Saturn Modchip Issues

[yaler]

I have four of these chips that I could not get them working on both of my Model 2 32 pin IC Saturn.

-The first chip on the left is marked SSIC7A, the crystal is missing in this one. Moving the crystal over from another chip and the drive spun up like normal but it recognizes retail and backup as audio CDs. On the back I tried bridging the other two points next to the 5V but is also thrown me to the audio CD screen
-The second chip marked SSB-02, when installed the laser/disc motor does not move.
-Ignore the third chip pictured
-Chip four marked EMSIC7 acts the same as chip two, I tried moving the jumper bridge and it does not make a difference.
-Chip five (not pictured) is labeled STKEYFA, it's also causes a unresponsive disc drive like chip two. It looks like it has two sets of 21 pin connector soldered in. One side says grey and the other white. The connector on the grey side is loose, and the white printed socket has pins on both side.

I have chips that work fine leading me to believe that the FFC, backup disc, and drive are fine. I tried thicker power cables and I am pulling the power directly from the power supply.



Any suggestions/ideas?
Thanks

[Druid II]

Rob Webb sells EMSIC7-1 type chips, but it seems those are different from your EMSIC7 type, so his install guides may not help.

What boards do your saturns have? I've had a ssb-02 chip that worked perfectly fine in VA7 and VA9 Saturns, both of them with a JVC EXL-P605 drive (32pin). It however did not work with a VA9 saturn with a Sanyo 610-6185-30 drive. Do your saturns have a EXL-P608 drive instead? I've yet buy one of those.

If a chip has double-side connectors, it'll still only work with the cable in one position, not in both. They just put that on the chip because it's what they had at hand.

I've yet to see your third and fifth chips, so I'd be thankful if you could post hq pictures of each, back and front, preferably with the paper and stickers removed.

[yaler]

I've seen Rob Webb's guide as well as the blog of the older EMSIC chips, unfortunately they seem to be no help to me

Both of my boards are VA7 and contains the JVC EXL-P605 drive

Good to know. I have been connecting the cables with the pins facing the cut out corner of the socket, but tried them backwards with no luck either. I've also been connecting 'in' to the drive and 'out' to the mobo.

There are only four chips I could not get working. Well only three now as I got the SSIC7A to work by replacing the 2.2k resistor with a 1K resistor as marked on the board.. not sure why.
I've taken pictures of the three boards earlier but I had not taken off the stickers. I still can not get the disc to spin up on any of these three. I have touched up some of the soldering after taking the pictures
Album
SSB-02 Front Back
EMSIC7 Front Back
STKEYFA Front Back

[Calpis]

The resistor pulls up a TTL level output so it can drive a CMOS input.

[Druid II]

Awesome pictures, though some paper was stuck on it, obscuring a few lines. No matter.

The SSB-02 chip doesn't work because the connectors are set on the 20pin side! And even then, it wouldn't work, you have to remove that resistor between the power line and the connector (or change it to connect to not near the connector, but to the empty hole before it). Then it should work on 20pin machines.
It looks like the connector orientation is different compared to the one I have, but the pinouts otherwise match, so just simply populating the 21pin connectors should make it work with your machines. I'd recommend using connectors that connect on both sides, just in case.

For the emsic7 chip, there seems to be a missing resistor there, give that a try...

[Bad_Ad84]

you have to remove that transistor between the power line and the connector (or change it to connect to not near the connector, but to the empty hole before it). Then it should work on 20pin machines.

There is no transistor on the SSB-02?

Are you talking about the ceramic resonator (or maybe a cap? cant really tell from pic) or the resistor?

[Druid II]

err I meant the resistor that goes into the power line.

[Trenton_net]

@Yaler: Sorry about all the trouble. Most of these chips are cobbled together using whatever parts they have left on hand so Quality Control is probably the last thing on these pirates manufactures minds. If you can't get any of them fixed, or simply don't want to do so, drop me a line and I'll be happy to do an exchange or refund. Though, I think some of those chips might be kind of valuable if you get get them to work. Especially the 20 pin compatible ones. From the looks of things, It sounds like the people on the assembly line just made some simple goofs.

[madhatter256]

bumping an old thread.

Was going through my stuff and found a modchip I ordered from trenton a while ago. I finally found a saturn at a local flea market and its an older model (oval button). Not sure what model exactly as I have not purchase it.

The chip I bought months ago is this:

IMG_0982.JPGIMG_0983.JPGIMG_0984.JPG

This chip came with the ribbon cables and was presoldered. Obviously, this chip is different than what is pictured (see chip #4) in the OP. Comparing both of them, I'm missing a few small components and a chip.

SO, I was wondering what modifications, if any, I would have to do get this chip to work on the oval-button saturn I saw?

[Druid II]

If your oval machine is a VA SD or VA SG model, you just need to find a working jumper combination. If it's a VA0 or VA1 model, you have to rewire it for the 20pin drive (which can be annoying).

One of these days I'll finish the pinouts for each drive...

[madhatter256]

"Working Jumper Combination"?

What do you mean by that exactly? Something on the saturn or the modchip?

How can I tell if it is a VA SD/SG model without opening it up?

Also, I'm am good at soldering, so modifying the chip to work on a 20-pin shouldn't that big of a hassle can you point me to the right chip installation to modify the chip to work with that model?

[Druid II]

If you look at the back of the chip you can see the 0014/0019 pads, that's what I mean. Also, the guide for EMSIC 7-1 chips mention cutting/closing some other connections too (I don't know how accurate those guides are, I just got one chip like that to test yesterday). So yeah.

How can I tell if it is a VA SD/SG model without opening it up?

What's the serial number? Not the model number, but the serial number.

[APE]

There is a guide for modding the EMSIC 7 chips?

[Druid II]

There is a guide for modding the EMSIC 7 chips?

The old consolegood chips are EMSIC 7-1.

[Bad_Ad84]

Which doesnt have a guide for modding for 20 pin afaik

[bart_simpson]

Robb webb console goods now have 20 pin mod chips now.

[Druid II]

Which doesnt have a guide for modding for 20 pin afaik

No, but the pinout is public, you just have to modify the chip through that info.

[Bad_Ad84]

Yes, I know that. But he asked if there was a guide - not a pin out.

[APE]

No, but the pinout is public, you just have to modify the chip through that info.

Yes, I know that. But he asked if there was a guide - not a pin out.

Indeed. If I really wanted to I could modify them with the known pinout. The problem is that the only model 1 Saturn I have doesn't boot discs last time I checked making it difficult to test any modifications.

[Druid II]

Well we can't exactly do guides for 20pin installations on every 21pin chips, because there are a dozen of them, all with different compatibility, plus there are 6 different 21pin drives again all with different compatibility, spread across 3 generation of Saturns, and they seem to all have slightly different pinouts.

Best option is to make a converter based on the pinout for the first 32pin drive (ENR-013A), as most chips seem to be compatible with that.