Recent mods: Atari Flashback 2, Saturn, Hackintosh...more?

[rattboi]

Hey everyone. Been missing for a while (I never posted much anyways) but I've been doing some mods to my new consoles, etc, and thought that some people (Mozgus and Catfoodmoney in particular) would be interested. So here goes...

Modded Sega Saturn Model 1 (w/ Model 2 chip modded to Model 1):

Outside:


Inside Saturn:
Notice the power cable going to the +5V Power pin on the PSU.


The Modchip installed:
The ribbon had to be bought on Digikey because the original one was way to short to go over the top like that.


Mod of the modchip:
Got these instructions on Racketboy to mod the modchip (made for Model 2 Saturns) to work on my Model 1. Most of the work was on this side of the chip


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Atari Flashback 2 Mod

This mod is to take an Atari Flashback 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback#Atari_Flashback_2) and add the original 2600 Cartridge slot back to it to play the original 2600 cartridges.

Sorry, I don't have pix of the process. But I did take it apart and take some photos to share.

Finished FB2 Mod (w/o game inserted):


Finished FB2 Mod (w/ Q*Bert inserted):


Close-up of Cart Slot:


Back of FB2 (Notice the crappy switch added to the right, that's for going between internal games and slot):


Bottom of FB2 (4 silver screws to mount the cartridge slot to the bottom):


Cartridge Slot internal:


Wiring for the cart slot:


All 24 solder points:


Assembled FB2 playing Chopper Command from Cartridge:


Assembled FB2 on main Internal ROM screen:


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Beyond that, I've also got a new computer, which cost me around $700 US. The nice thing about it is that it easily replaces my old Mac Mini, since I installed Leo4All v3 on it. OSX is my primary OS, but I also have XP for gaming (not really used much yet). I'll post specs later, it's getting to be late...

The beast (I noticed the dust after the picture and cleaned it off):


Dual screen glory from nVidia 8600GT 256mb (Now I just need bigger monitors ):


The computer the beast replaced, my 1st Gen Mac Mini G4 PPC 1.44gHz:


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And, last but not least, my newest acquisition, an Atari 7800. I finally got to play it today after waiting a week for the seller to send the PSU, since he rushed me the rest of it and left the power supply out. It's pretty awesome, but the video signal sucks. Total co-ax composite suckness. So, my next mod will to be divining S-Video out of the thing. I'll try to post pix in a more step-by-step on that later.

Tada! Atari 7800!

[Mozgus]

Saturn model 2 to 1 chip hack looks simple enough. Good to finally see it. The flashback mod looks complicated as hell, so great job.

[rattboi]

The Model2-Model1 Modchip mod (omg, that's a bad sentence) is a lot harder than it looks there. Well, it took me a good 3-4 hours. The solder points are tiny, you have to be careful and cut traces on the board too, with an X-acto knife or razor. I'll admit it wasn't as hard as the FB2 mod, but it did take quite a bit of time. Of course, that was the first project I did so perhaps I just had weak soldering skills.

[HoboJoe]

Also if you make one tiny mistake on the modchip the whole dang thing is screwed up.

[D.D.D.]

Yeah really~ That was nice work on the Atari mod.

And I know you said you dusted but damn, that's a dusty hole.

[HoboJoe]

It's because there's a 120 mm fan right there sucking in air...and dust. And I'm assuming the previous owner never gave a crap and just let the dust build up there forever. I know because I also have a cooler master case and it collects dust there VERY fast.

[rattboi]

In the future, I want to mod the Flashback 2 with a few LEDs to show the state of the difficulty A + B buttons, since there is no way to determine their state except by the feel of the button. Also, I've seen a circuit diagram online to auto-detect if a cart is in or not to determine Internal ROM or cart slot. As soon as I learn how to read circuit diagrams...

HoboJoe: Actually, the case is brand new. I got it about a month ago or so, I think my place is just really dusty, no ventilation. Also, it only took a quick swipe to clean it off, so it's not as built up as it looks.

[HoboJoe]

Oh, I thought you bought it used. But yeah...I just take my hand and rub it over the spot with the fan every week because after a week it starts turning white. <.<

[rattboi]

UPDATE:

My friend was visiting for a week so I kinda held off on the modding stuff. But last night I wired up my 7800 with an S-video port. It's all breadboarded and stuff still, but I'll try and post some pictures tonight. Also, I'm gonna see if I can't get stereo sound out of it, as it's on the board but then mixed into a mono signal before output.

I'm hoping to have a string of ports on the side, as follows:

<S-Video jack> <Composite video RCA (s-video signals mixed together)> <Audio Left RCA> <Audio Right RCA> <switch for stereo/mono sound>

Also, my Flashback 2 got really flaky. I'm betting that a wire came loose or something. Probably will work on that after I'm done with the 7800 and install those LED lights for the Difficulty switches and power.

Oh, I also got a $2 Sega Genesis pad because the 2600 joystick was starting to hurt my hand. I modded the shit out of that to get it to work with the 2600... oh wait, no I didn't. I just plugged it in and the B button is the button. Awesome. (Doesn't work in 7800 mode though, although I saw a circuit online for conversion).

[Majors]

Oh, I also got a $2 Sega Genesis pad because the 2600 joystick was starting to hurt my hand. I modded the shit out of that to get it to work with the 2600... oh wait, no I didn't. I just plugged it in and the B button is the button. Awesome.

hehe, yep. Got my Genesis arcade stick, works like a champ. I even get bonus LED flashing on the stick!

I did the 2600 mod for A/V...never saw much use for s-vid, but apprec the technical aspect. I want to do the Flashback hack, do you think you can take the guts of a Flashback and use them in a 2600? Get the best of both worlds.