Engineer Creates First Custom Motherboard For 1990s PlayStation Console (arstechnica.com) 12
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Last week, electronics engineer Lorentio Brodesco announced the completion of a mock-up for nsOne, reportedly the first custom PlayStation 1 motherboard created outside of Sony in the console's 30-year history. The fully functional board accepts original PlayStation 1 chips and fits directly into the original console case, marking a milestone in reverse-engineering for the classic console released in 1994. Brodesco's motherboard isn't an emulator or FPGA-based re-creation -- it's a genuine circuit board designed to work with authentic PlayStation 1 components, including the CPU, GPU, SPU, RAM, oscillators, and voltage regulators. The board represents over a year of reverse-engineering work that began in March 2024 when Brodesco discovered incomplete documentation while repairing a PlayStation 1.
"This isn't an emulator. It's not an FPGA. It's not a modern replica," Brodesco wrote in a Reddit post about the project. "It's a real motherboard, compatible with the original PS1 chips." It's a desirable project for some PS1 enthusiasts because a custom motherboard could allow owners of broken consoles to revive their systems by transplanting original chips from damaged boards onto new, functional ones. With original PS1 motherboards becoming increasingly prone to failure after three decades, replacement boards could extend the lifespan of these classic consoles without resorting to emulation.
The nsOne project -- short for "Not Sony's One" -- uses a hybrid design based on the PU-23 series motherboards found in SCPH-900X PlayStation models but reintroduces the parallel port that Sony had removed from later revisions. Brodesco upgraded the original two-layer PCB design to a four-layer board while maintaining the same form factor. [...] As Brodesco noted on Kickstarter, his project's goal is to "create comprehensive documentation, design files, and production-ready blueprints for manufacturing fully functional motherboards." Beyond repairs, the documentation and design files Brodesco is creating would preserve the PlayStation 1's hardware architecture for future generations: "It's a tribute to the PS1, to retro hardware, and to the belief that one person really can build the impossible."
"This isn't an emulator. It's not an FPGA. It's not a modern replica," Brodesco wrote in a Reddit post about the project. "It's a real motherboard, compatible with the original PS1 chips." It's a desirable project for some PS1 enthusiasts because a custom motherboard could allow owners of broken consoles to revive their systems by transplanting original chips from damaged boards onto new, functional ones. With original PS1 motherboards becoming increasingly prone to failure after three decades, replacement boards could extend the lifespan of these classic consoles without resorting to emulation.
The nsOne project -- short for "Not Sony's One" -- uses a hybrid design based on the PU-23 series motherboards found in SCPH-900X PlayStation models but reintroduces the parallel port that Sony had removed from later revisions. Brodesco upgraded the original two-layer PCB design to a four-layer board while maintaining the same form factor. [...] As Brodesco noted on Kickstarter, his project's goal is to "create comprehensive documentation, design files, and production-ready blueprints for manufacturing fully functional motherboards." Beyond repairs, the documentation and design files Brodesco is creating would preserve the PlayStation 1's hardware architecture for future generations: "It's a tribute to the PS1, to retro hardware, and to the belief that one person really can build the impossible."
This changes the game. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:This changes the game. (Score:5, Insightful)
I've seen a recent increase in modern replacement motherboards for vintage electronics, and this is just the latest.
Except it's not. It's a modern PCB for the original vintage chips, which means you could go through the entire hassle of transferring everything and having it still not work in the end if the problem was actually a faulty chip.
Don't get me wrong, there's certainly some failure modes that genuinely are attributable to a failure of the PCB itself. But realistically, that mostly comes down to hardware that was stored in less-than-ideal conditions. If you've kept your PlayStation 1 in a nice climate controlled closet and it no longer works when you feel like scratching that nostalgia itch, the failure is most likely a bad component, not the PCB.
I was about to comment that people are getting way too excited about this, but the Kickstarter campaign [kickstarter.com] really hasn't raised all that much. This seems more like a "because they could" thing, rather than something there's a huge demand for. Personally, I'm fine with emulation; I already have enough tech crap and not enough room for all of it.
Re: (Score:2)
Negative nancy.
Re: (Score:2)
It did crawl past its funding goal. Compared to other projects, it didn't gain much... but it did succeed.
Overall, it would be nice to see this in other machines. There are efforts in other communities, but the ability to buy another motherboard if the previous one is completely useless, preferably one that comes populated and just needs the ROM chips desoldered and placed in chip sockets, would be nice, especially 20-30 years from now when these motherboards decay and we need new ones then.
Overall, it ma
The one that blows my mind is The game gear one (Score:3)
The original game gear would be lucky to get 5 hours and realistically more like three. The upgraded motherboard alone double that just because modern electronics use less energy. With the modern screen you basically get 25% more battery life with the exact same CPU and GPU ( using the term GPU loosely here). And with a much much better screen.
It really shows how far electronics have come in 30 years.
Re: (Score:2)
There's a custom board with modern electronics for the Sega game gear, basically sega's answer to the game boy black and white
Ah, the Game Gear. When through batteries like Charlie Sheen on a coke binge and while it technically did have a color display, it was like the worst cheapest passive matrix garbage panel imaginable. If that wasn't bad enough, the library of games kind of sucked, too.
If that "we have X at home" meme was a thing back then, Game Gear would've had one. I'm sure by now though, there's at least a few of us olds who fondly remember playing a bad port of Sonic the Hedgehog instead of finishing their homework.
Re: (Score:2)
An iPad or Android tablet with a screen you can actually see and boatloads of free-to-play games, is the real innovation since then.
At least Game Gear games are a buy-once affair; nearly all of those iPad games are rife with in-app purchases and "surprise mechanics" and other garbage that doesn't involve actual gameplay, but does involve wallet draining.
The games look better, and yes, one can rotate through games easier...but despite the improvement on those ends, I'll take the Game Gear shovelware.
Re: (Score:2)
the Atari Lynx I think could have worked. The hardware was incredible. But again battery life. If I was in charge of Atari back then I would have marketed it as a solution to having a extra screen so your kid doesn't hog the TV.
If you want to really see what Sega was thinking with the game gear though look up a recently made game called GG Aleste 3. The footage you find will probably be running under an emulator with a few enhancements but I've playe
Never really got renting games (Score:2)
To be fair I was playing 7800 and 2600 when the NES was in its heyday. I did have a Master system a little later into its re
One handed clap... (Score:2)