If it's gen 1 American, it has backwards PSX play. ALL of those units did. I still own one bought on day 1. It plays FFVII with faster loads, and MGS with polygon smoothing.
If it's gen 1, and you want a step 0 fix. Try putting the system on its side. No joke. The side that has more base on it's side
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if it plays, you have a laser reader issue. Just understand this bodge is far less expensive than getting it fixed; unless you want to crack open the unit and make sure the laser reader track is smooth; which if done wrong will brick the unit. I have not experienmced this personally, and from I've heard, it really only affects certain games; or certain discs. Not sure it would be PSX vs Ps2 thing, just a per disc problem.
Other fixes.
- Cleaning the disk. Scratches aren't as much of an issue and debris or build up. I've used anything from alcohol water solution, to glass cleaner. While I don't recommed the latter, good disk cleaner, or electronics cleaner does wonders.
- going to disk explorer and just locating the disk and activating it by hitting X sometimes jump starts it. This is due to the motor of that spins the drive not calibrating to the CD tech of PSX but works for DVDs. Remember DVDs main way of "uptech" is compression. So the system spins at different intervals, necessarily differently for DVDs, It's worse for games, that require data referencing regardless of format. By clicking on the disk explorer you can sometimes get the system to recognize it needs to change its disk speed.
- Finally, try going into the settings, I think it's called configuration. Try turning off the disk speed enhancer, or polygon smoother. Ps2 had both to incentivize over gamecube; a big sell was that is played PSx games, and some with even better load times or graphical enchancement.
Problems you can't fix without hardware checks are...
- Regional locks. Sometimes regional locks can be an issue. Consult with the lister/store.
- Anti-piracy gone awry. Some refurbished systems don't have the right proprietary recognition, and so will lock out otherwise legitimate games. Though it is possible, the PSX games trying to be played are bootleg. I'll assume the former is more likely. Sony, like Nintendo, had an arms race of bootleg games. I remember seeing "new" PSX games for $2.50 at a Fresno CA Hmong festival. Inquiring, I found you could use a hack that plugged into the modem, that would override the proprietary recgonition. Long story short, Sony countered, and of course, the pirates followed suit, and upped the ante. Such is the gaming community.
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Later editions, like the PS2 slim, or something like that (Like I said I have a gen 1, that still works, so I don't know the name) may not have backward compatibility. One way to be sure, is check the above software fixes step 3. If you lack these options, your system can't play PSX games. stated above to be false.
If the problem has one super easy fix, it's flipping the system on it's side; make sure the thicker lip of the drive is down. Then try cleaning. If neither of those work, you're going to need to take a bit longer to troubleshoot. You can also do a hardware check. I serviced two systems, once when the drive motor got stuck, and did the same for my friend's kid sister (who is obviously a very grown adult now). If desperation to play PSX games becomes too much, try opening the first under panel. You can reassemble that easily, as there's a second panel to remove before you get the board. By removing the first under panel you might see if all hardware is good. Obvious signs...are obvious. Rmail me if you want, and I'll try to share some pictures of my system for reference. Mine has been through many services, but it still runs. Controllers died long before the unit itself.
Last suggestion...warranty. Based on where it was bought, you might be able to talk to the lister/store. Even if they won't replace it, they may have insight. Good luck! There are some gems on PSX, so I hope something works out.
This message was last edited by the user at 07:45, Thu 20 May 2021.