Sega Saturn Model 2 (PAL) Black Screen

My Saturn seems to have died. It powers on (eg the power light turns green) but nothing appears on screen, it is just black. No startup sequence. It is fitted with a mod chip, but I have tried removing it and it made no difference. I also checked all the cables and they are fine. I have also tried removing and replacing the battery, no difference.

Any suggestions on what might be causing this? I thought possibly the laser unit, but if that was the case surely I should still see the startup screen?

 

Do you have sound? Check the cap up at the small filters next to the video output. Cant remember the number on the cap. But its common for it to go bad on PAL saturns. Also if thats it, maybe change the rest of the caps?

 

Thanks for the reply - no sound either, just a black screen with nothing. Have tried a couple of different SCART cables, I also have a second unmodded Saturn which still works to test against.

 

Most likely a capacitor issue either with the psu or on the main board. Sounds like the Bios chip isn't functioning properly. If the two Saturn psu are compatible, u could try swapping them out to rule out faulty psu, otherwise the problem will be board side. U could try swapping caps connected to bios or just re cap the whole board, these consoles are 20 years old. Good luck.

 

Thanks - does the lack of a boot screen probably rule out the laser assembly?

 

Possibly. I've not read about a dead Saturn laser stopping the bios from loading. I would first check the psu by swapping with the working console's psu. Make sure they are compatible otherwise things could get a little smokey. If still no luck then also swap in the working cd drive. If both don't work then ur problem is definitely board side. Also look for damage on the board, leaky caps, residue, damaged traces. Clean the board with isopropyl alcohol (99%).

 

Thanks, luckily I have two identical consoles so can try swapping things. Will report back.

 

The console should boot without the drive unit attached. It won't boot properly, but it will make it to the main menu. So you can test without the drive to rule that out.