Strange graphical glitches on PS1 console, need help :(

[eric90000]

Hey,

I'd really appreciate it if you guys could help me out with an issue I'm having...

I recently bought an NTSC PS1 console from eBay (SCPH-5501). After switching the American power supply out for a 240v European one, I briefly tested it and all seemed OK with the one game I tested it with. A few weeks later, I wanted to thoroughly test it before I installed a Mayumi V4 modchip and the PSIO switchboard chip. This time, games would boot up with weird graphical bugs on their initial splash screens (I mainly tested Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft as I only have 2 NTSC games on disc).
I can only describe it as being scrambled looking, various parts of the screen looked distorted and stretched, colors were mashed up etc... Evidently this game showed the exact same visual issue every time the bug occurred. More worrying however was the PS1 boot screen showed an occasional random bug that looked sort of like this: (however the graphical bug here would be different each time)



I decided to try replacing the laser, which I swapped out for a PSone laser which I knew worked (with a ribbon cable extension I bought off eBay, that arrived today). All seemed OK the first few boots but then I saw the bug come back, so I know it's most likely not the laser. It's very random and only happens occasionally. I just tried rebooting about 20 times and couldn't get it to show the bug for my camera. . Is there a chance this infrequent random glitch is normal? Or could a slightly scratched disk cause this to happen?

Do you think this this a sign that the PS mainboard is bad or going bad? I don't want to install the 2 chips on the board only to have to replace it down the line.....any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[LameGuy64]

Have you tried cleaning the flex cable and connector with contact cleaner? I remember experiencing unreliable drive performance with my PS1s until I cleaned the flex cable contacts and connector but I haven't experienced this one before.

[Shadow]

Have any mods been done to the console (apart from changing power supplies)?

[eric90000]

Have you tried cleaning the flex cable and connector with contact cleaner? I remember experiencing unreliable drive performance with my PS1s until I cleaned the flex cable contacts and connector but I haven't experienced this one before.

Thanks for the info, I will clean the flex cable from the laser and the connector also.

Have any mods been done to the console (apart from changing power supplies)?

No Shadow, the console is currently absolutely stock. It's in fairly pristine condition and to be honest, I don't think anyone has ever even opened the console before me. I haven't been able to make the glitch happen again since yesterday morning. Someone mentioned actually that perhaps the glitch only happens when the system is cold, then when the console warms up it goes away. That would indicate a bad connection or a failing IC or something right?

[Shadow]

Yes, I was going to say that if the console has never been modded, there is a bad solder joint somewhere. That screen usually happens when the license data being read from the CD becomes corrupted.