# So my friend cracked open his SNES and found this...



## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

Ideas? 





>


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## zoogie (Jun 19, 2015)

I guess this is some sort of clone? Not uncommon.
(if it works then all's ok unless you're a collector i suppose)


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## VinsCool (Jun 19, 2015)

What the fuck is this? 

My snes definitely doesn't look like that.


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## Walker D (Jun 19, 2015)

lol  that's bad and cool at the same time 

  ..seems like a old kind of clone that actually works? ...I wonder if it play Super FX games normally too..


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## zerofalcon (Jun 19, 2015)

A second generation SNES right? Looks like someone mod it or maybe is a clone as previously mentioned, but I wonder what kind of mod is this.. batteries inside a snes thats uncommon.


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## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

It seemed so strange to me as well. I should add that the console had what looked like an original SNSP-CPU-01 board in it, but I can't really understand what the added modification is for.


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## loco365 (Jun 19, 2015)

I'm wondering if it's a toggle for 50/60Hz mode, because in the side of the image there's a small switch. Or else perhaps it could be part of a copier, or else a clone, but I don't see why a clone would require batteries...


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## Walker D (Jun 19, 2015)

Maybe the battery is related to the clone's EPROM?  or the clone uses it to save data, other than using the cartridge's batteries ?


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## Joe88 (Jun 19, 2015)

Can you get more pics?
Really weird what mod this is uses batteries


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## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

I'll ask him to take some more pics. 

Imgur album for those interested

There's nothing special about the motherboard itself, as I've mentioned earlier it looks original.


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## Sicklyboy (Jun 19, 2015)

Hardwired alkaline batteries... LOL.

No idea what that is but the idea of soldering in alkaline batteries rather than using clips is just ridiculous.

Can your friend get some properly oriented, non-potato pictures of the chips?  I know the silkscreening on the top is mostly sanded off but we might still be able to discern something from them provided good pictures.  The bottom row of text isn't giving me anything in Google.


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## Walker D (Jun 19, 2015)

Sicklyboy said:


> Can your friend get some properly oriented, non-potato pictures of the chips?


Maybe even a non-potato video?


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## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

Sicklyboy said:


> Hardwired alkaline batteries... LOL.
> 
> No idea what that is but the idea of soldering in alkaline batteries rather than using clips is just ridiculous.
> 
> Can your friend get some properly oriented, non-potato pictures of the chips?  I know the silkscreening on the top is mostly sanded off but we might still be able to discern something from them provided good pictures.  The bottom row of text isn't giving me anything in Google.


I'll see what he can do, good sir. Unfortunately, he only has his phone camera at hand, but he should still be able to get some nice close up shots of the chips.

It really is a strange sort of modification, isn't it? You would think that whoever did this had some sort of goal in mind.


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## Nathan Drake (Jun 19, 2015)

I'm half wondering if this was some just started attempt at making the SNES into a portable that was given up on, reassembled, and just sold off as is. Of course, I'm probably totally wrong, but Googling has failed me so eat my shot in the dark.


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## xdarkmario (Jun 19, 2015)

this is very perplexing i like it, and im very curious on what it does.


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## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

Close up of the chips! 





>


Can't help but notice the "killer" printing in the top left corner of the board.


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## zoogie (Jun 19, 2015)

It looks like one of those homemade soldering project kits.

lol


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## Sicklyboy (Jun 19, 2015)

So... what does it do when he tries to turn it on?

With a cart in?

Without a cart?


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## The Catboy (Jun 19, 2015)

OK, I am following this thread. I really want to know more about this. There has to be more information about this mod, plus the battery really seems interesting.


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## Duo8 (Jun 19, 2015)

Is this soldered onto the mainboard? If so, where?


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## Apache Thunder (Jun 19, 2015)

Perhaps it was some kind of rom dumper?


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## Armadillo (Jun 19, 2015)

There was a company who made a limited amount of an auto switching region mod that claimed to use a custom design (this was before the SuperCIC was around I think). If it's hooked to the pin that controls 50/60Hz, it could be that. Their name escapes me at the moment.


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Jun 19, 2015)

Apache Thunder said:


> Perhaps it was some kind of rom dumper?



I'm with you on this. It would make sense that it would need its own power source to operate (hence the batteries). Some sort of region switching/region free mod would likely run off a power source on the consoles motherboard' like a traditional modchip would. My thoughts are perhaps, whatever this is, draws too much load for the SNES to operate properly, hence its own power source. 

Are there any sort of external ports on this thing or the SNES itself for perhaps connecting a pc for a rom dump? Also those loose wires coming off, what are/were they connected to??


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## Coto (Jun 19, 2015)

well it has some dip-switches. and a few ram/rom circuits.

could be either a dumper or this guy really liked a game and put it in:

edit: nope:


http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/snes-5060hz-switch-with-lockout-switch/

apparently there's a missing circuitry (lockout chip) there.






as the guy two posts below said


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## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

Hello again. Please excuse me for being absent without leaving a note.

To answer the question of the console working or not. It doesn't. The console powers on, and on my TV I got what only looked like standard analog noise. While manually searching for the SNES on my TV i managed to get what looked like a solid blue screen when the console was powered on. Naturally, this solid blue screen disappears whenever I power off the console, so there's clearly a connection between these two things.

I'm starting to wonder if the RF component inside the SNES is busted, but I don't really know what the usual symptoms of such a component failure would look like on the television.

Suffice to say, my friend has now ordered an AV cable online to see if he's able to get it working then.

The soldered cables end up here on the main board of the SNES. 





>



Edit: I should at that I cut the cables in the picture when I was troubleshooting on his SNES. The SNES didn't work in the first place, which is why we opened it. I suspect that whatever mod this might be, the console was in working order with this added mod way back when. My friend bought in on an online marketplace a few months ago.


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## WigWrm (Jun 19, 2015)

U8 is missing. That's the region lockout chip. Probably needs populated for the console to run.


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## Chiramii (Jun 19, 2015)

So the console could work with a properly seated lockout chip? I know someone that might still have a faulty SNES, so I'm wondering if it would be possible to use the lockout chip on that SNES to get this one working. Could be a nice little project.

Or is the lockout chip different with each motherboard revision?


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## loco365 (Jun 19, 2015)

I know what it is, based on the images provided.

It's a lockout circumvention chip. The three wires coming out of where the lockout chip is connects to the weird board that's attached, however, the batteries are dead, so it can't function. If you re-attach the wires and replace the batteries, that board will act like a lockout chip, and the switch will allow you to change other things (I presume region? Perhaps it's like the NES in that the SNES had two EUR regions?).


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## WigWrm (Jun 19, 2015)

You need to know what the PCB revision is. After that, a quick google search will let ya know what revision of the chip you need for your model.



Chiramii said:


> So the console could work with a properly seated lockout chip? I know someone that might still have a faulty SNES, so I'm wondering if it would be possible to use the lockout chip on that SNES to get this one working. Could be a nice little project.
> 
> Or is the lockout chip different with each motherboard revision?


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## gudenau (Jun 19, 2015)

Why would it need the batterys though, that is quite odd to me. There is no way that thig draws that much power, and if it did why would there not be a second wallwart instead?


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## Retr0Capez (Jun 19, 2015)

Chiramii said:


> Ideas?


Don't you love it when your snes has a battery?

Mod it so you can have a portable snes


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## Joe88 (Jun 19, 2015)

guess the easiest way would to be try replacing that battery which for whatever reason was soldered and hotglued in


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## Chiramii (Jun 20, 2015)

Time to fire up the old trusty soldering iron then, and bring this monstrosity back to life.


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## Walker D (Jun 20, 2015)

I like this Thread 

hope the Snes works again, so we can see what the extra pcb is all about


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## migles (Jun 20, 2015)

solder alkaline batteries. what an idiot (the dude who did it) 
they don't last that long, eventually need to replace and it is a pain in the ass to remove them


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## gudenau (Jun 21, 2015)

migles said:


> solder alkaline batteries. what an idiot (the dude who did it)
> they don't last that long, eventually need to replace and it is a pain in the ass to remove them


And that could lead to pain aswell...


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## hatch (Jun 23, 2015)

Any updates on this? I am quite curious ...


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## BORTZ (Jun 23, 2015)

What a friggin strange thing to do to an SNES. I have heard of mods and stuff, but to solder in a battery? So, does it work if you just pull the board out?


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