Sega Saturn - splash screen/black screen

andsuchisdeath

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So, I've been using this Japanese Saturn on and off for a year. About a month ago I noticed that I'm receiving a black screen when I power on my saturn 2 out of 5 times.

The LED will be on, and I can hear the disc spinning. Once I power the saturn off and then back on, it will boot up and work without problems at a 100% rate.

A few weeks ago, I removed the battery from my console to see if being brought directly to the date/time menu would have any effect on the start up process. It seemed to help significantly and I hadn't received a black screen until today. So, any idea would the culprit could be? I'm guessing it's the laser, but maybe it's a bios problem?

For the record, I've tried this saturn with/on different

Power supplies
Monitors
S-video cables
Composite cables
Games

The console has never been modified.
I do have a 4mb cartridge in the slot.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:

awbacon

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Sounds bios related. Anecdotally I have a Japanese Saturn, white model 2, with a region mod switch. Randomly I got the exact same issue as you and was so confused. Turns out the switch was neither in the up down position but somewhere in the middle.

Set the switch, never happened again.

I know it’s a different hardware setup, but what you are describing is identical to what I experienced
 

andsuchisdeath

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Sounds bios related. Anecdotally I have a Japanese Saturn, white model 2, with a region mod switch. Randomly I got the exact same issue as you and was so confused. Turns out the switch was neither in the up down position but somewhere in the middle.

Set the switch, never happened again.

I know it’s a different hardware setup, but what you are describing is identical to what I experienced

Ok, thanks.
 

andsuchisdeath

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Are all model 2 saturns the same internally as far as shape goes?

If I wanted to swap guts with a working unit that isn't great cosmetically is there anything I need to be aware of first?
 

Syn

There can be only one.
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No there are revisions and some parts can't be swapped. Power supplies are one. I can't remember but you can figure out what revision you have from the serial number iirc. Sega, Hitachi and Sanyo all made Saturns and different revisions.

https://segaretro.org/Sega_Saturn/Hardware_revisions
 
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titchgamer

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I dont think the serial number is 100% reliable.

Think the only guaranteed way to know which you have is to open it up.

Anyway I would get a modern pico PSU for it if nothing else.
They are not that expensive and will fit any Saturn with the correct jumper settings.
 

andsuchisdeath

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I just want to make it clear..

I'm looking to just swap all of the insides from one shell to another.

Not looking to swap specific parts.

Doing something like this with externally identical models would still prove to be that much of a dice roll?
 
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