PlayStation Development Network

Hi all

I've recently acquired a SCPH1002 console from eBay. I had a suspicion that it was chipped and after opening it yep... it was.









I've never chipped one myself but to me the wiring job looks awful and there are bare wires on the back so this has been removed for now to clean it up later. The main issue i have though is this:



When playing NTSC (yes genuine, US NTSC not copies) I get some sort of rainbow effect on the screen. Why is this? Is there a fix? Is the mod chip at fault?

Any info on the chip I've got and how i can fix the color problem would be great.

p.s. can you still buy psx mod chips?

Many thanks in advance.

Oh man that's a really, really bad modchip install. I would at least fix that horrible solder job if I got it like that.
You can still buy chips or even program one yourself, files are freely available.
The one you have is a 4-wire OldCrow. For your model you should get Mayumi.

As for color, use RGB cable. AFAIK with early boards you can't just perform a simple wire color mod.

Thanks for your reply

Oh man that's a really, really bad modchip install. I would at least fix that horrible solder job if I got it like that.

Yeah it sure is! It's already been removed.

You can still buy chips or even program one yourself, files are freely available.

Any links? (UK preferred)

The one you have is a 4-wire OldCrow. For your model you should get Mayumi.

Can you tell me the differences? or is it just a better overall chip?

As for color, use RGB cable. AFAIK with early boards you can't just perform a simple wire color mod.

I did try a scart cable and had the same issue? I also had no sound? could of been the cable though I have a new one coming.

It looks like someone tried to solder that chip whilst taking a shower and eating tacos.
The colourful rainbow effect would be that something has shorted or they have damaged a trace/via. To make sure, try it on another TV, but something is seriously damaged I reckon from their modchip install. It's too hard to tell without looking at the mainboard directly.

Oh damn, that's bad it does only seem to do it on NTSC games perhaps its a faulty mod chip??

PAL games are perfect in every way. I've also seen that the 1002 model needs color correction with one of these:

http://www.wagneronline.com.au/productd ... 1=QXO-1100

Am i correct in thinking this is the correct fix or is it really damaged?

Well for starters, remove that modchip. It's doing more harm than good like that.

As stated in my earlier post - already done

Would it be worth getting a newer/better mod chip or leaving the one i've got in it but install it properly?

I've been looking at these

http://www.eurasia.nu/shop/product_info ... cts_id=278

I assume being from the UK i need the EU chip? PAL originally.

Many thanks I have contacted Bad_Ad84 for an appropriate chip.

Thanks

Are you sure you used a true RGB SCART cable and not just a Composite or S-Video through a SCART connector?
Was it Sony's 1st party RGB cable or some other?

Because colorburst signal and it's frequency (for which you would need to install crystal) is irrelevant if RGB is used.

Maybe you can check on TV what kind of signal it is getting.
On mine it shows that information in the little box for a few seconds once it gets the picture.

Yeah it was a proper SCART cable I'm not sure why it didn't work but I'm 99% sure it was down to the mod chip install as I've just reinstalled it and now its acting like a mod chip would (in my experience anyway).

Let me show you what I've been up to...

Heres my SCPH1002



Beginning to strip it down









Now for the reinstall...













All finished time to reassemble:



And... with a test of a NTSC NES games compilation:





But obviously... the main issue remains... does it still cause color artifacts on NTSC games...?

The answer is:



No!

Given that i was using a 20 year old soldering iron with a really dirty tip and that i have pretty minimal soldering experience... I think its a win!

Now, how do you get chipped PSX's to run NTSC games in color?

Either your cable is faulty or TV doesn't detect that you have a RGB signal
(due to low voltage on mode selector pin maybe).

If you have a multimeter check Pin 16 on SCART connector and see if you get anything. Check Pin 8 also.
Proper RGB cable will always show color on PAL and NTSC games on every PS1 model.

The last thing you can do is to try forcing RGB mode on your TV via it's settings (if that is supported).

How many SCART inputs does your TV have? Sometimes RGB is not supported on all inputs.

The SCPH-1002 needs a separate oscillator soldered in for the colour mod if you're not using RGB. You can not colour correction mod it like the newer models. Since you are however using RGB, take the steps Shendo recommends above as RGB will provide colour no matter what the circumstances are.

Just to confirm... this may sound silly but... AV out on the back (square connector) to SCART is RGB? or would you use the yellow red and white ports?

I'm using the AV out port.

By the "Square AV Connector", I assume you mean the "MULTI-AV out" in which case, yes, it is RGB unless your SCART cable isn't actually wired for RGB. That then comes into context with what Shendo mentioned. The "Yellow, White and Red" are your composite or RCA out. It's the next best video quality I find after RF, proceeding with S-Video and then RGB