SOS!! Sega Saturn Picture Roll / Sync Issues

*fixed

 

Well that's me stumped as it's a pal model 1.

The screws that you take out,put them back in the holes they came from.Just so you don't loose them and the correct length screws go back in the correct length holes :thumbsup:

Nothing worse than screws splitting through the case ,because you've inserted the wrong length screw .

 

Thanks guys, got the board off now I can see this:





Hi res:
http://imgur.com/ORoyd

Gonna proceed with the disassembly further now, is just pulling the controller board connector out ok?

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Ok, any idea what any of that is??

Looks important, should I just peel it off you reckon, is that normal?



Also, some hires near the audio video connector being uploaded right now...

8 mega pixel shots:
one of the board in total and one of the area near the RCA/video port...

http://imgur.com/a/D8bfN

----------------------------EDIT-----------------------------------

What the fuck is that??

 

well, it looks like a small PIC16F.. perhaps it's for switchless region mod or something?

 

Good point! lol

 

x

 

I'm just about to do a partial reassemble now to see if any thing's changed. I didn't see anything burned, or out of place underneath.

I did take some pics but because I'm working with one hand they're a little shaky as I was holding the board with one hand and steadying the camera with the other:









---------------------------------EDIT-----------------------------------

no joy



I'm loosing hope here altogether now. I can try to buy another scart and hope it works, but I'm getting close to throwing this thing in the bin at the moment!

 

x

 

Yeah, I've made enquiries about getting both scart and phono cables from console goods. I must admit I'm just in a bad mood, I wouldn't just bin the thing.

I may acquire a soldering iron and a multimeter and persue fixing the thing maybe with your help if you know what I should be checking/soldering.

I always wanted a Saturn, but the fact I seem to have the only one in the UK which refuses to work on most TVs took a lot out of me...

*sigh*

I may even shop for a 21" CRT old skool telly which it should work on.

My PSX refuses to work properly on my Sony EX503 as well, that also has picture wobble though it's nowhere near as severe as the Saturn as it works on all other TVs, just not the one I want it to.

 

x

 

ok the pic chip is useing sebs code.
and it may be the scart lead.
its is a offical sega one.

 

Yeah it was nice to have someone else looking at the screenies.

Also I bought the console from Raylyd, and yeah I send it back to him which it worked for. He made 2 videos of it working on booting games which were original and copies.

Obviously his TV could handle the signal properly as can one of mine (the technika will play it perfectly every time). So he wasn't to know really.

EDIT: never mind, he's here! lol, good to see you mate.

-------------------------------EDIT--------------------------------------

Yeah gonna give a different SCART a try, is it worth looking into some kind of equipment which could stabilize the picture? Not sure what that would be at this point.

^^ As per the edit, good to see you here Ray mate :thumbsup:

 

x

 

Yeah I noticed the picture stays in colour even when switching 50/60hz (obviously it's still a scrambled mess) but it's in colour. I thought this was just the fact it's SCART...meh....

I should get a reply from console goods as to what the scart connectors look like on his leads as well and make a decision about buying one.

 

x

 

Ah yeah, good point!

I'll post back when I acquire some new cables anyway!

Cheers!

 

Just saw this thread and from looking at this picture:-

It appears that the modchip has multiple connections using single core kynar wire? If so I suspect that could be the problem. If you look at these modchip installation instructions:-
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2005/01/sega-saturn-mod-chip-installation.html
It would seem that the left wire in the picture is for power, which really should not be connected using single core kynar wire.

Single core kynar wire only has to be bent slightly, or knocked in transit (or even just looked at funny!) to break internally, and since its single core if it breaks thats it. Really for any connection its best to use wire with multiple stands (Twist the strands together before tinning/soldering) This is especially important for power and ground lines, which I think might be the problem in this case.

If you think about it this completely explains the issues discribed, the BIOS works fine but as soon as it tries to access the CD drive and boot the game (The drive signals have to pass through the modchip) it all goes wrong.

 

Hi link, I've removed the modchip from the board completely (other than the signal wire you can see soldered to the power lines) and tested an original game, and I still had the same issue with the picture you can see in the video on the first post.

I'm fairly sure it's not the modchip at this point; I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure.

Other than the fact the signal wire is still soldered on it was bypassed completely, and that wire is soldered onto the vertical prongs. Could that affect video?

 

Hmm, if thats the case then im not sure what to suggest. Have you tried reseating all the drive cables? The modchips power connection should not cause any problems as long as the modchip is removed.

...I still suspect that the problem lies with the CD Drive or the connection to the motherboard, perhaps even a faulty FFC cable.

 

I've had all the cables out and even filed down the modchip edge so to remove the small amount of board under the metal connectors, meaning the modchip sits further into the socket.

Other than that the drive works fine as far as I can tell as it will play games on my Phillips for hours no problem (when I get the picture stable).

One thing worth noting is that the high pitch ringing you get from CRTs seems to go buzerk when entering game mode, it even sounds funny on the silver Philips, but displays correctly on that more often than not, just refuses to display games on any other telly (apart from the technika as described previously).