Hi, first post on the forum, hopefully the first of many Basically I'm having an issue that's been driving me mad the last few days and it's my SCPH-1002 which refuses to play backups. I know there's a million threads on this but I can't find anything specifically relating to my issue so I'll include as many details as possible: The console is chipped and confirmed working as it plays some pirate games bought in Hong Kong years ago without an issue, just as it would retail discs (other than my TV not displaying NTSC properly but that's a different issue). My backups are burnt on Verbatim AZO discs from Moser Baer at the slowest speed my burner supports, 16x, and play perfectly, as good as retail discs in my chipped SCPH-5502 (with the laser set to about 12.5mv) The same discs when I try to play them in my SCPH-1002 result in a seeking sort of noise and they never load up. I have changed the laser itself for a KSM-440BAM unit, replaced the spindle and adjusted all the pots with a multimeter, regreased the mechanical parts and cleaned the optics inside and out and it now plays retail games flawlessly from barely playing anything at all (and making a great racket with the CD spinning) when I bought the console. The laser is perfect and played the backups perfectly in a brief test in my 'known working' SCPH-5502, and vice versa the laser from that console gives exactly the same 'seeking noise' result when I try it in the 1002. I'm guessing the newer machines were better at controlling the laser with their automatic adjustments rather than the potentiometers to set a fixed level on the 1002 - increasing the bias on the 1002 made no difference either. Getting fed up with it I managed to get the backups working in the 1002 with the laser at around 17mv, with some skipping in the backups, at which stage the retail discs would not boot as the voltage was too high. Does anyone have any ideas why it won't play my backups? Like I say the laser is perfect, all the pots are set 'properly' (according to the Dogbreath guide), the backups work on my other PS1 and if I turn the laser intensity to a stupid level it does reluctantly play them. My best guesses are that the gain/bias need adjusting differently to the Dogbreath guide (or the other 'unknown' pot - I have heard of this making a difference to the console working or not), that the Moser Baer Verbatim discs I have are not good enough (they've been sat in the garage for years before I burnt them?) or that the 16x speed on my burner is too fast to burn them well enough to be read by the older console. Before I go messing about or spending any more money on Taiyo Yudens though, does anyone have any suggestions? Everyone else seems to have no trouble playing backups on the 100x with the swap trick etc Thanks! I suppose I should add the plastic runner section the laser sled moves backwards and forwards on (which I don't know the name of) is (so I'm led to believe) the original one that came with the console, with the KSM440ACM laser, and been sat next to the hot power supply all its life. Could it be possible this is worn and replacing it for a spare one might help?
if you bought a 3rd party Laser mech try switching over the cover from the original to the 3rd Party one............ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6eLqCG5IEg also on early model burners lowest speed is best but that has changed with newer burners , in my case if i burn at X8 , X16 , X24 , X32 and i do a ' scan ' of each CD-R the sweet spot is X16 for my burner. there are other factors to what makes a well burned disc........... -burn speed -software -burner -media ive found the following through trials and ' scanning ' the disc............. if you are going to start burn backups get the following ..........Discjuggler , Liteon iHAS-324 , Taiyo Yuden not all burners are created equal , Pioneers are turds most of them are re-badged the Liteon iHAS-324 series has held up well another tip is your modchip could be dodgy hence having trouble playing backups
Thanks for the reply. The laser assembly is all genuine, I did buy a 'new' replacement from eBay but (mine anyway) is junk and doesn't work. Thanks for the tips on burning the CD, I will try getting a new burner and discs as my burner was cheap(the discs weren't!) I had thought the chip might be dodgy but it loads the knockoffs okay sand it also won't load my backups using the CD player swap technique either so I think its okay. I may try removing it anyway though as it looks like a messy job. (Its a 4 wire) Thanks!
yeah i have read multiple reports on forums that ebay ones are DOA , ive also read that the people who bought them got a refund you may want to try that to save a few bucks think of a diamond ring ............the ring part is real gold and the diamond is a piece of glass rendering the diamond ring worthless if your going to get a new burner get a Liteon iHAS-324 and get it from somewhere reputable , ive read that some of the ones on Amazon are refurbs so choose wisely............. one other thing you could also try is ' realign the laser ' ............. i had a PS1 that would boot into the game about 2 out of 10 times so i realigned the laser and tested again , i tested it 35 times over 3 days and it got stuck once at the Sony logo if you want to know how to realign the laser let me know
Yeah I really would steer clear from them, they sent me an old motor with a new sticker over the top which made a grinding noise when turned on, a laser unit which plain doesn't read anything no matter what I do with it, and a plastic frame with the gears too close to each other so they bind and the motor can't move the sled :/ they are sending me a new one so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, looks like the next step is a better burner I'll keep my eyes peeled for one that isn't a refurb. Why my current burner burns discs my other PlayStation can read I have no idea. Could you let me know how to do that please? I've tried about everything but it can't hurt to try one more thing. I have tried different frames and sleds and spindles all with the same result and the laser works as good as it gets in a different console (5502) and :known good' lasers have the same result in this machine so I'd sort of ruled the laser unit out. Thanks
hi britain , its a bit unclear what you'd like me to help you with there if you can be more specific so i can help out
Sorry it was the laser alignment thing, I've already tried the console upside down though and the laser looks level but I can't think of anything else to try. My brand new replacement laser arrived from HK and it is slightly better I.e. It boots up the backups some of the time but once they load they're unplayable no matter what I set the laser intensity at. :/
hi britain , below is a pic i made of the laser eye.............. theres sort of a cover around the laser eye you have to take it off to do this , simply once the cover is off you press with a small screwdriver where the arrows are for mine i went East then West then East West then North South then North South , when doing this you want to be careful and not scratch the lens once this process is done reassemble and test...................
Is the modchip installed correctly? If there's a problem with the installation, it can introduce interference in the CD controller that will look like a bad laser. I'm not sure this is an issue on 1002 machines but it definitely happens on later ones (I know first hand ).