Problems with Saturn Region Mod

[ALeXiS]

Hi there!
I got a Sega Saturn with Round Buttons and without activity LED. So I thought it was VA-7 / VA-9 Board Revision. But my thoughts were wrong. Now I don't know how to mod it to make it Multinorm.. all the manuals out there are only for VA-7 or VA-9 PCBs..

Please have a look at my Saturn PCB. Maybe you notice that the controller ports are on a separate pcb.. I found some of the Jumpers on the PCB.. but

- they are on the top site of the PCB and
- there are NO jumpers on it..?

Anyone knows how to mod this one? Thanks alot!

[NFG]

If you'll look closely at the existing jumper pairs, you'll find that they are connected by a PCB trace.  This is why there are no soldered-on jumpers.

The logic here is exactly the same as any other Saturn.  Once you've found the jumpers in question, cut the trace and solder some wires to it.

If you can't work out how to do it, post some close-up shots of the jumpers so we can tell you.

[ALeXiS]

Okay, here are the Close up shots.

JP 10 and 12 (Frontside of the the PCB)



JP 7 (Backside of the PCB)



Also the Power Pins. They look also different. How do I know where to solder the wires to?

[l_oliveira]

I use a circuit with a flipflop (74LS74) and a capacitor/resistor/diode as "reset" circuit. If I had saturn schematics I could hook the 74LS74 CLK pin to the main reset.  Still what my circuit does is latch the status of the RESET button on power on. Since mine is a gray saturn it's set in such a way that if I power it on without pressing anything it boots japanese. If I hold RESET and then turn it on it boots USA.

[ALeXiS]

Yeah, you talking about the switchless mod (which I don't want to do). But this doesn't help me with my problem..

[NFG]

Excellent pictures!  This is a PAL Saturn, isn't it?  Your jumpers 7, 10 & 12 are closed.

You can plainly see which pins are linked together in these shots: 

GROUND: The left sides of JP13 and JP11 are connected to ground
+5V: The right sides of JP12 and JP10 are connected to +5V
The other two pins on both 12 and 13 are connected (common)
The other two pins on both 10 and 11 are connected (common)

As for 6 & 7: I'm quite sure that the right side of both 6 & 7 is the common, there's a trace running between them, just under upper side of the white box.

That should be everything you need to proceed.  If you don't mind, I'm gonna use your pics for the mod page.  =)

As for the power connector, use your multimeter to find +5v.  Ground is obvious from the photo.

[ALeXiS]

Hey!
Yeah, it's a PAL Saturn. You can use the pictures if you want to, no problem with that

Thanks so far, I will build the little circuit now and then go on with the Saturn. If there's anything I missed, if I failed or if I succeeded I will tell ya

[ALeXiS]

Awww... sorry for double posting.. but I'm a bit confused. I built the circuit board and cut the traces from the jumpers. Now I'm not sure which of the pads from each jumper has to be connected to my circuit board. left or right one 

[NFG]

The COMMON pads go to the chips on the saturn PCB.  Basically, they're the input the Saturn listens to.  You feed into these common pads whatever signal you need: +5v or GND.

Logically then unless you're insane you'll connect the commons to your PCB.

[ALeXiS]

Hm.. it won't work 
When I turn on the Saturn just the green Power LED lights up. Nothing more.. doesn't matter which position the switch has. The traces are definetly cut (testet with a multimeter). I connected the common points of the jumpers to the circuit I built. Damn it..

[NFG]

I don't know enough about this mysterious 'circuit' you made.  Perhaps you should make a diagram of all your connections so we can tell if you've got a logic problem or a soldering problem.

[ALeXiS]

I've done the circuit from mameworld or exactly from mmmonkey..

[NFG]

You're really going to make me google it?

Actually I guess it doesn't matter.  If you're following what you think is a known-good mod, then you've simply done it wrong, either by failing to figure out the process or by screwing something up in the assembly process.

[Vertigo]

This looks exactly like one of my old Saturns. I eventually gave up attempting to mod it because it was different from the diagrams and a bit of a pain in the arse, so well done if you managed it.

[ALeXiS]

You're really going to make me google it?

Forgive me :p Thought you know his site, because he often mentioned your site for reference.

http://mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/saturnregion.htm

This is it. I'll check all connections again today at work. If it's true what Vertigo says then I'll give up

[NeWmAn]

Why don't you post a photo of the jumper pads with your wires installed?

[ALeXiS]

Good idea 
Any suggestions?

[NFG]

Your wires look good to me.  Have you used your multimeter to determine if those traces are really cut?

[ALeXiS]

Yeah, I used the multimeter, all traces are definetly cut 
Maybe I should just fix the cutted traces, sell this bitch and look out for another one with a common pcb..

[NeWmAn]

I think that you should check the circuit you built.
Remove the 3 wires that go to the jumpers (eventually do a quick repair on the cut connections to ensure the Saturn is still working) but leave GND and 5v connected.
Then act on the switch and using the multimeter check if the voltages on the 3 outputs change according to the plan.

BTW. I haven't looked at how the circuit works, but if you need only Euro/50 and JPN/60, couldn't you have pulled it out with just a DPDT switch and nothing else?

[Chuplayer]

I think that you should check the circuit you built.
Remove the 3 wires that go to the jumpers (eventually do a quick repair on the cut connections to ensure the Saturn is still working) but leave GND and 5v connected.
Then act on the switch and using the multimeter check if the voltages on the 3 outputs change according to the plan.

BTW. I haven't looked at how the circuit works, but if you need only Euro/50 and JPN/60, couldn't you have pulled it out with just a DPDT switch and nothing else?

Yeah, I don't know what's up with the circuit. A switch is all you need.

(So says the guy with wires hanging out of his Saturn and uses other wires with alligator clips to select regions and covers up the unused wires with electrical tape and keeps a wiring chart on top of the TV since he did the mod months ago.)