Super Mario RPG on a PAL SNES
Super Mario RPG, a difficult game to get running on a PAL SNES. There are meant to be 2 versions of it available, one will work on an PAL SNES with the lockout chip disabled, the other won't. But there's no way of knowing which is which by looking at the cart.
A while ago Yod@ on the GamesX and rllmuk forums found a way around this, but it's not documented elsewhere on the web. I can't get hold of Yod@ at the moment to check if it's okay to post this here, hopefully it is! Here's a copy of one of his posts explaining the process:
The mod involves lifting a pin of the SA1 chip located inside the Mario RPG cart, and either leaving it floating or supplying it with 5 Volts.
Note that even after the mod, it seems that the cart doesn't work with most import adapter carts - I found that I had to plug it directly into the SNES.
If you have a PAL SNES and a US copy of the game, this means you'll either need to insert the bare PCB (make sure you don't put it in the wrong way round!), or widen your cartridge slot, or use it with the shell of the SNES removed, or else try and fit the game PCB into the shell of a PAL cartridge.
You'll need a 3.8mm Gamebit in order to open the cartridge. You'll then need to remove the game PCB, and locate pin 127 of the SA1 chip.
To lift a pin of an IC, I normally use a sewing pin or needle - in this case I'd insert the pin between pin 127 and 126, apply the soldering iron for a few seconds, and then gently move the needle to the left in order to force pin 127 to lift.
It's very easy to break the pin off, so be very careful. Once it's lifted, it's probably a good idea to put a small piece of tape underneath to insulate it from the other pins of the chip.
You'll then need to try the game and see if it boots - if not, you'll need solder a wire from pin 127 to a 5 Volt source - I used the positive side of the capacitor shown in the bottom-left hand corner of the picture.
And here's his photos of it:
Remember this information is provided by Yod@, I've just put a copy of it here to keep it alive. I haven't tried it but it's reported as working. Thanks Yod@!! Here's the original posts with the info in - 1 and 2.
UPDATE - I just found a link in my bookmarks from a couple of years ago, it's an alternative region free mod for the SNES which is meant to work with Mario RPG. Here's the info if you want to try it out.
