Another Sega Saturn, another power supply mystery! This time I’m checking the DC output rails on a PAL Saturn power supply with the multimeter, and the readings look reasonably good. The 3.3 V rail is measuring 3.36 V, the 9 V rail is producing 9.25 V, and the 5 V rail is sitting at approximately 5 V.

So why doesn’t the Saturn work? Nobody knows! At least the power supply appears to be producing the expected voltages at the points I’ve checked, which is something. Unfortunately, that doesn’t tell me whether the supply is behaving properly under load or whether I’ve got another problem elsewhere in the machine.

A word of caution, because I’m working around exposed mains-powered circuitry in this video. There’s a serious risk of electric shock, even from stored charge after power has been disconnected. These are simply my historical testing notes, not a recommendation for anyone to go poking around inside a live power supply.

So we’ve got some numbers to work with, but the Saturn still refuses to cooperate. Looks like I’ll have to investigate a little further and see what else I can find!