Above is a brief video of the Sophia going back together. Well, halfway. The mainboard is back in, but the RAM board is still out because I need to photograph it properly first.

And finally, after somewhere between six and eight months, I’ve finished photographing the internals of the Sophia Systems Sega Saturn Programming Box. Nearly 300 photos later, I can finally put the thing back together and reclaim the bench space for the Mega-CD development unit.

The big outstanding problem is still the processor hardware. My Sophia arrived without its removable SH-2 CPU boards. A normal dual-SH-2 configuration needs processor hardware in both positions, although development setups could also use specialised ICE or pod hardware instead of a second ordinary SH-2 board.

So, as we retire Sophia to the bookshelf for the moment, we embark on a new journey with the Sega Mega-CD.

If anyone comes across compatible SH-2 boards, please let me know.

Lots more photos, nearly 300 of them, are in the photo gallery.

Look at that! 171-6692B SH7095 SH-2 CPUs!

Update: Someone had some SH-2 CPUs and has since sold them to me! What a wonderful person! Stay tuned!

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