Sega Saturn/Boot ROM

Back to: Sega Saturn.

The original Japanese Sega Saturn boot ROM, version 1.00.

All variants of the Sega Saturn come pre-installed with a boot ROM - an interface which appears when the console is given power. CD-ROMs require verification and loading, which depending on the quality of the disc or drive, can take several seconds, so in addition to driving the CD-ROM, the Saturn's boot ROM informs the user that console is working. It fulfils the same function as seen with the Sega Mega-CD's boot ROM, though unlike that console the boot ROM is always seen, as there is no fall-back to the cartridge-based Sega Mega Drive.

Usually, if the console detects and verifies a disc, the Saturn boot ROM is limited to an introduction and jingle, followed by a brief Sega licensing screen and finally, the game. Should a compatible Saturn disc not be detected (detection also requires the console's lid to be closed, as the disc will not spin otherwise), the user is taken to a menu. If the console's lid has been left open when powering on the console, the logo animation is skipped.

Menu

English menu with no disc inserted.

Compared to the Mega-CD (and indeed most of its console contemporaries and even the Sega Dreamcast), the Saturn boot ROM menu is far more elaborate. It is also largely consistent across regions, with the core feature set being shared across all consoles manufactured across the decade.

Like the Mega-CD, the Saturn is compatible with music CDs and CD+G discs, and so the Saturn menu offers controls for these features. It also has built-in memory for save data which can be managed through the boot ROM. New to the Saturn is a global system language stting and a real-time clock to set. If the console has failed to keep time (because for example, the battery has died) the user will also be prompted to set the time when the console boots.

The Saturn's capabilities as a CD player is perhaps higher than it ever needed to be. In addition to playing compact discs normally (and being able to repeat either the whole disc or selected tracks), it can perform real-time pitch shifting of the audio, mute the vocals (assuming said vocals are mixed so that they're in the "middle" of a stereo recording rather than panned to the left or right), adjust the "surround", shuffle tracks and repeat specific parts of tracks. The left and right sound channels are also visualised by two spinning, colour-changing cubes.

In addition to this, the menu sits on top of a rotating background with 3D starfield. The user can hide the menu to reveal a 3D spaceship which moves around and spins.

Screenshots

Logo

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  JP (1.00)

• 

  US/EU

• 

  JP (1.003)

• 

  JP (1.01)

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  V-Saturn 1.01

• 

  HiSaturn 1.01

• 

  HiSaturn 1.02

• 

  HiSaturn 1.03

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 2aba43c2 MD5 af5828fdff51384f99b3c4926be27762 SHA-1 2b8cb4f87580683eb4d760e4ed210813d667f0a2	512 kB		Saturn (JP) (1.00)			(424 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 f90f0089 MD5 f273555d7d91e8a5a6bfd9bcf066331c SHA-1 3bb41feb82838ab9a35601ac666de5aacfd17a58	512 kB		Development kit (JP) (1.003)			(416 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 b3c63c25 MD5 74570fed4d44b2682b560c8cd44b8b6a SHA-1 7b23b53d62de0f29a23e423d0fe751dfb469c2fa	512 kB		Saturn (US/EU) (1.00a)			(422 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 224b752c MD5 85ec9ca47d8f6807718151cbcca8b964 SHA-1 df94c5b4d47eb3cc404d88b33a8fda237eaf4720	512 kB		Saturn (JP) (1.01)			(418 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 721e1b60 MD5 3ea3202e2634cb47cb90f3a05c015010 SHA-1 49d8493008fa715ca0c94d99817a5439d6f2c796	512 kB		HiSaturn (1.01)			(414 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 e4d61811 MD5 ac4e4b6522e200c0d23d371a8cecbfd3 SHA-1 4154e11959f3d5639b11d7902b3a393a99fb5776	512 kB		V-Saturn (1.01)			(418 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 4afcf0fa MD5 3240872c70984b6cbfda1586cab68dbe SHA-1 faa8ea183a6d7bbe5d4e03bb1332519800d3fbc3	512 kB		Saturn (US/EU) (1.01a)			(422 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 3408dbf4 MD5 cb2cebc1b6e573b7c44523d037edcd45 SHA-1 8a22710e09ce75f39625894366cafe503ed1942d	512 kB		HiSaturn (1.02)			(414 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 6abfefea MD5 0306c0e408d6682dd2d86324bd4ac661 SHA-1 8c031bf9908fd0142fdd10a9cdd79389f8a3f2fc	512 kB		HiSaturn (1.03)			(414 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 814c84fb MD5 cb37ed680c55ed4a0cb3c7eb41497d4a SHA-1 52d06f72aa979d67a2a96c6b860ba47d0c2dd444	512 kB		Saturn (JP) (1.01) (hacked)			(418 kB) (info)
?	CRC32 a06c7c00 MD5 7ae047df81cd8e2eb86063164a93621c SHA-1 735494ba1b8b9be4930c1c3d62dcc93fb52c71ae	512 kB		HiSaturn (1.02) (hacked)			(415 kB) (info)