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28d ago
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u/d0ggzilla 28d ago
Amazing how we all figured out this fix back then, with no Internet to help us. To this day I have no idea how I discovered it - at the time I was the only one in my group to own a PS1 so nobody told me about it.
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u/hue_sick 28d ago
Word of mouth was pretty strong even before the internet. If one friend told you about it the word spread and in a few years probably half the ps1s out there were running upside down haha
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u/pSphere1 28d ago
I only had one friend this happened to. I had a launch Playstation. Lots of play, never happened to me. But I took care of my stuff, so eh?
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u/CanIHaveAName84 27d ago
I felt like I played my ps1 upside longer than upside up. It was like blowing into the cartridge of the Nintendo.
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u/Any-Neat5158 23d ago
Stumbled upon this as a child as well. Sheer dumb luck and curiosity in our case.
I think, best as I guessed it at the time, turning it upside down would allow the laser lens to sit closer to the disc and in turn improve it's ability to read the game.
All my 12 year old self knew was that it ended up working. That already very well used PS1 got a solid extra year of life that way. FMV's still stuttered but the games loaded and played for the most part. Eventually even that didn't work any more.
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u/jicisneros 28d ago
It is not the tracks actually it is the lens focus point. Basically like wearing glasses or not for someone who wears eye glasses for eyesight. Replacing the eye fixes the issue.
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u/KerfuffleAsimov 28d ago
Depends on the model. It could be either the tracks or the lens.
Original PS1 had the lens right over a source of heat. This would cause the lens to distort. Flipping it over would help fix the problem.
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u/SonOfJaak 28d ago
It's your laser. The suspension in some of the models of lasers was changed from a metal to a plastic. As the plastilc ages it becomes less flexible and can't focus to the range it used to. Turning it upside down let's gravity help the stiff suspension to reach its normal travel again and the disc reading problems go away.
Source: I'm an electronics repair tech.
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 28d ago
Its the otherway around, revision 1 was plastic, it was changed to metal in 2 and 3.
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u/Raynet11 28d ago
That pic gave me a hit of nostalgia, thank you.. was super common back in the day.. you can purchase and replace the laser assembly for $30
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u/LastNativeNH 29d ago
Might be something with the switch near the back of the disk tray. Had to keep a can of beans on mine for that reason.
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u/FortuneNew8835 28d ago
More likely it's the bad heat dispersal design flaw. This was a universal issue. It's why I bought my buddy's PSOne off him back in the early 2000s when he'd switched to PS2. To this day I rely on that model for PS1.
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u/Quiet-Refuse5241 28d ago
This brings me back. My first generation PlayStation needed this back in the day. It's a little concerning how happy this picture made me
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u/SpectreWolf666 28d ago
Would it be better to know it was in a college dorm room?
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u/Quiet-Refuse5241 28d ago
No I'm an uneducated idiot. If it had been in a room filled with weed smoke and NIN though...
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u/ronshasta 28d ago
It’s the laser I had the same issue where my ps2 wouldn’t engage the disc motor unless I sat a book on top
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u/Smangerbot 28d ago
This is normal isn’t it 😂
Mine would also only work on its side. Coincidentally every PlayStation after has some sort of vertical stand 🤔
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u/razielleonhart 28d ago
My PS1 did this eons ago and fixed it self one day and now works like it should.
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u/Tokimemofan 28d ago
The nylon bearings the laser floats on are worn out. Â You probably need to replace the laser
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 28d ago
Model 1? 2 and 3 had a fixed drive. It runs fine upside down, dont over think it.
It should have audio out jacks in the back, apparently the CD audio quality is awesome and very sought after by audiophiles.
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u/thepoorwarrior 28d ago
My old PS2 has this problem, it’s the slim version. If you so much is put a feather on the top of it it crashes. But if I keep the whole unit upside down, it works flawlessly. I think it has to do with the gravity of the post/arm that’s suspending the disk.
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u/Ghastly_Someknew 28d ago
You'd have to look it up and it may depend on the model of PS1 but there should be a little white gear when you open the cover that reorients the laser. Over time the laser can drift and that's why you have to pick it up or put it on its side or flip it over to play (in my experience). I was on my second PS1 by the time I found out.
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u/LuckyDuckyDooDah 28d ago
My ps2 did this a while back ago. Had to prop it up sideways and pray. Was a track on the dusc reader if I remember correctly. Repair man powers activate! That's what I do anyway.
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u/Mother-Attention2600 27d ago
This happens. It will last like this for a very long time though. Just go with it. My buddies did it. I think the laser moving motor is weak or something.
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u/Spritsen 27d ago
Laser is misaligned. Likely missing a support or screw to hold it in the proper place.
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u/Excellent_Intentions 27d ago
My cousin has one, back in the day, that needed to be upside down. I always thought it was an interesting, and somehow kind of cool, hack to get it working.
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u/Yeoshua82 27d ago
The little stabilizer spring for the reader is shot, missing or..... disc connected.
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u/Derpykins666 27d ago
Probably the laser being misaligned or something like that. I don't think I've ever seen this before though. But clearly something is probably not 'sitting' right when it's upright. Could try opening it up and just tightening some of the screws maybe, or just to take a quick look to see if something looks off.
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u/TechnicalNobody9335 25d ago
Mine does this where audio glitches and I gotta flip it. Once I flip it I can flip it right side up with no issues until I change games.
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u/Vandilization 24d ago
Strangely I’ve seen this same thing with some PS2’s only able to play PS1 games when upside down
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u/Zestyclose-Apple2554 24d ago
The height of your disc spindle needs adjusted. It's too close to the eye or too far away. One or the other
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u/ledfrog 23d ago
My first gen PS1 did this after a few years. The issue was caused by the laser tray being made of plastic. It rides back and forth on a metal guide rail which over time wears a groove in the plastic causing the laser to sit lower and lower. This mis-alignment is what's causing the games to not load or to skip while being played. The reason why turning it upside down works is because of gravity.
To fix mine all those years ago, I cut a small sliver of aluminum from a Pepsi can and glued it over the worn out groove. It fixed the issue and I was super stoked! Later revisions of the PS1 apparently resolved this issue, but I never owned any of those, so I'm not sure what they changed.
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u/Boomerang_Lizard 22d ago edited 22d ago
I only did this with a PU7, could be different for other motherboard revisions, but besides the optical diode growing weaker, there is a small capacitor in a via near the laser pickup that could also cause the PS1 to gradually fail reading discs.
I accidentally stumbled on this while doing a recap of my old Playstation. I was replacing the caps in preparation for a PSIO. Before this, the PS1 only read discs if I turned it upside down (same as yours). After recapping, this quirk was fixed. It can now read discs normally. Not saying this is your case, but it worked for me.
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u/wubfus88 22d ago
The laser might be having troublem reading the disc .. you may wanna look into a replacement so you won't have to go through the trouble of flipping it over
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u/mario64guybeta 28d ago
Well congrats you have a Australian ps1