A Sega Saturn SD Card Loader - Fenrir ODE install and Test on a JUNK console!

** This video is kindly sponsored by Altium! Get your free trial at www.altium.com... and start your Altium journey today! **
In this video we take a tatty, non-working Sega Saturn that was donated by Mike Dailly - the creator of Lemmings. We see what the problem is with the console, and then look to install a Fenrir ODE (Optical Drive Emulator) so we can load Saturn games from SD card.
We do the full Fenrir install, update the Fenrir Firmware and test some USA,
European and Japanese games to see if the automatiic region switching works.
This musty, dusty console suprised me a LOT! Big thanks to @RMC - The Cave for the television set and Mike Dailey for the console.
🤞 PLEASE HELP MARK FIXES STUFF SURVIVE 🏆: Due to "The Event" my livelihood vanished in a puff of magic blue smoke. If you can spare some change to help support the channel it is really appreciated; even the smallest pledge goes a long way in helping make more content and feed my cats (and children). Visit / markfixesstuff for more info about Patreon Benefits!
I bought the Fenrir directly from www.fenrir-ode... - there are 20 and 21 pin versions, but a serial checker on the page will find the version you need.
The Fenrir Mount is free here - www.thingivers... - Thanks to Moriartym for the great model!

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

When in the right hands, by people who cared and knew what they were doing, the Saturn was about as capable as the PS was. Unfortunately it was quite often the case, that 3D multi Platform games were ofen made on PS first then ported to the Saturn, and because of its complex hardware architecture, developers found it either too hard or too time consuming to harness the full power of the Saturn. For the Saturns most impressive 3D games Check out: Panzer dragoon 1 & 2, Exhumed, Burning Rangers, Nights, Virtua Fighter 2, Dead or Alive, Last Bronx, Sega Rally, Duke Nukem, Quake (frame rate is low but still impressive), Sega Rally (impressive for a late 95 release)

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Bulk Slash is one I’d add to the list. I’m making sure I add all the ones you mentioned to the card so thanks for taking the time to let me know :) Totally agree with the porting issue. Same thing as MSX games being lazy Spectrum ports 99% of the time

[@unverifiedbiotic]

That's all well and good, but the Saturn was haphazardly slapped together and hard to program for. Sega had the technology, amazing engineers in R&D and software developers, but had terrible management and corporate structure, which caused them to somehow miss the fact that the console absolutely had to be 3d-capable and easy to program for, since developers would have to practically learn making games anew in 3d. You can make a barebones Genesis run a Wolfenstein 3d 1:1 recreation, but it had to be written 30 years later in assembly by someone who had the knowledge, time and will to do it for fee, all impossible back when that system was new.

[@GhibliNova]

​@@MarkFixesStuff Panzer Dragoon Saga is the best looking 3D game of the 32 bit generation. And it's a fantastic game to boot

[@Jolly-Green-Steve]

Saturn has better 2D games for the most part. It needed more ram by default to get that MK2 port right. It is still the best home port of the time the 32x version is not better. It also has the only arcade perfect port of Street Fighter 2/CE/Turbo of the 16/32 bit era with Capcom Generations 5 released only in Japan in 1998. Big mistake Capcom not making that a U.S. launch window title. Capcom also effed up never porting Cadillacs or AVP.

[@runcmd8851]

I too missed out on the Saturn due to turning to the ps1.. makes me want to revisit this old sega friend... cheers mark on the hunt now lol

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Some great Japan only games with fan translations out there too!!

[@Colin_Ames]

Great to see another video from you Mark. I hope all is well with you and your family.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks Colin. We are good thank you !

[@nathan_tasker]

Fantastic stuff as always Mark. It always makes my day when I see that you uploaded another video. I hope everything is going well with you and your family and the plans for rebuilding the house is moving forward swiftly.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks Nathan. The house is going a bit slower than I would hope but we will get there eventually

[@nathan_tasker]

@@MarkFixesStuff you’re welcome Mark. Sorry to hear about the delays, and I hope they get sorted out soon.

[@davidretrogamesplayedbadly3533]

Nice magnetising action 👍. Looks like a great bit of kit mate, everyone loves parodious 🥰.

[@matthewmartin4602]

OK, this convinced me to get a Fenrir. Nice one Mark! BTW, is it just me, or was Mark having too much fun magnetizing that screwdriver?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Never too much fun at tool time :)

[@MrLurchsThings]

You know Neil has the remote. He just didn’t give it to you 😁

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Yep.

[@Enchurito]

It's a Sony, finding a universal remote that could control it should be cheap and easy to find

[@jeremysart]

I was able to score a 20 pin Fenrir off eBay at a discount, and thus ordered myself an mk1 NTSC-J Saturn, hope I have as easy of a time getting her up and running! Great video!

[@frankowalker4662]

Nice mod. Is it Terry and Daves day off ? Slackers. :)

[@MarkFixesStuff]

They booked the day off for “drinking practice”

[@retronicksprogrammingchann2337]

Thad's some screw driver magnetizing skills, you can tell you are a real pro!

[@P5ychoFox]

I installed a Fenrir to my Saturn and it’s great. My Saturn was broken when I got it and needed a pico PSU as the original kept popping (even after a recap).

[@MarkFixesStuff]

They do that!

[@cadburybunny]

Great Vid Mark!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks so much. Also, I read this in your voice.

[@wojiaobill]

"let's magnetize our screwdriver" giggity

[@keiiko]

About the remote control of the telly, you can try some cheapo universal ones it might work. 😉 Btw that magnetizing action was rly hot 😏 The CD actually contains data on the top, not on the bottom, so you can clean the bottom a bit more ;)

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Lol, I see what you did there! I might try to get the right control, but I really like this Tv as well. It’s lcd but it is 4:3 and has SCART, RF, composite, component and VGA inputs. It’s really useful and it was free from a local Facebook user!

[@hollybrereton3140]

I'm less than 2 mins and already Neil's done half a job and Mark's double entendre are on overload, it's going to be good one folks.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I was wondering when you were going to show up Holly!

[@johnziggiridis3168]

Nice presentation mate

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you John. I’m trying to get better!

[@Bobbus74]

Just bought a Fenrir at last, so of course I had to refer back to this video. Top stuff Mark.

[@xvazquez2]

Nice work! That CRT Tv makes a huge difference!!!

[@Squad2ND]

Thanks for giving the Saturn some love.

[@smithincanton]

I've really missed your puns :-D Love to have you back Mark!

[@nsp265]

So sad seeing all that fire damaged stuff. Great to see you back up and running and making really interesting content though.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks Nick! It’s time for me to move on and forward now.

[@cackoocacho1629]

17:40 I know. It's why I love these old Japanese games. Rock on, old Japan.

[@BodaScambaits]

Loved this! These kind of mods are awesome.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks mate. Another Saturn vid this week

[@SMlFFY85]

The next video better come quick because I don't think I'll be able to relax until I see that case get at least a quick wipe.

[@markpayne2162]

Wednesday evening...

[@EnjoySynthSounds]

Such an undervalued Console. I remember i had it and played Quake, Tomb Raider, Baku Baku Animal and so on. Swallowed up by the PSX popularity unfortunately.

[@PhidSillips]

Love the videos Mark 😀

[@philipboggs3372]

I missed the Saturn in the 90s since I had a PlayStation. Last March I modded a Japanese Saturn by adding a TerraOnion M.O.D.E. and did the FRAM mod and I absolutely love it. I have several of the Retrobit controllers for the Saturn and the Genesis(Mega Drive) and have found them to be good controllers, I really like the wireless one for the Saturn and you can purchase an extra dongle to make it work for the Genesis too.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Some great games in the later part of the Saturn’s life. It died out in Europe and the USA but had a longer run in Japan!

[@philipboggs3372]

I've mostly been playing some of the SUMPS on it that were only released in Japan but I've also played quite a bit of the fan translation of Symphony of the Night.

[@petemc4190]

Looking forward to seeing what else you plan to do with the Saturn! Fingers crossed for a top quality show of how to not need the battery for saving

[@MarkFixesStuff]

This week we will address the 50/60hz issue and I have some FRAM on the way from China for a future memory mod!

[@petemc4190]

@@MarkFixesStuff I can't wait!!

[@DariusPowers]

I’m going to take a guess the drive cable was disconnected after removal of a bypass circuit board to allow burned CDs to be played before the top was put back on. If you are wanting to play the Castlevania game you mentioned you’ll want to grab a 4mb ram cartridge to go with it as there’s a homebrew developer that’s improved the game loading times, amongst other bells and whistles to make use of the advantages of the ram cart

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I had one of those boards in my Saturn that got burned in the fire so you might be into something there. I’m definitely looking for a 1mb/4mb switching ram cart. It’s hard though because I don’t want pseudo Saturn… there’s already enough region trickery going on with the Fenrir, and soo the switch less mod.

[@adambaranek]

Fantastic vid. Looking forward to the next one. Too bad Saturn didn’t really do well, it always seemed like a great machine. I remember playing one for a bit in a department store but never knew anyone who actually bought one. Someday I’d like to pick one up.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Follow up is released this wednesday evening!

[@d.logic1]

i'd like to see your install guide on the FRAM mod for sure!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I should get one really

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I’ve ordered some FRAM from China. Watch this space!

[@CortinasAndClassics]

Great fix Mark. Personally I don't like the disk drive removal, i would rather use the kit for the the expansion port in the back of the console. 👍🏻

[@MarkFixesStuff]

That kit is a bit beyond my financial reach right now. To be completely honest, when I planned this video I thought the drive was dead, so to have a working spare in the racking is a bonus! I can always pop it back in as well, so it’s reversible:)

[@akiraokami]

I just bought a Saturn myself, debating if I want to get one of the cartridges that lets you play backups or an ODE, this video has almost convinced me to go the ODE route.

[@Rockythefishman]

nice video mate, another one saved for the future

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks mate! It’s a lot of fun as well!

[@luapco1516]

nice mod i really want to try this one

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

Well done Mark. Looks like a decent mod 👍

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Easy to do and adds a lot to the Saturn imho Deano!

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

@@MarkFixesStuff looks like I’ll have to make a purchase 👍

[@mashk]

Always a little bittersweet seeing the Saturn get some love when it was ignored back in the day. I had both PS and Saturn but I always preferred the Saturn, partly because it was the underdog and unfairly neglected. It's definitely aged better than the PSX simply because the eras 2d games have aged better than the early 3d games of the time.

[@jcdenton1310]

Good to see you back mark

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks so much :)

[@GORF_EMPIRE]

Every guy wants to magnify their screwdriver! 🤣🤣🤣Always a pleasure to watch an I hope all is well!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

“Ready… for action”

[@BocaRetroGames]

Yes!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks mate. You well?

[@BocaRetroGames]

@@MarkFixesStuff I'm happy to see a new vídeo of yours ! I've got to get myself a fenrir too. But first I've got to get another saturn with a broken laser, as mine is ok. I hope things are better for you and your family 👪

[@kentb3175]

A 60Hz mod would be awesome Mark.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

That’s the next video, and my patrons are watching it right now!

[@chriscrossan8034]

"What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!"

[@markpayne2162]

but enough talk...

[@chriscrossan8034]

@@markpayne2162 Have at you!

[@loganjorgensen]

Definitely something I'd recommend to anyone buying a SS now since I think that will give them the smoothest most positive experience with the platform. Very nice bracket mount, like it was always there. :D I'm not there yet for no physical media, I have NA games to play more of and just got my import/RAM setup sorted with an Action Replay cart. :)

[@consty715]

Like to see that fram mod you were talking about. Also are there any modern power supplies available?

[@alubaldini]

I own same model and optical drive damaged I would like install this

[@Takala99]

I have the same TV with missing remote, missing flap and constant OSD :D

[@hacktheplanet.]

The price tag on this outweighs the games actually worth having on the Saturn. Might as well go for the flashed cart and play the backups.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I think it depends on what you want to play. Some of the later Japanese titles are excellent and if you have a duff drive anyway (which I expected) then it’s a good buy in my own opinion. I’m not here to sell it though. It just something I bought online.

[@hacktheplanet.]

@@MarkFixesStuff Like most consoles of the era the Japanese collection has a lot of gems. Even if the drive is a duff you can grab a Saturn for £40 (bought one last week to go with my Japanese model). It's an expensive bit of kit. But, it's your money!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

@@hacktheplanet. I’ve actually just realised I don’t have a CD burner or any blank cds.

[@hacktheplanet.]

@@MarkFixesStuff That's because all of your games are legally purchased Mark. Why would you need one of those? 😉

[@lmfsilva3000]

I wouldn't sweat too much over the drive mod since I don't know if the pressed CDs were terrible in Europe, or it was a mix of a lot of people not knowing how to handle CDs because it was the first thing they owned that used them other than a Walkman that skipped a lot anyway and the awful boxes that couldn't hold them in place and the later revision held them too tightly and you had to carefully not bend the disc, but here more often than not you'd have a tough time getting CDs that still worked.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Bit rot is a thing for sure on the Saturn discs.

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

@@MarkFixesStuff In my experience, if a disc has been looked after, you'll usually find That it'll still be as good as new today. I still have all the games i originally purchased for my Saturn and they are all in excellent condition because i looked after them, why wouldn't you? People don't realize that the Data is just stuck to the top of a single disc with sometimes just a single coating of Lacquer to protect it, PlayStation 1 Platinum games are terrible for Disc rot for that very reason.

[@lmfsilva3000]

@@RetroGamesBoy78 I've seen people who were always extremely careful with their discs, not a scratch in them, but against light you could see a lot of tiny holes in them. One person almost had tears on his eyes when he discovered one of his three-digit games was worthless as the audio skipped and failed to load data very early in the game. Certainly not all, but some disks are quietly eating themselves on shelves right now, after almost 30 years.

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

@@lmfsilva3000 it can happen, I've heard of sealed games being opened to find they have disc rot. I have a collection of approximately 400 CD games, 300 boxed & 100 loose, I have a little pile of discs with disc rot (10 or so) they are all PlayStation platinum games that I've bought loose, only 1 boxed title ive bought has had disc rot. The only way disc rot can occur is when the elements are able to get to the reflective metallic layer, so only bad luck, poor disc production or careless handling of the disc should result in disc rot taking hold.

[@silenthill4]

the cleaning step should have just been dropping it into an ultrasonic and you're done

[@Tomorer]

Yes. 3D printer. Looks good.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I think so too!

[@TLOWNSU]

Just a shame right now that the fenrir is OOS indefinitely because of the chip shortage. That and the other 2 options (MODE and Satiator) are more expensive.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

It’s out of stock now? Oh no!

[@peterbruin5154]

Great video. Quick question however. Is the 3d printed mount strictly for model 1 Saturn? Thanks!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

It doesn’t seem to be. I only have this one here though.

[@renerens]

nice! time to dust off my Saturn and order a fenrir!

[@BinManSays87]

There's a new mod for this coming out soon that allows you to use the stock drive and the ode think it's the Saturn switcher or something like that macho nacho did I video on it just the other day man so scope it out and rock the best of both worlds

[@grunnindieps1-stylesurviva200]

Good stuff and seems so easy to do! Does Panzer Dragon Saga work on this? Because I can't really get any burned version to run well on my Saturn.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

It should because compatibility is about 100%. I'm pretty sure I've run it on mine. If a title doesn't run it's because of a bad dump. I make sure I have a redump. Yes... I know I said dump. Stop sniggering at the back!

[@grunnindieps1-stylesurviva200]

@@MarkFixesStuff i tried a bunch of different roms and also a redump. Most of them do boot but they freeze after either one of the first few intro videos. I found one that sorta worked but i had to tilt my Saturn on its side to get past cutscenes hahah, seemed to work somehow. All other burned games and originals play just fine. Any tips would be welcome. I'd love to finally play this classic

[@adultmoshifan87]

Do you have a repaired 30003 model PS2 I can have? I got my system ModBo modded in 2020 but now it can’t get past the first loading screen in ANY PS2 game!

[@markpayne2162]

Sorry, I lost most of everything in the fire.

[@TheOriginalMOS]

My unit is defo a snugger fit

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I’m jelly now.

[@plan7a]

If I remember correctly it is possible to turn off he osd by pressing two of the buttons at the same time, or holding one down and then pressing another, but this might not work with this television. And I might be remembering this wrongly? (Others might bring up a setup screen). Perhaps looking up the model number might help, someone might have a better idea than me.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I've tried all kinds of finger yoga. In the end I got a small LCD 4:3 TV

[@MarcKloos]

A translucent _smoke_ grey joypad...

[@markpayne2162]

...smoke.... >>>TRIGGERRRRRRED

[@devriak4263]

I was about to fix my saturn as it has the black screen too so probably just the reset button problem, but I got put off by the shock hazard sticker on the bottom. Is there really that much hazard? I mean I'm not going to be dangling a screwdriver over the psu components. Someone speaking who is a bit of an electrical newbie here.

[@andrewsawesome]

You won't get shocked as long as you don't touch the PSU. If you do plan to work on the PSU, you can use a high value resistor to discharge the capacitors.

[@Nightopian1982]

I've got the Fenrir Duo ODE at the end of last year, and it's great. I'm curious though about your installation here. When you removed the CD drive, you then tightened the screw holding it in place back onto the chassis/motherboard. Is this necessary? I can't actually recall if I even took this step, but I'm having a few problems with games loading on the Fenrir, and I'm troubleshooting various things.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

No, it was just a place to put the screw. I had a few titles that wouldn’t load. The icon would just rotate and the title wouldn’t boot. I just found different dumps that did work. Have you updated to the latest firmware for the Duo?

[@Nightopian1982]

@@MarkFixesStuff I've used the latest website one (1.5.8), but there's a beta currently being used by people on the Discord channel (1.6.0). Obviously beta is for testing purposes, but I've used a beta before that worked okay. I'm not entirely convinced it's down to the firmware. My thinking is that the ribbon is either damaged in the Saturn end, and/or the Duo end. I've got a replacement (although it's longer than the one I got with the Duo), but not got round to trying out my theory yet. Another thing I'm going to try is a spare SD card I've got, together with a different dump/format of games (I've found a lot of the CCD/IMG versions have more success than the BIN/CUE ones). I've also got a bottle of isopropyl alcohol to clean some parts of the console, including the cartridge slot, because I'm also having detection issues with both my carts. Lots to do, but so little free time at present! At least a good portion of my games are fine.

[@rhysdvd]

if you had a working optical drive why didn't you also install The SaturnSwitcher mod that lets you keep the cd drive and allows you to use a Fenrir

[@davehall8458]

Does fenrir support multi disc games now? EDIT never mind it doesn't support multi disc games that require in game disc switching.

[@markpayne2162]

As you say. I'm not sure what games that is though to be honest.

[@drew73101]

Is there a similar product for the PlayStation ?

[@markpayne2162]

The XStation. I install one here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4uUdHx6j9ljepY

[@clappinmonkey0944]

Are these compatible with action replay?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Yes. In fact I use this loader - ppcenter.webou.net/pskai/

[@NigelDraycott]

innuendos as far as the eye can see

[@MrWalberBarbosa]

ola, me manda um link de compra para esta placa ???? pleaaaaasseeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Você pode comprá-lo do criador aqui. Ele está na França, mas envia para todo o mundo. Desde que este vídeo foi feito, A nova placa foi lançada. É universal para consoles com cabos flat de 20 e 21 pinos. Eu espero que isso ajude!

[@ZettDarkstone]

MSX!!!! yeah good way to use a sega.

[@markpayne2162]

I have a real MSX2 in the pile for repairs here soon!

[@ZettDarkstone]

@@markpayne2162 Cool dude! yeah Philips i think?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

@@ZettDarkstone my Phillips perished in the fire I’m afraid. The new one has some keyboard damage from shipping. Sony I think??? I can’t recall right now!

[@Nightopian1982]

I'm a bit of a newbie to these mods, but was hoping that one of you could help me if possible with a couple of, most probably, stupid questions. I'm considering buying a pre-modded Saturn with Fenrir and a Micro SD card. 1) if the games aren't pre-loaded onto the SD card, as I'm not expecting them to be, where can I get hold of them from? 2) are there any tutorial vids on here to help beginners with setup etc? Just to be clear, I don't want to know how to fit the mod, I would just like to know how easy it is for someone like me to get the games up and running! I'm desperate to play PDS again after twenty odd years of only having the first disc!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

1) archive.org is your friend 2) it’s easy to set up. Copy the files onto a fat32 formatted sd card. www.fenrir-ode.fr/faq.html#what-is-it There’s an install guide on the Fenrir site. If you can use a screwdriver you can install it. Just make sure you get the right version for your Saturn. There’s a 20 and a 21 pin version and you can check the version you need with the serial number checker on the website. Hope this helps

[@Nightopian1982]

@@MarkFixesStuff hi Mark, thank you so much for the fast response. The console I'm looking at is a pre-modded Model 1 with the Fenrir 20 pin, so it's mainly the setup and getting hold of the games / roms I'm bothered about. Is it mainly ISO files I'll be looking for?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

@@Nightopian1982 if you look on the link to the Fenrir-ode site above it has the list of supported types. Most types you’d find are supported.

[@Nightopian1982]

@@MarkFixesStuff found one called Sega Saturn Champion Collection... or are there any you know of that are better?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

@@Nightopian1982 I don’t really remember to be honest. I think I might have tried a few

[@staticfanatic]

_mark fixes stuff_ getting ticked off at japanese media being puerile? that's rich.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I’m innocent of everything. Lol

[@jahbriz2483]

Get a pro action replay card

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I’ve got a clone thing now that allows me to cheat at games 😂

[@Lhawk2107]

hehehhe got the first like ^^

[@MarcKloos]

You're 15 minutes late

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Don’t argue haha! I’ll take likes at any time!

[@Lhawk2107]

@@MarcKloos 😭

[@organiccold]

Nice to see you back at full speed Mark. Another cool video

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you sir!

[@xvazquez2]

Nice work! That CRT Tv makes a huge difference!!!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Yes they do!!! Thank you for watching! :)

[@caetanator]

Good work! Keep it going.