Saturn Games Not Working After Chip

[lisalover1]

I recently installed a Sega Saturn Modchip on my NTSC 32-pin model 2 saturn. It works good for the most part, but it won't let me play certain backup games. I patched all the Japanese games to NTSC-U with the Saturn Reigon Patcher 2.1a, but I get an error saying "Disc is unsuitable for system". Some of the games that don't work are: Bulk Slash, Cotton Boomerang, Sonic Xtreme Beta, Assult Suit Lyenos 2, and Super Tempo. The odd thing is that all these games ran when I used the swap trick, but now they don't. I thought it could be a burning error, so I burned the same .bin/.cue backup just for the record, it was Bulk Slash] with both MagicISO and Alcohol 120%. It gave me the same error on my Saturn. I made sure that the files were patched to NTSC-U, so I don't know what the problem could be. Any ideas?

[winds]

I have the exact same problem with my Dragon Force backup. I patched it to NTSC-U with the region patcher just like you did, and mine gave me the same error as yours. However when I placed the burned disc back into my PC, then try to load it using Yabause (saturn emulator) it only works if I set Yabause to read Japanese saturn games. So for some reason the region patcher didn't patch the game properly. I tried downloading a different Dragon Force rom, actually i've downloaded about 8 or 9 from different sources and they all do the same thing. I figured the only way to solve my problem is to get one of those Action Replay 4-1 carts that allow you to play games from different regions. Im not completely sure though.

[racketboy]

Yeah it sounds like it isn't being patched properly.
I'm guessing if you tried loading it in the patcher again, it might say that it's still Japanese.
Have you tried a different patcher?

[lisalover1]

A different patcher? There's more than one? I tried SRP 1.1 also, but that also didn't work. What are some other patchers?

[racketboy]

A different patcher? There's more than one? I tried SRP 1.1 also, but that also didn't work. What are some other patchers?

Hmm -- there used to be one, but SegaXtreme deleted their utilities section that housed it....
Bummer.

[lisalover1]

I found a solution! I used a program called "CDMage" to rebuild sectors that SRP corrupted, and the games work fine! On a side note, there are some games that are booting, but now instead of playing, they do a few screens, then freeze. [Rayman, Shillouete Mirage, Advanced VG, Keio Flying Squadron] It happened after I used the chip [Games like KFS still played], but most of them I suspect were just bad burns.

[racketboy]

I found a solution! I used a program called "CDMage" to rebuild sectors that SRP corrupted, and the games work fine! On a side note, there are some games that are booting, but now instead of playing, they do a few screens, then freeze. [Rayman, Shillouete Mirage, Advanced VG, Keio Flying Squadron] It happened after I used the chip [Games like KFS still played], but most of them I suspect were just bad burns.

Nice find!
And you're probably correct about the burns.
Keep in mind that all the chip does is keep the Saturn from doing a copy-protection check. So if it boots at all, it's working. After that it all has to do with the disc or hardware problems with the machine. (but obviously in this case its not the machine as other games play fine)

Also, it may not always be the actual burning -- there are bad rips floating around the net, so you may want to find a different source for the game.

[andymol21]

This thread is one hell of a coincidence as I just had the exact same problem as you! I've burnt a couple of copies before and they work but when I switched the CD I was using to a cheaper brand I got the error you were getting. I assumed it was because I was using cheaper CDs so I didn't bother asking anyone (they worked fine in my Dreamcast, so I wasn't complaining) but after reading this I gave it another go. Region patched the image to Europe and then checked it with CDmage, two sectors corrupted! Fixed them and burnt the cue and the CD finally boots! I was using Astal to test it and it boots fine but I'm getting random crashes while I'm playing... Probably a bad copy or because of the cheap CDs

[winds]

Thanks for reminding me about CDmage, however I think I tried that back when I was furiously trying to solve this problem and to no avail. I've come to the conclusion that the only thing that can fix my problem is an Action Replay 4-1 cart. Either that or perhaps it's some bad luck and I have just been downloading the rom from bad sources.