Hi Guys, I have recently fitted my model 2 saturn with an access led and now I'm interested in fitting region switches. There is plently of info out there on how to do it, but could someone just explain some of the terminology for me? Ok I have established that there are three sets of jumpers I should be looking at. They are, 6,7 10,11 and 12,13. I have located these on the Saturn mainboard. Now when I look at these jumpers in detail, there is two solder points on each jumper. Am I right in assuming that one solder spot is a power supply (3.3v or 5v I think), and the other solder spot is an earth/ground point. Now, the next step is to cut the link between jumpers, does this mean to cut the link between the two solder spots on each jumper, or to cut the link JOINING each jumper? Ok with that done, the next task is to find the common points between jumpers, what exactly does this mean? Is it to find the earth/ground point side of each jumper? And then finally I solder wires to the jumpers I want regions for and simply fit a switch. Ok so that would be according to gamesx.com's schematic, connect jumper 10 and 7 for U.S., 10 and 12 for EUR, and 11 and 6 for JAP? Could someone please advise before I start cutting my Saturn apart. Cheers guys
Saturn Mod Switch
- Thread starter junker
- Start date
Before you go jump in the deep end without realising read this link thoroughly. It is probably the easiest mod guide to understand. http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/satmod1.html
The jumpers that are closed by default on your saturn have just a 0ohm resister between them, use your soldering iron to remove these as for the mod you need all the bridges open, so they can be closed by the switch. If you get in a tangle and want to go back to how you saturn originally was you just need to bridge the default for your region bridges with solder.
The jumpers that are closed by default on your saturn have just a 0ohm resister between them, use your soldering iron to remove these as for the mod you need all the bridges open, so they can be closed by the switch. If you get in a tangle and want to go back to how you saturn originally was you just need to bridge the default for your region bridges with solder.
Ok, cheers for the link, thats the most comprehensive guide I've seen so far. By looking at their diagrams for the region layouts, am I right in assuming its as simple as putting switches just between the jumpers, and all your really doing is turning 3 jumpers on for a certain region? Also, I cant seem to see any resistors between any of the bridges between jumpers. Could you ellaborate on this a bit further please. Thanks fistandantilus
The three brdiges that are closed already for whatever region was set at the factory will have three little square type resistors closing the bridges, These need to be removed so the switches can be put in place
glad its working 
A little tip, when doing the 60hz mod , after you cut the track, its easiest to add solder to the small pin join between sides of the pcb and then solder the wire to the solder. This will ensure a good join and will be less likely to lift the track if the wire gets caught.
i wish i had know about the 60hz mod when i originally had a saturn when they first came out. You realise how much better games are when they aren't crippled by been ported to pal without optimization.
Especially the capcom fighters.
A little tip, when doing the 60hz mod , after you cut the track, its easiest to add solder to the small pin join between sides of the pcb and then solder the wire to the solder. This will ensure a good join and will be less likely to lift the track if the wire gets caught.
i wish i had know about the 60hz mod when i originally had a saturn when they first came out. You realise how much better games are when they aren't crippled by been ported to pal without optimization.
Especially the capcom fighters.
Cheers for the tip, and the link you gave also covers the procedure in detail. However I found another site a while ago, which claims that the Saturns that have the seperate pcb for the joypads can be modded for 60 hz differently. They claim that making and breaking the bridge on JP1 will also select 50/60 hz. Can you verify this fistandantilius? Cheers
I am 99% certain that both ways are identical just the former way is further along the track at a place where its more convienant to cut the track and find a 5v supply. Best thing with cutting the track on the reverse under side is that you can tape the wire flat to the board and there is no chance of it snagging.
I've just bought a 2nd saturn of ebay, got lucky again; 32-pin. Gonna mod it tomorrow
I've just bought a 2nd saturn of ebay, got lucky again; 32-pin. Gonna mod it tomorrow
Cheers man, I really appreciate the help. I got lucky once on E-Bay, my fourth saturn was a 32pin, modded in 5 mins with a jandaman chip. It was also the cheapest too, coming in at £7.50 sterling!!! It now has every available mod except the 50/60 hz which I will be doing shortly, and the cd-access light because it hasnt got a seperate board the the joypads. Anyway, thanks agin man
Ok, I can confirm that making and breaking the bridge on JP1 will switch between 50 and 60hz on the mainboard with the seperate pcb for joypads (not sure about the intergrated mainboard). Stretfighter Alpha 2 looks class in 60 hz, much faster and feels more like the Arcade! Anyway, I have got some switches today to complete the mod (as I only had the wires twisted together), and I wanted to ask about finding common points. I dont have a multimeter or any way to check for continuity between points. Is there anyway to check manually, maybe using a battery and a bios speaker?
hmm, back in my student days I used to use a small bulb, 2 batteries and two leads to make a continuaty tester. All connected in series. Works a treat although multimetres are dirt cheap these days. I bought a great one for about £8 and got a second identical one free as special offer. Quite why i need two i don't know lol
You are right man, multi-meters are pure cheap and I dont know why its not part of my "modding-kit". I will pick one up over the next few days. However I want to wrap up my Saturn tonight or tommorow, so I need a quick fix solution. About using batteries for a home-brew continuity tester though, can you tell the normal voltage going through the jumpers, as I am concerned using too high a voltage (3v battery) will fry some of the IC's that these jumpers are connected too. In short, do you think a 3v battery is too high, or what would you recommend? Sorry for the lenght of this thread but you've been a big help man, cheers!
Far as I know the entire saturn system runs off either 12v or 5v for some subsystems. 3volts wouldn't damage it, you only need small batteries like aa's. Even the saturns battery backup is 3 volts
Ok, FINALLY got the whole setup working. 3 double throw switches for regions and an on-off for 50/60hz. Blue power LED and green ACCESS led. Man the multimeter would have saved so much time and hassle, and after much cursing and hair-pulling (heat shield earthing some of the wires, wire got crimped beneath heat shield etc etc), it all works. Thank you fistandantilus, you were a big help man! Now finished with the 64pin guinea pig, onto the real work - the 'very hard to replaceif I fuck up' 32 pin, for a truly universal Saturn!
Congratulations, I just finished the full set of mods on my 2nd saturn today. Have been coming here too much perhaps, as I did it all from memory. Thought I had a faulty mod chip until i realised I had forgotten to join the 014 on the back of the mod. Took me about 20 minutes in all for a very neat job, been playing it all this afternoon, Panzer Dragoon Zwei is awesome
Wondering now if I can be bothered creating a d-latch flip flop circuit for my all in one power/access led. Beginning to think its more trouble than its worth lol
Wondering now if I can be bothered creating a d-latch flip flop circuit for my all in one power/access led. Beginning to think its more trouble than its worth lol
I didn't like the thought of drilling a hole in my saturn for the second led, so I have designed a circuit to run a bi-coloured led. So that the power led lights as normal albiet through the d-latch but when the access led circuit already on the saturn switchs on, it acts as clock for a d-latch flip flop circuit which is just a fancy term for a logic switch that inverts the signal direction, in simple terms. Unfortunately it requires an ic, a bi-coloured led and a couple of resisters. To make a good job of this I would ideally need to do a pcb which i haven't got access to at the moment.
Trust me the more i think about it, the more it seems like far too much work to be worth while. Much easier to have two leds lol
Trust me the more i think about it, the more it seems like far too much work to be worth while. Much easier to have two leds lol
Yeah it sounds a bit deep alright. I used my soldering iron (with a really fine tip) to make the extra hole I needed for the access LED. Then I used a really small file to clean up the wound and it look really well. The LED just protrudes from the saturn a small bit, just enough to make it noticeable and there is no sign of any other interference. So I'm happy with that and I think I'll leave it that way! Just won the auction for Policenaughts (JAP) and Resident Evil Bio-Hazard (Jap), and The Need For Speed (USA) on E-Bay to check out that my region switches work. (Damn I wish I could read Japanese to play Policenaughts!!!)
Just make sure there is plenty of wire between the motherboard and the led, you don't want to rip it all out if you ever need to take the lid of your saturn. Did you use just a standard 3.3v led or does the saturn use 5v leds do you know?
Did you use just a standard 3.3v led or does the saturn use 5v leds do you know?I used my gameboy advance e-book reader to read the walkthrough, and it allowed me to follow the basic storyline of Policenauts. Also found a great collection of websites as a resource. One of my favorites was this one:
http://community-2.webtv.net/LiquidSnake/T...auts/index.html
I have found that having an e-book is so much better than printing up the walkthrough and following along that way. One advantage is that you don't see as much text all at once and allow yourself to accidentally see a spoiler (most of the time). Also, if you don't already have one, get a sega lightgun!
