PS1 CD FMV and music skipping issues...

[Xeauron]

S.O.S

Model: SCPH-5502 (model which is supposed to defeat skipping issues)
Age: Unknown (2nd Hand)
ModChip: Unknown (Came pre-installed from GameStation)
Accessories: 4x Official mem card used with it
Media: Mainly CDR self made backups on Sony CDR media (Supremas CDR)

Hi all, I've recently (about 2 months ago) refurbished a PS1 with a new laser from ebay (supposedly new as I noticed that one of the plastic tabs was ripped off the hub spindle).

Anyway basically, yesterday another tab broke off the spindle right when I was having FMV skipping issues and music playback issues in game. just before this the PS1 read all discs (including my backups of wipeout 3, dino crisis, Rage racer, and jumping flash) which I made by skip doctoring the originals and burning them onto fresh Sony CDR discs (PS1 didn't like them but PC could read them).

The PS1 was bought about 4 months ago and was already chipped I found to my surprise! (Cost £3 from GameStation)

As you can see from the image above, in between the metal bearings there are the 'tabs' im refering to. When these break off, does this affect the balance of the disc? This is my guess...

Or is there something else which causes the stuttering and skipping which i should be aware of. I have adjusted the laser Bias as well to try to remedy this but no matter where I turn it to there is always a game which skips (Sometimes one game will work perfectly, and another is made MUCH worse).

I'm kind of hoping a veteran member will craw out of the wood work and offer some words of wizdom, or point out something I may have missed.


Are there any tips for getting this to read discs again properly or should I be looking online for another new laser. It's been reading predominently my Sony CDR backups as it doesn't like the originals any more (Does this kill lasers faster?)

Bear in mind this was reading ALL media *(original and backup) PERFECTLY yesterday.

Any advice or tips would be greatly received.

I love playing the PS1 and have clocked quite a few hours in the time I've had it, but just can't believe it's been killed this quickly.



Thanks in advance! If you can help resolve this you'd be my personal hero! I'm at my wits end with this thing at the moment, I spent 2-3 hours last night adjusting the power and trying different games and cannot find a balance currently.

Cheers anyway...

[kakutolives]

its definitely the spindle bro. I used to be big on the psone back in the day(still am, thanks to garyopa!) and when those tabs come off, IT DOES affect the balance of the disc. if you notice though if you pop the disc out and then the disc back in a slightly rotated position it will not skip at the same place it was skipping before during an FMV (but it will still skip, just at a different spot) in some cases when they come off they can also have different effects depending on your laser. In one of my older units one tab broke off and it didnt affect the fmv's but it made the thing that much noisier during regular loading sequences. I had another one where all 3 had come off and the darn thing just became unbearable. The disc would skip during FMV's dozen of times. An easy fix is obviously replacing the spindle but if i may suggest, sometimes regular cd-player spindles tend to work just as well as a regular official spindle. I swapped mine off an old memorex cd player for the playstation with 3 damaged tabs and all problems went away!
hope this helps

[tec9]

id check that spindle and also media, i used those verb 16x cdr. worked the best execially in picky players like psx and ps2. could try to adjust laser pots and also try turning the psx on its side or upside down. best of luck