With a satisfying combination of classic console restoration and modern refinement, [Elliot] from the Retro Future the channel turned a broken, dirty PlayStation into what they called “the ultimate PS1.”
The first step was to deal with a really bad case. The shell was soaked in dish soap and mixed well before it was packed and sent to the participants. When inspecting the internals, several unknown changes to the PCB were noticed. This could support playback of home-burned copies of pirated games, as well as NTSC region hacking (in this PAL version of the console), courtesy of a dodgy-looking crystal oscillator dangling from the end of some cables.
Fortunately, the design of the PS1 product is very modular, offering excellent configurability, which made undoing this a doddle. The wiring for the mod was removed by simply disassembling it, but the cut traces need to be cleaned and rewired to return it to stock condition.
After the first round of adjustments, [Elliot] connected to a TV for testing. It was still outputting black and white. Something was still wrong. He had simply connected one of the repair wires to the wrong place on the PCB. After correcting that error (and luckily, no damage was done), the correct PAL result was observed.
Next, the PicoStation ZeroWire was sold locally. This cleverly shaped PCB hosts one of the Pico MCU chips and allows the launch of games from an SD card. Using a combination of large holes on the PCB and a few edge holes, installation looks very easy. ZeroWire is an unpleasant name, as it actually requires a single jumper wire to be connected, but we’re just clicking here. Next, there was a really dangerous looking pin that was raised on the CDROM controller chip. Cleanliness is right here for a successful modem connection. A special (not really) ESD toothbrush was pressed for cleaning with IPA. The right ESD tools are inexpensive, but you can get away without them.
A PAL-to-HDMI adapter available on Amazon has been tested for 720p upscaling. This reduced the obvious jaggies a bit, but it wasn’t good enough [Elliot]. So instead, he installed an HDMI mod board available from the AliExpress store (the listing is now no longer valid). The protective metal tin has been removed to reveal the video ICs. The product port connector has been removed, as this is the location of the new HDMI port. The ‘fun’ part of this particular mod is attaching a custom flexible PCB to the video chip. This is a very difficult task for those who are not comfortable with SMT mitigation techniques. It might look tough, but it’s actually dead easy to drag-sell this, as long as you use lots of good quality flex and keep the heat under control. Once that was out of the way a second small cable was routed to the sound chip.
Next up was dealing with the old school wired controls. The TechnoBit Videojuegos Re-Live BT controller board allows the use of a modern wireless controller. Its installation requires disassembling the original controller connector module. The PCB on the back of the module is removed along with the ribbon cable connector and Zener diode hole, both reused and soldered to the new control board. This seems like an unnecessary faff and could easily have been pre-installed or at least included with the PCB. Also, attaching the hole beeper to the top pads gave us a hard time. That looks like someone forgot to do proper tracking of the part that normal people can sell.
Finally, the Robot Retro USB-C power supply was dropped to replace the original AC power supply, bringing this design’s connectivity into the current decade. USB power, HDMI ‘1080p’ output, SD card game loading, and BT controller. Good! The final part of the build features a custom storm enclosure, a nod to the original ‘dev kit blue’ version when the PS1 was first announced all those years ago. Ah, we miss you!
Retrogamers who are familiar with PS1 hacks may remember that we talked about PicoStation hacks in the past. You may also remember this hack that squeezes a full PS1 emulator onto a DS cartridge. Finally, hacks can be neat software, with nary iron soldering, like this one.
