Can original 1990's consoles be powered by USB?

[neorichieb1971]

USB is universal, I have lots of AC adapters from Japan/USA and UK and wanted to know if a project could be started that utilized USB for this purpose going forward?


Thanks.

[rama]

If you modified the consoles to ditch the input voltage regulator, then you could run them on the 5V from your USB supply.
It's not advisable to do so though, as the bypassed input stage is also acting as filter and protection.

So no, you can't power them via USB directly.

[donluca]

You can definitely do that, there are two ways.

First, what rama said, except that USB is generally pretty well filtered so you won't find any issue, especially if you're using, say, a powerbank. There are although some USB chargers which are really noisy but those shouldn't pose a problem.
Anyway, if you want to go this way you'll have to physically mod your console.

Second, using a powerbank/charger which supports Qualcomm's Quickcharge 3.0 technology and a board to trigger the 9V or 12V output (plenty of those on ebay for ~3€), those will give you 18W of power which are plenty for most old consoles.
This is what I actually use for several projects and powering old 16-bit consoles on the fly. You won't need to make modifications to your console, but you'll need to build a USB -> power jack adapter with correct polarity.

[neorichieb1971]

Not interested in modding consoles for it.

Just wondered if it was possible to make a USB>Console plug lead for each type of console without fiddling with internal gear.

[nmalinoski]

Not interested in modding consoles for it.

Just wondered if it was possible to make a USB>Console plug lead for each type of console without fiddling with internal gear.

Generally, no, because there's too wide a range of voltages and polarities to make a passive adapter like that work. Examples:

• NTSC NES expects 9V 1A AC (external PSU, barrel jack)
• PS1, PS2, Dreamcast expect 100V/110V/220V (depending on region) AC (internal PSU, polarized plug)
• N64 expects multiple lines of 12V and 3.3V DC (external PSU that plugs into the console)

It should be possible to create replacement PSUs that use something like USB C and USB-PD, most of which would be simple, drop-in replacements, but they will need to be designed on a per-console basis, and I expect you'd still need to disassemble any console that has internal power components. In some cases, like PS1, Dreamcast, and Xbox, the internal PSUs are modular and can be easily swapped out with replacements; however, North American and PAL NES consoles will need to have their power/AV board desoldered and replaced, which is not a quick job.

[donluca]

Not interested in modding consoles for it.

Just wondered if it was possible to make a USB>Console plug lead for each type of console without fiddling with internal gear.

This is what I use:

https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B079M68NHN/

+

https://www.ebay.it/itm/123790721842

It works on Mega Drive, and most probably other 16-bit consoles, but, as said, not newer ones like PS1, Saturn, N64, etc.

You'll just need to hook a USB to barrel jack adapter and be cautious of the polarity.

For consoles expecting AC voltage, you can still use DC but be wary that there'll be a voltage drop of ~1,4V, so if your NES expects 9V AC, you'll probably need to use 12V.

[ApolloBoy]

Not interested in modding consoles for it.

For certain 90s consoles like the N64 and PS1, you pretty much have no choice but to mod them if you want USB power input.

[nmalinoski]

Not interested in modding consoles for it.

For certain 90s consoles like the N64 and PS1, you pretty much have no choice but to mod them if you want USB power input.

N64 has an external PSU; theoretically, someone could design a replacement N64 PSU based on USB that's plug-and-play. Consoles like the PS1, Xbox, and Dreamcast would need to be opened, but their PSUs are at least modular, so a component swap with a compatible replacement would be fairly straightforward.