weird sega saturn issue

[Foxi4]

Yeah, the two points are the static shield, if you hadn't done that, the laser wouldn't turn on.

I'm pretty stumped, I have no idea what's bothering your system. Did you make that backup copy off of the disc that didn't work? Because if that's the case, this one might not work either. If you had a clean dump from a different source though, I'm out of ideas at this point.

You could try calibrating the laser anyways, just to see if it improves the situation. Remember, factory settings aren't necessarily good enough to read a battered/old disc. If it doesn't help at all, the issue is way out of my league - I did my best to help you locate it. Honestly though, my Saturn also ended up on a black screen instead of loading the game and a simple "rinse and repeat" normally "helped" when the system was picky - it's bizzare that the issue pops up every single time.

If nobody else manages to help you, try asking at racketboy.com, sega-16.com, assemblergames.com or atariage.com - there's plenty of modders there who might've experienced this issue as well.

 

[Clairjoe]

haha i have already posted on all of those websites and have yet to get a response you were the only one who even tried :/ thanks anyway. I used a copy of nights that i downloaded so not the same disc.

 

[Foxi4]

haha i have already posted on all of those websites and have yet to get a response you were the only one who even tried :/ thanks anyway. I used a copy of nights that i downloaded so not the same disc.

I'll stay on the lookout for possible explainations, but the only things that cross my mind are the lens (which is an unlikely culprit since it reads other discs and was just replaced) and the memory (which would be bizzare since some games work just fine). I really hope that you'll get your answer, at this point I'm curious myself to be honest.

 

[Clairjoe]

Thank you verry much for the help even though we got nowhere. atleast we are somewhat closer to finding out what could be wrong?

 

[Clairjoe]

OH! one thing i forgot to add that may or may not make a difference. some of the games boot up past the SEGA logo, but then go to black screen after the part where the companies logo shows up. nights however as i mentioned before doesn't even get this far. when booting up Panzer Dragoon the first picture showed up then it went black. i have tried burning discs of other saturn games i own and having the same result with the burned copies as the originals.

 

[loco365]

It could simply be that the ToC is being read improperly, perhaps a scratch is on them. A PC's laser is far more powerful, so it can read a scratched disc with a decent margin of error. A Saturn, maybe not so much. Have you tried getting a new copy of the games that don't work and try those?

I don't own a Saturn, but it's relevant enough...

 

[Clairjoe]

Yes i have tried my friends copies of the games on my console and they have tried my copies on theirs my copies worked fine on his saturns and his copies didn't work at all on mine. this is another reason why i am sure it is not the disc or the laser

 

[Clairjoe]

UPDATE: the saturn is now only launching the BIOs about 40% of the time. could this contribute to the issue or is my saturn just dying

 

[Foxi4]

UPDATE: the saturn is now only launching the BIOs about 40% of the time. could this contribute to the issue or is my saturn just dying

Okay, that is worrying. Are you sure that you haven't shorted anything when replacing the laser lens? Is the laser lens ribbon attached properly and were the connectors clean when you installed it? Is the button battery in the Saturn alive or do you have to set the date up every time you turn the system on? Are you experiencing any glitching at all in the games that do work? You should extensively test that.

 

[Clairjoe]

I have not played the games that do work much but i will sit with them for a few hours. I am sure because nothing was wrong until 2 days after replacing the laser. and everything was clean when i did it. i replaced the battery about 4 days ago so i know it is good.

 

[Foxi4]

I have not played the games that do work much but i will sit with them for a few hours. I am sure because nothing was wrong until 2 days after replacing the laser. and everything was clean when i did it. i replaced the battery about 4 days ago so i know it is good.

When the system's GUI isn't popping up, does anything else start up? Do you hear the CD spindle spinning or the lens attempting to read something? Is the power light on? If nothing starts up, it could be a damaged power button or PSU, in both cases it should be easily fixable. If you do hear other components working, there could be some foul magic at work here.

 

[Clairjoe]

I'm starting to think of giving up on this saturn and trying to find one for cheap....but i havn't come by them for under $50 in a while...

 

[Clairjoe]

when i turn it on the light turns green and the disc spins, not as fast as it would at first start up, but faster than it does when it slows down to read the disc. i however do not hear the laser moving when the bios doesn't start up

 

[Foxi4]

when i turn it on the light turns green and the disc spins, not as fast as it would at first start up, but faster than it does when it slows down to read the disc. i however do not hear the laser moving when the bios doesn't start up

I think that you should attempt disassembling and re-assembling the lens assembly and double-checking all the ribbon connectors - I find it odd that the BIOS would stop starting all of a sudden, something might not be connected properly. There's always the slight possibility of some form of memory degradation, but your issues appear to be very... "random" in nature.

 

[Clairjoe]

OK i will try to check both ribon cables just incase. but i was able to start it up to the BIOS without the laser assembly or any part of the disc drive installed before

 

[Clairjoe]

its not changing anything. :/

 

[Clairjoe]

someone else suggested it may be a faulty BIOS or Firmware.

 

[Foxi4]

OK i will try to check both ribon cables just incase. but i was able to start it up to the BIOS without the laser assembly or any part of the disc drive installed before

Removing an essential part from the system messes up resistance in all sorts of ways, you generally shouldn't turn on an incomplete system unless you're sure that the circuits are isolated and won't impact the rest of the motherboard. Seeing that the issue popped up after replacing the laser, that's the first thing to check.

someone else suggested it may be a faulty BIOS or Firmware.

It could be. I said earlier that the memory might've gotten corrupted, but that's a very rare case. Replacing the BIOS would require removing the original mask ROM and replacing it with a Flash ROM with a BIOS image flashed onto it. As with most older systems, the original BIOS chip is non-programmable, so you can't flash it as-is. I found this guy who sells Saturn BIOS chips at an affordable price, you could contact him if you plan on replacing it.

EDIT: I really suggest taking the issue to Assemblergames.com if you haven't yet - the sheer amount of hardware nerds there is staggering and they'll probably be able to help you if you haven't gotten any responses on the other sites you've asked this question on. I'm personally stumped, there's too many things that could've gotten borked for me to narrow the issue down. All I can give you is general tips:

• Check the capacitors on the whole system and especially the PSU - poor power supply can cause all sorts of nonsense to happen. If they're buldging or leaking, they need to go.
• Check for signs of any prior modifications done to the system by previous owners - the system's behavior is odd.
• It could be a borked BIOS, so look into replacing the ROM chip if nothing else works.
• It could be corrupted/borked RAM, but you'd probably see more glitching if that was the case.
• It could be SH-1 being funny, in which case you're f*cked. The SH-1 chip controls the CD-ROM security measures and may kick you out of a Data track if it fails to recognize the security ring. This processor has its own embedded memory, so if that memory is corrupt, there's nothing you can do about it.

 

[tbgtbg]

Did this Saturn ever work right or has it been acting up ever since you bought it?

 

[Clairjoe]

I was given it by a friend and he told me it just needed a new laser. so i guess it never really worked right.