What is the PSIO?
It’s a fpga drive replacement for the PS1 but instead of replacing your drive, it attaches to the IO port in most of the early to mid life model PS1 consoles. It requires a daughter board to be soldered to your console so that the IO port can be accessed and used as a development drive. You have to convert your cue files through a program so that the instructions are properly relayed to the device.
Does it make your disc drive unusable?
Nope, you can use both the PSIO or your original discs in the system. I don’t think you can rip your own games that way but at least you aren’t required to keep a backup PS1 around in the event the PSIO isn’t compatible with a treasured game in your collection.
Does it speed up load times?
I think it is possible it does but I think it might not go faster due to the way the PS1 works.
Does it sound right?
Firebrand X ranted about how something is off on his youtube video. I didn’t hear what he heard through my setup so it’s possible it does, its possible its not working right on his machine or its possible I can’t tell the difference & it’s also possible something else is causing that issue when he uses the PSIO that is not present when using the disc drive.
Impressions
I was actually a little worried that I wouldn’t like it as much as I did. I was hoping that I still had the same love for the PS1 I did nearly 20 years ago. Well, I couldn’t be more happy. I had this grin from ear to ear last night as I went from game to game to game. I was totally blown away with how quiet the system is, how quickly it loads and just how much I really like ROM carts and drive replacements.
The PSIO requires you to solder a daughter board onto your PS1 and honestly, it was above my skill level to even consider it. I just sent it to ben @ifixretro to do the mod. He replaced my mod chip and gave me a new disc drive as mine was failing. That was almost a year ago and I was worried the mod wasn’t done right. I didn’t have to worry because i had it up and running in no time.
The PSIO was a little tricky to set up. You have to put the firmware on the machine and then delete it and then put the SD card back in. I figured it out after maybe 10 minutes of messing with the thing.
Once it was all set up, it worked just like an everdrive. pick the file and you can choose to load it or to launch the game. Another neat thing is they let you choose between the regions and use the japanese playstation chime instead of the 94 US (maybe europe) chime.
Packaging kind of blew me away in that it looked like a real commercial product over a hobbyist project.
Menu
It worked!!
Feel free to ask any questions. I really think it was worth the wait. I will probably play it as much if not more than my SNES in the coming weeks.
