Super Challenging Soldering Mods for the Sega Saturn!

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I'm 70% moved into my new lab! Nonetheless, in this installment I thoroughly go over the process of replacing the MASK-ROM BIOS with a flash memory equivalent that allows the system to boot games from all regions. I also install a Phantom Universal Mod for those precious archival copies.

[@nathanielbest3541]

Much improved. While I don't ever plan on owning another console, the Saturn has always been my favorite. I built my first webpage on a Sega Saturn!!

[@Coffeeology]

you built a webpage on a Sega, SATURN?

[@bluewffl8472]

I built my first on dreamcast now that you mention it, lol. Currently in the process of installing a fenrir, Fram, and maybe something else... 😉

[@-HustleUnion-]

got this system when it first came out. its still one of my favorite consoles and back in the day it was an absolute beast. that and no one else i knew had one.

[@benabresch6620]

I missed these so much! Gearing up to do a UltraHDMI install this weekend and your videos always inspire confidence!

[@frankstrasser6108]

Va15 and I thought the genesis had a lot of revisions! Great video I feel this is your best yet in terms of explaining your methods and breaking down exactly what you use and how you use it ex the temp/air pressure of the hot air also I liked how you freeze the video and show another variation which could be harder and worked it too also the music was a nice touch

[@TheUb3rN00b]

That Daytona USA sky high music at the end brings back memories.

[@PersianImm0rtal]

The Bob Ross of console modding.

[@carnifexx]

I wanted to write exactly the same. Could watch this all day.

[@gex581990]

PersianImm0rtal ok now let’s spread some No Clean Flux and use it as a lubricant to make love to the bios chip

[@SurveyFlights]

Took the words right out of my mouth (Keyboard?)

[@lazyjackass77]

haha will he also get a permanent loop of all his videos on twitch after he is dead?

[@JaminWarrenPMS]

I've been a long time fan of your soldiering skills! I never realized you had a channel though. Nice to see your skills in action!

[@christophermichaels9699]

I really appreciate you taking the time to show how to properly solder. I started in on studying electronics and soldering, and well, soldering definitely takes a lot of practice. Your techniques are clean and precise, I'll be using them here from here on out! :)

[@RicardoMilos-bt2fh]

Peter North "Special Source" lol im crying you legend!

[@paparansen]

sauce, not source ^^

[@Shamzta]

While I have a personal aversion to soldering directly to the leg of an IC, your technique is quite nice. I also have a personal aversion to running wires below the legs on an IC (one of your other vids) but I also work on a bit more sensitive electronics where the slightest EMI could wreak havoc. I've taken a liking to watching you work. Keep up the good work and unhosing those bad jobs! Great work!

[@Stop_code_0e]

So calming and fun to watch you work.

[@JRussellProductions]

Sweet work here Voultar. (y) Always that simple and easy with how you explain as you go. :D

[@twentyfourmasks]

can't believe i managed to accomplish this with my basic ass soldering skills. never could've made it without this video. thank you lord voultar!

[@barowt]

LOL Hot glue, I knew it!! New here, love your videos man, love your modding skills. I don't mod or have a console.. watching your videos makes me feel good inside, thank you.

[@MrMasterchief963]

The Sega Saturn was so ahead of its time and i think using this video as a lab debut was perfect! This poor little console never seemed to get enough love! Thank you for spending your time and resources showing us a little saturn magic!

[@joedoran6994]

Love your channel man your vids are so enjoyable too watch an informative best retro modding channel by far

[@DRFTER34]

Great video, I really appreciate this info and explanation on how you should do this task the right way. Im planning to build my Saturn and I only want to do it as good as this video, Thank you!

[@scubasteve31583]

masterful. I have watched this so many times. It's just amazing.

[@vougbour1]

Dear Voultar thank you for making this video. I have several Japanese Sega Saturns and have started doing the region free bios mods on them along with FRAM. Have a couple of notes from my experience, which may be obvious to some but maybe helpful for others. 1. When flashing the eeprom ensure to byte swap the code. i used 29F800BT which worked fine. 2. Ensure that the console is back together with all screws in before testing, i believe the console needs to be grounded correctly for it to operate correctly. If its not grounded correctly the console will start however there maybe unusual behaviour, such has the games not loading and sound issues. Thanks again for the informative videos and techniques. Kind Regards Mal

[@tlou2685]

At 8:43 i understand:“We‘re gonna hold the air nozzle about 5 inches above the side“. 5 inches are approximately 13 cm but it looks like the nozzle is only one or two cm above the chip.

[@pedroTFP]

Love the video! I hope one day you could do a console oriented “soldering 101” video/playlist for soldering newbies ^^’

[@GamerDeMeia]

Thats a nice piece of art. Good work

[@pr0f3ta_yt]

You gained a sub from me when you showed us worst case scenario. Thank you. Too many you tubers only ever post when things go good and never bad

[@DrewberTravels]

The Saturn looks surprisingly clean inside.

[@BillBates1]

Thank you for these great videos!! I've been looking for info about modding my saturn.

[@unknown_Noname451]

YOU'RE BACK!!!! Missed you!

[@toolb0xPC]

Good job Voultard!

[@osgeld]

one thing I love about your video's, especially for people new to electronics mods / repairs ... no matter how many times you have worked on something ALWAYS lift gingerly to find out which screw you missed (heck I just did it on a tandy coco, ok looks like I got them all, lift carefully, oh its binding there's a screw!)

[@osgeld]

ps as far as glue dots go, a good hint is the entire board is covered in flux, that mean it was wave soldered and not reflow soldered, wave you have to flip the board over send it in a flux bath then though a wave of liquid solder ... how do you hold on the chips when they are not soldered yet

[@StRoRo]

Great video. Im learning so much.

[@GlobalGarageAus]

Great video! I’m ok to flash my own bios for Saturn and Dreamcast, but for the beginners playing along at home it may be helpful to show them how to flash the bios or where to buy it pre done.

[@fabrizio-6172]

Global Garage can you help us about? Thanks

[@bobtee6466]

Global Garage ...buy a 4meg action replay cart... mod the cart... saturn now region free...

[@kevin_lee_music]

@@bobtee6466 nope. Too many problems with that

[@bluewffl8472]

​@@kevin_lee_music not anymore with the newer pseudo kai....

[@SirTonk]

Great video, love the music

[@PabstOban]

Watching these videos are mesmerizing... Its like, a cross between Mr. Rogers showing you the videos on how crayons are made, and Bob Ross painting.

[@guristaex3119]

This was so satisfying to watch 👍🏻

[@KThxsBy]

RIP Bob

[@murrij]

Oh, and thank you for taking the time to do this lesson.

[@christopherbowen3370]

Another great vid...thanks Voultar!

[@ThickpropheT]

only 7:13 in and this is already my favorite of your videos. cheers

[@raiverns9620]

bless your soul, i can actually use my saturn for more than 2 games now

[@digidev]

you are the bob ross of retro gaming hardware

[@Conchobhar]

This made me want to open up my Saturn and take another look at the lik-sang chip I installed in it almost a decade ago.

[@ThePolicenaut]

Incredible work

[@javiles2331]

You are a master!!! Great video and technique!

[@zanychelly]

Good work mate

[@philthehorror]

Lord Voultar, if we asked you very nicely, would it be possible for you to show us how to properly do a laser lens replacement in a Saturn, including getting all the calibration done correctly? The info available is so sketchy, and so many Saturns have this issue. I know I for one would so greatly appreciate it! Thank you so much for making these videos! You are a great asset to the retro community!

[@Voultar]

Laser calib. stuff is in the works.

[@philthehorror]

Voultar you rule!

[@velkome]

new meth lab coming along nicely

[@d05music17]

You are a true boss of modding and informative videos, but what shines above all else is your top shelf commentary. Entertaining to say the least. Followed subbed and thank you sir. I’ve been looking for some time now for a shop that sells the bios chips. Can you recommend? I’ve been to obscuregamers and get in touch with bad-ad84... any other suggestions?

[@iCach0]

Señor Voultar does it again!

[@Sayajiin2]

Thank you lord Voultar!

[@Ashkimbo]

Interested in seeing you attempt a second LED addition to some of the earlier "Model 2" Saturns - pretty easy addition but cutting a nice looking hole for a new LED is the tricky part!

[@A3rgan]

Excellent video - your presentation and communication skills are top notch. Do you buy your BIOS pre-flashed or do you do this yourself?

[@AudreyYun]

my childhood console!! i loved playing games such as king of fighters and daytona usa and other king of fighters games on it!! ahhh memories

[@teresabarraza6636]

Great video. You have an instant subscriber.

[@shoobopper]

new video in new setup FeelsGoodMan

[@DJAlexUnderBase]

Good evening , sir Voultar !

[@pdiggitydogg]

Sir. This was a great video.

[@thePiratePimp]

I don’t even have a Sega Saturn and I still enjoyed this video...!

[@RynoDBones]

First console I bought for myself. Was a rental unit at the Hastings I worked at.

[@matjolic3321]

Nice one! Just yesterday I got a model 2 from local ads, what are the odds!? Let's get to modding :)

[@alvinlono]

Legit professional work

[@W3S3333]

I just had this done by Pink Skeleton Gaming and it works like a charm.

[@trev1976]

beautiful job

[@jcchaconjr]

Have you ever done the Pahantom mod on a very early Model 1? That ribbon cable path traverses from rear to front with a couple of bends along the way... I wasn't expecting that when I opened my Saturn up. I still haven't installed it to this day. :/

[@NLuKa420]

Voultar is the Bob Ross of console modding.

[@piplup2009]

"put some happy little solder on there"

[@sunnohh]

Not only is Bob dead; attending AA; Lord Voultar has also trapped him as a hologram. Bob is having a rough week!

[@AkatsukiBK]

Video was fantastic, thanks.

[@TheSocialGamer]

I thought you said to start off around 5 inches away in a circular motion but it looked like 5 centimeters from the camera angle. But still.....Always great content.

[@Voultar]

Keep in mind that this is a super macro zoom and that the camera perspective is very misleading.

[@niamaru2]

thank you for your videos, I really enjoy them! I was wondering, have you ever done a Amiga CD32 recap?

[@shivasthong4924]

Incredible!

[@SDLearmonth]

That thumbnail... don’t tug my heartstrings like that voultar

[@Voultar]

Replace heartstrings with schlong. Winning..

[@d05music17]

Excellent as always. Thanks for that I'm about to go through this procedure. I have a Pal Model 2 which has differences in the CD drive (JVC). I don't have the switches to connect my 5V to, is there somewhere else on the front of the CD drive which I can hook up to? Respect from the UK, commentary on point as always.

[@stephenkirkley1068]

Loved the vid. Found you yesterday and been binging. What about big globs?

[@DJLNR.]

11:20 I'm sure if anyone who isn't used to removing chips/modules would easily fail the removal and snap board. Good work

[@jcchaconjr]

Great video! Any tips for modding an early model 1 (the PSU is on the lid)? While the BIOS is much easier to change (it’s socketed), the Phantom seems like a PITA given the Z bends on the ribbon coming from the CD drive. This Saturn that I’d like to mod also had a region switch mod on it. Since I won’t need the wires anymore, do you know of a site that has the default jumper settings for an NTSC-U console?

[@StRoRo]

I'd be interested in know what knowing what type of wire to use for different situation..

[@NozomuYume]

"We're going to use a hot air rework station!" **PULLS OUT HANDHELD HEAT GUN**

[@rfmerrill]

I'm confused by this comment. You're kinda just narrating what happens in the video?

[@mesharyhd7646]

Dental floss work like magic for adhesive removal

[@retropulse03]

Yasss moooooooore. This is making me want to learn to solder so bad lol

[@AmaroqStarwind]

I feel you should go into more detail about what the modchips in your videos actually do. A lot of them have cool names, and it's great to learn how to do them, but it would be really nice to know for what purpose the mods are being installed in the first place. Also, some other interesting mods you can do for Sega Saturns; - Replace the SRAM with FeRAM, that way it doesn't require battery power. - Replace the battery for the real time clock with a rechargeable one, that way you never have to replace it and can have it recharge while the system is connected to AC power. - Miniature heat sinks attached to the various chips via thermal adhesive. - Add RAM which the slow BIOS chip gets dumped to on bootup, potentially speeding up anything that needs to access it. This is especially important because flash memory is usually slower than Mask ROM, and doesn't have execute-in-place capability. - Replacing the slow DRAM with SRAM, since high capacities of SRAM have gotten a lot cheaper (especially the double port variety) - Replacing the cut down 68k coprocessor with a full-fat 68k like what was used on the Genesis, or even a 68010. - Etcetera. I'm sure there are a lot of other things you can do that I haven't thought of yet.

[@murrij]

Saw notifications of test livestreaming friend Voultar. May we be seeing some in the future?

[@liam28rowe]

Thanks for the video - subscribed a few weeks back! I'm about to enter to world of soldering and was wondering if you could offer some advice please? I've been told 0.5-0.7mm solder for chips/wires and 1mm for recapping? What solder/flux/wire would you recommend? I've been advised Kynar wire, Topnik TK83 flux & Cynel solder? I'm going to get the iron you recommend as it's only £30 off Amazon. Thanks again dude! Appreciate your time 👍🏻

[@taskanawa9604]

nice, great video

[@74bobby]

You are the Bob Ross of Modding.

[@ClintKolodziej]

What electric screwdriver is that? It looked like a Waterun CLT-50 power supply on your desk, is it a Waterun-4000? Where might mere mortals pick up something like that? I only found the company website, but couldn't find pricing or resellers. I did find that it looks very similar to another brand, HIOS, which I found a few parts that looked very similar on Ebay.

[@Voultar]

It's a HIOS CL-3000. The best of the best!

[@ToothpickMan11]

Voultar: I'm hoping you can help me here. I have a Model 2 Saturn with a JVC CD drive but mine is different than yours, it doesn't have the component you soldered the 5v wire to. I was thinking of running the wire under the shielding and soldering it in directly to the 5v pin under the power supply but I've read someone say that some places can cause issues with the chip and the best place is under the CD drive. Where should I solder the wire to?

[@magnus87]

Great tutorial! I have a Japanese Sega Saturn model 2 but its more yellow than white, I can retrobright it however I prefer to buy other case for the console. So, can I put the model 2 main board on an American Model 1 case or will I need a model 2?

[@user-jr1hm3jw2i]

Model 1 and how does it differ from bios and memory chip? Hard to find what exactly to do on the model 1 saturns when switching uo those chips and how exactly to wire them correctly.

[@garystinten9339]

if this is him being intricate and taking care.. I'd hate to see him upset. oh golly gee darn. good golly ms molly.

[@LynxSnowCat]

I wonder if it is possible to _intentionally_ scrub the insulation lay off of the ribbon/flex cable, to trim it at the bare part for a better fit.

[@aharongootvilig8861]

Duuuude? Hot glue? You?

[@jonnymiskatonic]

Late to the party, but what about using the long original cable on the connection to the mobo where it could possibly be tucked under that shield. Then that short one on the CD side?

[@odiazq]

Excelent video!!! What do you recommend for PS3 and PS4?

[@RallyDon82]

you sir are the greatest

[@peteparker8140]

hey Voultar i saw on your modded NES repair video crayola modded you said you hate cheap solder is there a specific brand or type of solder you recommend? I live in canada btw i don't know if that would make a difference in your recommendation or not. I'm looking at some handheld projects like the minty pi and the Gameboy cm3 build (kites' circuit sword)

[@one100billneoone4]

Awesome video! Thanks. What brand/type of heat gun is that? I need to buy one.

[@ionsight91]

I feel I should add that the reason adhesive is underneath the chip is due to this version of the PCB being made using a wave soldering technique in which the whole board is passed over a pool of molten solder. one way you can tell a PCB is wave soldered is the extra pads visible on the left side of the chip in the video (These are called solder thieves). These are there to wick away excess solder from the wave soldering pool to avoid short circuit. Another telling sign is all the nasty flux covering the top of the board meaning a solder paste and oven reflow method was certainly not used.

[@SparksNZeros]

hurray :D oh btw does the model you have still have the unpopulated space on the board for the access light, i'd love to see a mod video on populating it and how to mod the case to see it as my model does and i think it'd really finish off the whole package.

[@VansterX]

Whats that liquid on the second chip you removed, also what kind of no-clean flux do use recommend?

[@mastergamer5779]

Any way you could help out i recently purchased a sega saturn and after a while of playing say street fighter when game is loading after a few battles the console resets on its own and boots up the game again. Would you happen to know the cause of this. I noticed when i got the console where the power cable connects the screws that hold it were broken but when opening the console i couldnt find any damage other than the plastic were the screws entered nothing crazy

[@cfuss]

In order to get the adhered chips off cleanly would it be possible to just take some fishing line, slide it under the chip, and work it through the epoxy to separate it before you work the chip off?

[@warmrollsforthetable]

Voultar is a surgeon, a sexy surgeon