iso owners of a desr psx1 with a dead hard drive

Davewatts

Davewatts

Member
im working on a write up on how i fixed my desr 5000 with a scph 20401 and restored dvr functions.

So im looking for people that have a 5000 or 7000 with a dead hard drive access to sony hard drive and the ability to install a modbo on it (atleast until mechpwn supports it) and a memory card setup for freemcboot.

im also capable of doing the process if you happen to be in central Florida.

let me know if you have any questions or have the setup.
 
I have a desr 7500 with an fmcb memory card and a modbo 5 that I might be able to install. For the hard drive, could you tell me how I can tell if it is dead? It boots to the PSX screen then goes to a black screen which I think is a symptom of a dead HDD but I am able to view and copy the files from the HDD in ule and it passed the SMART status in HDD checker. So I don't know if the HDD is dead or if the xmb got messed up somehow.
 
TnA said:
There is "something" for the PSX (PS2 DVR/DESR) "in the pipe" as well! ;)
Click to expand...

Hmmm more than mechapwn? You have my interest now lol.

Eli Tsuji said:
I have a desr 7500 with an fmcb memory card and a modbo 5 that I might be able to install. For the hard drive, could you tell me how I can tell if it is dead? It boots to the PSX screen then goes to a black screen which I think is a symptom of a dead HDD but I am able to view and copy the files from the HDD in ule and it passed the SMART status in HDD checker. So I don't know if the HDD is dead or if the xmb got messed up somehow.
Click to expand...

If you are able to still copy to and from the hard drive then it's mostly working still and probably some curruption on it causing the black screen. I would definitely try to boot an update disk (I have plenty of images to burn).

You will need the modbo installed to boot a burned disk tho unless there's some swap tricks for the PSX.

The first step is to see if it would install as is on the hard drive. If not then we would need to track down a dump of a hard drive for a psx2.

I'm working on a picture that has the alternate points for the modbo to avoid soldering directly to the chip but if you can solder well the chip isn't to hard.
 
Balika works with DESR from last year or two, something related to HDD recognition, to free DESR from tight spectrum HDDs models usage (i.e to allow user to use any HDD, not only those from Sony or maybe preparing any HDD to disguise as Sony one, I dunno). But so far nothing new was published in this matter so, hold Your horses. :D However, this would be awesome news!
 
Eli Tsuji said:
I have a desr 7500 with an fmcb memory card and a modbo 5 that I might be able to install. For the hard drive, could you tell me how I can tell if it is dead? It boots to the PSX screen then goes to a black screen which I think is a symptom of a dead HDD but I am able to view and copy the files from the HDD in ule and it passed the SMART status in HDD checker. So I don't know if the HDD is dead or if the xmb got messed up somehow.
Click to expand...

I just made this quickly in paint lol but it saves from soldering onto the legs of the chip other than SX on pin 1 which is super easy

modbo desr.png
 
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Davewatts said:
I just made this quickly in paint lol but it saves from soldering onto the legs of the chip other than SX on pin 1 which is super easy

View attachment 32971
Click to expand...
Thanks, that looks a lot easier than soldering to the legs of the chip. Would you be able to point me to where I could download an update disk image? I found one for the 7000, 5000, 7100, and 5100 but I don't know if it is compatible with my 7500. If I am able to get it working, is there anything that I could dump that could help you?
 
Eli Tsuji said:
Thanks, that looks a lot easier than soldering to the legs of the chip. Would you be able to point me to where I could download an update disk image? I found one for the 7000, 5000, 7100, and 5100 but I don't know if it is compatible with my 7500. If I am able to get it working, is there anything that I could dump that could help you?
Click to expand...

Yeah give me a few minutes and I'll send you the one I have
 
Davewatts said:
im working on a write up on how i fixed my desr 5000 with a scph 20401 and restored dvr functions.

So im looking for people that have a 5000 or 7000 with a dead hard drive access to sony hard drive and the ability to install a modbo on it (atleast until mechpwn supports it) and a memory card setup for freemcboot.

im also capable of doing the process if you happen to be in central Florida.

let me know if you have any questions or have the setup.
Click to expand...
Hello Davewatts,

I'm also super interested by your write up on how you have successfully brought back to life a dead PSX DESR.

I've got a DESR 7000 which apparently has a dead hdd, it automatically turns on when I plug it, I can hear the fan and the hdd starts to spin but nothing appears on screen, then the PSX shuts down and there is no way to turn it back on without unplugging and re-plugging it.. is the HDD dead?

Anyway i've planned to repair it, so if I understand well, I need to find a SCPH 2040x, a modbo and a freemcboot memory card, right?

I'm also very curious about the steps to follow then.. and if you need anything Davewatts, feel free to ask, would be happy to help!

Thanks!
 
Take out HDD to PC and see what S.M.A.R.T reporting.

I read also that DESR models sooner or later dying by fuse blowing due to temperature.

Once MechapPwn with DESR support will be released, You will need only FMCB in 1.966 (installation made for DESR).

Remember to not agree to any initialization by Windows or any other OS, or You will kill all data on HDD (it is encrypted and we don't know the key and algos).
 
Berion said:
Take out HDD to PC and see what S.M.A.R.T reporting.

I read also that DESR models sooner or later dying by fuse blowing due to temperature.

Once MechapPwn with DESR support will be released, You will need only FMCB in 1.966 (installation made for DESR).

Remember to not agree to any initialization by Windows or any other OS, or You will kill all data on HDD (it is encrypted and we don't know the key and algos).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up Berion, I'll take the HDD out of the PSX, connect it to a PC and see what S.M.A.R.T reports.

I'll also check fuses and IR sensors as I've heard they can cause the console to not boot if they aren't connected properly to the motherboard.
 
noex90 said:
I've got a DESR 7000 which apparently has a dead hdd, it automatically turns on when I plug it, I can hear the fan and the hdd starts to spin but nothing appears on screen, then the PSX shuts down and there is no way to turn it back on without unplugging and re-plugging it.. is the HDD dead?
Click to expand...
Black screen after the PSX intro, or no PSX intro at all ?
 
So that doesn't sound like a HDD issue.
What about the power led ? Does it go from red to green as soon as you plug the ac cord, does it still flash solid red even when you push the power button, or does it blink ?
 
krHACKen said:
So that doesn't sound like a HDD issue.
What about the power led ? Does it go from red to green as soon as you plug the ac cord, does it still flash solid red even when you push the power button, or does it blink ?
Click to expand...

First of all, I thought it was a DESR 7000, in fact it's a 7500, I guess it doesn't change anything anyway :)

The power led stays off, the only led which blinks a bit is the HDD ACCESS led when the HDD seems to be accessed, then the PSX shuts down.

Here is a video, sometimes it just shuts off right after : https://youtube.com/shorts/3GDtabutkas?feature=share

And sometimes, it stays on, then shuts down after a few minutes : https://youtube.com/shorts/vEFlQP_PsXY?feature=share

Thanks for your help!
 
I guess it's time to disassemble it and see what is going on in there, I'll do a backup of the HDD as well, any software to recommend? I usually use HDD Raw Copy Tool.
 
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