PS1/2 New owner of Playstation One - hackable ?

[pumpkinpies]

Hey all - i just picked up a mint condition PS1 with a couple of controllers and the cables and am wondering if there any easy mods/hacks to do to this so i can play backups from some kind of hard drive ?

I have read about disk swapping and modchips but not really interested in trying to hunt down some cd's and burn a bunch of games and i have no experience doing any kind of soldering.

So i am wondering if there was ever a hack so that you could play games off of a hard drive via either the serial or parallel port ?

 

[KongsNutz]

No hdd mods for actual PSX/PSone console.
Disc Swapping and ModChips are basically your lot.
If it’s an original PSX with the data port in the back your best bet is to grab an Action Replay adapter from eBay plug that in and boot backups.

There is a CDemu coming afaik it’s nowhere near ready yet.

 

[zfreeman]

Only the earlier editions of the PSX have a parallel port for the PSIO. The PSone's only ports are power and video/audio.

PSIO is a Flash Cartridge that plugs into your PlayStation’s Parallel I/O Port. It allows you to run your games from an SD Card on real hardware. In order for PSIO to work with your system, a Switch Board needs to be installed on your mainboard.

 

[pumpkinpies]

sorry i may not have the lingo correct - i must have a psx as mine does have the serial and parallel ports in the back.

So for this PSIO - you can install an sd card into it and play backups from there ?

 

[zfreeman]

You will have to modify the motherboard with an additional chip. The PS1's CD drive depends on several components from the motherboard and must be rerouted to boot from the parallel port.

 

[TunaKetchup]

PSIO is still ridiculously expensive last time I checked

I suggest just going old school and picking out a modchip MM3 or Mayumi

For CD-R you most likely want Verbatim DataLifePlus. Amazon carries them, they are cheap and easy to get.

 

[pumpkinpies]

ya i just looked and it would cost me about $150 which is pretty expensive.

I only paid $8 for the whole console !!

 

[Vorde]

ya i just looked and it would cost me about $150 which is pretty expensive.

I only paid $8 for the whole console !!

Yeah with the compatibility issues and having to solder anyways I didn't see the point.
I bought a lot of 10pcs for 12f508 chips and flashed MM3 hex onto them and soldered them in place. They worked out really well, I have a bunch of PSX's modded just awaiting for a buyer at this point
But yeah modchip is the way to go still imo

 

[TunaKetchup]

ya i just looked and it would cost me about $150 which is pretty expensive.

I only paid $8 for the whole console !!

I'm going to tell you what I did and you can decide if you want to do that. There might be easier or cheaper ways but this is the way I did and I'm happy with what I got.

First I googled "Ps1 modchip" and I found a website by a guy named William Quade (I am not affiliated whatsoever with him or his website). Mr. Quade is very well versed in ps1 modding and he offers his services for a small fee

I paid around $35 USD for the chip and installation. I shipped it to the guy and got it back within a week later

Now my PS1 can run backups and imports every single time. No issue whatsoever

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Another option if you have an I/O port on the back is to buy something like Action Replay or Mini Goldfinger

They will allow you to play backups as well but its not as seamless as having a modchip. It requires you to swap discs and it can be a hassle.

 

[Deleted User]

Chipping a PS1 is still that pricey? I bought one from a guy for like £8.45 ($10.90). I haven't tested mine yet as I'd have to burn a disc, but it plays the crappy PAL Tekken 3 copy it came with it.

 

[Clydefrosch]

just buy a couple games. most are not that expensive.

and theres always emulation for the more expensive ones

 

[Deleted User]

just buy a couple games. most are not that expensive.

and theres always emulation for the more expensive ones

You make a valid point. He presumably lives in Canada so buying them at decent/low prices shouldn't be much of an issue. However, if it was someone in Europe or Australia/NZ who was stuck with awful PAL-format games then there's a fair point to burning discs.

Importing this and that would eventually get expensive, even if inexpensive.

 

[pumpkinpies]

Yeah with the compatibility issues and having to solder anyways I didn't see the point.
I bought a lot of 10pcs for 12f508 chips and flashed MM3 hex onto them and soldered them in place. They worked out really well, I have a bunch of PSX's modded just awaiting for a buyer at this point
But yeah modchip is the way to go still imo

do you still have any modchips available ?

if so would you be willing to sell one ?

 

[Vorde]

do you still have any modchips available ?

if so would you be willing to sell one ?

I have a buddy that has 30 or 40 of them, if you want to PM me on here, I can set up a way to mail one to you. He was considering selling them online for around $7CAD shipped.