PlayStation Classic

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PlayStation Classic
PlayStation Classic logo.png
PlayStation Classic
Developer Sony Interactive Entertainment
Type Dedicated console
Release date 3 December 2018
Retail availability 2018 – present
Introductory price US$99.99
99.99
¥9,980
£89.99
A$149.99
Media Internal flash memory
System-on-chip used MediaTek 8167a, Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A35
MemoryGB of DDR3 RAM
Storage 16 GB ECC Flash
Graphics Power VR GE8300
Controller input 2 controller ports
Dimensions 149 mm × 33 mm × 105 mm (5.9 in × 1.3 in × 4.1 in)


Introduction

The PlayStation Classic is a dedicated video game console by Sony Interactive Entertainment that emulates games originally released on its 1994 PlayStation console. It was announced in September 2018 at the Tokyo Game Show, and released on December 3, 2018, the 24th anniversary of the release of the original. The console has been compared to competitor Nintendo's prior releases of the NES and Super NES Classic Edition mini consoles.

Specifications

The PlayStation Classic ships with two replica PlayStation Controllers (the original model, which are without analog sticks), an HDMI cable, and a USB Micro-A to standard USB-A cable. An AC adapter for the console is sold separately. The console weighs about 170 grams (0.37 lb) and is about 149 mm × 33 mm × 105 mm (5.9 in × 1.3 in × 4.1 in) in size, approximately 80% smaller in volume than the original PlayStation and 45% smaller in width and length. It includes ports for both controllers, HDMI output, and power via USB. The controller's cords measure approximately 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long. It cannot use PlayStation memory cards. Internally, the console uses a MediaTek 8167a Quad A35 system on a chip with four central processing cores clocked at @ 1.3 GHz and a Power VR GE8300 graphics processing unit. It includes 16 GB of ECC flash storage and 1 GB of DDR3 memory.

The Classic uses the ReARMed branch of the free and open source emulator PCSX to play its games.

Hardware Modification

USB Current Limiting


The two USB ports on the front of the PlayStation Classic are current-limited meaning they will only provide 5v @ 100mA. For mass storage devices and other devices, this is probably too low. 100mA is probably fine for stuff like mice, keyboards, game controllers but can cause instability or incompatibility if a device requires more draw.

This current limiting is handled by a switching current limiting chip on the motherboard. There is one for each USB port. This chip is a TPS2553D. Based on the datasheet we can see that the ILIM pin is used to control the value of the maximum allowed current draw. With two resistors in series totaling at about 226k ohms, we know that it will only provide 100mA. By reducing the resistance between this pin and ground we can increase the maximum allowed current draw.

It turns out if we give a resistance of zero, or directly short this pin to ground, we can effectively disable any current limiting for the port with a maximum of 1.5A allowed. The easiest way to do this is to short one side of the two resistors.

To disable the current limiting on port 1, short these two points:

Currentlimiting1.png

To disable the current limiting on port 2, short these two points:

Currentlimiting2.png

To prove that this works, disable the current limiting on port 1. Then turn on the machine and plug a phone or other device that charges via USB into port 2. You should notice that the device will not charge. Now, plug it into port 1 and you should see the device charging.

Game Compatibility List

This list is a WIP. Please visit the spreadsheet to add tested games and/or make changes.

Add Tested Games Here

Master List(read-only)

Sony Code Name Region Compatible? Notes Hack ISO Source Date Tested
SLUS-01272 007 - The World Is Not Enough NTSC Yes N/A BleemSync 0.4.0 Internet 17/12/18

Compatible USB Drives

The following is an (incomplete) list of compatible drives and USB sticks for the PlayStation Classic.

Drive Size USB Ver. Powered Hub? Notes
Shintaro Rotating Pocket Disk USB flash drive 32 GB USB 2.0 32GB 2.0 N/A N/A
Lexar JumpDrive S75 128GB USB 3.0 LJDS75-128ABNL 128GB 3.0 N/A N/A
Patriot SLATE 128GB (PSF128GLSS3USB) 128GB 3.0 N/A N/A
PNY Retract USB 3.0 0GB 3.0 N/A N/A
Samsung 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Fit (MUF-128BB/AM) 128GB 3.0 N/A N/A
Micro SDXC UHS-I N/A N/A N/A N/A
SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive - SDCZ430-128G-G46 128GB 3.1 N/A N/A
SanDisk Ultra Micro SD XC1 N/A N/A N/A N/A
SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 N/A 3.0 N/A N/A
SanDisk Ultra USB Flash Drive (SDCZ48-128G-U46) 128GB 3.0 N/A N/A
Cruzer Blade 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ50-128G-B35 128GB 2.0 N/A N/A
Samsung Portable SSD T5 USB 3.1 500GB 3.1 N/A N/A
SanDisk 64 GB Ultra Fit CZ430 3.1 Mini Nano Flash 64GB 3.1 N/A N/A
Kingston DataTraveler DTSE9 USB 2.0 N/A 2.0 N/A N/A
Blue Generic USB 2.0 N/A 2.0 N/A N/A
SanDisk Cruzer Fit SDCZ33-064G-B35 64GB 2.0 N/A N/A
SanDisk Cruzer Glide N/A N/A N/A N/A
SanDisk Ultra Fit 64 GB USB Flash Drive USB 3.0 64GB 3.0 N/A N/A
Toshiba TransMemory u363 N/A 3.0 N/A N/A
SanDisk Cruzer Blade 0GB 2.0 N/A N/A
PNY Imation Nano Pro Flash Drive USB 2.0 0GB 2.0 N/A N/A
SanDisk Cruzer Blade 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ50-128G-B35 128GB 2.0 N/A N/A
Samsung Evo 256GB SD CARD (the red one) + Trascendent sd card reader 256GB N/A N/A N/A
Samsung Evo Plus 128GB MicroSD (red) + Kingston FCR-ML3C MobileLite Duo Reader 128GB 3.1 No N/A
TOSHIBA HAYABUSA BLANCO N/A N/A N/A N/A
Kingston DataTraveler G2 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Philips Snow Usb 2.0 N/A 2.0 N/A N/A
SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 128 GB SDCZ48-128G 128GB 3.0 Yes N/A
Emtec 16GB USB 2.0 16GB 2.0 No transparent red pen
SanDisk Cruzer Blade 64GB USB2.0 SDCZ50-064G 64GB 2.0 No N/A
Drive Size USB Ver. External Power Notes

Software

See Rockman for more technical information.

Emulator

The stock emulator shipped by Sony is PCSX ReARMed, the frontend used is internally called Sony UI and is no different than how we would use RetroArch, the difference being RetroArch utilizes multiple cores while the stock interface is designed for one specific emulator. Projects such as BleemSync are able to overmount and modify scripts and databases used by the Sony UI to add additional games, pseudo-folders, and shortcuts to other applications on the console.

BIOS

The PlayStation Classic uses two bios:

Filename Version Region Checksum (md5) Description
romw.bin 4.5 05/25/00 J region free C53CA5908936D412331790F4426C6C33 The same BIOS is used for the PS1 emulator on PSP
romJP.bin 4.5 05/25/00 J JP 476D68A94CCEC3B9C8303BBD1DAF2810 Very similar to romw.bin (it shares 80% of the code) but region locked

Operating System

The OS is Yocto, using aud Baseline. Yocto aud for Rockman

Software Modification

Shortly after release it was confirmed that Sony used their public key to sign private packages, giving us gpghax, then lolhack payloads.

By using these methods we have gained root access to the console itself, and can modify the file system as well as the kernel using extensions and customized payloads with overmounting shell scripts to replace binaries until the next reboot.

BleemSync

BleemSync is a tool for loading games from a USB flash drive. It's quite safe as it doesn't modify any file on the console.

Downloads:

Tutorials:

Betas & Future Versions:

Box Art

Name Author Link Download
3D Boxart Pack u/landonbarton By popular demand - Below is a download link to the full US library of PS1 games 3-D box art RESIZED for BleemSync. Google Drive
EU PlayStation Covers u/JayCosplay (EU) PlayStation Covers (Updated upon Requests) Link Below Google Drive
Japanese 3D Boxart Pack u/PSPUMD2 My updated Japanese NTSC-J 3D Box Arts (resized to 500px max) Google Drive

Video Tutorial by The Games Shed:

Themes

Name Author Link Download
Final Fantasy VII u/landonbarton For simplicity I've compiled both themes I've created for easy download (Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid). Google Drive
Metal Gear Solid u/landonbarton For simplicity I've compiled both themes I've created for easy download (Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid). Google Drive
PS "Classic" u/JGater PS "Classic" Theme Tiny Upload
Black u/RankinX Custom black theme I made, I could share if there is interest Google Drive
Simple Black (Gold Logo) u/Gagianio Simple Black PS Classic Theme (w/Gold Sony Logo for Guides) Google Drive
Simple Black (PS Now Logo) u/Gagianio Simple Black PS Classic Theme Google Drive
Spyro u/wallace73 Spyro theme with sounds. Google Drive
Pepsiman u/rubixcube6 A Pepsiman theme for your PlayStation Classic! Complete with Pepsiman sound effects. Google Drive
Dreamcast (Bleensync) u/rubixcube6 Custom Bleemsync theme with dreamcast menu sounds Google Drive
Christmas u/rubixcube6 Christmas theme download. Includes custom menu sounds! Google Drive
Space Chill u/TumBlark Space Chill Theme Google Drive
Playstation Classic HD theme u/omgmog Playstation Classic HD theme GitHub
Silent Hill u/hansolo16 + 200 GAMES ON PS CLASSIC !!! + Silent Hill Theme DOWNLOAD Uploadfiles

Video Tutorial by Restalgia:

Video Tutorial by The Games Shed:

Serial Port Information and Root Shell