Troubleshooting PS1

[RaveGuru]

Hey. Anyone good at troubleshooting Playstation 1 ?

It's a SCPH 9002 model.

Before it broke it was struggling reading discs and then it stopped working all together. My hunch is that something in regard to supplying the laser with enough power has failed.

Unfortunately I don't have another unit to swap parts with.

- PSX starts up and goes to "Main Menu" screen
- When closing the CD door the cd spins very slowly twice
- The laser is trying to focus (moves up and down)
- Laser diode seems to work but is weak. Laser voltage (measured at trim pot on laser assembly) now at 6 mV. Used to be at 12 mV.
- Unit doesn't detect any disc has been inserted - just stays at main menu screen

Video 1. https://www.dropbox.com/s/dseu9ld40uds8 ... 1.mp4?dl=0
Video 2. https://www.dropbox.com/s/mnkyiwnyq8feo ... 1.mp4?dl=0


Thankful for any advice.

[ChopstickSam]

It sounds like maybe the CD drive has finally died? It’s pretty easy to replace if you can find a replacement. A couple cables if I remember correctly. Just drops right in.

Alternatively you could replace the CD drive with a optical disc emulator like the X-Station or the Terraonion MODE to run games off SD cards or hard drives if that tickles your fancy.

Good luck!

[Weasel Fierce]

Definitely sounds like the drive is finished. Id look at a card replacement option unless you have a big disc collection.

[Havie]

Originally Posted by Weasel Fierce

Definitely sounds like the drive is finished. Id look at a card replacement option unless you have a big disc collection.

Recently did some work on a couple of ps1s.

Yes - cd drive very easy to replace and ps1 easy to open.

It might be worth putting some grease on the cd gears that move the lens up and down as the old grease often means that it doesn't move smoothly which leads to a lot of grinding noises and affects disk reading. Might be worth trying first.

Also can adjust the pot.

Failing this - it's an easy swap.

http://https://youtu.be/UJjcVWT1K6Q

[RaveGuru]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna try getting my hands on a replacement unit and swap the drives. The unit is chipped so I'd like to keep it around at least. Perhaps get a non-chipped unit for playing originals as they tend to not read properly with a chipped drive. If I understand it correctly CDRs require a different laser calibration that don't go well with original discs.

[kriz]

Maybe try a Optical Discdrive Emulator like the Xstation ? https://retrogamerstuff.com/products...-ode?ref=9qd6Y

[RaveGuru]

I finally managed to source a used drive and having the bad one replaced, and indeed it works just great now!

Thanks for your input guys.

[Leon Besson]

Bromigo! Have a look at SHG youtube channel, Stu has started to repair a PSOne.

Make sure you give the guy a like

[ Show youtube player ]

He’s done a few on repairing Amigas and other retro systems ??

[Havie]

Originally Posted by RaveGuru

I finally managed to source a used drive and having the bad one replaced, and indeed it works just great now!

Thanks for your input guys.

Well done!