A+B Didn't work +finicky cartridge slot

[sv650touring]

Alrighty, so I just finished modding that old white Saturn (w/1.01 BIOS) and one thing I had to deal with was that it did not send the pin 14 signal to pin 1 of the ribbon cable. I checked with the meter and they were certainly not connected and the A+B solder did not work. However, soldering to leg 14 of the 32 pin chip did work. It seems the vast majority of the 32 pin Saturns work with A+B. Is there a particular group that does not? I think I read that is the case with Sanyo Saturns or something, but I don't think this is one of those.

Also, I noticed the cartridge slot was a little finicky. It took a little wiggle before it would see the 4-in-1. I'm assuming it was once used with a crappy Gameshark with a fat PCB. Any tricks to improving that? It works, it just needed to be seated well.