Engineer Creates First Custom Motherboard For 1990s PlayStation Console

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Last week, electronics engineer Lorentio Brodesco announced the completion of a mock-up for nsOne, reportedly the first custom PlayStation 1 motherboard created outside of Sony in the console's 30-year history. The fully functional board accepts original PlayStation 1 chips and fits directly into the original console case, marking a milestone in reverse-engineering for the classic console released in 1994. Brodesco's motherboard isn't an emulator or FPGA-based re-creation -- it's a genuine circuit board designed to work with authentic PlayStation 1 components, including the CPU, GPU, SPU, RAM, oscillators, and voltage regulators. The board represents over a year of reverse-engineering work that began in March 2024 when Brodesco discovered incomplete documentation while repairing a PlayStation 1.

'This isn't an emulator. It's not an FPGA. It's not a modern replica,' Brodesco wrote in a Reddit post about the project. 'It's a real motherboard, compatible with the original PS1 chips.' It's a desirable project for some PS1 enthusiasts because a custom motherboard could allow owners of broken consoles to revive their systems by transplanting original chips from damaged boards onto new, functional ones. With original PS1 motherboards becoming increasingly prone to failure after three decades, replacement boards could extend the lifespan of these classic consoles without resorting to emulation.

The nsOne project -- short for 'Not Sony's One' -- uses a hybrid design based on the PU-23 series motherboards found in SCPH-900X PlayStation models but reintroduces the parallel port that Sony had removed from later revisions. Brodesco upgraded the original two-layer PCB design to a four-layer board while maintaining the same form factor. As Brodesco noted on Kickstarter, his project's goal is to 'create comprehensive documentation, design files, and production-ready blueprints for manufacturing fully functional motherboards.' Beyond repairs, the documentation and design files Brodesco is creating would preserve the PlayStation 1's hardware architecture for future generations: 'It's a tribute to the PS1, to retro hardware, and to the belief that one person really can build the impossible.'

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