======== Play US/UK/JAP games on US/UK/JAP machine ==================
By Onn Lee. Email: Marker@sv.span.com
NB: Original CD means the BOOT CD that's same country as your machine
    Play-CD means the other country CD you wish to play.
 
Firstly, Sony have been rather sneaky when they released their CD-ROMs for
the PlayStation. Apparently, each country's CD consists of a small file on
the header that the PSX reads first.. and if it's not the same as the machine
it's using it on, it won't load up the game. So, if you can fool the machine
to think you're using the same country CD on your machine, then you'll be
able to play the game.
To do this, you must:-
 
SIMPLE METHOD (No Modifications required)
i. Turn on your PlayStation without a CD in the system so that you get the
Memory Card and Music option.
ii.  Select the music option, and pop in a CD game that's the same country
as your machine. ie. If it's a Japanese PlayStation, then pop in a Japanese
game. Incidentally, most people say it's best to use Ridge Racer because it
works best with most games. But do not close the lid...
in fact, you have to leave the lid open throughout.
iii.  Next, look at inside of the CD lid near the back right. You'll notice
that there's a spiky plastic bit that if you close the lid, will protrude
into a circular switch. This is the CD drive motor switch. What you have to
do is use something to press and hold it down. Some people recommend using
blue-tak, but I personally prefer using a flat end screw - not only will the
end of the screw fit nicely into the switch, the slit on the head can be
wedged onto the plastic spike to hold the switch down. (Better still, you
can wire up a switch - see later).
iv.  When you hold down the switch (Screw or whatever), the CD spins for a few
seconds... and then stops. Basically it reads the header of the CD
(including the country code) and knows it's a normal PlayStation CD, so if
you exit, the game will load up and you can play it. Of course, you don't
want to play the game, so you swap the CD with your Play-CD,
(The game you WANT to PLAY) and then Exit... and hey presto!... the game will
load as normal.
 
==PROBLEMS!!==
The above system will work with all set-ups, but there are a few problems.
a)  If you have an official PAL PlayStation and are playing the game through
the RF aerial lead or the Video Out lead, then, doing the above when trying
to play US or JAP games will only give you a black and white picture....
each CD is coded for NTSC/PAL. Unfortunately, the only way to play the
games in colour is to get a Scart cable for your machine - that's assuming
of course you have a 50/60hz Scart TV/monitor. If not, then you're a bit
buggered and stuck with mono!!
b)  This is the same if you have a JAPANESE or American) machine
running PAL games when playing through the aerial, Video out or S-Video
socket. So - you also need to RGB cable like in (a).
c)  For some unknown reason, some Japanese machines won't play US/UK games
using the above method (including my PlayStation!!). We've heard this only
happens if you have a Japanese machine that doen't have a S-Video socket,
although mine DOES and it's a series A machine. Whatever, there is a way to
still play other country games on the machine, and that is to leave the
original Japanese game in the machine when you Exit the music screen, where
it will load and display the black screen with the PS logo. When this
appears, you have to quickly remove the CD !!! This is a right bugger, as
the CD is spinning at a fast rate, so you have to press the middle to stop
it and then whip it out quickly... and replace with the US/UK CD... where it
will continue to load in as normal!! This is a right sod, but it seems it's
the only way around it... unless you know another easier way!!
d)  Sometimes when a game does load, the music is sometimes missing. This is
because when you pop in the original CD, the PSX checks what tracks are the
music tracks and notes them down. Of course, when you swap it with the other
CD, the music tracks are now at different positions. It's suggested that,
if the music is missing, or even if the game crashes or something, you should
try using different original CDs.
 
==Curing Problem 'd'==
To cure the music problem, and also some games that crash because of the
original CD you put in... do the following:-
1)  When you pop in the Original CD, and press down the switch, let the CD
spin for around 1 to 2 seconds, then quickly, remove it (while
spinning) and pop in the CD you wish to play. (You should remove the original
just BEFORE it displays the music tracks)
2) If timed correctly, the CD you want to play will spin for a few seconds
and all the music tracks will be displayed! So now you've by-passed country
protection, and got the correct music tracks for the game you want to play.
3) Click on Exit and your game should Work perfectly.
4) Ofcourse, if your game doesn't load as in 'problem b above', you'll
have to swap the play CD with original to get to the PS-Black screen, and
then change CDs.
5) IF music doesn't work properly, you'll have to remove CD quicker/slower.
6) By using this method - you can use ANY CD as a boot disc and get all
music. So, you can have a USA PSX with the demo CD, and just using that,
play every UK/JAP game with all sound!!
 
 
===== SWITCH IT! #1 =======
Well... if you find that popping in Blue-tak or using any other items is a
pain in the backside... you can opt to put a switch on the cd-motor switch.
To do this, all you need is a simple toggle switch, some wire and the usual
solder, soldering iron, and a screwdriver.
i.  Turn machine upside down, unscrew all the screws, remove top, then
locate where the drive switch is.. it should be a small black thing which
you can push down.
ii.  Now, the hard bit is to remove all the necessary screws to actually get
to the switch's underside so you can solder the wires to the board. I won't
go into detail, as it's too complicated. Be careful when removing the fiddly
plastic CD data cable!
iii.  Once you've got to the underside of the circuit board... locate where
the switch is and solder two wires to it... one on the left solder bit of the
switch and another onto the right solder bit (diagonally is better, so you
don't get mixed up!)... this is rather fiddly as it's small, so be careful.
iv.  Once done, it's a matter of soldering your toggle switch to the wires
(unless you want to do it the other way around).
v.  Next, the hard bit is to decide where you want to stick your switch on
the PSX! - Drill hole and screw switch in place. Mine is just above the
expansion socket at the back. Then it's just a matter of putting everything
back together.
With the switch soldered, you can enter music mode, place Original in, switch
the switch, let it spin for a few secs., change CD, close the lid of your
machine, click on Exit.
 
===== Switch it #2 =====
To make a switch that will cure the problem of games that don't play ALL the
music tracks... you also require a simple toggle switch. All you have to do
is open up the PSX... and locate the 4-wires power leads that connect to the
CD drive. Apparently, locate the left-most wire to the power supply board,
and cut it... and wire the switch between. (Drill hole, stick in switch, put
everything back together).
With this in place, there's no need to quickly whip out the spinning original
CD to place the Play-CD in... let the original spin, and when you want
to swap, flip switch to cut power to the CD drive, then change CDs. This
switch isn't needed, but it's suppose to safe-guard the drive motor.
*At the time of writing, I haven't done this myself but I've been told it
does work*.
 
==SCART IT==
Okay, you're getting Black and white picture when using your system... so you
want to get a scart lead. However, the lead cost around 20-30 quid(UK)..at the
time of writing, you can't actually buy an official lead... so here's how to
make one up. The following info. was taken from an article by 2TUFF.
--- Note that, this method requires you to solder the wires directly to the
motherboard and NOT a proper scart lead - as you can't actually buy the AV
connector of the PSX's. The following method does work 100% as I myself have
tried it out - although I don't use it, as my S-Video-to-Scart box gives a
much better colour picture.... and I don't have any PAL games at the mo.
(I would rather get US games if I want english text!).
 
What you need are the usual soldering iron, solder (low melt point/self
flucing is the best), two IN4148 Signal Diodes (from Tandy etc.), Male
Scart/Euro connector, 9 core signal quality cable, and a RGB TV!!
 
What to connect:-
If you open up your PlayStation (you have to remove all screws, etc,) and
turn the board upside down with the AV connector facing you and on the Left
side... you see the 12 solder bits:-
 
1 2 3 4 5 6
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
7 8       9
 
The pins you need are:
1 = Green Out
2 = Blanking
3 = Video Earth
4 = RGB Sync
5 = Audio Out Righ
6 = Audio Earth
7 = Red Out
8 = Blue Out
9 = Audio Out Left
 
And what you have to do is connect them to the scart as follows:
PSX    Scart/Euro Connector
1   =      11
2   =      16/10 (see Diodes info!!)
3   =      17
4   =      20
5   =      2
6   =      4
7   =      15
8   =      7
9   =      6
 
--Diodes--
Get the two IN4148's so that the LINE on the diode's are at the bottom,
and join the wires together at the other end so they become one, so that the
ends with the line on are still seperate.  You now have to solder the two
seperate ends - one end to pin 10 on the scart socket and the other to pin
16.
 
       
======== Well, I hope this helps.. if you have any problems, Email me =======
 
 
=---------------------------------.------------------------------------------=
|       -  Onn 'Marker' Lee  -    / For the best Console Fanzine around -GAP |
| InterNet : marker@sv.span.com   \ SF, MD, PSX, GB, SAT, PCE, etc. E-mail me|
{ Snailmail: 125 Arnold Road,     / for more info. or send a SSAE for FREE 
{            Bestwood Estate,     \ back issue.
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