Broken PSX DVR consoles?

Searching YAJ for a PSX, it seems that there are lots of broken or 'junk' consoles for sale, and only a few verified as working consoles - do they have a high failure rate and is it a fixable problem? (Something tells me its a hard drive breakdown for most cases).

Would love to own one but I'm worried if it dies on me considering at they are reaching the 10 year old mark.

 

I've noticed this as well and have wondered what the story is. Would like more details as well.

 

HDDs are married to the console, if they go then it's bye bye PSX.

 

For now. Should be able to bypass it with a bit of work.

 

For now, and maybe forever. Ive taken mine apart many times but dont remember if the dvd drives have any actual circuitry in them. if so, are they also married to the logicboard the same way blueray drive controllers are married to the ps3's logicboard? It would make sense because my PSX refuses to read games, even with replacement lasers, and its possible that I accidentally got the drives mixed up between my 2.

 

They probably have the drive lock or pair it with the serial or something of the sort. The keys can sometimes be recovered if there are tools to do it.

 

It could also be like the Playstation 2 parts and console that I got from there - they are marked as 'junk' because they couldn't be tested, were just not tested, or are just old.

My SCPH-10000 was marked as junk, but seems to be a (03/2000) launch unit that still had some of it's original wrapping. It was in a very good condition, except that it was very weak at reading DVDs.

You should try reading the description (With a translator, if you can't read Japanese), since they usually tell you what is wrong (Either with the unit or simply why it's 'junk'). That's just from my really limited experience with shipping stuff from JYA.

If you are not sure and don't feel like taking any chances, just get one that is not marked as junk.

 

PSX is hard to repair, with out hdd issue , it still have many thing will let it not boot up,
like, DVD drive not find, top case led board not find/cable bocken, powersupply cap drop , some model FPGA board issue....etc

 

HDD Locking is the stupidest thing ever...

If this were to happen, was the only option back in the day to send it to SONY?

 

from what i understand when a few members of the PS2 hacking community got ahold of a hard drive dump from the PSX
they are members here on the forum BTW

they found that the PSX refuses to boot if so much as 1 sector has been realocated
i myself wonder if the PSX drive could be inserted into a normal PS2 and the hard drive repair tool
from the hard drive DVD be used to fix the issue

 

I haven't disassembled OSDSYS yet, so I don't know whether the bootup sequence is similar to a normal PS2's... but so far:
1. If PATAD is the ATA HDD support module, it is just a normal retail ATAD module that comes with games (Has the "SCE Genuine HDD" check).
2. If HDDLOAD loads the PSX's UI from the HDD, it probably uses rom0ATAD.
2. If the above is all true... the encryption of the data on the HDD might be done by the HDD itself.

Does anyone here know what will really happen if a SCPH-20401 HDD unit is locked and accessed without unlocking? Mine was always damaged, so maybe what I've experienced isn't what would have actually happened.

When I locked mine:
1. Homebrew software like uLaunchELF always couldn't access the disk because of buggy code in it's ATAD module.
2. My PC seems to screw up because the HDD reports that it's locked, but doesn't support the standard ATA security command set (It's reported too, but it seems that a lot of PC stuff don't detect this properly).
3. The Sony software screws up too, and reports that my HDD unit is not connected/powered (When the password is wrong, as it belonged to a different console).

But I didn't attempt to dump the disk with my PS2... so I don't know if the data is scrambled by the HDD when it's locked.

 

Hi guys, since little is currently known about the PSX, can someone with a DESR-5000 test whether it can boot FMCB for us?

It seems that boot ROM v1.80 (DESR-5000 and some other models) is designed to look for mc:\BIEXEC-SYSTEM\xosdmain.elf at some point in the bootup process.

If you can install FMCB v1.8C with a normal Playstation 2 console and copy the KELF (mc:\BREXEC-SYSTEM\osdmain.elf or mc:\BREXEC-SYSTEM\osdXXX.elf, where the embolded R is your console's region letter) as mc:\BIEXEC-SYSTEM\xosdmain.elf and boot it on your PSX unit, let us know if it boots FMCB or not.

It appears to look for updates in three areas: The memory cards, the flash and the HDD unit.

So why did I specify the DESR-5000 specifically here? The only boot ROM dump I have is from a DESR-5000. Naturally, other models will most likely function in the same way, but I cannot guarantee that.

PS: The DESR-5000's boot ROM looks maddening familar... it's bootup process is similar to the boot ROM of the PS2TV (v2.50!). But v2.50 lacks the flash and HDD support modules, and doesn't check the memory cards either.

So I did some experiments with my SCPH-20400 HDD unit: When it's locked, all I/O to the media is rejected or just doesn't work. So I still haven't figured out how the data on the HDD is scrambled.

Other than the scrambling, the HDD <-> PSX marriage through the i.Link password lock can probably be broken by supplying ATAD-patched files in a memory card or in the flash chip.... if it's even used. I think that it might be usually not used in most cases, like on the Playstation 2.

 

Hi guys,
I own a PSX DVR 5500 and...it doesn't work. Looking for a way to fix it I ended up in this forum.

I'm really not an expert of retro console and I've never tried to repair one. I know almost nothing about this system, so I was just wondering if you had some advice for me.
Basically when I turn it on it display the initial PSX screen and then it stops running. The hdd led blinks for a while and then it stops too. Can't turn it off after that, got to unplug the chord.
I've made a video, so if you have some spare time please have a look at it: http://youtu.be/5uJ4wmcjR-4

Any ideas? Thanks all in advance.

 

Sorry to go a bit off topic but is there any real online site for hacking the PSX? I absolutely love the console and it's one of the systems I'll never sell, but I can't read Japanese so I never use it.

it's be great seeing that thing hacked open and figured out, because I'm afraid of the HDD going kaput, which, by the looks of this thread, seems irreparable ATM.

@museovivo listen closely for any clicking sounds, could be a dead HDD, or one on it's way to the grave.
I've had an issue just like this for the past little while on my system. I leave it in the upright position (the DVD slot is on the top) and when I would boot it that way, it would have a similar issue to what you're describing. However, if I left it on and shifted it to the flat position (self explanatory) I could hear the HDD engage. It wouldn't boot, but after a restart it would.

I have the 7100 unit, but I'm going to assume they run in the same manner with storage size being the only variant. My (and probably your) HDD "engaging" sound should be a buzzing that increases in pitch, followed by a "tick" and then a whole bunch of small clicking sounds. Your video doesn't have those sounds, but then again the sound was pretty muffled so I suggest that you do it yourself.

Turn it on, and give the system a very slight bump. VERY slight, like lift it off one foot and firmly place it back on the surface. Or try changing the position.

Hint- to turn it off without unplugging the cable, press and hold the power button for 10 seconds.

 

Well, I wanted to do some tests, but since nobody stepped up...

http://www.assemblergames.com/forum...out-how-PSX-HDDs-are-married-to-the-PSX-units

 

If anyone can figure it out it'd be l_oliveira. Not sure if he has ever gotten ahold of a PSX DVR unit though.

 

Hi, thank you for your help. The sounds it makes are exactly like you described. I've tried to bump the machine, to turn in different positions and booting and rebooting but nothing seems to work. It turns off after holding the power button for 10 second, though.

At this point I'm wondering what could be the best use to make out of it. As I've said I'm not skilled enough to try fixing it.

 

The best use for it in its current state is to see if you can help get FMCB to work on it sp193 is looking for a test subject to help NO dissacembily required

 

The console doesn't even have to have a fully functional HDD unit either, assuming that FMCB does work on a PSX after the KELF is named appropriately. It does, however, still need to have the original HDD connected and data (for samples) must still be readable from that disk.

 

I'll go post in the other thread that you specified above- I'd really like to see the PSX get worked out!