"Swap Method"

Notice:  This FAQ was not written by me.  "Sailor Moon" from the PSX Copy Discussion Forum was kind enough to give this FAQ to me to use on this site.  Please contact him at  gtaiwo@cctrap.com for any updates or questions you might have concerning the contents of this FAQ.

Click here for a quick jump to the "alternate" swap method.

3) You will see the music tracks load onto the screen. You really should get an AMERICAN game with at least 37 tracks.

If you don't......this trick *MIGHT* not work. If you can NOT find a game with at least 37 tracks on it, then just try to get one of the three following ORIGINAL AMERICAN games.

-  Street Fighter Alpha 2
-  Tekken 3
-  Tobal No.1

4) After the tracks load, the CD will stop spinning. Take out the AMERICAN game, put in the Japanese game (or burned game).

5) Exit the CD-Audio screen.

6) Wait for 30 seconds............then.......have fun with you game.
 
 

Einhander and Bust-A-Move(Dance) are normal swaps.
 

•  ........most games are the normal swap type.
• Variant swaps are important to MEMORIZE.
• Tenchu is a variant swap.
• Street Fighter EX plus alpha (Japanese) is a variant swap.

NOTE: There are some games that *SEEM* to swap ONLY with an original copy of itself.  (Need original copy of Tenchu to swap with copy of Tenchu).  But, this is *NOT NOT NOT* true. If you run into a copy of a game that needs an original copy of itself to run, e-mail me again about the game at [gtaiwo@cctrap.com].   I have a separate FAQ dealing with that particular problem.
 

• The PlayStation has 3-speeds: 1x, 2x, and 3x.  (1x the slowest) (3x the fastest)

• The PlayStation has three special "speed change sounds" "sound#1, sound#2, and sound#3"

 <<<*QUICKLY*>>> take out the CD when it's time. Don't just hold on to the CD until your PlayStation start to smoke & catch on fire! :)

• *Practice pulling off a CD while it's spinning in the CD-Audio mode*

   
  *The CD spins the slowest there, so if you mess up....your PlayStation  *won't break*.....[read here about damage avoidance]

•  *If you don't get a good grip on the CD when you want to pull it out, let go immediately and start over.

 The PlayStation has an "auto-search" feature. Once you pull a CD off......
 
 1)  The motor stops & the lens pulls back into the PlayStation.

 2)  Then lens then comes back out & the motor spins briefly.

 3)  The motor stops & the lens pulls back into the PlayStation.

 4)  The lens comes back out & the motor spins one last time.

 5)  Motor stops, lens pulls back in.

 6)  The housing for the lens goes back to neutral (sits next to the motor) and the PlayStation "gives up".

 *When you swap U.S./Japanese games, you should wait for step 1 or 3 to put a game back onto the motor. DO NOT wait for step 5; the motor will not spin again. At that step, the PlayStation will have already "given up".
 
 

Press the circle-button labeled "OPEN" on your PSX. The door with the PlayStation logo will rise up to reveal the:

a)  Motor
b)  Lens
c)  Lid-Sensor

 A)Motor: The motor is the circular object, usually with three silver prods, in the center of the playstation. This spins the CD. Well, actually, that is not really the real motor. You can't see the motor, but trust me; it's right under the spinning thing in the center. :)

 B)Lens: If you can read this FAQ, then you should have noticed the warning that says "NEVER TOUCH THE LENS" near the front of the playstation, under the round lid. This warning is very important; you should NEVER touch the lens. The lens is the pretty, deep-blue thing that is just to the right of the motor. (on older PlayStation, it's to the <<LEFT>>).

And finally, most important to this FAQ.......
 C)Lid-Sensor: Now pay attention, this is important.

  The lid-Sensor is the round-button at the <<<UPPER-RIGHT-HAND CORNER>>> of the PlayStation; <<<UNDERNEATH>>> the door. Now, you should take notice that the <<<UNDER-SIDE>>> of the door has a piece of plastic pointing down <<<DIRECTLY>>> above the button. Using logical thinking.....take time to open & close the door a couple of times. Notice, that when the door is <<<CLOSED>>>, the piece of plastic pushes that button <<DOWN>>. When the door is <<<OPEN>>>, the button rises back up. This is how the playstation knows if the door is open or closed.

So, if you were to put scotch-tape on that button to hold it <<<DOWN>>>, then the PlayStation will think the door is closed ALL THE TIME. That will mean, that you can watch your CD speed up and slow down as you play the game. (Leaving the door open while playing a game is *NOT* recommended)

However, you are *NOT NOT NOT* stressing any gears in the PSX. In fact, the PSX runs on an electrical-magnet drive. So, don't worry too much about stopping it with your hand.

But still, that does *NOT* mean your PSX is UN-breakable. Just use common sense while swapping and follow the instructions in this FAQ.  If you do, your PSX will not break. But, like I said, if you continuously do the swap WRONG, OVER & OVER AGAIN......I don't know what'll happen to your PSX.

Also, avoid touching the lens by accident. I've done it *MANY MANY MANY MANY* times on my PSX, and my PSX still works like brand new.

{My PSX is SCPH-5501}

Be advised, that the usage of the techniques described in this FAQ *MUST* be accompanied by "common-sense". References to the word "quick(ly)" is not to be taken to its extreme definition. It is strictly used as a vague 'timing' word, that is, to allow the reader of this FAQ to understand that the PSX is looking for info and you need to break/fix the "chain of data" relatively "fast", if you don't want the PSX to know what you're doing.

You should not go so fast as to cause damage to your CDs. Nor should you be stopping the motor for extended periods of time. Unless the user of this FAQ is negligent, NO damage to the PSX or CDs will occur. If you find that you are having a hard time understanding this disclaimer, or the contents of this FAQ, then refrain from using the techniques disclosed in this document.

                                  -SailorMoon- [gtaiwo@cctrap.com]
 

*Variant Swap* ------ Tobal 2 (Japanese)
 
             -Will never be released in U.S.-
             Which is a shame, because this is the best fighting game on the planet.

1) Turn playstation off.

2) Scotch tape the lid-sensor (button on upper-right hand corner, under door of PlayStation) down, so the PSX thinks the door is close....thus loads the game.

2) Put in *ANY* American game.

3) Turn on playstation.

4) PlayStation will begin to spin at 2x, then white Sony screen appears.

5) After about 7 seconds, you will see it speed up to 3x. ***sound#1*** When you see this happen, take out AMERICAN game... ...then put in Tobal 2.

6) If you did this right, the black playstation screen will show up in a couple of seconds.

7) Once the black PlayStation screen shows up, you will see it slow down to 2x ***sound#3***. After about 1 second, it will speed up again ***sound#1***.

8) After 3 seconds, it will slow down to 2x again ***sound#2***

9) It will stay at 2x for about 6 seconds,.....

  [ during these 6 seconds, you will hear sound#2, but there will <<<NOT>>> be a speed-change ]
 
   ......then it will slow to 1x ***sound#3***. Take out Tobal 2, then put in AMERICAN game.
 
 
10) Wait for about 5 seconds, black playstation screen will go away.

11) Now the screen will be completely blank, take out AMERICAN game...then put in Tobal 2.

12) If all this is done correctly....Tobal 2 will work!!!!
 

Note about Tobal2: Some people may notice A LOT of music-skipping & slow-down while playing Tobal2. To fix this, you should try using a different AMERICAN game to swap with. Demo-discs seem to be the best. If this fails, try the swapping more PRECISELY again. If it still skips, try a MOD-PSX. If it skips on a MOD-PSX, then you just have a bad/scratched copy.......and there's nothing you can do about that.  Tobal2 is a HARD game to copy. Audio almost always gets messed up.
 
 

• *Practice makes perfect* You will see that the sounds match.  The way I numbered the sounds will be the "way" you hear them.

• During the entire swap trick, the PlayStation only makes 3 different sounds.  It helps if it is QUIET when you are learning the trick.

• The difference between the Normal method and the "crazy" method is:

  *In the normal method, you *ALWAYS* wait till you seen the screen go COMPLETELY blank...before you put in the Japanese game for the last time.

  *In the crazy method, you have to put the Japanese game in sometime before  you see the screen go blank, in fact......if you wait for a blank screen  for Tenchu, you will see the playstation logo appear in the lower-right hand  of the screen......once this happens, the PlayStation must be reset and  you must start over.

 If you can learn the three games. [Tobal 2 * Tenchu * SF.EX.Plus Alpha]
 ......you will be able to figure out all other games on your own......
 
 

*Normal Swap*------ Bust-A-Move [Dance & Rhythm Action]
                     (*NOT* puzzle bobble) (Japanese)
                     American name will be Bust-A-GROVE

1) Turn playstation off.

2) Scotch tape the lid-sensor (button on upper-right hand corner, under door of PlayStation) down, so the PSX thinks the door is close....thus loads the game.

2) Put in *ANY* American game.

3) Turn on playstation.

4) PlayStation will begin to spin at 2x, then white Sony screen appears.

5) After about 7 seconds, it will begin to spin 3x ***no sound?***.....  ....take out AMERICAN game, put in Bust-A-Move.

6) If you did this right, the black PlayStation screen will show up in a couple of seconds.

7) When the black playstation screen shows up, Bust-A-Move will slow down to 2x ***sound#3***...then quickly speed back up to 3x..***sound#1***.

8) UNLIKE Tobal 2, Bust-A-Move will <<<NOT>>> slow down for the next 5 seconds.
        *[This is one of the ways swapping differs for each game.]*
 

9) At the end of the 5 seconds, however, it will slow down to 1x. ***sound#3***....take out Bust-A-Move, put in AMERICAN game.
 

[It is important to make this switch when you hear the sound, <<<NOT>>> wait until you see it slow down. The sound comes JUST BEFORE you see it slow down.] *Another little difference*
 
****In fact, you should try to use the sounds for switching time, rather than sight. It takes a lot of practice before you can do it in a noisy place (like Babbages').****

10) Now, just like Tobal 2, wait for the screen to go COMPLETELY blank in about 3 seconds.

11) When you *SEE* the screen go COMPLETELY blank, take out AMERICAN game... ...then put in Bust-A-Move.

12) If you do all of this right......Bust-A-Move will work!!!!!
 

*Variant Swap*--------Tenchu (Japanese)
 

1) Turn playstation off.

2) Scotch tape the lid-sensor (button on upper-right hand corner, under door
   of PlayStation) down, so the PSX thinks the door is close....thus loads
   the game.

2) Put in *ANY* American game.

3) Turn on playstation.

4) PlayStation will begin to spin at 2x, then white Sony screen appears.

5) After about 7 seconds, it will spin at 3x ***Sound#1***. Take out
   AMERICAN game, then put in Tenchu.

6) If you do this right, the black PlayStation screen will show up in
   a couple of seconds.

7) When the black PlayStation screen shows up, Tenchu will slow down to
   2x ***sound#3***, then speed back up to 3x ***sound#1***.

8) After about 5 seconds, Tenchu will slow down to 1x ***sound#3***. Take
   out Tenchu, put in AMERICAN game.

             [*-*-*-Now here comes the strange part-*-*-*]

9) Now.....this takes a keen eye & sharp reflexes. The AMERICAN game will
   slowly gain speed up to 2x with almost no sound.

10) When you see this, <<<DO NOTHING!>>>. Instead "pretend" that you didn't
    see it, then take out the AMERICAN game & put in Tenchu a moment later.

   *(like a 1.5 seconds delay)*
 
 [If you do this too EARLY, the black PlayStation screen will *NOT* go away]

 [If you do this too LATE, the logo will move to the lower-right hand of the
  screen and a blue box will appear. This means you'll have to start over]

11) If you do this right, the screen will go COMPLETELY blank......7 seconds
    afterwards, you will see Tenchu start up.

***This, takes practice***
 
 

*Variant swap*-------- Street Fighter EX plus alpha (Japanese)
 

1) Turn playstation off.

2) Scotch tape the lid-sensor (button on upper-right hand corner, under door of PlayStation) down, so the PSX thinks the door is close....thus loads the game.

2) Put in *ANY* ordinary, American game.

3) Turn on playstation.

4) PlayStation will begin to spin at 2x, then white Sony screen appears.

5) After about 7 seconds, it will speed up to 3x ***sound#1***. Take out the AMERICAN game, then put in SF-EX-plus-alpha.

6) If you do this right, you will see the black playstation screen in a couple of seconds.

7) When the black playstation screen shows up, SF-EX-plus alpha will slow down to 2x ***sound#3***, then speed back up to 3x ***sound#1***.

8) After about 2 seconds, it will slow down to 1x ***LOUD sound#2***.

9) After about 3 seconds, it will speed back up to 3x ***LOUD sound#2***.

10) After about 4 seconds, it will slow down to 1x again ***sound#3***.  When you see this, take out SF-EX-plus-alpha ....then put in AMERICAN game.

               --   [-*- Here comes the variant part -*-]  --

11) The AMERICAN game will <<<QUICKLY>>> begin to speed up. When you see this happen, QUICKLY take out AMERICAN game.....then put in SF-EX-plus-alpha.

12) If you did this right, the game will start up in about 5 seconds.
 

***This is hard.....but....If you can do all the switches listed.....you will be able to do any game. Generally, these are the only four switches that will ever happen on any PlayStation. There might be games in the future that speed up & slow down differently, but if you can do these four games... then you will be able to figure out any other game (Just like I do).

*Variant swap* ------ Rival Schools Evolution CD (Japanese)

1) Turn playstation off.

2) Scotch tape the lid-sensor (button on upper-right hand corner, under door of PlayStation) down, so the PSX thinks the door is close....thus loads the game.

2) Put in *ANY* American game.

3) Turn on playstation.

4) PlayStation will begin to spin at 2x, then white Sony screen appears.

5) After about 7 seconds, PlayStation will speed up to 3x *** sound#1 ***.  Take out AMERICAN game, put in Rival Schools Evolution.

6) If you do this right, the black playstation screen should show up in a couple of seconds.

7) When the blank playstation screen shows up, Rival Schools Evolution will slow down to 2x***sound#3***...then speed back up to 3x ***sound#1***.

8) After about 3 seconds, Rival Schools Evolution will slow down to 2x ***LOUD sound#2***. Rival Schools Evolution will stay at this speed for about 4 seconds.

9) After 4 seconds, Rival Schools Evolution will slow to 1x ***sound#3***. Take out Rival Schools Evolution, put in AMERICAN game.

                -*- [Here's comes the variant part] -*-

10) Wait for about 10 seconds. Take out AMERICAN game, put in Rival Schools Evolution. Don't worry about waiting too long.....because you can actually wait FOREVER before making this last switch!

    *In Fact* you can wait for as long as you want, provided it's longer than 10 seconds.

11) Do all this right.......Rival Schools Evolution will work!!!
 
 

*Normal swap * ------- FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo (Japanese)

1) Turn playstation off.

2) Scotch tape the lid-sensor (button on upper-right hand corner, under door of PlayStation) down, so the PS thinks the door is close....thus loads the game.

2) Put in *ANY* American game.

3) Turn on playstation.

4) PlayStation will begin to spin at 2x, then white Sony screen appears.

5) After about 7 seconds, the AMERICAN game will speed up to 3x.***sound#1** Take out AMERICAN game, put in FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo. If you do this right, the black PlayStation screen will show up in a couple of seconds.

6) When the black playstation screen shows up, the FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo will slow down to 2x ***sound#3***, then speed back up to 3x. ***sound#1***.   Then the FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo will slow down to 2x***sound#2***.

7) The FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo will stay at 2x for about 5 seconds. After these 5 seconds, the FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo will slow down to 1x***sound#3***. Take out FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo, put in AMERICAN game.

8) If you did this right, the black playstation screen will go away in about 5 seconds. When this happens, the screen will be COMPLETELY blank. When you see the screen go COMPLETELY blank, take out AMERICAN game and put in the FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo.

9) If you did all of this correctly, the FF8/Ehrgeiz-Demo will work!!!
 

*Normal Swap* --------- Brave Fencer Musashiden (Japanese)
 

1) PSX should be OFF.

2) Place Scotch tape on the Lid-Sensor to hold it down.

3) Put in an AMERICAN game, then turn on PSX.

4) AMERICAN game will begin to spin at 2x. After about 7 seconds, AMERICAN game will speed up to 3x **sound#1**. Take out AMERICAN game, put in Brave Fencer Musashiden. Do this right, black PSX screen will show up in a couple of seconds.

5) When the black PSX screen shows up, Brave Fencer Musashiden will slow down to 2x **sound#3**, then speed back up to 3x**sound#1**. It will stay at 3x for about 5 seconds.

6) After the 5 seconds have passed, Brave Fencer Musashiden will slow down to 1x**sound#3**. Take out Brave Fencer Musashiden, put in AMERICAN game.

7) If you did this right, the black PSX screen will go away in 3 seconds.  Once this happens, the screen will be COMPLETELY blank. When you see this, take out AMERICAN game, then put in Brave Fencer Musashiden.

8) If you did all this right, Brave Fencer Musashiden will work!!!
 

*Normal Swap* --------- Einhander (SquareSoft space-shooter) (American)

1) PSX should be OFF.

2) Place Scotch tape on the Lid-Sensor to hold it down.

3) Put in an AMERICAN game, then turn on PSX.

4) AMERICAN game will begin to spin at 2x. After about 7 seconds, AMERICAN game will speed up to 3x **sound#1**. Take out AMERICAN game, put in Einhander. If you did this right, the black PSX screen will show up in a couple of seconds.

5) When the black PSX screen shows up, Einhander will slow down to 2x **sound#3**, then quickly speed back up to 3x **sound#1**.     In about 5 seconds, Einhander will slow down to 1x **sound#3**. Take out Einhander, put in AMERICAN game.

6) If you did this right, the screen will go COMPLETELY blank in 2 seconds. As soon as you see this, take out AMERICAN game & put in Einhander.

7) If this was all done correctly, Einhander will work!!!

   *END FAQ* 

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