I recently received my Sega Saturn modchip, and I attempted (with zero experience) to solder the thing in myself. In the end, it ended up a total mess. My soldering iron was a little too wide, and I ended up singeing the plastic around the power source area, as well as a small singe mark on the data cord. The saturn still works, but the modchip looks... burnt. I took it to someone my family knows, who works on electronics, and he said that the chip SHOULD be working fine, as long as the actual "chips" aren't burnt. The small area of PCB between the A and B points is dark, and slightly warped. The saturn still works, and even with the burnt chip in there it still makes it to the disc load screen, at least. I was wondering if there was something wrong with my chip, because I double checked my mess of a soldering job a few times, and I couldn't see anything that I had done wrong. I still couldn't get ANY games to load, including any of the actual games I own.
I have a Model 2 Saturn. I tried doing both installation methods.
I should note that when I received my chip, it had two grey wires, as opposed to the red and black that I've seen in every picture tutorial. Still, it was simple to figure out which wire went where. They seem thinner than the wire in the pictures, though.
If anybody know what could be wrong, drop me a line. I'd really appreciate the assist.
Modchip Installation Woes.
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Steel A Jeeg
- Newbie
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:53 am
- Location: New York
Lessons learned the hardway --
When dealing with fine electronic circuit boards, use a low watt soldering iron and a pin tip nub -- something for making fine contacts. Also, if you haven't done so, you should probably look around the net for some soldering basics. Soldering is not hard to do, so long as one exercises a little patience when doing it.
Ultimately, I couldn't say what is wrong with your situation, but you will want to perform some obvious debugging:
Take the chip out of the loop: if you remove the chip (maybe it would be easier to cut the wires and resplice them?), does the system load originals? If so, you at least have verified that the system is behaving in a sane manner.
What does the system do when you insert a disc with the chip in place? Does it even recognize that there is a disc in there? Does the Saturn welcome screen appear and allow you to browse through the disc?
There is a possibility that the chip is borked, and as others on the forum will tell you, some saturn models simply do not play nice with mod-chips. I've been fortunate in that the Saturn I modded, there were no issues. There is a possibility you did some damage to the motherboard, as well -- I can't say.
If this is your one and only planned experience with soldering, you may want to have your family friend install the chip. If you plan to do more, you'll definitely want to hunt down the schematics for the motherboard, invest in a multimeter and check to see if the leads are actually behaving as expected. A good multimeter is an investment, and during any situation when an electronic component doesn't work the way it should, is invaluable for diagnostics and repair.
When dealing with fine electronic circuit boards, use a low watt soldering iron and a pin tip nub -- something for making fine contacts. Also, if you haven't done so, you should probably look around the net for some soldering basics. Soldering is not hard to do, so long as one exercises a little patience when doing it.
Ultimately, I couldn't say what is wrong with your situation, but you will want to perform some obvious debugging:
Take the chip out of the loop: if you remove the chip (maybe it would be easier to cut the wires and resplice them?), does the system load originals? If so, you at least have verified that the system is behaving in a sane manner.
What does the system do when you insert a disc with the chip in place? Does it even recognize that there is a disc in there? Does the Saturn welcome screen appear and allow you to browse through the disc?
There is a possibility that the chip is borked, and as others on the forum will tell you, some saturn models simply do not play nice with mod-chips. I've been fortunate in that the Saturn I modded, there were no issues. There is a possibility you did some damage to the motherboard, as well -- I can't say.
If this is your one and only planned experience with soldering, you may want to have your family friend install the chip. If you plan to do more, you'll definitely want to hunt down the schematics for the motherboard, invest in a multimeter and check to see if the leads are actually behaving as expected. A good multimeter is an investment, and during any situation when an electronic component doesn't work the way it should, is invaluable for diagnostics and repair.
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Steel A Jeeg
- Newbie
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:53 am
- Location: New York
I plan on soldering, but not so much more that I would put money into another piece of equipment.
I used a 25 watt soldering iron, and out of the many stores that were in my area, I purchased the one with the smallest point. Although, I am aware that there are some smaller.
The wires were easy enough to remove. The system works fine with the chip removed. With the chip "installed" the welcome screen, as well as the CD player screen, did show up. I just don't know if the chip itself is damaged now. Or if the strange gray wires are causing a problem.
I purchased the chip from Racketboy. I sent him a PM, hoping that he could take a look at it for me. Even now, the system behaves the same way with the chip installed, so I doubt I did any damage to the chip itself.
I used a 25 watt soldering iron, and out of the many stores that were in my area, I purchased the one with the smallest point. Although, I am aware that there are some smaller.
The wires were easy enough to remove. The system works fine with the chip removed. With the chip "installed" the welcome screen, as well as the CD player screen, did show up. I just don't know if the chip itself is damaged now. Or if the strange gray wires are causing a problem.
I purchased the chip from Racketboy. I sent him a PM, hoping that he could take a look at it for me. Even now, the system behaves the same way with the chip installed, so I doubt I did any damage to the chip itself.
The question is: with the chip installed and a disc in the system, is it recognized? What does the system do when a disc in the system? Does it still get to the cd-player screen, what kind of CD does it think is in there? Will it try to play audio tracks, if it thinks there are tracks to be heard, etc?
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Steel A Jeeg
- Newbie
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:53 am
- Location: New York
With the chip installed the system shows the welcome screen, and then goes to the CD player. It reads how many tracks are on the CD, and plays the audio on certain tracks. It does this for real games as well as backups.durkada wrote:The question is: with the chip installed and a disc in the system, is it recognized? What does the system do when a disc in the system? Does it still get to the cd-player screen, what kind of CD does it think is in there? Will it try to play audio tracks, if it thinks there are tracks to be heard, etc?
It looks like a few of us are having the exact same problem.
I'm sure the reasons are different, though.
Try doing this:
1) Install the chip.
2) Turn the Saturn on without a disc and let it go to the menu/CD player.
3) Put it an original disc (not a backup).
4) See if it lets you play the game, or if it only plays the audio tracks.
Let us know what happens!
I'm sure the reasons are different, though.
Try doing this:
1) Install the chip.
2) Turn the Saturn on without a disc and let it go to the menu/CD player.
3) Put it an original disc (not a backup).
4) See if it lets you play the game, or if it only plays the audio tracks.
Let us know what happens!