Why Shaturn Grail?

Console, handheld and computer games, retro and modern.
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NoAffinity
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by NoAffinity »

Street Fighter Alpha 3 for SS anyone? :-o
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by trev1976 »

I bought that one brand new for £60. Still got it now
Check out my "1cc" YouTube Channel
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by NoAffinity »

trev1976 wrote:I bought that one brand new for £60. Still got it now
You've got yourself a nice investment there! :awe:
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by landisama »

geosnow wrote:why bother collecting 50hz games? :lol:

Because I grew up with them and I like those long boxes :D . I collect Saturn games from all regions because I have a 50-60 Hz switch and an Action replay that bypasses the region lock
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by NoAffinity »

Speaking of the sega saturn, does anyone know of a proper guide with illustrations of how to bend the cart slot pins back into place? I've read several descriptions of what needs to be done, and gave it a go this weekend. I obviously did something wrong, as the saturn will now not boot unless there is a cart in the slot. And with cart in slot, it will not recognize it. I'm assuming I've got some of the pins shorting, but before I dig in again, I want to be clear on what my goal is. Even just a hand sketch or something marked up in paint, from someone that has successfully serviced their cart slot pins, would be a help.

Also, anybody know of a replacement slot, that is not out of another Saturn? I haven't had much luck searching for one, and assume they don't exist, but figured if they do, this group would know. :thumbupright: :-D :thumbup:
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landisama
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by landisama »

thegreathopper wrote:Me neither, once you have tried 60 there is no going back.
Indeed, Pal conversions are quite **** when it comes to speed and black borders (but this can be overcome easily from the TV menu). There is a small redemption though: the european consoles output native signal in progressive scan at 240p. American and Japanese ones output s-video interlaced signal which is further processed by the TV for scaling. The image is of lower quality
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by geosnow »

Just use an RGB cable on your ntsc Saturn.
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by landisama »

geosnow wrote:Just use an RGB cable on your ntsc Saturn.
I think you need a special cable made for NTSC systems. Apparently it is not compatible with PAL Saturns. I found this on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Saturn-ste ... 1614608138
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by CTN »

landisama wrote:
geosnow wrote:Just use an RGB cable on your ntsc Saturn.
I think you need a special cable made for NTSC systems. Apparently it is not compatible with PAL Saturns. I found this on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Saturn-ste ... 1614608138

****.
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by geosnow »

I will check tonight at home but I think I use a regular NTSC cable on my 1st generation Japanese Saturn. I know that some of the later models like the "This is Cool" or White models do have inferior signal.
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by Sunder »

You know it's getting ridiculous when some of the disc games are going for way more than the arcade pcbs.
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Re: WTF happened to Sega Saturn collecting

Post by Sunder »

geosnow wrote:I will check tonight at home but I think I use a regular NTSC cable on my 1st generation Japanese Saturn. I know that some of the later models like the "This is Cool" or White models do have inferior signal.
this isn't true by the way.
All RGB signals from all Saturn models are pretty much the same, and by that I mean super freaking good.
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Re: Why Saturn Grail?

Post by geosnow »

That is strange but I can check again.
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Re: Why Saturn Grail?

Post by Sunder »

Oh wait, what do you mean by regular NTSC cable?
are you pulling RGB out of it?

Edit: ah yes of course. Yeah I only have the NTSC systems so I forget the PAL and NTSC cables aren't interchangeable.
Also, :lol: to the thread topic change.
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Re: Why Shaturn Grail?

Post by NoAffinity »

FYI guys, I'm working on hard-wiring an AR cart to my saturn motherboard due to the cart slot on my saturn failing and multiple attempts at rebending the pins being marginally successful (never lasting long). The mod has been extremely tedious as you can imagine. I've got the thing booting to the AR splash screen but it freezes there. I took a shortcut on some of the ground and power wires where they were bridged and/or continuous across multiple contacts at the cart. Possibly the parallel connections from the motherboard are needed to properly power the cart. That's what I'm tackling next along with re-re-checking the pinout. Thankfully, there is a fully documented pinout of the pins that the AR (and other) carts use, which I did not have when I started the project, and it was even harder going before finding this information.

http://www.rockin-b.de/saturn/cartridge ... gePort.htm

My intent is to flash the cart with the Pseudo Loader once I get it fully working.

Hope to be reporting back with the ultimate region bypass/backup play/super cool splash screen hack soon.
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Re: Why Shaturn Grail?

Post by NoAffinity »

Got it working! Found a crossed set of wires, weeded out a couple marginal solder joints, added one +5VDD line. Although the +5V is all continuous, possibly the parallel wiring produces necessary amperage and without it the cart will be power starved.

At any rate, the configuration is still rough, but the biggest hurdle has been overcome:

https://youtu.be/WCBY4DAgWKk
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Re: Why Shaturn Grail?

Post by crunchywasp »

When you figure in parts and your time, why not just buy another console? :shifty:

Before you started messing about with it, did you try just putting the cart in fully then lifting it back up up a mm or so? That usually sorts most cart problems.
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Re: Why Shaturn Grail?

Post by NoAffinity »

crunchywasp wrote:When you figure in parts and your time, why not just buy another console? :shifty:

Before you started messing about with it, did you try just putting the cart in fully then lifting it back up up a mm or so? That usually sorts most cart problems.
Trust me, I tried everything. rebent pins twice, got it working temporarily then it would fail again. When I figured in time and frustration trying to get the damn thing to work in its native state, it was worth making the permanent fix. A new console would inevitably fail also. I bought this one refurbished from a reputable source. The cart slot started failing after a month and the failure was rapid.

That, and it seemed to be an insurmountable task and I wanted to prove it could be done.
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Re: Why Shaturn Grail?

Post by ChuChuFlamingo »

Re-bending goes a long way, but one thing you need to keep in mind is that a lot of these action replays edge connectors are thicker iirc than standard carts. Add this on top of **** metal connectors, which wear down easily and you get this situation.

Another problem i've seen people mention is cracked solder joints...

Pretty cool you fixed it that way.
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