Sega Saturn playing up :(

[Reprise]

So, I've been away at uni and I recently bought Guardian Heroes as I've always loved this game. I came back home from uni today eager to play my Saturn again and of course play Guardian Heroes. It's been a while since I've played my Saturn, but it's always worked ok. However what I was not expecting to happen when I turned my Saturn on was for the screen to be flashing and pulsing constantly :/ It's not possible to play a game obviously, unless I want to give myself a migraine or make myself vomit.

I'm really annoyed I'd been looking forward to getting back into my Saturn for ages now.

I was just wondering, should I assume it's my scart cable at fault and shell out the money for a new one? Or do you think it might actually be the Sega Saturn at fault, or the connection port on the Saturn?

It may just be one of those things where it's impossible to tell without trying I know I'm just pissed because I'm really low on money at the moment, it's a difficult time, and it was something I was looking forward to playing my Saturn. I don't want to have to shell out the money for a new Saturn or Cable (or both if I make the mistake of what is at fault).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks, although I can accept if there's nothing you can do to help. Don't worry.

It might also be worthy to say that it doesn't constantly flicker. When the screen goes to black, or white during a transition period, the screen will not be flicking. Also I did manage to get it working ok for an hour or two, but that was after fiddling around with the scart cable near the Saturn port for God knows how long and then not moving it or touching it. However that took ages and I've not been able to get it to work again since.

[Ziggy]

I'm not familiar with the hook ups in your region. Is there no other cable you can try and use other than SCART?

If jiggling the cable around got the problem to stop, than the problem is probably with either the cable or the input on the console. When you were messing with the cable, were you messing with the cable itself or with the input of it? Or both, so you're not sure which one did it?

You ever seen messed up colors on a CRT computer monitor? A lot of times the VGA cables get messed up from being crimped either behind the computer or more commonly from the edge of the desk up against a wall. When the internal wires start to break, you notice it on the screen. Since the colors are split into channels, if one of the RGB wires has suffered damage than it could distort the color on the screen.

Knowing that, maybe a sync wire or something is damaged on your SCART cable and is causing this flickering. You said it's been a while since you've played your Saturn, I'm assuming you had it packed up? The SCART cable could have been damaged from folding it, especially if it's a low quality cable.

This always use to happen to my instrument cables because I use to fold them up (now I 'roll' them into a circle). You would get a break internally and it makes such an awful noise when you're trying to play guitar, bass, or whatever. It's an easy fix, and I know a SCART cable has a lot more wires than an instrument cable, but the same logic should apply.

While you have the Saturn on, while it's flickering, bend the cable into a U shape. Then try and roll the U through the cable (kinda hard to explain in text). What you're doing is trying to find an internal break in the cable. When you bend it into a U shape, sometimes you can get a wire that's broken to make contact, thus sending the signal and stopping the flickering.

If you notice that when you bend the cable in a certain location you can stop the flickering, then you've found an internal break. Time to open the cable up and perform surgery!

[Reprise]

Unfortunately I don't have any other type of cable at hand to try, and I don't know anyone who owns a Sega Saturn.

What you said about the colours makes sense though. It does remind me that I remember the colours on my saturn did used to screw up at times (for example it might get a pink gloss, or get a red tinge. Can't remember exactly sorry), can't believe I forgot that, but yeah it did used to do that, and I would fiddle with the cable a bit and it would normally sort it out. It was fairly rare problem and I never had too many issues with it.

In addition, actually I didn't have my Saturn packed up unfortunately. Possibly my own stupidity, but I never got round to packing it up before going back to uni after the summer. It's always been left by the telly, with the cable loose on the side.

However, that said, I believe when I got it working I was jiggling the cable near the input, so maybe it's the input at fault :/

Thanks for the advise Ziggy587, I'll try and investigate this closer maybe. I hope I find out the fault.

P.S. If it helps at all, I probably should have mentioned i'm from the UK and it's a PAL Saturn.


Edit: Maybe I'll try it on a different TV tomorrow. See if that helps.

[Ziggy]

However, that said, I believe when I got it working I was jiggling the cable near the input, so maybe it's the input at fault :/

Not necessarily. You could have internal breaks that are near the end of the cable.

[Reprise]

Sorry to be a pain, but I really do appreciate the help thank-you. I'm just wondering if there's any chance that it could actually be the power cable that plugs into the wall at fault? Or even the input on the console for the power cable?

Since last night, I have now moved my Saturn downstairs to try it on a different TV. My parents have a big lounge and there's a lot more space for me to there to try and find the problem. I had the same results. However, upon fiddling with the power cable near the input port, the picture worked. I thought Eureaka, but after about 10 minutes it went dodgy again. I then fiddled with the power cable again and I've since been playing on Panzer Dragoon Saga for over an hour Although, it's a little too early to get excited. I fear this problem may only degrade further (and besides, I don't want to have to fiddle with the power cable for ages and then be paranoid of even breathing near the console each time I wish to play).

I always assumed it would be a scart issue, so I'm wondering if it could be the power cable or is it just a coincidence? (I could have knocked the scart lead whilst fiddling with the power lead and wrongly assumed it was the power cable maybe?)

If it is the power cable (and not the input or something within the Saturn itself ), then I hope they're not too hard or expensive to find, otherwise I guess I'll have to wait til the summer at least before thinking about buying a new Saturn.


Edit: Hang on, do the Saturn and Dreamcast use the same kind of plug!? I went to check Ebay for prices and some is selling a "Saturn/Dreamcast power lead" claiming obviously that it works for both!? If that's the case, then I may be able to just use my Dreamcast plug and see if there's a difference. If not, then I need a new Saturn (or it is indeed the Scart at fault).

[Ziggy]

That'd be really weird if it was the power cable causing a video issue.

Yes, the Dreamcast uses the same cable, as does the PS2 and other electronics. Swap the cables and give it a shot.

[Reprise]

Yeah nevermind, thought it was a long shot. Still have the same issue

Yeah, so just going to have to hope it's the scart and buy a new one. And if that doesn't help, a new Saturn it is.

Thanks for the help.

[CRTGAMER]

Unplug Saturn and the TV. Maybe clean all the video connections with Contact Cleaner. Scart has a lot of pins that may not be connecting right. Maybe a pin got bent and pushed in.

[CRTGAMER]

You can also verify pin continuity in that cable with an Electrical Tester.

[Reprise]

Well I finally decided to buy a new Scart cable and guess what? Still the same problem. My guess is it's the Saturn's input port at fault. Maybe it's become worn over the years, or maybe the console is just fucked. Looks like I'll be buying a new Saturn then. Oh well, could be worse I suppose, could find my copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga is broken

Thanks again to you guys that helped and gave your advice.