PSOne - Chipping to play imports

[Duddyroar]

I'm in a bit of a strange situation.

I've just picked up a PAL PSOne with LCD screen and the seller told me it was chipped. I assumed I'd be able to play Japanese imports but I've picked up a few games and none of them work; the screen drops to the memory card/CD player menu and the disc just keeps spinning.

The seller has told me he never played Japanese titles on the machine and only used it for backups and American releases. Is there a chip that only covers these areas?

There's nothing wrong with the machine itself as I've tested a PAL game on it.

Obviously I now have a pile of Japanese games I want to play, so does anyone know of any place that chips PSOnes for playing imported titles?

[SuperDanX]

Iirc the pal psone screen wont support ntsc games, your problems the screen, not the chip. Try hooking up to your tv, should work.

[Duddyroar]

Ahhhhhhhhh. That makes sense. I've purchased this as a machine I can use on the move so I've not even tried it on a telly yet.

Surely the LCD screens are just standard, though? Do they have different versions for each region?

[Skull Commander]

Right enough, my gamecube portable lcd doesn't run my import games as it's 50hz only. Maybe the same?

[speedlolita]

Iirc the pal psone screen wont support ntsc games, your problems the screen, not the chip. Try hooking up to your tv, should work.

My third party one supports an NTSC signal.

[kernow]

Pretty sure the PSOne LCD's are 60Hz capable as I see them sometimes used in homebrew projects like a consolized MVS and stuff.

[Duddyroar]

I'll check and see using my TV tonight. If the games still don't load then it must be the screen.

[smouty]

My third party one supports an NTSC signal.

My genuine one does too albeit with a centimeter black bar. (480i vs 576i I guess)

[Duddyroar]

So we can rule out the screen being the problem, then?

[sj33]

Some screens support different Hz rates, some don't. There's not just one standard screen because most are third party. However, I don't see why this would cause the machine to go to the memory card screen - the game would surely still play, but you wouldn't be able to see anything. Unless I'm missing something.

It makes more sense for the chip to be the issue. You could try booting Japanese games with one of those boot discs, as much of a hassle as it surely is.

[Duddyroar]

I think that's probably going to be my only choice, other than buying a mod chip myself - which I'm not going to do as my soldering skills are practically zero.

From what I can gather, Breaker Pro seems to be the one to go for? Anyone know where I can get one of these the cheapest? I've noticed some places doing them online for about £20, but they look a bit dodgy.

[sj33]

You could, but there's plenty of free ones on the net which the chip should be able to handle. The retail PSXChange/Breaker Pro/etc. are basically unauthorised pressed versions of these anyway.

[Oldgamingfart]

I used to use BreakerPro with my PSOne, it comes with a bit of card that sticks into the lid switch, so that the disc can be swapped.
As for the screen, the official one I have can't handle NTSC, the picture just rolls. Even with a PAL60 signal via the A/V jack (from another source), it still rolls.

[fallenangle]

If you get a retail version of PS-X Change and use it on the PSOne it may come supplied with a purposed designed plastic lid switch tab. This is secured in place by its own peel off adhesive pad direct to the surface of the disc platten.

It does the job perfectly to begin with but over time the heat from the console can affect the adhesive and the pad will lift during use. This can be high enough to foul and eventually permanently score the underside of the disc.

I lost two games before realising what the problem was.

Now I just stick a small, thin sliver of flexible plastic (cut from a Tesco's tomato six pack) down the lid catch aperture and it works a treat.

[Duddyroar]

Cool, well I've been pointed in the direction of one of these boot discs. I'm guessing that I'll have to fashion some kind of tool to use on the lid catch?