We’ve reached the most important part of the Phantom Universal installation, the installation itself! So grab a bucket of popcorn and watch in real time as I work out what cables go where. I’ve spent plenty of time identifying the drive and examining the hardware, so it’s about time we actually put the modchip into the Saturn.

Before dismantling anything, I wanted to confirm that the CD drive was still responding. I had a bootable Windows 98 Second Edition disc handy, which was perfectly adequate for checking whether the drive would detect and spin a disc. There was no television attached for that part of the test, so we were mainly listening for the mechanism doing its thing.

With the drive working, I could start preparing the Phantom Universal board. This particular installation involves the CD ribbon connection and an additional 5 V power connection, so the exact cable arrangement matters. You can’t simply put the board wherever it looks prettiest and hope for the best!

The modchip has solder points and configuration options for different drive arrangements. On this particular setup I needed the appropriate JVC configuration, so I bridged the relevant pads before fitting everything. The manufacturer’s board markings were rather helpful once I’d worked out what I was looking at.

I used a short length of Kynar-insulated wrapping wire for the power connection. It’s handy stuff for electronics work because the insulation tolerates soldering temperatures better than some ordinary wire coverings, although it’s still worth avoiding unnecessary heat. Naturally, I spent a fair amount of time making the connection look reasonably tidy.

Next came removing the CD drive so I could get to the appropriate connections and route the cables. There’s the ribbon cable, a little shielding and enough awkward screws to make the job more entertaining than it needed to be. The trick is keeping track of where everything goes so the whole assembly fits back together afterwards.

I also had a look at the drive’s mechanical parts while it was accessible. Some of the old lubrication was worth investigating, particularly around the moving components. I wanted the spindle and pickup mechanism to move freely without getting grease anywhere it could cause trouble.

With the drive out of the way, I located the point for the 5 V connection and checked it with the multimeter. There’s not much point soldering a power wire to the wrong place, especially when an additional board is about to be connected. I was reasonably happy with the arrangement once I’d confirmed the connection.

The Phantom Universal then sits between the appropriate ribbon connections. The cables needed a little careful positioning to avoid pulling on the soldered wire, and it took a few attempts before I was satisfied with how everything would fit. These Saturn drives aren’t exactly enormous, so there’s only so much space available for extra hardware.

I considered whether to secure the modchip with double-sided tape, but decided it could make later removal rather awkward. The installation looked reasonably secure without permanently sticking anything to the metal shielding, and I could always revisit that if it proved necessary.

By the end of this recording the chip was installed and the wiring was ready for a proper test. The actual result would have to wait until I could connect the console to the television and see how it behaved. At least the drive had been working beforehand, which gives us a useful comparison if anything goes wrong.

So that’s the installation part complete, and the next step is finding out whether the Phantom Universal actually does what it’s supposed to. There are still a few things to test, but we’re getting there!

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