[snaker]

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For all points except GND, 3.3V, and 5V, 30 AWG wire is fine. For the SD card data lines, I strongly recommend 26 AWG. The SD card wiring (and the card you use as mentioned in the first post) are the most important parts otherwise, you will run into problems.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by snaker.

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I bought it from aliexpress. There are mutliple versions. Choose 5.20.5

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It should work, but fitting it neatly in that specific spot on the GDEMU board would be quite difficult due to the limited space. Using three smaller resistors also helps distribute the heat dissipation more evenly.

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Great job!

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PU-8 diagrams here:

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Thanks robert i will have that in mind.

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On bonerboy69 wrote

On snaker wrote

I have tried ISOs with several tracks as BIN files and they work fine.

No need to convert the game to be one bin file?

You can also swap discs simply by creating a folder with the different disc .bin and .cue files. When you open the lid, it shuffles through to the next disc. So, if you open and close the lid multiple times, it cycles to the next disc each time.

Smart, so the lid switch is wired to the Picostation.

Yes there is no need to convert to one bin file and also lid switch is wired to picostation.

Picostation RC2 is out!  https://github.com/megavolt85/PicoStation?tab=readme-ov-file

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I have tried ISOs with several tracks as BIN files and they work fine. You can also swap discs simply by creating a folder with the different disc .bin and .cue files. When you open the lid, it shuffles through to the next disc. So, if you open and close the lid multiple times, it cycles to the next disc each time. ManiacVera also uploaded pictures showing how to use an RP2040 Zero as an “In-Game Reset” for PlayStation 1.

The combinations are:

Short reset: L2 + R2 + SELECT + START.

Long reset: L2 + R2 + SELECT + X.

Reset lid open: L2 + R2 + SELECT + SQUARE.

Open/Close lid: L2 + R2 + SELECT + R1.

Swap disc: L2 + R2 + SELECT + L1.

Here is the github link with the diagram and the firmware file:

https://github.com/ManiacVera/PicoIGR

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Ok so my dfo mod is done.

Here are some pics.

Overall, I am pretty excited about the project. You can clearly see the 10 fps boost in NTSC games compared to the PAL ones. The animation is much smoother.

ODEs are the way to go on original PlayStation 1 units. I have ordered more than five laser units from different sellers on AliExpress, and all of them turned out to be defective. They either freeze or stutter, and believe me, I have tried all sorts of things. I bought the most expensive CDs with azo dye, tweaked the laser unit resistance, and even searched for old CD-ROM IDE drives to burn discs at 2x or 4x speeds, since newer DVD-ROM writers’ firmware doesn’t support such low speeds. Nothing worked. There is almost zero chance of finding a good PlayStation 1 laser unit these days.

Everything turned out wonderful, and now I can finally enjoy my good old games!

 

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Yes, Japanese consoles are NTSC by default. The Picostation will work perfectly on any PU-8 or PU-18 board, regardless of the region. The 55xx models have a PU-18 board, so you will be fine. You won’t need the SI5351 / DFO mod on an NTSC console, because they already run at 60Hz and there’s no benefit to forcing PAL games to run at 50Hz, which has a lower framerate.

In my case, I have a PAL console. Even though Picostation allows region-free playback, NTSC games on a PAL console default to 50Hz. The DFO mod fixes this by providing an alternate oscillator, which forces NTSC games to run at their native 60Hz instead of being limited to 50Hz.

Here is the diagram of the DFO mod for PU18 boards:

• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by modrobert.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by modrobert. Reason: Fixed image

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Same here—unforgettable times! I was a college student back then!

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Ok, so yesterday I decided to take it a step further and implement this mod that I found online from a great guy on YouTube called ManiacVera

Here is the diagram:

The purpose of this is so the owner doesn’t have to open the console every time they want to update the Raspberry Pi Pico. Normally, to do that, you need to press the boot button each time you want to enter upgrade mode while plugging in the USB cable. Megavolt85 is on fire and keeps improving this firmware, so this mod will make your life much easier.

First, the items you need are: 2 diodes (1N5819), 1 resistor (1K), 1 transistor (2N222), and 1 Type-C module—preferably with 512K pulldown resistors on CC1 and CC2—if you have a Type-C Raspberry Pi Pico and don’t have a Micro-USB type.

You mount the Type-C module using the same principles. These screws are from the plastic shell of an old laptop.

The installation looks something like this

Now, let’s put everything together

Final result

I am very happy with the results—everything works great! You can upgrade the Raspberry Pi Pico just by plugging in the USB cable and dragging the new firmware. You only need to have the power cable connected to the console while the console is powered off.

I am so excited about this mod because for years I wanted to play the original PSX on an original Sony Trinitron TV—the old-fashioned way I used to as a child. And now, I am ready to experience what I did many years ago.

Just one more tip: a full RGB cable is a must on these old consoles. You don’t need fancy expensive cables—just a cheap RGB cable that includes capacitors and all the RGB signal lines. You can find them very cheaply on AliExpress for around 5 dollars, and the image quality is night and day compared to composite.

I just did a simple trick on mine with a resistor because on my TV, every time I powered it on, it kept defaulting to a 16:9 aspect ratio. With this resistor, I tricked it to enter at 4:3, but you might not need it at all—it depends on your TV.

I forgot to mention that the next and last mod is the SI5351 / DFO mod. I’m waiting for the board to arrive, and I will post updates as soon as I install it. It will make the ntsc games to run real 60hz(and not 50) on my pal system.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by snaker.

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Sadly, it works only on PU-8 and PU-18 boards. In later models, some ICs were combined, and you can’t lift the pins to isolate a specific IC as you can with the earlier boards. Here are the diagrams https://app.box.com/s/qb3q3anitcyh82ufv0bwxsy6b24it95d

Through all my tests, I found that the best results were with Class 4 microSD cards formatted as FAT32 with an allocation unit size of 32 KB.

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This is national treasure. Thank you very much!

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