PSIO switchboard install and cart setup

scrappysphinx

Confused retro man
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Hi, been a while since I've posted anything in the photo booth area.

So a friend of mine ordered two of these PSIO cartridges in June 2017 with the estimated delivery being November 2017, fast forward to last week and they finally arrive (something about waiting for orders to order parts in batches etc).

So I picked them up from my friend this morning for the switchboard installation and set up for him. The other one is mine in exchange for installing his and modding a couple of other consoles with switchless 50/60hz mods etc.

For those that don't know about these things you have to cut some traces on the board and wire in a small switchboard. This routes some of the cd controllers signals to the parallel port on the back. Without the switchboard the PSIO won't work and if you plug it in it will contest the bus and can damage the PS1 and cart (or so the website says, I haven't tried it). The cd drive can still be used, you can either remove the cart and put a disc in and it will load as normal or you can boot the PSIO cart with a disc in and press O on the menu to reset and load the cd.

So traces cut and switchboard installed (modchip was already installed) it was time to plug in and test the cart.

After initial setup I popped a copy of crash bandicoot on the SD card (iso/bin+cue/img files supported) and proceeded to load the game. It loaded fine, load times seem much quicker, fmv's play without skipping. All in all a nice little flash cart device for the older PS1 consoles.

Time now to install my switchboard in my 1002 audiophile console :)
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Excellent!
I got one last year before that fancy packaging was used, really like it :)
 
Yeah, I’ve had one for about a year in my 1002 console. I think it’s brilliant and it’s been good to see the firmware improve stuff over time.
 
I think I had one from the second batch in early ish 2016. It was when their payment provider decided it was a scam and refunded everyone so we all had to pay again. Think it took about 4-5 months to arrive after that. I'd forgotten about it and wondered what the hell it was when it finally arrived...

Still haven't got round to installing it... Just waiting now for the Jaguar SD cart, the Darksoft AES cart and the Satiator.

Really need someone to do a drive replacement for the Mega CD now.
 
Sorry for digging this up, and apologies it's a mite off topic, but I'm wondering if anyone - maybe the original poster - is able to offer an install service for the PSIO switchboard? (UK-based)

Specifically, if they're able to take my botched effort and fix it - I can provide pics so a visual inspection can try to tell if it's fixable or not. Or, failing that, if they're just able to wang the board into a new console I pick up off eBay.

Seems my shaky hands aren't right for these tiny solder holes...
 
Take some pics of the current situation - this will help evaluate the situation. There is no "shame" in this no matter how it looks - psx consoles are plentiful and cheap and you can't learn without trying!
 
I installed mine and it’s working great . If you want I can do it for you ? Just send the psx mainboard or better still buy another and send me a fresh board. Pm me
e
 
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Take some pics of the current situation - this will help evaluate the situation. There is no "shame" in this no matter how it looks - psx consoles are plentiful and cheap and you can't learn without trying!

Well now I'm ashamed of my photography skills - especially the shaky hands on show for the close-ups - but here's some pics. My first attempt resulted in a PSIO logo on a black screen, but nothing beyond that - without the PSIO plugged in it worked as normal with discs. I attempted to fix it, but now it just boots to the initial Sony logo screen and no further, regardless of if the PSIO is plugged in or not.

Pretty sure I've just broken it, but worth a check. I can get another console off eBay for a tenner anyway, just not sure if I can actually do the install myself based on this effort.

https://ibb.co/jRn0TFC
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Looks like it's fixable provided the exposed wires did not touch another component and caused a hardware failure.
Pretty sure you'll find someone there to fix this for you - if noone shows up and you are willing to pay postage I can do it for you, but I doubt it will come to this :)
 
Looks like it's fixable provided the exposed wires did not touch another component and caused a hardware failure.
Pretty sure you'll find someone there to fix this for you - if noone shows up and you are willing to pay postage I can do it for you, but I doubt it will come to this :)

Have worked it out with Solidcore, so should be getting this sorted for me. Appreciate the help!
 
Looks like your sorted but if it for any reason it falls through give me a shout and we can sort things out for you :)
 
- Received payment for service and switchboard from ian.
- A few days later received psx from ebay. (it had suspicious chip already inside it, you know what i mean). A spider came in the package , scary probably tropical, didnt find it after i jumped :( it's probably breeding in my carpets lol.
- Installed switchboard same day, tested works fine with my psio on both pal and ntsc games.
- sent back to ian same day tracked post , received payment for post.
 
- Received payment for service and switchboard from ian.
- A few days later received psx from ebay. (it had suspicious chip already inside it, you know what i mean). A spider came in the package , scary probably tropical, didnt find it after i jumped :( it's probably breeding in my carpets lol.
- Installed switchboard same day, tested works fine with my psio on both pal and ntsc games.
- sent back to ian same day tracked post , received payment for post.

I was looking into getting one myself. Are you still offering this as a service?
 
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- Received payment for service and switchboard from ian.
- A few days later received psx from ebay. (it had suspicious chip already inside it, you know what i mean). A spider came in the package , scary probably tropical, didnt find it after i jumped :( it's probably breeding in my carpets lol.
- Installed switchboard same day, tested works fine with my psio on both pal and ntsc games.
- sent back to ian same day tracked post , received payment for post.

I was looking into getting one myself. Are you still offering this as a service?

i don’t supply the hardware myself - just helped Ian with the switch board installation because he was having a hard time
with it . Saying that the risks are very low with a psx being low value so doesn’t hurt to try .

FYI You need to head over to their store to buy one - they do offer a ship-out Install service in Australia as well but of course that’s a little far . If you do ever need help just pm.
 
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