PSX HDD Failure

Hello everyone!

I recently picked up a PSX (DESR-5100) during a trip to Ohio and have been having some pretty bad luck with it so far. I bought it knowing that the DVR laser wasn't reading DVDs which was fine with me. I set up FreeMCBoot as soon as I got it home in hopes of getting US games running on it.

I had a fully working FreeMCBoot install (without the ability to run US games, was working on that part) running and was doing more reading on it when it made a horrible noise... It sounded like the HDD head crashed into the platters if I had to guess. I shut it off and turned it back on, but the XMB was never seen again after that.

I have since been doing a ton of reading and from what I've learned, I should be able to throw a PS2 HDD (SCPH-20401) into it and continue to use FreeMCBoot to run games. I have done that, but I seem to be stuck in a boot loop, unable to run any of my preset apps during boot when holding buttons.

I know the chances of getting the XMB back is slim to none without another PSX HDD, but I would like to at least run games on it. Does anyone know what could be causing this boot loop?

Spoiler: Extra Information

I still have the PSX HDD
The PS2 HDD still has homebrew stuff on it including FreeHDBoot

 

is there anything saved to the PS2 hdd?

 

What do you see, when FMCB now starts up? Does the FMCB splash screen even appear? If nothing appears (even without your memory card containing FMCB inserted), then some other parts of the PSX had died as well.

Sorry to hear that your PSX has died, BTW. These units are already very old and a lot of them are very worn, hence why using them to play games is probably not a very good idea.

 

Yes, it still has FreeHDBoot and a couple HDLoader installed games on it from PS2 use.

The FMCB splash screen does appear, then it cuts to black and flickers every minute or so like it's trying to load something and failing repeatedly.

-EDIT-

I tried running it without a HDD at all last night and it acts the same as when the PS2 HDD is installed. Is it because the PS2 HDD still has stuff on it?

 

You can't have FHDB installed on the PSX. It doesn't exist for the PSX.

If the FMCB logo appears, then it's working right. You just need to launch software that can be launched.
Since the HDD is dead, you can only launch software that is stored on either a memory card or a USB device. You can only do so, with the trigger keys.

If you left FMCB alone or held down a key that isn't bound to a valid launch target, then it will try to boot the OSD/XMB... which isn't working on your PSX.

 

If you want to be completely sure that your PSX HDD is dead, connect it to your computer and check using the MHDD. (For example) .You can find out the condition of the mechanical part, S.M.A.R.T. and more.(See the description of the program). At least you know exactly dead hard drive or not.

 

I wasn't attempting to use FHDB on the PSX, it was still on the HDD from PS2 use.

I have ULaunchElf and ESR set to O and square which worked fine before things failed. Are only the R and L buttons checked when using a PS2 HDD on PSX?

@svotib
Thanks for the tip, I'll try that when I can

-EDIT-

I mapped ULE and ESR to L2 and R2 as well, but I'm still getting the flicker after the FMCB splash screen.

 

There's still the possibility that your controller is not connected properly to the PSX. To test that, place uLaunchELF on a USB device as RESCUE.ELF. Connect that USB device to the console before booting FMCB with it.

uLaunchELF should start up after the FMCB logo is shown. Try selecting options on the menu.

 

I just tried this. ULE on flash drive root as RESCUE.ELF, insert flash drive before turning system on. Tested on PS2>shows splash then boots ULE. Tried on PSX>shows splash then flickering bootloop, never even checks flash drive (it has a light on it and it never lit up). I even tried setting FMCB to automatically load ULE at boot instead of OSDSYS and ended with the same result.

It seems like there's a crash before FMCB gets to the point of trying to load anything?

 

I hope that you reconnected everything (all flat cables) correctly, including the CD/DVD drive stuff (including the lasers). Such behaviour is likely caused by non-compliant/faulty hardware, unfortunately.

At first glance, it seems to be getting stuck while trying to do something with the HDD unit since your HDD unit is the only known part to be dysfunctional. But yet I would have expected it to have gotten stuck at the FMCB boot screen instead. The fact that the screen disappears, means that it moved on to doing something else after initialization. I am inclined to think that it's more likely to be getting stuck for some other reason instead.

Was it already like this, even before you replaced the HDD unit?

 

I have double checked all connections and they're all solid.

I've actually tried all of these things with both the original HDD and the PS2 HDD and it acts the same no matter which HDD is installed. I tried FMCB first thing (before trying the PS2 HDD) after the original HDD made the horrid noise and I discovered the XMB no longer loaded and it's always done the same thing.

Something I just noticed, every time it reboots during the bootloop after the FMCB splash, the HDD light flashes. This happens with both original and PS2 HDD

 

I think that I might know what's wrong. There's no HDD, but FMCB will try to mount hdd0:__sysconf. Failing which, it will quit (hence why the FMCB logo will disappear and a boot loop starts).

Connecting a HDD now will not make a difference, as it would still need to be formatted. Since the PSX's DVRP will encrypt data that is stored on the HDD unit, the HDD unit can only be formatted by the PSX itself.

I can try to make a HDD-less version of FMCB for the PSX. Perhaps this will be the new standard.
After all, I don't store anything on the HDD unit and touching it with homebrew software isn't a very good idea (risk of corruption) anyway.

Please PM me your e-mail address, if you would like to beta-test it.

 

Can I take part in the beta testing?

 

Yes you may. Please PM me your e-mail address.

 

I am interested in trying out the HDD-less FMCB too

 

@OP

Have you done anything stupid to the original PSX HDD ? (stupid as wiping, formatting, overwrite it)

If not, you should at least image it before you start making experiments.

 

@l_oliveira
I haven't done anything to the original HDD other than remove it to try a PS2 HDD. Is there a specific program you recommend to image it?

 

Winhex, DD or any kind of image tool which make 1:1 sector dump of it.

 

But why would it matter now, since the original HDD unit is already dead? Wouldn't it be the same as just keeping that disk in a safe place?

He wasn't doing any experiments to the original HDD unit. He's trying to get FMCB working again. At the same time, he tried to replace the dead HDD unit with a SCPH-20401.

 

Actually, I am going to attempt an experiment or two on the original HDD (mainly re-installing the OS) now that I can execute things on the system. It's not completely dead, it still spins and is recognized in a PC. I'm doing a backup with Winhex now (and there are so many unreadable sectors ATM...). I figure I won't be losing anything if I fail at reinstalling the OS, so why not try?

-EDIT-
Whatever caused that noise really screwed things up. I've never dealt with HDD recovery before, is this permanent damage to the HDD or just corrupted data that can be fixed with a format/reinstall?