Repairing the only known prototype of Nintendo PlayStation [video] | Hacker News Reader

Repairing the only known prototype of Nintendo PlayStation [video]

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121 pointsJerry225 comments

Based solely on this video, I feel sorry for this guy. First he doesn't bother to use a lab supply to current limit the input - nope, just plug it into a wall supply and let 'er rip.

Next, he doesn't have a microscope? Using a hand magnifier instead. Ok. Then he's clamping to the PCB for scope ground instead of soldering a fly lead for that purpose.

He doesn't want to use desoldering braid on this "one of a kind" board, so he's heating and levering the caps off. That's a recipe for a lifted trace for certain. Then there's the iron. That thing is way way too large for what he's trying to do.

I know, I know, he fixed it.

Before you yell at me, I've been doing this stuff for 30 years and I'm here to tell you I'm shocked that he doesn't have better equipment. The thing is, the guy is talented. If you coupled that with decent equipment, he'd be amazing.

HOW does he not have a bench supply? Looking around the rest of his shop at least gives the appearance of a functioning lab.

To any budding hardware hackers, a benchtop (or rackmount, because they can be had for very cheap if they're old) power supply is one of the FIRST thing you should buy, probably before you get an oscilloscope, and probably right after you get a soldering iron.

edit: Actually, at 3:00, isn't that a bench supply that is sitting in front of him?

edit2: And at about 7:34 you can actually see the terminals for it.

I've recently started to play around with hardware hacking, completely self taught. "Bench supply" isn't something I'm familiar with, are you able to explain a little more about what one is (I have looked online and still not entirely sure) and why I would need one?

The first result from googling "why do i need a bench supply?" seems informative.

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/does-a-hobbyist-need-a-ben...

A power supply that sits on top of your workbench - it has adjustable settings to drive different voltages etc.

Because he's trying to make a point. And that point is the similarity between the machine he's got and other Sony products, demonstrating its heritage.

yeah, not everyone is RetroGameModz

4 hour video on theory of operation and fix of CD drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZK3Rmerg1I

Ben Heck(endorn) has been one of the bigger figures in the DIY portable console scene for years now, so it's kind of interesting to see a critique like this (even though you're 100% correct)! I wonder if he works this way because "this is just how I've always done it", in the same way programmers often will solve a problem in a much less efficient way, because they don't know what they don't know?

You know, after watching him pull off creating a portable Dreamcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCd40Ac87qE

I think "The thing is, the guy is talented. If you coupled that with decent equipment, he'd be amazing." sounds a little patronizing.

And yet they went to him to do it, and he got it done.

Ya know, I'm gonna go with the guy who is successfully doing this stuff vs the guy who says he's doing it wrong.

HN has an interesting difference between electronics quality and code quality.

When anything electronic is submitted people are interested and encouraging even if the quality of construction is terrible, like it was built by a drunk monkey.

But when some code / script / stylesheet is submitted you get a mix of the same interest and encouragement, and also some really fierce critique. "My god who wrote that css float, a drunk monkey?"

I prefer the first approach, btw. There are ways of delivering constructive criticism and HN isn't always great at it.

EDIT: FEC / Element 14 are sponsoring a bunch of DIY electronic stuff at the moment. So while he could use a $400 electronics microscope it's in their interest to show him using cheaper stuff that's more available to student tinkerers. Those hand loupes and magnifiers are very cheap and handy for students.

(EDIT: And I'm not saying Ben Heck's builds are bad.)

I think the reason may be twofold. One, for many of us - myself included - hardware stuff is almost magic. Not in the sense that we don't understand it, but in a sense we have close to zero professional experience and "hobby quality" is the best we know how to do.

The other thing is, in programming you can do pretty much anything for free. Whether you want to write scripts when drunk or employ highest industry standards of quality, the only limit is your knowledge (and how much you care). In case of electronics, doing anything professional-grade gets extremely expensive very fast, so all we - the subset of HN for which hardware is just a hobby - can do is hobby-level work.

You can see in the video that he does have desoldering braid, but has chosen not to use it. Sounds like our experience differs, but personally I find desoldering braid is seldom helpful for removing parts - it tends to leave behind just enough solder to keep it stuck down, but not enough that you have good thermal conductivity to reflow it with an iron. Without using a heat gun or skillet (which he mentions) I don't know of a better way. You have a lot of experience, so if you disagree I would very much like to learn something!

He said in the video he wants to use as close to "original" parts as possible, namely an original power supply.

Related story - someone developed a game for it:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/unreleased-snes-playstat...

For anyone who likes this video, you should also checkout Sega Saturn CD - Cracked After 20 Years[0].

[0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOyfZex7B3E

The first part of the video[1] is also worth watching. It has the current owner explaining how he got it and some careful investigation of the device before the actual repair.

Ben Heck has some impressive videos in general, watching him work always makes me wish I was better at electronics.

[1] https://youtu.be/ug-CyGXMabg

My roommate and I really had a great time watching this over a couple of beers. We're not even especially gifted in the realm of solder and circuits, but it was fun speculating and marveling at the thorough breakdown.

Let's hope some Sony engineer drops an anonymous archive online to try the CD features.

If anybody's even still got it. There is a lot of missing stuff from that era of game development and earlier.

You never know what's stacking dust in peoples houses. A CD isn't something hard to take home or forget.

That said the system feels like a slightly pimped SNES (mosty the embedded ram in the cartridge), so there's not a lot to expect from it.

There were SNES carts with embedded RAM, AFAIK. It's hard to find an exhaustive list of SNES cart models like you can with NES carts (which definitely had RAM expanders), but IIRC many Super FX carts had their own embedded RAM.

The ROM BIOS was released online a little while back and there's already emulator support and homebrew software for the thing[0]. The jury's out on how accurate/compatible it is though

[0] http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/07/play-a-homebrew-game-d...

I'm surprised replacing the electrolytics wasn't the first thing he did. If you have a 30 year old piece of technology that isn't working, it's almost definitely the caps.

This is why so many console recapping services exist online.

I'm not sure if I should replace the electrolytics on my SEGA Master System. Everything works on it in standard mode, but a few games are glitchy in 60Hz and controls are sometimes very laggy in either. I would expect something more extreme, though.

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