The last version of the original PlayStation 1 design was the SCPH-900x. Most of these consoles have PU-23 boards inside. The most notable difference between the 9000 series and earlier consoles is that Sony removed the parallel IO port on the back. They also shrunk down the size of the board significantly.
For more information about MM3 chips click here, for more information about PS1 modchips click here.
PU-23 MM3 modchip installation diagram
Above is the diagram for the PU-23. Pin four is located towards the top left side of the board.
Since the diagram isn’t the clearest I’d like to mention that the second pin connects to the top most pin on the left row of pins on the chip. Pin three connects to the left contact on the middle resistor, and pin six connects to the top contact on the left capacitor.
Installation tips
Here are some tips I have for you when you are soldering your chip into the PU-23.
- You don’t need to connect pins four and two.
- Pin 3, and 6 can be tricky. Don’t push on the components with your soldering iron or they might get knocked off the board. You can use tweezers to carefully solder them back on one side at a time, the orientation doesn’t matter.
- Make sure the wire on pin 3 and 6 don’t come into contact with both sides of the component (this is especially common if you run the wire directly on top of the component).
- Don’t apply too much solder to pin 2 or you’ll bridge the pins on the chip.
- Placing the chip where the pin two circle is, or below it, seems to be the ideal location for placing the chip.
Diagram success rate
Here’s a list of people who have successfully modded their console with this diagram. Leave a comment and I’ll add you to the list.
- William Quade (me) (I’ve used this diagram many times and haven’t had any problems with it)
Example installations
This section has photos of some successful installations which you can use to get a better understanding of how everything is wired and positioned.
Here are some installations I’ve done on some SCPH-9001’s:
This first image shows a cleaner way to install the chip with six wires. I probed the board with a multimeter to find alternate points to solder the wires to that are much closer together. I use the capacitor to the right to get the VCC and GND (pins 1 and 8) connected to the chip with really short wires.
Below are a couple of messier 8 wire installs I did using points on the diagram This installation works, but the wires are much longer than they really need to be.
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9 Comments on "PU-23 MM3 modchip installation diagram"
You can actually directly boot game backup discs on the Dreamcast, no need for a chip.
There are also mods for the Dreamcast that allow you to boot game backups over something like an SD or CF card.
William,
I recently purchased and installed a chip for my 9001. After installation, when I put in a disk it tries to spin for around two seconds and then stops, remaining on the main menu page. It isn’t the drive motor or laser as I have already tried putting in a different optical lens/laser drive assembly. I was curious if you had any ideas as to what could be the issue.
Thanks
It could be that the laser is worn out, or it could be a bad installation (if the wires are too long, or run over noisy components they can pick up noise and make the system have problems booting). Send me a picture of your installation and I’ll let you know if that’s the problem.
Thanks for the prompt reply! So I took out the modchip and it still won’t read audio CD-Rs. I just put a new laser and drive motor assembly because I also thought that could be the problem. The drive spins the disk twice like it is attempting to read it but then gives up. If you have any insight on why the unit won’t read audio CDs even without the chip installed let me know!
Can it still play genuine copies of games? If it can’t play audio CDs then that would mean that the laser is worn, and would be the reason why backups don’t work.
Hi William,
I’m having problems with my instillation. I’ve tried the discs on other systems and they play perfectly and official PS discs play fine after the install. I don’t see anything bridged, Can I send you pics somewhere and maybe you can tell what I have done wrong?
You can send me an email: liam@quade.co