Saturn 4MB RAM cart problem

Grandmaster · Oct 24, 2009

so i'm trying to play Dungeons and Dragons collection, Shadow over Mystara which requires the 4MB expansion. i have the 4MB cart that came with it and it wont play the game though.

i have a Japanese V-Saturn RG-JX2. Tower of Doom works fine, but when i try to play SoM, i get this:

and i can't go any further. i guess its saying something like: "Can not detect 4MB ram which is required to play this game. Please insert the 4MB ram and try again."

i mean, i dont know what's wrong. is the cartridge slot faulty? is it the Ram cart itself? i cleaned the contacts on the Ram cart and got a decent bit of dirt off, but it still wont recognize it.

any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

SetaSouji?? · Oct 24, 2009

clean the ram card like you would an MVS cart and give it another go.

SuperDeadite · Oct 24, 2009

The Saturn cartridge port is awful. Try fully inserting the cart, then pull it out by a couple millimeters, it will work at some point.

incrediblehark · Oct 24, 2009

last 2 posters are correct, the saturn cartridge port can be VERY finicky at times, you have to keep trying to insert and remove the card, or inserting it just right to get it to work. also cleaning the cart could help, i would recommend (if you can open it) to use a normal pencil eraser to rub off the dirt and grime from the connector pins.

Grandmaster · Oct 25, 2009

thanks guys.

i did some q-tip and alcohol contact cleaning first but it didnt seem to help, so i did exactly that and pushed the cart all the way down, then pulled it up ever so slightly and now it works.

well i'm very happy because this game is sooo fun

kazuo · Oct 27, 2009

Another thing I found that works is fold up a piece of paper and wedge it between the back of the cart and the casing. It seems to help seat the cart properly and prevent the game from failing to see the cart.

The cartridge port on the Saturn fucking sucks.

BigTinz · Oct 28, 2009

Wow. I'm having the exact same problem with zero3 right now.

I'll try that when I get home, it just throws me off because the action replay boots up just fine...but when the game boots I get that error.

Neo Alec · Oct 31, 2009

Yeah, my Saturn needs the cart pulled up a bit to work. The CD drive is broken on that one now.

Grandmaster · Oct 31, 2009

sorry to bring this up again, but i've been messing with this thing for hours and its not working..

i made the mistake of actually removing the cartridge from its sweet spot because while playing Shadows over Mystara, the game was freezing at certain points so i decided i might need to re-seat the cartridge. now i get this screen constantly:

this one i couldnt begin to understand but it's really annoying me.

i'm afraid im going to break my saturn out of anger soon.

kazuo · Oct 31, 2009

Try the paper wedge trick. Trust me. It works.

Grandmaster · Oct 31, 2009

tried the paper thing. doesn't work...

i tried folding the paper different widths while having the 4MB cart sitting all the way inside and also slightly pulled out.

is there anything you guys can see inside of the cartridge slot that i can't?? unfortunately i've been kind of rough with it today moving the cart back and forth and up and down. i tried cleaning it with rubbing alcohol, getting what i could on the contact points. i think i see some white specks inside, but nothing that might prevent it from working.

any other recommendations? hammer? blowtorch? drop kick? i will try it all!

SNKNostalgia · Oct 31, 2009

You could get a very tiny flat-head screwdriver and bend the pins very slightly so it is tighter. It is a little harder to reach the pins in a Saturn and they are small as hell. With a little time and patience it will give you a tighter connection.

Grandmaster · Oct 31, 2009

ok, i poked around with a flathead, put in the cart and pulled it up slightly again and its working for now. i swear i will never move it again.

i dont know if the flathead thing worked or what but i'm not gonna think about it too much.

good Lord is this cartridge slot a pain :oh_no:

i must have spent 5 hours on this thing today.

the fact everyone comes up with these little ways to get it working is telling of how weak and fragile it is.

thanks again to everyone for their help!

alphagamer · Oct 31, 2009

The shitty design of the cartridge slot got me some great deals on "defective" systems.

After the Saturn typical fiddling with the cartridge everything worked.

awbacon · Oct 31, 2009

The saturn cart port is crap. Once you get the cartridge seated properly, LEAVE IT.

SuperDeadite · Oct 31, 2009

It doesn't happen all the time, but I've seen several Saturns where the cart port solder points were cracked and reflowing them made the port work beautifuly again. This is annoying to do, because you have to completaly disassemble the Saturn, but it's something to check.

incrediblehark · Nov 1, 2009

yeah you might want to check the solder points on the underside of the board, next time you remove the cart that is. if you have been rough with the cart in the slot you might have broken some of the connections.

kazuo · Nov 4, 2009

Try folding the paper over like four or five more times until it is around the size of a credit card... that seems to be the best size for it to work.

Once I got it to work, I left the cart in the slot with the paper in there and it works perfect every time.

Grandmaster said:
tried the paper thing. doesn't work...

i tried folding the paper different widths while having the 4MB cart sitting all the way inside and also slightly pulled out.

SetaSouji?? · Nov 4, 2009

did you try cleaning the pin connectors?

Neo Alec · Nov 4, 2009

kazuo said:
Try folding the paper over like four or five more times until it is around the size of a credit card... that seems to be the best size for it to work.

Once I got it to work, I left the cart in the slot with the paper in there and it works perfect every time.

Every cart slot is different. That trick won't do anything for my Saturn because mine's all about pulling one side slightly out.

alphagamer · Nov 5, 2009

Neo Alec said:
Every cart slot is different. That trick won't do anything for my Saturn because mine's all about pulling one side slightly out.

But once you found the trick that works, everything is fine.

If nothing of the fiddling stuff works: one dude I know soldered an action replay directly to the connector.

ki_atsushi · Nov 5, 2009

alphagamer said:
But once you found the trick that works, everything is fine.

If nothing of the fiddling stuff works: one dude I know soldered an action replay directly to the connector.

That would make a great mod, installing an action replay inside the Saturn. Just remove the action replay from it's case and solder wires from the contacts to the cart slot contacts on the underside of the Saturn board. Then find a place inside the Saturn to place the board. Make an internal action replay.

incrediblehark · Nov 5, 2009

ki_atsushi said:
That would make a great mod, installing an action replay inside the Saturn. Just remove the action replay from it's case and solder wires from the contacts to the cart slot contacts on the underside of the Saturn board. Then find a place inside the Saturn to place the board. Make an internal action replay.

cool idea, but maybe add an on/off switch so you can still use the cart slot for memory cards, even though the slot is a POS

Breetai · Nov 5, 2009

I've got two Saturns and can say that the cartridge port on both of them is like this. I've got the "feel" for it now and can get it working about 80% of the time on the first try.

Memory carts work fine, it's just the RAM expansion carts that have trouble (both 1MB and 4MB).

DragonmasterDan · Nov 6, 2009

Saturn problem

I saw this thread and decided to reply.

I own SIX Saturns, five US models one Japanese model. They all have problems with carts.

I have one US Saturn, I leave an official Sega memory card in at all times. Despite owning several third party memory cards, 4 in 1, action replay, a game shark, 4 meg cart, it's nearly impossible to get them to read consistantly. If you get a card working leave it in.

After years of toggling with ST keys, 4 in 1s and such to play imports. I recently broke down and bought a Japanese Saturn (which of course won't read carts either). It's just a mess to use. My recommendation, use official Sega cards (memory, or 4 meg) and NEVER EVER EVER remove them when you get them working.

Saturn 4MB RAM cart problem

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