it in my mod-chipped unit...

Same exact issue

Real games play perfectly, but burned games give me the same issues. Keep in mind these are burned games I have played 100s of times, so it is NOT my media and no way in hell it can be my laser/Drive(s) and from what I read on Racketboys guide and other places online if real games work while a modchip is installed burned games should work, right? My legit games literally boot up instantly with the modchip with both my old and new (OEM) laser installed.

Is my chip just somehow going bad? I'm going mad over here guys as I can not find any info on chips acting this wonky, but it is nearly 15 years old.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Anapan]

Have you tried a recently burned game? All my old burned media died 4-8 years after I burned them and most of the data was unrecoverable. If it is your chip, do you want my old Racketboy chip? I'd mail it at my cost so it could be useful to someone.

[Ziggy]

I was going to ask the same thing. Are your burns from 2007 as well? Try a couple of fresh burns and see if that does the trick.

[loganm187]

Have you tried a recently burned game? All my old burned media died 4-8 years after I burned them and most of the data was unrecoverable. If it is your chip, do you want my old Racketboy chip? I'd mail it at my cost so it could be useful to someone.

Sent you an email!!!

[loganm187]

I was going to ask the same thing. Are your burns from 2007 as well? Try a couple of fresh burns and see if that does the trick.

Tried many fresh burns and same exact issues sadly. I think there is something up with my chip honestly.

[Ziggy]

Check the solder connections for the two wires. Even if they look good, resolder them anyway. The drive ribbon cable passes through the mod chip, so if one or both of those wire connections failed it's possible that retails discs would work but the mod chip would no longer be functioning so burns would stop working.

FWIW, I've had this mod chip installed in my Saturn since a little before my join date and it's still working fine today.

[loganm187]

Check the solder connections for the two wires. Even if they look good, resolder them anyway. The drive ribbon cable passes through the mod chip, so if one or both of those wire connections failed it's possible that retails discs would work but the mod chip would no longer be functioning so burns would stop working.

FWIW, I've had this mod chip installed in my Saturn since a little before my join date and it's still working fine today.

If that is the case then would that cause some burned games to boot, but then freeze and/or skip minutes in? It's totally random and the same with old and new burned discs. I'm gonna take that fine feller above us on his old modchip offer and just redo the whole thing. I appreciate all you guys for your help!

[Ziggy]

Sorry, I just reread the problem you described in your first post.

These Saturn mod chips have 2 wires, and if either or both of those wires had a bad connection then it is definitely possible to get an intermittent issue were it works then doesn't work. If either of those connections failed completely, then it wouldn't boot burns at all.

But AFAIK, once the Saturn boots into a game then the mod chip has nothing left to do. This is why the swap trick works. So after the burned game is loaded, if it freezes or fails to load new areas of the game then that points to a problem with the drive or the disc. I wouldn't say it's the mod chip though. The fact that the mod chip can boot the burned disc at all proves that it is still working. I would try cleaning the lens, and if that doesn't stop the issues you're experiencing then it might just be that the drive is showing signs of dying.