The "myth" of PSX longevity?

I don't see why not. The "PS2 mode" is just:
1. EE kernel switched to 32MB mode. This is done with a PSX-only syscall, which changes the machine type setting. The EE kernel remaps the TLB to allow access to only the lower 32MB, when ExecPS2() is called.
2. CD/DVD drive switched to PS2 mode from Rainbow mode.
3. Remote Control bypass disabled, so that the user can reset the console with the "QUIT GAME" button.

The IOP kernel doesn't undergo any changes, not even in terms of RAM capacity reported. Even though a regular PlayStation 2 has 2MB of IOP RAM instead of 8.

I guess that this would allow the DVR to continue functioning as a DVR, even as the console is being used for gaming?

 

I no longer live in Japan and therefore cannot test the TV(EPG) for recording, instead I used the LINE-in channel. So basically I just pressed the record button, navigated to the PS2 function and started a game.
Obviously, game footage cannot be recorded, unless a second video game device is connected to either the antenna or LINE inputs on the rear of the PSX (a Famicom for example). Work great with Laserdisc, too.

No. Although the remote control buttons related to the DVR mode do not work/respond while in PS2 mode...

...the recording, however, continues while in PS2 mode (e.g. playing a game). Yes.

In conclusion, I assume the EPG (TV to DVR) feature by which the PSX was mainly advertised can work autonomously (timer or record button) while playing PS2 games.

 

I find it irritating that it doesn't support PAL.
My territory is weird; the PlayStation consoles here use NTSC, but my TV transmissions and other stuff use PAL.

This makes sense, given that the recording functions are managed by the DVRP.
Thanks for confirming that.

 

Honestly, I haven't tried to utilize any of the two TV inputs. AFAIK the BS satellite standard was proprietary to Japan and the other VHF/UHF input is probably analog and, well, NTSC only.
According to the Japanese manual, PAL & SECAM are not supported, which makes sense given the domestic market focus. Back then, I tried PAL and PAL60 via composite (Laserdisc) for a chance but it didn't work properly.

EDIT: If your TV or digital tuner/box provided a NTSC signal and the possibility to output composite video, you can connect it to the PSX video input (composite) and actually still record the TV program as an "analog source" onto the PSX.

You're welcome... for a moment I thought we could possibly record PS2 game footage. That idea never crossed my mind and was worth the try

 

Has any ever gotten a custom standalone browser to function? Like Toxic Os or something like that

 

HK was like that too - TV broadcasts were all in 60Hz PAL format, but the consoles (at least the officially imported ones) were all NTSC:J. Probably part of the reason that most of the TVs here were multi-standard long before it became popular elsewhere.

 

On second thought, I think that I tried using the line-in input because there would have been no way for me to connect it to the cable connection here.

No, that won't work.

Was? So HK is no longer using PAL?

The TVs here were also multi-standard, for as far as I can remember. My family rarely upgraded the TVs here (they're used until the company can no longer service them), so I only saw 3 TV models in my whole life so far.

uLaunchELF works.
Actually, as long as the software doesn't use board-specific files, it should boot on the PSX. Unfortunately, a lot of homebrew software used some modules from the PlayStation 2's ROM, as they were conveniently located there on their developer's units.

 

I've tested that procedure myself and edited my above reply accordingly. Basically I navigated the PSX to the "LINE" option, switched the corresponding TV channel on and pressed the "RECORD" button on the remote control.
PAL is all scrambled though. It should work provided you channel a NTSC signal through the composite cable. I'm not an expert on all the NTSC signal variations or sub-standards though.

 

It's actually still operating - both TVB and RTHK still have analog PAL service - but the plan was to turn it off in 2015, so pretty much everyone migrated to the digital networks (which use the same DMB-T/H format they use in China). I guess if you have an SD receiver they still output in PAL, but the HD ones output in the standard HDTV formats.

So yeah, I guess my past tense was misplaced - the service is still operating, even if nobody I know is using it. I think the new turn off date is 2020.

In this case, it shouldn't matter - the only difference between NTSC-J and NTSC-M is the black level, so if you connect a US NTSC source to a Japanese display the image is slightly brighter than it should be. If you do it the other way (NTSC-J source to a NTSC-M display) then you will get a slight black crush, but it's hardly noticeable.

 

Thanks, good to know


I was thinking about cleaning my DESR-7000. The CD/DVD pickup is a little slow.
While the process of disassembling the unit seems comparably easy, @Parris mentioned in his disassembly guide to plug of the PSU first - why? Unplugging the power cord is self-evident, but why unplug the PSU unless you want to completely take the system apart... is there any leakage current and expected laser hazard (I've read that writer-lasers are "stronger" than normal reading-lasers, but have no expert knowledge on this subject)?

 

I think it's just mechanical - it's been a while, but I remember it was much easier to get the boards out if you removed the PSU first.

 

Well noted, thanks. Initially I thought there was something else to consider since @Parris wrote "unplug for safety" back then...

 

It's possible he was using "safety" in the sense of "avoiding damage to the unit" rather than "personal safety".

 

I completely agree.
Although the, when I was repairing my DESR-5000 ( I mentioned once, I've changed one of the two lasers (KWS-200A)), i do not disconnected and removed PSU. The main danger at dismantling - is to break thin flat cables and cable latch. But if do not rush and do everything carefully - everything will work perfectly.

 

Here are simplified SMART HDD my DESR-5000. In principle, is normal for the device, which is 12-13 years. "Reallocated sectors count - 2" - certainly bad, but nothing wrong with that, given that in recent years they have not been added. (Most likely, the previous owner had power problems.).




In general, the whole will sooner or later come to an end ...

 

@all: Thanks for the additional information. Looking forward to cleaning the pickup mechanism next... about time I give myself and thin flat PC cables a second chance

 

One really interesting thing that comes to mind is that exactly due the EPG function and how the DVR work, it periodically brings the harddrive up to update logs, check/refresh the EPG data or even housekeeping tasks like defragment or bad sector management. What damages the harddrive is that start/stop activity. Unfortunately it does that way to often.

There's nothing wrong with Maxtor harddrives. (besides the fuckups with firmware that are publicly known) I've been using them for many years and never had a crash.

No harddrive I know of will survive long with strict power saving enabled as stopping/starting is what causes the platter mechanics the most stress.

That activity happens even if the unit is not being used. Only having it hooked to wall mains is enough for that to happen.

 

@l_oliveira: Well, I treat my PSX units with composure... Whether it's the tedious blue colored "idle-time" circle, the fact that the fan and HDD (?) sometimes keep running after being switched off, or that the PSX will just "wake-up" from time to time...

 

I don't regard the current Maxtor drives as being especially unreliable - but during the time period the DESR was a current product they were horrible. We were using a whole bunch of them, and over the course of about 4 years the failure rate was pretty much 100%. They were especially good at getting into a state where the reserved area got damaged in some way and the drive forgot which model it was, just reporting a generic ID (like "MAXTOR ROMULUS") instead. The fact I still remember the default ID after all these years is a clue to how many times I saw it...

 

That, is the firmware bug I meant. The drives are designed to fall back to bootloader in the CPU chip ROM (or flash) if any of the modules on the negative lba area are corrupt. I know how to fix that, but honestly that has never happened to any of my ROMULUS drives. I have like eight drives of the Romulus family, seven are PlayStation/SONY drives. I also have other drives. The only time I had that happen was with a "MAXTOR ATHENA" drive which I was able to fix with some tool I found online...