The "myth" of PSX longevity?

Hi guys, I was just catching up on the past couple months' Sony PSX related threads in the forum…

Out of curiosity, how may of you had a PSX DESR-xxxx that actually broke down unsubstantiated after a longer period of continuous regular use, i.e. without external interference such as long-term exposure to smoke, dust, humidity, electrical hazard or DIY attempts gone wrong?
I’m not talking about a second-hand DOA unit or a worn-out unit that eventually broke down after a couple weeks. Obviously, there’re plenty of threads here describing how people try to repair a broken bargain PSX.

Sure, most PSX offered on Yahoo Japan auctions are advertised as junk because the seller (admittedly) didn’t care to check the system or just shares the risk aversion of most private individuals in Japan engaging in online trade. Likewise the majority of PSX sold on eBay are actually not working… but are those numbers presentable given the fact that a lot of overseas sellers want to make a quick buck by advertising a retro videogame system?

Talking about (presentable?) user feedback, there are about 80 individual reviews on Amazon Japan covering the various PSX models and less than 5% claim actual hardware flaws. In fact most of the negative reviews are based on comparisons with other products, Sony’s domestic update/support policy or the lack thereof, software glitches, or disappointment over the lack of a preferred feature…

Without a doubt, some of the most informative PSX related threads can be found here, as well as private websites/blogs where the more tech-savvy PSX enthusiasts share their findings. But while the aforementioned flaws are true, the fact that DIY repair is often impossible or usually more difficult, I didn’t see the assumption that all PSX systems are „ticking time bombs“ fulfilled, but rather that a lot of units suffered mishandling or lack of proper care.

 

Are we talking about the PS1 or the DVR?

 

The DESR-xxxx is the PSX/DVR unit. PS1 has a SCPH-xxxx scheme

 

You can't replace the hard drive. All hard drives are ticking time bombs.

Simple as that really.

 

@GodofHardcore: Yes, I mean the DVR capable system, @citrus3000psi: thanks for the explanation.

Well, that's a generalized statement unrelated to the reliability of PSX hardware. It's not like that system was sold DOA when Sony released it and it's debatable how many units actually failed due to an unsubstantiated HDD error...
Based on my own experience, the system is stable and can handle hourlong game sessions even after prolonged use, hence I was asking for people to share their experience, both positive and negative. After all most threads here are dealing with units already flawed or damaged on purchase.

 

i have one im repairing and one that works that i'm buying soon, what Ad says is 100% the truth. the HDDs are prone to failure over time. period. even with light use. and once the nuke, they are DONE. big problem is they used maxtor, and those HDDs were shit from that era. and theres NO way to replace them, at least not a know method yet.

 

@skyway1985: Sure, HDDs can fail after some time. Yet, judging from your comment, both PSX in your (future) possession do not suffer from a broken hard disc, right? That's great! In comparison, laser pickup issues seem far more common than unsubstantiated HDD failures.

I'm still not convinced the PSX is as bad as some people here claim and I am far from a Sony fanboy. Just curious from a collector's point of view given the rather negative connotation in recent PSX related threads, which is quite contrary to my long-term user experience.

 

o it's not! but it IS a ticking time bomb sadly. and that's what makes ownership scary. lasers fail because well look at how they were used. burn dvds read dvds etc

 

I think the point is that once the HDD fails, there's no way to put another one in it, by contrast with lasers. And the HDD WILL fail eventually, so the PSX will become a paperweight until a method is found to replace the HDDs in them.

 

@skyway1985: Agreed... and one can only guess the operation period of second-hand units.
When I bought my first PSX a couple years ago, I was surprised about the built quality and longevity and since bought a silver version. Both third-hand/dusty-pawnshop-shelf units, still lasting hourlong game sessions, despite the often suggested early demise.

 

@-=FamilyGuy=-: So hopefully the HDDs will last until a method is found... perhaps after another ten years
Seriously though, so far it seems that rather few active users suffered from units with broken HDDs, unless of course, they were purchased like that.

 

I wouldn't bet on any 10 years old non-corporate HDD surviving 10 years with moderate day-to-day use though...
Maybe with very limited use.

 

Yeah, I'm surprised too. At least my white PSX from 2003 saw frequent use. Even the foam part covering the tray is completely worn out and discolored (probably smoke). As mentioned earlier, my own user experience and the lack of a majority of HDD failures among the Japanese user experiences on Amazon Japan and various message boards surprised me, too (edit: hence this thread )

 

Speaking as a layman to all things PSX, I assume the HDDs are locked to the console in some way which doesn't allow you to swap drives out? Unless someone dumps the keys or something?

 

Trenton, it has something to do with the drive controller.

 

Can anyone explain (in more detail) why you can't simply swap the hard drive with a new one?

(just curious to be honest - I'm kind of surprised it could be so locked down like that)

 

Custom firmware with custom Sony commands. Firmware is stored on the disk itself, in unreadable area so you can't just dump and it reflash to another drive.

All hard drives are ticking time bombs. This is a fact, it doesn't make any difference if it's in a PSX or a pc. It's not unsubstantiated, it's a fact of the hardware. Once it dies (and it Will at some point), it's basically a paperweight. In a pc you can replace the hard drive, just need backs up. PSX you can not.

Pinepot, you just want to hear the answer you want to hear. As you don't want to listen to someone who's had many years experience in corporate IT and seen how often hard drives die and also who repairs consoles for a hobby. It doesn't matter what your personal experience is with your one PSX. All hard drives die, it's just a matter of when.

 

Even the transit alone on such an abused drive could be enough to kill it!

you can dump it but not using a normal ata interface, there is no real use for it currently and it has already been dumped iirc..

You also need a clean dump of the actual data on the disk anyway.

The disk in the PSX rarely gets spun down, it's constantly operating, it would be scary to see the S.M.A.R.T report for such a drive :0

The system can still be used however not in DVR mode..

DVRP, on the fly encryption and disk checking (for firmware and security sectors)..


The HDD get quite warm, also....

The official PS2 HDDs work but are not big enough to store the XMB/DVR software..


End of the day, we are waiting for someone very nice to, either crack the DVRP or emulate the drives security...

 

Actually drives that work 24/7 with proper cooling last waaay longer than drives which use "green" modes with insane numbers of start/stop cycles. But... it doesn't matter when we talk about Maxtor DeathMax. Those will fail anyway.

 

The problem is that these are Digital Video Recorders (DVRs). They've been sitting in somebody's home for the past 10 years, with their HDDs running for as long as the unit was left on. Even as you game, the HDD is still left on (which is, unlike the PlayStation 2).
So by now, a lot of them will be reaching the end of their lifespan.

Even if you don't actively use the PSX, it can be subjected to head load/unloading cycles: If you usually only switch on the power to the PSX when your TV is on, then it will always power-up the HDD once, whenever you do that. Even if you don't actually switch on the PSX.

To be honest, I haven't heard of anyone really complain about the quality of these units. The only issue now is that they're being used, way longer than SONY probably intended.

When you lose the HDD of the PSX, you lose its XMB. That's... basically... one major feature that makes the PSX, the PSX. :S
With FMCB, you can boot games, even without a working HDD or a working writer laser. But it isn't quite the "PSX experience" anymore.

Also because we cannot implement it freely, onto just any disk.

All HDDs get warm. I think that it's near the system fan, like the PlayStation 2.

No, it just doesn't have a region above 40GB (the "lba28" region, according to SONY), so there is no space for the DVR to record TV programmes. There are no other known side-effects, so far.

If you ninja'ed a SONY SCPH-20401 into the system before the update disc installs the new XMB, you can get the XMB installed on one. That's what some members here have done.

I think that the irony of all this, is that the PSX actually has an internal (8MB) flash storage, like the PlayStation 3. Except that SONY never stored the XMB or some fail-safe mechanism in there.
It stores a boot loader of some sort, which has a copy of itself stored as the MBR program on the HDD unit (__mbr).