Playstation 1

[Railways]

Now I'm going to ask some really dumb arse questions here that hopefully will lead me to enabling the grand kids to enjoy some games i played with my daughters like Crash Bandicoot, Driver etc.

Ive tried it on 4 different TV's using the supplied cable with the 3 jacks pictured below.

The TV I'm hoping to use the PS1 on is a Samsung series 7 LA46A750 LCD.

I've watched a couple of YouTube videos will ps1 work on modern tv - Google Search and what is obvious to me is it doesn't come up with the Playstation logo on screen even before you try to run a game.

The unit hasn't been used in 10 years, last time was 4 of us to play Buzz the quiz game and powers up but doesn't seem to recognise a disc. I've tried cleaning the lense gently with a cotton ud and a dab of metho.

1st dumbarse question; Most of the games are PAL format and some duo PAL & NTSC. Will it work on newr model Plasma and LED tv's?? (ok , keep laughing LOL. I don't know)

2nd dumbarse question; Does anyone in the Newy/ Hunter region have a similar unit that I could plug mine in to help shortlist whats wrong?

I reckon that'll do for a dumb arse start. LOL

As always, any help and direction for the ol' fart appreciatted.

 

Edited September 25 by Railways

[jbtech]

Hi, if the console seems to power up you should see the startup screen and hear a sound even if no disc is loaded or not reading.

Any modern TV with AV (composite video) input should work as nearly all will accept multi standard signals PAL or NTSC

The Playstation itself would be either PAL or NTSC and may not work with a disc from the incorrect region but you should have some image on the screen either way..

Make sure you try to select the correct AV input on your TV, if there is more than one often the one on the back is AV1 while the one on the front or side may be AV2...

I have seen a problem with those Playstation cable connectors where the contacts can become dislodged and no longer make a connection, if you unplug the connector from the console and look into the end of the multi pin plug you should see a row of contacts -  check if any have been pushed in and don't line up with the rest, that could cause a connection issue and a new cable would be needed but I would assume you would still see some video or hear some sound as it would be unlikely that all of the contacts would be affected.

Otherwise it may have just developed a fault within the console so yes, checking against a known working one would be the quickest way to be sure.

Hope that helps, regards John.

[Railways]

Thanks John for the input. Yep it seems I have NO start up screen displayed like below. Sounds like the problem may be in the unit itself??

I'll check the cable as suggested and have another crack at the AV settings.

 

Edited September 25 by Railways

[jbtech]

Yes, unless it is the AV cable but then you should probably hear a sound at least, I doubt all 3 connections would be broken. Obviously Yellow is the video connector, red and white are audio.

I think you should see a screen something like this on power on or some slight variation depending on the exact model and that other screen should appear when a disc begins to load if I remember correctly.

Regards, John.

 

[JustAnotherRat]

If this question came up last week I probably could have helped. This week, I have no idea where any of my Playstation stuff is.

If I stumble across it, I'll come back to the thread.

 

[Railways]

4 hours ago, JustAnotherRat said:

If this question came up last week I probably could have helped. This week, I have no idea where any of my Playstation stuff is.

If I stumble across it, I'll come back to the thread.

 

Thanks mate, don't bust a valve though trying to find it. Remember, I've just been there - done that. 

[MrMaloo]

Since you're asking "dumb arse" questions @Railways , can I ask one . I notice in your first picture that you have the AV cable connected ..... you do have a POWER cable to plug into the AC port on the right hand side don't you  ... 

I've got an old PlayStation 1 here mate  . Not sure of what cables etc. I have but definitely have a console if you want to try your cables in .

[Railways]

LOL, yes mate 240V AC is being supplied to the offending console. Doesn't hurt to ask though.

Funny, I was only over at Neck Nock a week ago on a Wednesday. Drove past and saw no Lawn Destroyer parked there so kept on going.

I'll keep you in mind fella for a test trial of said unit. Thanks my good man.

Edited September 26 by Railways

[Autosteve]

Need to push the top door down fully to make a switch or no go......Common problem on PS1s well in combination with the open disc lid button.

Might also be a good idea to see if the power supply is outputting any power?.

Lightning takes them out.

[Railways]

Small update of sorts. Its not the cable and in the console itself (possibly laser??).

I bought a "tested" PS1 bundle off ebay for a reasonable cost including free shipping. Now I can get a game to boot up and run the console won't recognise a controller plugged into port 1. Neither the controller that came with it or 3 of mine.

The seller has graciously agreed to a refund including the return shipping. Wait and see I guess.

At least now I know now its in the console.

Does anyone here repair these???

[needlebat]

I sometimes see them in 2nd hand shops quite cheap, and at junky auction places, I'll keep my eyes peeled. What about an emulator?

[Railways]

Thanks Greg but I need to know it works properly unlike the "tested and OK" one that is now on its way back.

[needlebat]

2 minutes ago, Railways said:

Thanks Greg but I need to know it works properly unlike the "tested and OK" one that is now on its way back.

For $10 I'll buy it and test it for you 🙂

[Davefjedi]

Buy a PS classic and mod it all games then loaded onto a USB key 

I did mine and its great

 

[needlebat]

Were $40, but now I can only find $200~$250, must be antique already.

[jagojp]

Hi @Railways. I do some repairs on these.
The most common fault with them is that the laser dies and can't be repaired.
Its pretty uncommon for the controller connection to go. On the inside there is a ribbon cable that connects the controller ports to the main board. It might be worth checking that is connected.

Another dumb question. Is the green power LED coming on? If you don't even get the white sony screen then there is something wrong with the motherboard or power.

In most cases they aren't worth repairing as you can generally get them for about $50-70 working.

Another thing to consider is that you can now get modded consoles with SD card rather than the disc drive. Theres one called the Xstation. From what I've heard there are cheaper versions coming out.

Personally I don't recommend the PS1 classic because the emulation is not great. But I also acknowledge that not everyone is after a perfect solution and its very cheap and easy to setup.

 

[Railways]

Thanks for the tips.

Yes the green led comes on

No Sony startup pic on screen or anything for that matter.

Out of curiousity I opened it up and reseated the little thin ribbon cables and whatever else I could find to reseat but alas, no change.

As above I have tried a 2nd hand "tested" one off ebay and that actually had the Sony white screen with orange diamond and would also load a game but thats where that finished.

I have a drawer full of PS1 games from when my girls were younger and just wanted to carry it down to the grandkids so minimal outlay as I don't even know if they'll use it instead of playing on their parents phones.

Tell me though. Would a PS2 or PS3 run the Pal games originally for PS1

Edited October 13 by Railways

[needlebat]

PS2 is supposed to, My PS3 did. The PS3 had an emulator in it, hardware and software bits from memory. I can't remember if it had to download the image from Sony first, using the disk as a key, or if it ran it from disk. The former I think.

[jbtech]

Hi, yes a PAL PS2 will run PAL PS1 games no problem. The PS2 will also work with PS1 controllers.

I think early PS3s had an extra board in there (basically an entire PS2 board in addition to the PS3 hardware) so they could sell the system as backward compatible but they soon dropped that and later model PS3s weren't compatible with PS2 games. They may have still been able to play PS1 games though and I'm not sure if some software upgrade was required to make that work, it may be a standard feature.

Regards, John