View Full Version : PlayStation 2 (SCPH-15000) find
RARusk
09-06-2008, 11:08 PM
I snagged this interesting version of the PS2 at a San Antonio flea market this afternoon. What caught my eye was the PC card slot in the back. How this Japanese only model ended up here I can only guess.
When I got it home I plugged it in and turned it on. The title screen came up but the drive will not open and any controller you plug in will not work. Any clues?
In addition, anybody have any useful information on this unit (such as if the PC card slot can do anything)?
JLukas
09-07-2008, 12:46 AM
I think the PC card slot was used for the HDD cable. The HDD was external for the early Japanese PS2s. It wasn't until the USA launch that they switched to an internal HDD bay.
Poofta!
09-07-2008, 10:05 AM
pics?
also i thinksjlukas is right... you mightve just gotten a useless/broken ps2
Wikipedia:
Three of the original PS2 launch models (SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000, and SCPH-18000) were only sold in Japan, and lacked the expansion bay (Dev9) of current PS2 models. These models included a PCMCIA slot instead of the Dev9 port of newer models. SCPH-10000 and SCPH-15000 did not have a built-in DVD movie playback and instead relied on encrypted playback software that was copied to a memory card from an included CD-ROM.
roushimsx
09-07-2008, 01:47 PM
I still have the stuff that came with my SCPH-10000 sitting around a box somewhere. What a massive disappointment that launch was (unless you really liked Drummania, I guess). :(
Kind of wish I'd kept my broken console around...I may actually have been able to fix it now a days. Neat little novelty to have. Good luck getting yours up and running properly again :)
CosmicMonkey
09-07-2008, 04:29 PM
http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/psx2hard/image/bbunit.jpg
Poofta!
09-07-2008, 05:04 PM
http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/psx2hard/image/bbunit.jpg
WTF IS THAT!? lol
anyway it sounds like you bought a broken jap ps2... hope you didnt pay more than 10 bucks for that.
Sabz5150
09-07-2008, 05:08 PM
WTF IS THAT!? lol
What, never heard of the Sony PPH? Where have you been?
Poofta!
09-07-2008, 05:26 PM
What, never heard of the Sony PPH? Where have you been?
apparently under a rock =P
care to shine some light on it?
EDIT: awesome Guardian Legend avatar, its rare finding people who appreciate that game's awesomeness.
CosmicMonkey
09-07-2008, 06:53 PM
This is a much better pic than the upside-down one. Basically, the HDD plugs into the rear PCMCIA socket of the PS2.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4913/scei02tm8.jpg
RARusk
09-07-2008, 11:21 PM
Fascinating. So the hard-drive was external for these units huh?
I wonder what other things that slot could be used for.
Later this week I'll open it up and take a cursory examination of the motherboard and see if I can get it working properly again.
BTW, this is my SIXTH PS2. About the others:
--My first PS2 unit (SCPH-30000 - revision 4 motherboard) I blew up (literally - the video chip went bang when experimenting).
--My second PS2 unit (SCPH-30000 - revision 3 motherboard) should be dead (due to experimenting) but isn't. However, it will no longer properly timestamp my game saves.
--My third PS2 unit (SCPH-50000) worked fine for awhile but no longer reads discs. Need to fix that.
--My fourth PS2 unit (SCPH-70000) is my secondary unit and I use it for trips (like my sister's house in Dallas).
--My fifth PS2 unit (SCPH-30000 - revision 4 motherboard) is modified for proper RGB Analog video usage and is my primary PS2 unit when playing.
RARusk
09-09-2008, 10:01 PM
Finally opened up the SCPH-15000 unit tonight.
It had been opened before by it's previous owner. One clue was that all of the screw covers were missing.
I had suspected a modchip as a possible culprit for the malfunctions. I did not find a modchip but I found something that made me think that any PS2 repair should never be left in the hands of amateurs.
On the motherboard there is a latch to hold down the ribbon cable that goes to the joypad plugs and memory card slots. Well, the latch was actually rattling inside the PS2 unit. So how was the ribbon cable being held down?
Wait for it.......
Super glue.
That's right. Super glue. The moron who had this unit previously decided, since he broke the damn latch off, to superglue the latch back on and the ribbon cable along with it. It is possible that the glue insulated at least one of the contacts preventing proper use of the joypad ports. The ribbon cable may also have been busted as well (and is probably busted now thanks to me pulling it off).
As for the drive, it too was opened up before. The screws that hold the top cover down were missing. Possible disc read errors may have forced the previous owner to open the thing up to try to fix it but resulted in the broken latch and god knows what else.
I don't think it is impossible to fix but it may be a difficult repair. Outside of these issues the motherboard looks to be in great shape.