Why Install FRAM into Your Sega Saturn?
The Sega Saturn was the first video game console to start the trend of onboard storage solutions for game save files. While the PlayStation heavily relied on Memory cards, the Saturn had everything you needed to save files internally right out of the box with the option of expanding the memory via the cartridge slot further down the road.
While being the first console to offer onboard storage, it also had a downside. That downside is the SRAM chip Sega used to handle storage needs a constant power source to store your data. Much like in certain game cartridges from the previous generations a battery is used to keep your save files and the console’s time and date features ‘alive’. This battery (CR2032) is easily accessible from the expansion slot on the back of the console and can be changed out easily enough, although you’ll lose all your data unless you first back it up. A replacement battery only seems to last about 1 – 2 years max, so this is a problem that almost every Sega Saturn owner is going to come across sooner or later.
That’s where the FRAM mod comes into play. The F in FRAM stands for ferroelectric and is a non-volatile memory type, meaning you can keep your Sega Saturn save files intact even if the internal battery runs dry.
How to Install FRAM into Your Sega Saturn
In this guide, I will show you how to replace your Sega Saturn’s SRAM chip with a new FRAM chip. According to the datasheet of the FRAM chip, your save files should last for up to 50 years which should be more than long enough for most people.
I will be installing the FRAM chip into a Japanese VA0 Sega Saturn. Sega Made quite a few revisions and variants so your console might look slightly different, but all the steps should be very similar.
Things needed: –
A Sega Saturn
FRAM Chip (FM1808-70-SG) Available cheap from Aliexpress
Soldering Iron & Solder
Flux
Tweezers
Some wire
A Phillips head screwdriver (long)
Hot air rework station (Optional)
Multimeter (Optional)
Installation Guide
*This guide WILL delete your save data if you do not back up your save files beforehand, they will be lost. You can do this by using a Sega Saturn Memory Cartridge or if you already have an ODE such as the Fenrir installed on your Saturn then you can use that to make a backup and restore the files after the mod is complete. *
Remove any game, RAM cartridge or MPEG card expansion from your Saturn along with the door for the expansion bay.
Flip your Sega Saturn over and remove the 5 x Philips head screws that hold the two halves of the Saturn’s shell in place. You need quite a long screwdriver to remove these screws, sadly an IFIXIT kit just doesn’t have drivers long enough.
Keep a rough track of your screws throughout this mod as some are different lengths. I recommend taking pictures to help you remember what order they are in.
Flip your Saturn back over as there’s another screw hiding near the power input, remove that and we should be able to open the consoles main shell.
Gently lift the top shell which is still connected by cables internally and locate then disconnect the 5-pin. Try not to touch the PSU as it has some pretty beefy capacitors which could give you a shock if you’ve used the console recently.
From here you’ll be able to remove the two connectors to the CD Drive, labelled J103 and J104. Gently pull back and these connectors will come loose from the board.
On the opposite side of the CD Drive, you’ll find the ribbon cable, we need to remove this by gently prying it outwards. Be careful with these old ribbon cables as they tend to be a little brittle, gently wiggle it out if you feel too much resistance.
Next, we need to remove the screw and washer which grounds the Saturn’s Disc drive from the shielding of the Saturn.
With everything now disconnected, we can lift the CD drive up and it should come right off the four plastic mounting posts.
Four screws are holding down the shielding that will need to be removed. This may vary per model, but there are two down by the RAM Cartridge port and two down the right-hand side as per this picture:
These screws differ in size so keep track of their order. Also, remove the CD drive connector if it is still connected to the main board like in the above picture.
Before removing the shielding, we need to remove the ribbon cable to stop it from getting damaged when we remove the shielding. You need to unlatch the connector by gently pulling up on both sides.
You should then be able to easily remove the ribbon cable and set it aside. The shield should now be able to be lifted off by pulling up gently. This might take a little bit of force as the shielding is slightly sandwiched and slotted into place on the left-hand side from the picture above.
We now have access to the Saturn’s motherboard. There are still a few additional steps that need to be removed before we can fully liberate the motherboard.
Remove the 4 support posts, they are each held in with a single screw.
On this model, there are an additional two screws near the controller port that need to be removed.
Next, remove the daughterboard which is held in place by a single screw. This board is attached to the motherboard underneath by a connector and needs to be gently pried upwards to remove it. It may take a bit of rocking back and forth to get out.
Now we need to remove the plastic caddy for the video card, this is held in place by two screws.
There’s one final screw to remove that was hiding under the daughterboard we removed earlier.
With all the screws removed, we can now finally take the Sega Saturn’s Motherboard out and set the shell aside.
* Note: This would also be the perfect opportunity to change your Saturn’s capacitors. *
Now, we need to find the SRAM chip that we will be replacing with our FRAM. The chip is the same size on each revision although the placement might be slightly different.
You’ll be looking for a 28-pin chip which will be the same size as your FRAM, it will be labelled ‘IC8’ on every motherboard revision. Mine is located bottom right, just above the controller ports but one some revisions it’s on the other side of the board.
There are a few different ways to remove this from your board. You could heat up each pin individually, lifting each leg with some tweezers when the solder is molten. This is time-consuming and tedious. You could ruin your pads if not too careful.
Another method is to cut each leg with some snips and remove the IC. You can then come in with your iron and remove the legs from the pads, this is messy and destructive.
The best and easiest method is using hot air. A hot-air extraction is completely non-destructive and takes less than a minute.
Before removing the Saturn’s SRAM chip, apply a decent amount of flux to the legs and pads of the chip. I use Kingbo flux but any brand will do, just make sure it’s not Plumbers flux as this will (eventually) wreck your board.
I set my airflow to max and temperature to 350c. While holding the chip with tweezers, I heated the chip in a circular motion constantly moving. About 30 seconds later, the solder was molten allowing for a very clean pull.
With the SRAM off the board, it’s time to clean the pads. For this, a little extra flux and some solder wick
Before installing the FRAM chip in place we will first need to lift a couple of pins. The FRAM chip almost works as is but we need to supply it with 5V and ground another pin.
The pins that need to be lifted are pins 22 and 28 as per the picture below. The little circle in the corner indicates pin 1.
With the pins bent upwards, we can solder the chip into place. Make sure the FRAM chips are oriented right on the Sega Saturn’s motherboard. Pin 1 will be indicated by a triangle on the board.
Add some flux to the pads and solder the chip into place. Use plenty of flux and take your time. If you manage to bridge any pins, add some more flux and with a clean soldering iron tip make a sweeping motion and it should easily be removed.
Inspect your soldering work making sure there are no bridges and that each joint has a solid connection from the pins to the pads. You can use a multimeter in continuity mode if you want to make extra sure.
The final two things we need to do is supply the FRAM chip with 5V via pin 28 and GND to pin 22.
First, I solder my 5V to pin 28. I used the last pin on the Saturn’s BIOS chip for my 5V but there are many places you can find 5V. I’d suggest using a multimeter if you need an alternative point.
Finally, we need to solder a wire between pin 22 and ground. I used the – side of the unpopulated capacitor pad directly next to it.
Check your work and clean up any residual flux using PCB cleaner or 99% IPA.
Reassemble your Sega Saturn and hook it up to a display and power. You’ll be asked to set the time and date in the settings. Set up your Saturn as you normally would.
Load up a game and save it to the internal memory. Power off the console and remove the battery.
Plug everything back in and your save file should still be there.
Overall, I think this is a very fun and relatively easy mod to install. Your save files will last well over 40 years with no need for a battery.
I hope this guide helped and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Thanks for reading.