Gooday Gaming Guests - Sony PS1 Boot Process on each Model

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

The 5501 is the best for Modders.

Alright so today we're gonna start yesterday I did Atari boot did the 2600 how that booted up talked about the chip and then the 5200 which is completely different a little bit different chip and a little more advanced than 7800 actually has a 26 actually has a BIOS of some kind and can do 2600 backwards compatibility so today we're gonna start with ps1 and we're gonna do the first motherboard the 1001 we'll see how it all works this is my new thing I'm gonna do for a little while. Let's see if we can get to where I want to be here. So now it should be a little bit more booting than what we were doing. Okay, let's see.

So boot up sequence. PS1 uses internal power supply. Fuses labeled PS601 if the power supply goes. Then you show the motherboard components receive stable 3.3 volt and 5 volt powers power lines BIOS initialization initialization I can't say that word initialize BIOS chip located near the CPU marked as SCPH-1001 BIOS. This chip contains the firmware necessary to perform initial hardware checks and setup. Common boot logo issues can be caused by corrupt or faulty connections on the bios chip so bioship i've i think i've had some that have had uh bad booming so it's on the bios chip and then we go to

processor and co-processor initialization initialization main cpu uses an R3000A MIPS processor. The CPU begins executing instructions stored in the BIOS. It initializes hardware components such as RAM, GPU and sound process. I'm trying to learn about booting up and computers from the very beginning so I can kind of understand the whole concept any failure in these components bad RAM can prevent the system from progressing past this stage so RAM is always a or bad CPU sound processor the coprocessor is a GTE geometry transformation engine the gte is initialized alongside the cpu it handles complex 3d mathematical calculations because ps1 now then we're into some um 3d graphics i suppose yesterday i was just doing But I could go through all the different systems.

Some of the older ones and some of the newer. But we're going to start with this one. So video output setup. GPU, graphic processing unit. The GPU initializes the video output. The PS1 uses composite video out, RCA cables or SCART in some regions. SCART. C-S-C-A-R-T. It's a really weird word that's used in European. Any issues with the GPU, RAM, DAC, or AV output can result in no signal or distorted video.

I've had some of those do that. The PS1 bio renders the icon Sony computer entertainment boot screen. If this screen does not display common culprits include a faulty BIOS, damaged RAM or VRAM and issues with the GPU audio initialization that's funny SPU sound processing unit sound processing unit is responsible for initializing audio playback during the boot sequence if the system fails to produce the boot chime the CPU or associated capacitors may be faulty so in the future I'm gonna learn how although I don't know how to I can't seem to remove components especially chips and stuff like that but someday

we'll kind of learn maybe or some is some sort of an ai uh generate uh ai controlled chip remover that's what i really need cd control chip the control initializes the cd-rom ensuring it performs a spin-up test so there's always that spin-up test like on the gamecube it's got to spin first it's going to recognize the disc. If the drive does not spin, check the ribbon cable connections motor or CD controller IC. The laser attempts to read the disc for valid PS1 game or CD. If no disc is detected detected the system will produce to the BIOS menu common issues. Dirty or faulty laser. Misaligned laser assembly.

Disk Verification. Anti-piracy check. The PS1 performs a disk verification process to ensure the disk is a legit PlayStation game. process to ensure the disc is legit playstation game there is this is where mod chip bypasses or region locks may interfere so that's where you can do it system ready if all components pass the chest system uh transition to the main menu if no desk is inserted or loads the game troubleshooting bios boot bios no power check for the fuse no boot screen check the BIOS chip verify the RAM IC 101 IC 102 and GPU no disk

reading check the laser all right so so I kind of did what I want but now so let's see if we can get to do what I did yesterday so A boot process Let's try let's do it again from PS1 1001 A boot process Didn't quite get what I wanted out of that. I was trying to troubleshoot something. I'm going to go back to the thread I was using yesterday. All right, there, this is what I want. Okay, now we'll redo it again because I started a new thread and if you do that a lot of times, it doesn't remember what you were doing before. So PS1 1001, it was the earliest playstation model when the console is powered on the mipsr 3000a cpu begins in begins executing instructions stored in the bios so we heard that earlier let's see

if anything else different all right so it's giving a little more detail here CPU and memory the process and two meg of RAM are prepared for operations then it's the GPU the CPU the CD-ROM boot animation does a white screen with the logo discarding authorization region lock verifies that the game matches the region console returns if it fails it returns to the menu uh... game load bios hands control to the game executable storage on the disk game executes begins loading

uh... bios menu if no disk or error. No disk, just operations and memory card manager and CD player are presented. So you get to that main screen. Specific characteristics. Improved audio output. It's notable for the high quality RCA outputs. Early hardware quirks. Hardware quirks were not reliable such as overheating, C-derived alignment problems. Boot process came standard. All right so that's the

first one so let's go on to the PS15501 boot process. So we'll compare them as they should get technically they get better all right says the 5501 released later than the 101 right similar process same kind of chip mips are 3000a cpu pretty cool so that's pretty much the same bios is an updated version compared to one meg this SPU initial initializes the 24 channel audio subsystem and does the same boot screen verification checking the disk the region handling any errors game loading cool to the game so nothing really different the improved hardware reliability compared to the early models like the 101 the 5501 refines the CD-ROM for better disc reading accuracy and reliability. Reduced overheating.

Differences. The boot process of the 5.5 is largely identical to the 1.001, but more reliable disc. The core placing experience remains the same boot process with icon setup okay so let's go on to that we'll go on to the semi go to the PS one seven five which would be the next one. And then after that... Let's see if there's anything different on the next one. Released later in PlayStation's cycle.

There's also a 7001 as well. Which is... There's a 75001. Which is like the 5501. And there's a 7001. And then a 9001 is the last one. So let's see what this one has. Power on initials same chip MIPS R3000A. The BIOS is updated but retains the same core functions. 2 meg RAM is the same, GPU is 1 megs RAM, CPU, hardware is identical, everything is pretty much the same. I'm just trying to see where there is a little bit of a difference.

It doesn't talk about that back port where you can put like Game Shock or something in it. Up until the 9000 model it didn't have the back port. Retains AV multi output but does not include the RC jack. Includes mirror firmware update to improve system stability and compatibility. Includes minor minor not mirror minor firmware so 75 but the choice that everyone likes for the modding is the 5501 the 750 proof product remains the same nothing really different we'll go on to the ps1 all right let's see what this one is so eventually we'll do all the different motherboards maybe i can try to learn something while i'm doing it even if it's just something I learned or learned what the chips are. I know so eventually all right so now we're gonna go to seven oh we're at nine thousand.

Okay so nine thousand was the final PlayStation. Retains the same core boot process as the earlier models. When powered on the same CPU R3000A. BIOS initialized and filing hardware CPU and RAM. I've got a few of these that don't work. I'd like to figure out why. CPU and RAM. 2 RAM, 2 Megs, GPUs, 1 Meg, CPU, all that seems the same. It's streamlined compared to earlier models, improving reliability and reduced costs. The console plays the iconic boot screen. The chime. It's on my PS5, I like that. The PS1 boot screen is on ps5 trademark then it checks for the discs wobbly groove in the disc lead in the area

the wobbly groove in the discs lead in area is read to verify it is a legit also. That's how they this is how they verify. It's a legit game There's a wobble groove in the discs lead in area Is read to verify it is a legit game Unless you use a mod to bypass that the console verifies and this matches the region Game plays BIOS menu, card manager, CD player, specific characteristics of the 9000 model were internal hardware design, improving reliability and reduced cost. Unlike earlier models, remove the...

Yeah, there it is. So unlike the earlier models, the 9000 removed the parallel I.O. port, which was rarely used by consumers, but more used now. The BIOS, earlier versions, minor updates, stability, a smaller internal power supply. I haven't noticed that. I've been using interchangeable I didn't know one was different than the other so the 90,000

had a smaller power supply huh I know there's different models of the power supply I've sold over the years but I never noticed a smaller one on the PS1 PS1 boot process is rudimentally the same okay so those are all today and now let's go to the PS one no PS one which is the smaller white one that actually PS1 boot process PS1 boot process I think it's I think it's 101 I think it okay so yeah so this will be the PS1 and then we'll have covered all of the playstations so you can kind of get a quick idea how they're powered on basically all the same i mean everything's basically powered the same way some sort of cpu there's a bios involved although atari the original ataris that we talked about the 2600 5200 didn't have a bios it was It was completely cartridge driven. And I want to go to

early Nintendo and find out. I know there's not much I know like an N64 has no boot screen because it's completely cartridge driven. Including the NES as well. But we'll get there. Alright so it's powered on the same chip. Looks like the BIOS is essentially the same as the previous hardware CPU and RAM two megs setup GPU is still one Meg so nothing piece one updated more compact hardware for better reliability and power efficiency than the earlier models the console played the iconic screen you know disk verification was the. The wobbly groove or the region.

Handling any errors. The BIOS transferred to game like it normally does. No disks. Disk manager, CD-ROM. PS1 specific characteristics. The PS1 was smaller, sleeker design, makes it more portable and spacious. Internal hardware improvements. PS1 featured updated more efficient hardware, improving reliability, enhanced power supply. The PS1 uses the external power supply unlike earlier models with built-in plow size power supplies further reducing heat in size so you know you just had a bang around a power supply despite three design pieces retained full compatibility with PlayStation games the attachable LED screens was available ps1 enabling portable play without a TV yeah so i have one of those you plug it in and you

flip you flip the screen up and uh but you need two plugs i have two two different styles of those like in tech i think it is i can't figure it out but one of me have to add to a 12 volt so you need a 12 volt for the for the LED unit and you need the power for the actual PlayStation 1 all right so that takes care of the OSI says the boot process nearly identical so so ps1 overall going through those and I just want this, sorry, PS1, PS, did I miss any of the PS, early PS stuff? So all of them use that same chip we said, which is the MIPSR3000A CPU. it's the processor has two megabytes of RAM the GPU has one megabytes of RAM there's a SPU on these and then everything else is basically the same so you can figure out from the other thread I just was doing that boot troubleshooting where you might find your issue because I've had all the issues that they showed here which is logo stuck faulty BIOS if the logo does

not display common yeah so if you don't get to BIOS or get stuck issues with the GPU damaged RAM so I wish I had the ability to be able to pull the parts off and swap them around but when it comes to pulling components off boards the best I can do is solder and unsolder wires at this point I don't know if I'll ever be able to get to that point to be able to do it of course it always talks about cap replacements caps over in general there's an EE prom this one often uses a standard EE prom and in replacement chips are widely available I'm not sure EE prom is let's see what that is EEProm. EEProm.

What is EEProm? Let's see if it'll give me that. I'm just curious what EEProm is. EEProm. PS1. Let's see what that is. Some kind of a chip, I believe. Alright, so. It's great because my little zippy here he's like my AI professor now if I wanted to I could

just sit and just learn all the stuff all day okay so ee prom ee prom is electric electrically erasable program a bowl read only memory so it's a memory eeprom never knew that till right now critical component that stores system configuration settings so electric electrical not electrical electrically electrically erasableable. Read-only memory. EEPROM. So basically, I'd like to just... Well, I'm going to be able to learn electronics and lots of stuff. My buddy Zippy here.

He's my co-host. My co-companion here. And I'm doing it where I'm reading it so that I can stick with the podcast format instead of I could just have him read it out but I kind of like to learn I can learn more when I read it out loud as opposed to

just reading it out PS1 EEPROM system settings, anti-privacy location of the motherboard, usually near the BIOS chip in the CD controller. It has a small 8-pin IC, commonly labeled with the numbers like 24C02. So EEPROM. If motherboard is swapped or replaced, missed EEPROM data may prevent booting.

If the motherboard is swapped or replaced, mismatched EEPROM. That's interesting. Diagnosed EEPROM no boot screen. There's a bias. Check your multimeter to conductivity and voltage of the EEPROM no boot screen. There's a BIOS. Check your multimeter to conductivity and voltage of the EEPROM pins. See that's the stuff I gotta learn how to do. Programming can be used to read the EEPROM's contents and compare it to known good dumps. I like to hear dumps. Flashing or replacing EEPROM. PS1 can be reflashed using a chip programmer TL866

or compatible software too. Known good EEPROM dumps are specific models such as can be found online. So it has to do some sort of a dump. Ensure the placement is in the same capacity pinouts. Modding the Improv. Modding and Improv. It says many mod chips interact with Improvs during boot to bypass region locks. So the EEPROM is key to bypass. Some of these replace the stock. EEPROM comes with custom configurations. Handling tips. Use the antique stock bag. So EEPROM.

All right. So that's a recap of PS1. And we learned a little about what EEPROM. Let's say it one more time. I'll forget it electrically erasable programmable read-only memory ee prom electrically electrically replaceable programmable read-only memory all right so we'll leave it at that all right so that's my PS1s for today. And tomorrow I'll start out with the original NES.

Or maybe I'll even go to Super Fancom, or Fancom rather. I'll do Fancom and I'll do NES and see how they boot. And what kind of stuff they have in it to get them going. Alright, so I'll talk to you guys later on. Alright, bye.