Jump to content
Due to a large amount of spamers, accounts will now have to be approved by the Admins so please be patient. ×
IGNORED

SNES/Super Famicom Switchless 50/60Hz mod


Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

Did a mod recently and decided to take some pictures and get a guide going. I performed this on a Super Famicom but is pretty much the same process with a SNES. The SNES has a slightly different layout but the chips are labelled the same.

This is using the SUPERCIC code by a net user by the name of ikari_01. It is programmed onto a 16F630 PIC. If anyone needs a pre-programmed PIC let me know and I can get one organised for you.

 

Things you will need:

  • Gamebit tool for opening the SNES/Famicom
  • Phillips head screwdriver
  • Pair of pliers
  • Soldering iron with a fine tip
  • Solder
  • Wrapping wire or any other very thin wire.
  • Solder sucker
  • Solder braid (in case of a mistake)
  • Electrical tape
  • Hot glue gun
  • SUPERCIC programmed PIC chip
  • Pin or very sharp hobby knife to assist with lifting pins off a few of the SNES/Famicom chips.
  • A steady hand

 

 

 

Lets begin.

 

Below is a diagram of the pinouts for the SUPERCIC PIC. In this tut we will be using the DUo-LED common cathod LED so pin 7 of the PIC will be grounded.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/PICDiagram.png

 

Open the case using the gamebit tool. You will be presented with the following

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0412.jpg

 

 

Remove the cartridge eject lever by lifting the right hand side. Once lifted pull towards the right and the steel rod in the mid should slide out. You will have to remove the two screws holding in the power switch and then the two screws on either side of the metal shielding. Pull the shielding off to exposure the motherboard

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0413.jpg

 

 

For the PIC I bend all the legs so they are horizontal and then trim them. I then use double sided tape and secure it to one of the chips on the board. Pre-tin all the contacts on the PIC ready to solder all the wires to it

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0422.jpg

 

 

Now the fun part. We need to lift a PIN on both the PPU1 and PPU2 chip. These chips are labeled on the top. For PPU2 we need to lift pin 30. This is the far right pin so is not too difficult to lift. I use a pin or safety pin and insert it behind pin 30. With your soldering iron heat pin 30 at the base while gently wedging the pin up with the pin. The pin should lift off the board. Be careful not to break the pin.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0414.jpg

 

 

We need to do the same on PPU1 except it is pin24. You can count backwards from the right which is pin 30 and do the same as you did for PPU2. As mentioned above DO NOT BREAK THE PIN.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0418.jpg

 

 

I like to place a couple of pieces of electrical tape under the pins to isolate them

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0419.jpg

 

 

Using some wrapping wire solder a wire connecting the two pins we just lifted leaving about 10cm of wire at the end. This will connect to pin 12 of the PIC

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0423.jpg

 

 

Here you can see that wire from the PPU chips connect to PIN12 of the PIC

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0424.jpg

 

 

Next we need to lift 4 pins on the CIC lockout chip of the SNES/Famicom. On my console it is labeled F411A. We need to lift pins 1, 2, 10 and 11. Bend these right up and over as we need to solder to the contacts of the mother. Do not worry if these pins break as they are not needed any more

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0420.jpg

 

 

Next we need to feed 5v to the PIC chip. I have grabbed 5V from PPU1 chip on pin 80. A wire needs to be connected from this to pin 1 and pin 4 of the PIC chip. You can also grab 5V from the right hand pin of the voltage regulator

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0428.jpg

 

 

Now is a matter of connecting all the rest of the pins of the PIC to the motherboard. He we connect PIN2 of the PIC to pin7 of the on-board CIC chip

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0430.jpg

 

 

Now we connect a wire from pin13 of the PIC chip to pin 8 of the CIC chip

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0431.jpg

 

 

Now we connect a wire from pin11 of the PIC chip to pin 10 of the CIC chip. This needs to be soldered to the motherboard contact which was exposed after we lifted the leg of the CIC chip.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0434.jpg

 

 

Now we connect a wire from pin9 of the PIC chip to pin 2 of the CIC chip. This needs to be soldered to the motherboard contact which was exposed after we lifted the leg of the CIC chip.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0435.jpg

 

 

Now we connect a wire from pin10 of the PIC chip to pin 1 of the CIC chip. This needs to be soldered to the motherboard contact which was exposed after we lifted the leg of the CIC chip.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0436.jpg

 

 

Now we connect a wire from pin8 of the PIC chip to pin 11 of the CIC chip. This needs to be soldered to the motherboard contact which was exposed after we lifted the leg of the CIC chip.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0437.jpg

 

 

Now we need to ground the PIC. We need to connect a wire from pins7 and 14 of the PIC chip to ground. I just use a single wire, connect to pins7 and 14 and thensolder the wire anywhere on the motherboard that is ground. The whole surround exposed metal of the motherboard is ground.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0444.jpg

 

 

Now to prepare the LED. Here I have trimmed the legs of the LED ready to solder resistors and wire to it.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0438.jpg

 

 

Connect up two resisters to the outside legs of the LED. These are your Red and Green pins. Also attach a wire to the centre of the LED. This will be connected to ground.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0439.jpg

 

 

Trim the resistor legs and attach wire to these also.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0440.jpg

 

 

I like to use a bit of heat shrink on the resistors for extra insulation.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0442.jpg

 

 

Now we need to remove the factory RED led

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0445.jpg

 

 

Use a solder sucker or other sucking tool to remove the solder from the LED. Use some solder braid if there is any solder left that you cannot remove. As a tip I always add some fresh solder first before using the sucker on it.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0446.jpg

 

 

I use a pair or pliers to remove the LED. Don't worry about breaking it as we no longer need it.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0447.jpg

 

 

Now make a bend in your RGB LED we prepared earlier. I use a hot glue gun to hold the new LED in place.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0448.jpg

 

I went a biut crazy on the glue here but at least it won't move. Attach the outer wires of the LED to pins 5 and 6 of the PIC. I forgot to include a picture of this but will add one later. Attach the centre wire to any ground point in the console.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0449.jpg

 

Here i have reassemble the shielding and the cartridge release lever.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0450.jpg

 

 

Now for the moment of truth. Fire up the console. Here we see the LED is red which defaults to 60Hz

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0451.jpg

 

 

Holding down the reset button the LED changes to orange. This will start the game in its native mode

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0452.jpg

 

 

Holding down the reset button again the LED changes to green. This changes the Hz to 50.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Famicomswitchlessmod/IMG_0453.jpg

 

 

Below is exactly what happens in each mode. If when on green it displays 60Hz and red it displays 50Hz you can just swap the wires on pins 5 and 6 of the PIC over. Or you can just leave it and remember that Red is 50Hz and green is 60Hz

a) 50Hz Mode is active (green)

 

If you insert a PAL-Game, it will start with 50Hz

If you insert a NTSC-Game, it will start with 60Hz and switches to 50Hz after 9 sec.

If you insert a Game without CIC, it will start with 50Hz

 

b) 60Hz Mode is active (red)

 

If you insert a NTSC-Game, it will start with 60Hz

If you insert a PAL-Game, it will start with 50Hz and switches to 60Hz after 9 sec

If you insert a Game without CIC, it will start with 60Hz

 

c) Auto Mode is active (orange)

 

starting the Game in its native frequency.

 

If you insert a NTSC-Game, it will start with 60Hz

If you insert a PAL-Game, it will start with 50Hz

If you insert a Game without CIC, it will start with 60Hz

 

Well there you have it. I am not the best at writing guides but should give you an indication of what is required to do this mod. I am more that happy help out anyone trying to attempt this. Just message me to help.

 

Thanks

MJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I have a question......

 

Aside from not having to flick a switch, what are the benefits of this method over a straight 50/60hz switch?

 

Just curious that's all. Got my security bits today so was having a play around and was going to install a switch....what am i missing out on?

 

 

Say, most games will work in NTSC 60hz, so if I was to put a switch in and just leave it on 60hz for pretty much everything i run...is there any negatives to that?

 

Ya PAL games you'll have to boot on 50hz then switch to 60hz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Hi MJ - haven't been on AA for a couple of weeks, wanted to give props for the tute :) Out of interest, would be keen on using a PIC just for the security IC faking for 100% compatibility with any cart. I like the tangible switch for swapping refresh rates, but always thought the switchless mods were all sorts of awesome :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...