PSone Sync on Luma issue

[Speedy]

I just picked up a (Slim) PSone off eBay and am running into a sync issue on my Sony BVM-D20F1U. I took a video to illustrate the sync issue on the PSone: https://youtu.be/hmrgyi7z5SE

I'm using this Retro-Access Sync on Luma SCART cable: https://retro-access.com/collections/pl ... -cord-lead

The same cable works with my (Fat) PS1 which you can see in the video. I would have continued to use my original PS1, but the optical drive no longer works on it.

Does anyone have thoughts on what might be causing this problem? Thanks!

[Taiyaki]

Weird. I use slim PSOne's too and never had an issue. Is yours modded by any chance?

[nmalinoski]

I just picked up a (Slim) PSone off eBay and am running into a sync issue on my Sony BVM-D20F1U. I took a video to illustrate the sync issue on the PSone: https://youtu.be/hmrgyi7z5SE

I'm using this Retro-Access Sync on Luma SCART cable: https://retro-access.com/collections/pl ... -cord-lead

First, when you bought that cable, did you go with their recommendation for 1000uF caps, or did you stick to spec and ask for one with 220uF caps, or no caps?

Secondly, have you opened the PSone to check for any botched mods? If not, I recommend you do; it's just four screws.

I would have continued to use my original PS1, but the optical drive no longer works on it.

If the drive in the PSone is fine, get one of these, and you can fit the drive from your PSone into your older PlayStation.

[Taiyaki]

Yes come to think of it I hadn't thought about the cap rating.

Also wonder why she doesn't provide that explanation on this set of cables with the dongle:
https://retro-access.com/products/sony- ... nded-cable

[rama]

This actually seems to be a common PSOne issue:
The AV coupling capacitors often go bad on these boards.
Open up the console and look for 2 x 220uF electrolytic capacitors near the AV port.
Replace both and see if it works then.

[Speedy]

Weird. I use slim PSOne's too and never had an issue. Is yours modded by any chance?

Yep, it's modded with MM3 chip. Purchased it off eBay.

First, when you bought that cable, did you go with their recommendation for 1000uF caps, or did you stick to spec and ask for one with 220uF caps, or no caps?

It's 1000uF caps. It works great with my PS1, just not the PSone. I ordered it recently from Retro-Access and I think that all
PS cables they ship these days are 1000uf unless you specifically ask for something else.

Secondly, have you opened the PSone to check for any botched mods? If not, I recommend you do; it's just four screws.

I haven't. I'll do this today, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

If the drive in the PSone is fine, get one of these, and you can fit the drive from your PSone into your older PlayStation.

That's a good idea, but I primarily picked up the PSone because I wanted an MM3 modded console to play backups. I'll probably switch to a PSIO or an ODE (if one ever exists on the PS1) with my original PS1, but I figured that a $50 modded PSone from eBay was a good step for now.

This actually seems to be a common PSOne issue:
The AV coupling capacitors often go bad on these boards.
Open up the console and look for 2 x 220uF electrolytic capacitors near the AV port.
Replace both and see if it works then.

Great info! I had no idea that this was a common issue. Can you recommend anyone that might be willing to do this for me? I unfortunately have zero soldering skills.

[Speedy]

I just opened it up and took a look and below is what I saw. Do you think I should consider this a botched mod?

[Mobiusstriptech]

It's not a botched mod. It's someone didn't know how to replace SMD cap and did something silly with a through hole instead. A recap of the system will likely fix your problem.

[Link83]

It doesn't look like the neatest install, but I guess its not terrible

Whats confusing me is why they have removed C551, which according to the schematics is the 220uF capacitor for composite video. Perhaps C551 failed so they removed and replaced it with a through hole capacitor wrapped in tape(?) so that composite video would work? In which case I expect that C550 for Luma may have also failed as well.

[Speedy]

It's not a botched mod. It's someone didn't know how to replace SMD cap and did something silly with a through hole instead. A recap of the system will likely fix your problem.

@Mobius, do you think that you could go recap and clean up the mod if I sent this to you? Want me to email you?

It doesn't look like the neatest install, but I guess its not terrible

Whats confusing me is why they have removed C551, which according to the schematics is the 220uF capacitor for composite video. Perhaps C551 failed so they removed and replaced it with a through hole capacitor wrapped in tape(?) so that composite video would work? In which case I expect that C550 for Luma may have also failed as well.

Do you think that the way the C551 caps was replaced could be causing my Luma Sync issue?
So that I can understand better, are there two 220uF caps for the AV port... C550 & C551?
Is one for composite video (C550) and the other for S-Video (C551)?
Thanks!

[Mobiusstriptech]

Yes I can recap that and even rework the modchip if you want. The cap they replaced is the composite video cap. So it is likely that other caps are also bad. That's why I always do full recaps and none of these 1 or 2 caps replaced jobs.

[Speedy]

Yes I can recap that and even rework the modchip if you want. The cap they replaced is the composite video cap. So it is likely that other caps are also bad. That's why I always do full recaps and none of these 1 or 2 caps replaced jobs.

@mobius, I just sent you an email. Thanks!