Sega Saturn 50/60Hz mod for Rhea on VA0 PAL motherboard

Hi guys,

Just after some feedback on this. I have a VA0 Model 1 Pal Saturn that I'm about to install a Rhea in. The guide on the GDEMU site says to lift pin 79 of the VDP2 but I'd rather not mess about with that chip.

If I'm correct - pin 79 terminates on the common side of JP1 and JP2 on the back of the motherboard with a smd resistor bridging JP2 (connecting it to 5v) and JP1 is open (ground on the otherside).

Does this mean I can leave the VDP2 well alone and solder the Rhea 50/60Hz control wire to the common side of JP1/JP2? I'm assuming the Rhea just switches that control wire between 5v and ground off itself?

 

Yes, if you remove the resistor.

There are certain revisions of the motherboard that this doesnt work. The pin 79 method works on them all, which is probably why its suggested to do it that way, rather than write a bunch of different guides.

 

Ideal thank you. Bit wary of messing with IC legs unless I absolutely have to.

 

I can conform that just removing the resistor and adding a switch works perfectly for 50/60Hz changing.

But FYI, allowing Rhea to control this is not ideal. Won't it force you to play all European games at 50Hz and all USA/Japanese games at 60Hz? Most European games are coded for 60Hz with only a few exceptions which require 50Hz.

 

You would just want to play the ntsc versions at 60hz.

PAL exclusives at 50hz.

Any game that was designed for 60hz has an ntsc version that runs at 60hz already. Any pal exclusives are designed for 50hz. Easy

 

Yup this.

Also you can set the Rhea's default frequency and enable or disable auto frequency using an ini file. Set 60Hz on the Rhea hardware and disable auto frequency in the ini and it'll run 50Hz games at 60Hz.

 

now another question.
if the console already has the 50/60Hz switch along with full region switch should I just stick in Rhea?
I'm thinking of putting one into my spare Cross Dev Saturn which is VA0.

 

I think I'd remove probably remove the region mod and the frequency switch, gnd and 5v and then hook the common to the Rhea. Why not have auto switchless frequency for the sake of a couple more minutes during install.

 

sounds too much of hassle.
I will just stick it into the another VA0 console I have lying around.