I bought an old Playstation 1 and am trying to restore it to a playable state. The case looks fine. When I put a Playstation game (or any CD) in it, it will spin the disk (when it thinks the cover's closed anyway) and then boot to its CMOS where I can (supposedly) play CD's and manage memory cards. I have the controller and an output dongle, as well as one game. It won't boot to the game. Does a Playstation need a memory card? ...or is it just not reading the CD correctly, though it realized it has a disk? It won't even play a perfectly unscratched audio CD!

It should run without a memory card.

Maybe your laser is borked up. If you just put in a memory card, you should get to a screen where you can delete files from the card - do you see this? (Just in case you don't have a memory card, can you borrow one?)

I see the little red dot on the lens (the lazer) when I have no disk in, (and it spins it twice looking, but none is found in this case), if I have the disk in, it finds it and spins it awhile (confirming the lazer is good). Whatever happens, it goes to that CMOS program (what Xavier-P's calling "that screeen where you can delete files from the memory card", though it also has a CD player function.) Earlier, I found something pinning the lens down preventing it from finding the disk, so I saw what it would do if there was a disk there but it couldn't find it--"touch" the disk motor twice then give up. Instead, it touches it once, holds it down for about ten seconds to spin it at about 400RPMs (while it shows the white screen with the Sony orange diamond logo, then the memory card management system), then it stops the disk. (I was told the PSX is a double speed CD-Rom.) ...now after it hits the S/P converter to feed the disk data to the processor, I may have a cold line there. That's the only thing I can think of.

Well, before you tear your PS1 apart, you could try leaning the laser's lens. You're supposed to do it with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Most likely not the solution to your problem, but there's a chance that it is.

If there's any question of what I'm seeing, let me know and we'll figure a way for me to get a 6.2MB MPEG movie to you. I just now recorded it using my TV card (though I have yet to get sound working under Windows, the only place I have support for this card right now, so this movie probably is silent.

sounds like a dead laser to me

my dad used to fix playstations for a liveing and this was a common problem.

so i think that the laser is ded

The lazer's good. I'm seeing the little red dot on the lens when I mash the "closed" button and don't have a disk in. When I put the disk in, it sees it but doesn't load the game. This is with two diferent purple Playstation disks (one bought new, both work under emu). I'm trying to move the spindle height with no such luck and two broken spindles.

It sounds more and more like just a dirty laser.

even though you see the little red dot on the laser doesnt mean that it is working. If the laser is out of sink then, it wont work at all. The problem is that the discs arent being recognised which means that the laser cant read the master sector of the disk, which means that the laser isnt reading the right place on the disc, and it needs replaceing.

It isn't a dirty lazer--I cleaned it. ...now something may be out of allignment. It is seeing the presence of the disk but apparantly isn't getting a data stream going suitable for running a game or reading an audio CD.

this is a very good solotion, throw it and find/ buy another thats not always an option for every one though

have you got any other consoles e.g. xbox (MICROSOFT) PS2, Gamecube

What's the fun in that? I got this one from the thrift store. I do most of my Playstaton gaming under ePSXe anyway. ...as far as having a new console, I don't have one (too poor) but will most likely get a Gamecube over any of the others (like Metroid Prime, and Xbox sucks, Microsoft). Anywhere I can get a schematic for a Playstation 1?

oh ok then sorry didnt realise that, if the motors spinning and the lazers working is must be a serious fault then, otherwise matthewallen is right about the lazzer being out of sinc/alligenment