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x-station / xstation-issues

Issues and support for the xstation optical drive emulator
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Updated to 2.02 and all I see is the Playstation Logo #283

Open terenctbrobots opened 1 year ago

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

So I updated to 2.02 today and everything seem to go ok. After the update, the console didn't reboot automatically(I left it for 30 mins). I did a reset..At first boot the system when straight to the memory manager and then booted into xstation. After a few resets, it now just boots to the Playstation logo and freezes there...

I ran a jumper the pin that is supposed to do the reset to no avail.

Any idea what to do next beside go through each pin on the QSB and reflow it?

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

Hm, can you say whether you had been using the console fine before, and it immediately changed behaviour after the update, or was it unused for a while, and the problems just started alongside the update?

For debugging, it sounds a bit like the PSNee signal isn't coming through. That would be the left side of the QSB.

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

It's a PU-18 board if that's any help. I just went about reflowing the qsb solder points and now it's booting 1 out 8 times or so.

Which pin on the QSB flex is the PSNee signals? maybe I can pay better attention to those.

It was booting fine before the update and playing games. Althrough one thing I noticed is that audio seems to not work now. I was sure it was the stupid cable, it was working and now it cut out again.

Do you think it's bad caps? I recaped about 1/3 of the board already. I may just keep going 2 at a time. Any specific caps I should look at first if any?

Sigh..worse comes to worse I have to pick up new playstation when I go to Japan.

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

No, it's not going to be caps, but very likely a partial contact on the QSB solder points or the flat flex (both ends). The update can have such an effect, though unlikely, whenever I change drive strengths of signals ("push through weak connections"), but this update didn't modify them, iirc. You can of course try reverting to 1.6.1, and if it fixes it, that will be interesting to know.

The fact that it sometimes works means that the console and xStation are most likely fine, but as mentioned, a signal isn't fully connecting. Look at all the left side of the QSB signals for PsNee, though missing music indicates a different problem. It's a bit hard to tell from afar.

If you have a multimeter, please measure the resistance to ground (ohms mode) of the shown 3 points here: PU-18-problem-area You want to see 0 ohms (direct connection) at one point, and a high value on the other 2 (>= 1mOhm).

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

Sooo...after a lot of patience I dowgraded to 1.6.1 and now it boots all the time.

I did do a day reflowing but that didn't really change anything till I downgraded.

For now, I am going to leave things as it is.

Let me know if you need any more info though

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

It's a curious case for sure. The note about missing music is a hint. Does that still occur? (And if so, are you game rips okay?)

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

No,the music and sound are just the loose audio leads. The only things not working right now are:

Could it be any timing issues? Anything to do with the PS1 being a Japanese NTSC model? I know that Japanese PS1's have region locks.

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

Heh, somehow the notion spread that NTSC-J consoles cause more issues / are less compatible, but they're just a bit different. Outside of 2-3 select titles, they behave the same as the other regions with xStation :)

Both listed issues are likely causes for the 2.0.2 troubles. If the reset signal state isn't quite clear, the effects will be quite random. One maintenance procedure for the PSU reset switch is dropping a single drop of deoxit/contact cleaner into the switch, then pressing it many times to clear all debris (100 x or so). Another check is for the power button. If the console is off, and just slightly touching the power button sometimes turns the LED on (console on), then the shell sits too close to the power switch.

To check for soldering issues on the reset line, find the test point and measure resistance towards PSX 3.3V and towards ground. This line is pulled up in the console via resistor, so you should read some 1k Ohms toward 3.3V and a little higher towards ground.

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

Just following up for your reference:

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

Great, it was the reset button thing :p Knowing that you use these PSUs also helps. The clones leave out the reset circuit that is normally required. Without it, I'm not sure how the system behaves. If you still have it, can you check with the original PSU?

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

So. I finally got round to swapping the power supply with a known good one. Now the full boot works. I'm not brave enough yet to do a firmware upgrade though. So for all those who bought those Ali Express power boards...;P

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

I can tell you that Will is pretty upset about them. Not only was his design taken, but then also cheaply reproduced, without taking into account the finer details.

terenctbrobots commented 1 year ago

So I decided to 'upgrade' to 2.0.2 yesterday and my unit which was running fine on 1.6.1 had trouble getting to the PS1 logo screen and continuing to the xstation menu. It would load intermittently but to get it to get into xstation proper, I had to create an empty card which I loaded with the old firmware. I then downgraded it and it works again. So I definately think something in 2.0.2 is causing my boot issues.

ramapcsx2 commented 1 year ago

Hey, while sounds plausible, there is still a factor with your hardware at play. I don't know whether it still has to do with the power supply, maybe the reset line, or something else... The fact it works on the older firmware could have to do with it having slightly different timing, where it might power through the hardware problem..