PS1/2 PSone Mini laser question (please help)

[CobraStr1ke]

Hi everyone. I posted this on another forum with no response so far. I know there are some knowledgeable people here so here goes.
I visited a thrift store today and saw a white PSone mini for $4 with no cables. I bought it since I never owned this smaller design and brought it home. I went to play some Fear Effect on it after I set it up to my CRT and used a Sony power plug that is not the exact original one but fits in the unit. It powers on but there is absolutely no spinning of the disc or sound from the drive. Do you guys know if this means the laser is dead? Any help would be much appreciated. I was also thinking that even if the laser needs to be replaced wouldnt i still get the splash screen or could it possibly be the plug by chance? Again any help would be awesome.

 

[Foxi4]

If the drive doesn't spin at all, it spells trouble. You should attempt disassembling the PSOne and adjusting the potentiometer (a tiny screw on the lens's cover) a little bit - tiny turns to the right, one at a time) and check if after some calibration it will detect the disc. I'd also suggest checking if the system reads CD-Audio discs - they're more reflective, so maybe that will give you a better picture. As far as I know, the system should spin the spindle each time you close the lid, whatever's in it - not sure about that, but I can't be bothered to connect my PSOne and check. If the drive is borked, there are replacements so don't worry. We're in the same basket - my PSOne reads discs once in a blue moon and I need to replace the lens myself.

 

[CobraStr1ke]

If the drive doesn't spin at all, it spells trouble. You should attempt disassembling the PSOne and adjusting the potentiometer (a tiny screw on the lens's cover) a little bit - tiny turns to the right, one at a time) and check if after some calibration it will detect the disc. I'd also suggest checking if the system reads CD-Audio discs - they're more reflective, so maybe that will give you a better picture. As far as I know, the system should spin the spindle each time you close the lid, whatever's in it - not sure about that, but I can't be bothered to connect my PSOne and check. If the drive is borked, there are replacements so don't worry. We're in the same basket - my PSOne reads discs once in a blue moon and I need to replace the lens myself.

Thanks for the response bud. I was going to just hook this unit up to my CRT for some fun and keep my PS3 hooked up to the Plasma. Ill do what you recommended. I was going to clean the unit too and possibly give it a very nice paint job with some automobile paint such as Carbon Black from a BMW M3 but I will plan all that out once I get it working first. Thanks again Ill try out what you said (=

 

[Foxi4]

Thanks for the response bud. I was going to just hook this unit up to my CRT for some fun and keep my PS3 hooked up to the Plasma. Ill do what you recommended. I was going to clean the unit too and possibly give it a very nice paint job with some automobile paint such as Carbon Black from a BMW M3 but I will plan all that out once I get it working first. Thanks again Ill try out what you said (=

Take extra care when handling the lens. I'd also suggest cleaning the lens gently with a very soft q-tip, I'm guessing it's covered with tons of dust. My Dreamcast refused to boot any discs until I cleaned it, and there I thought I'd have to calibrate it - sometimes the easy solutions work. That said, the spindle should spin, even when dusty...

 

[CobraStr1ke]

Take extra care when handling the lens. I'd also suggest cleaning the lens gently with a very soft q-tip, I'm guessing it's covered with tons of dust. My Dreamcast refused to boot any discs until I cleaned it, and there I thought I'd have to calibrate it - sometimes the easy solutions work. That said, the spindle should spin, even when dusty...

Ya what concerns me is the spindle isnt even spinning. The lens honestly look real clean but i will obviously clean that. Hmmm

I did notice the plug I am using is 4.5 volts and it requires a 7.5 volt plug. Could this be the issue you think ? Its taken apart and i looked around and noticed that about the plug. As for the PS i dont see anything inside that even looks remotely wrong or even dusty etc. It looks really clean.

 

[AngryGeek416]

Ya what concerns me is the spindle isnt even spinning. The lens honestly look real clean but i will obviously clean that. Hmmm

I did notice the plug I am using is 4.5 volts and it requires a 7.5 volt plug. Could this be the issue you think ? Its taken apart and i looked around and noticed that about the plug. As for the PS i dont see anything inside that even looks remotely wrong or even dusty etc. It looks really clean.

Get a 7.5V plug, i bet you theres not enough power to make it spin

 

[CobraStr1ke]

Thanks for the tips...I got an official plug and it works fine. Just a question about S video. If I get a S Video plug do you think I would see a significant difference? Also I couldnt pass the PSone (mini) up for $4 at the thrift store so I scooped it up with the standard AV plugs and a official controller that I found when I went back. Im wondering for North America what the best possible quality is that I can get out of the PSone? Also curious since a PS2 can take component if playing PS1 games off that would look that much nicer? Thanks in advance. I would also assume using a CRT is preferable for PS1 as opposed to a HD tv correct? Again thanks for the help and any insight would be awesome.

 

[xen20]

Thanks for the tips...I got an official plug and it works fine. Just a question about S video. If I get a S Video plug do you think I would see a significant difference? Also I couldnt pass the PSone (mini) up for $4 at the thrift store so I scooped it up with the standard AV plugs and a official controller that I found when I went back. Im wondering for North America what the best possible quality is that I can get out of the PSone? Also curious since a PS2 can take component if playing PS1 games off that would look that much nicer? Thanks in advance. I would also assume using a CRT is preferable for PS1 as opposed to a HD tv correct? Again thanks for the help and any insight would be awesome.

Dunno about on CRT, but on an LCD, S-Video is a bit better than composite. In the states, it's your best bet. PAL regions have SCART RGB. The PS2 can output PS1 games in component indeed, but let me tell you: use your CRT instead they don't look all that good.

 

[CobraStr1ke]

I have S video on both my CRT and plasma. Would CRT be the way to go with S video for PS1? Also, should I stick to PS1 to play Ps1 games and use PS2 for PS2 games? Sorry for all the questions. I have just about every other system and got rid of my PS1 a while ago and just recently scooped this one up. I was wondering whats the best picture I can get out of it before I restart my games such as FF7, Metal Gear, Fear Effects etc. Thank you in advance!

 

[xen20]

CRT with S-Video would be great for the PS1 indeed. And yeah, I'd stick to playing PS1 on PS1 and PS2 on PS2. Reason being that a few RARE PS1 games run imperfectly on the PS2+save the laser of your PS2... if you get your PS1 to work that is. Heh.

 

[CobraStr1ke]

Nice thanks for the response. The PSone I picked up seems to work so far. I paid $4 so I am certain it was worth it to play FF7 etc. I know it was re-released with updated graphics , and mods etc on the computer but I like the look of it on the CRT and the original graphics are the way I always remembered it. Well thank you for the response I guess I will buy a S Video cable for it when I get around to it and will hopefully see a bigger improvement as well. Would a RGB Scart to YUV Component converter work in my case since Im in the states or no? I read a bit about it here on the forums and was wondering would that essentially be RGB to component? Thanks again bud!

 

[xen20]

Nice thanks for the response. The PSone I picked up seems to work so far. I paid $4 so I am certain it was worth it to play FF7 etc. I know it was re-released with updated graphics , and mods etc on the computer but I like the look of it on the CRT and the original graphics are the way I always remembered it. Well thank you for the response I guess I will buy a S Video cable for it when I get around to it and will hopefully see a bigger improvement as well. Would a RGB Scart to YUV Component converter work in my case since Im in the states or no? I read a bit about it here on the forums and was wondering would that essentially be RGB to component? Thanks again bud!

Probably, but you should google about it. I remember some guy on Sega Saturn UK forums that got it to work with his Saturn (not PS1, but meh, it's video equipment). CRT, though, is good enough with just composite I think. Anything over is just a a bonus, even if you have a CRT that takes component.

Good choice of game, love me some FF VII.

 

[CobraStr1ke]

Hey thanks man. Yes FF7 has always been an amazing game in my opinion. Its my favorite FF out of all of them. Well good looking out bud Ill go with an S Video for now and maybe look into it some more in the future!

 

[xen20]

Have fun
Glad I helped.

 

[J-Machine]

I currently have an s-video for my psone (the official one just bought it off amazon two weeks ago) and there is a big difference between it and composite on any tv. It clears up the image and removes most of the pixel bleed. things are brighter and text is easier to read.

As for the RGB scart to yuv component connection... I can pm you how that goes when my supplies come in since I am attempting to do this myself so I can game in my room when the living room is preoccupied by another. If done right it apparently blows everything out of the water and will actually make you systems look half decent on an HDTV. Two problems though is whether the HDTV supports the signal, and whether you have proper cables and high enough quality equipment to get a clean signal. wrong cables can hurt the system via the power draw but it is a no mod needed approach. Also be aware it aint cheap. I cheaped out on the splitter and converter (got a csy 2100 clone) and it ran me 150 bucks to get snes/n64/genesis 2/ps1 to work with this setup and I'm still unsure if I got what I needed. (ntsc systems need the japanese 21 pin scart style rgb cable but the splitter needs an rgb compatible scart to go from it to converter and I have no idea how much interference is gonna come from what I bought.

long story short: get s-video where you can for now until you want to make your wallet cry while your eyes melt.

 

[CobraStr1ke]

My local Gamestop has one of the S video cables with GC/PS2/Xbox heads on it as well as PS1. Would you stay away from this "third party" if you were me and just get the official one? Also I can theoretically play FF7 off my 3D Panasonic plasma through HDMI on the PS3 but would like to play it off the CRT for a couple reasons. One is to basically see it on a CRT again and also since its a long session game I can avoid any black bars causing image retention etc. Not to mention I just want it on a 4:3 CRT since I tend to get more immersed in it while not seeing black bars on the side. Im wondering if the cable at the Gamestop would be a huge difference from the official one or basically not as good.

 

[J-Machine]

it all depends. I've never used it but if you saw a yellow rca connector alongside the s-video one I wouldn't bother. http://www.amazon.com/PS3-S-Video-Cable-Playstation-3/dp/B000N5JS5A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357256258&sr=8-4&keywords=ps3 s-video cable this is $14.22 and it works better than my old one which had both video connectors on it. for some reason the cheaper cables like that split the image between them and you need to plug them both in to get something close to what you should see and other times the interference blows cause some multi cables draw a signal to any device plugged in causing a darker picture.

you can shop around to find a better price but sony does not skimp on quality (one of the reasons they are bleeding out money) when it comes to analogue cables you should go big or go home any ways, well if the cable is over 6 feet or if you are connecting multiple devices/having a lot of cables co-mingling in the same area

 

[CobraStr1ke]

Ya i figure ill just grab the official ones since I only need the S Video for PS1 at the moment and not the others. I have component for my Wii which I use for SNES, genesis and GC. Those look awesome for now. The rest of my consoles are either RGB , component or HDMI. Thanks again for the tips and help.