CDVD Drive

Overview

The drive is known as MD-block in internal Sony documentation, where MD stands for "Mechanism Deck". For the optical pickup ("Laser"), see Pickups.

Electronics

• DSP
• MechaCon
• Drivers
• RF-Amp

Early consoles (A, A+, AB, B, B', C, C' chassis) have separate boards with some of the disc drive electronics:

• GM-038 (early A-chassis) (SCPH-10000, early SCPH-15000, DTL-T10000)
  
  • Contains RF-amp (Sony CXA2605R)
  • requires heatsinking for RF-amp
• GM-041 (B-chassis, B'-chassis)
  
  • Contains RF-amp (TI SP3727A) and tilt-driver (BA5912AFP)
  • does not require any heatsinking
• GM-042 (late A-chassis, A+ chassis) (late SCPH-15000, GH-003 based SCPH-18000)
  
  • Contains RF-amp (TI SP3727A)
  • does not require any heatsinking, unlike GM-038 used in the same chassis; a hole in the case to place a thermal pad in is still there in these consoles, but the thermal pad has been left out from the factory
• GM-043 (C-chassis, C'-chassis)
  
  • Contains RF-amp (TI SP3727A), spindle driver (BA6664FM) and focus/tracking/sled-motor/tray-motor driver (BA5810FP)
  • requires heatsinking for BA6664FM and BA5810FP
• GM-045 (AB-chassis) (GH-008 based SCPH-18000)
  
  • Contains RF-amp (TI SP3727A)
  • does not require any heatsinking

The PSX also has a dedicated board for drive electronics, which contains all drive components for the PSX/DVR-mode/burning part of the PSX's unique dual-pickup drive. Electronics for the PS2-part of the drive are however on the mainboard (spindle motor control and driving are always handled by the PSX/DVR part of the drive).

• MA-S38 (DESR-x000, DESR-x100)
  • 
• MA-S43 (DESR-x500, DESR-x700)
  • 

Mechanics

Fat drive assemblies

Regulatory labels on the drive enclosure vary between regions

A/A+ chassis drive block

SCPH-10000 japanese launch consoles, SCPH-15000 consoles, some SCPH-18000 consoles, all japan only

• The only drive block to use the KHS-400A pickup, later units use KHS-400B (a picture of a drive inside a SCPH-18000 A+ chassis console using the KHS-400B pickup has been added above)
• Later units have a slightly different drive board which contains a Texas Instruments SP3727A RF-Amp instead of the Sony CXA2605R RF-Amp that was used on early units
• In these pictures, the flat flex cable between the board and the laser unit has been replaced. The only difference to the original cable is the length of the blue flap, which is longer on the original cable on the side connected to the PCB

B/B' chassis drive block

north american early/launch SCPH-30001 consoles, north america only

• Uses a radial tilt control motor only found in this drive block; all other drive blocks have their radial tilt mechanically set at the factory
• Optical pickup is always KHS-400B

C/C' chassis drive block

later north american SCPH-30001 consoles, SCPH-30004 PAL launch consoles, SCPH-300xx consoles in many regions

• Takes away the tilt motor introduced on the B/B' chassis drive block
• Has both driver ICs on the drive board
• Has an aluminium plate mounted as heatsink between the drive board and drive frame which thermally connects to the back of the PCB through a thermal pad, however, the ICs are also directly cooled from the other side through a thermal pad connecting them to the expansion bay frame

AB chassis drive block

some SCPH-18000 consoles, japan-only

• Basically a C/C' chassis drive block with a different drive board that only contains the RF-amp but not the driver ICs, since these are located on the motherboard, and no heatsink. Also some slight mechanical differences in the plastic casing.

D/D' chassis drive block

later SCPH-300xx consoles in any region, early SCPH-300xxR consoles in many regions, SCPH-350xx special editions in some regions

• all drive electronics moved to the motherboard, no dedicated drive board anymore

F/G chassis drive block

late japanese SCPH-30000 consoles, late SCPH-300xxR consoles in many regions, japanese SCPH-37000 special editions, SCPH-390xx consoles in many regions

• Optical pickup changed to KHS-400C or SF-HD7
  • Pictures show the variant that uses the Sony KHS-400C pickup. Variants using the Sanyo SF-HD7 pickup are identical aside of the pickup itself; the pickups are interchangeable (different calibration data for Mechacon required, use LensChanger or PMAP)

H/I chassis drive block

SCPH-500xx consoles in any region, SCPH-550xx special editions in some regions

• Pictures show the variant that uses the Sanyo SF-HD7 pickup. Variants using the Sony KHS-400C pickup are identical aside of the pickup itself; the pickups are interchangeable (different calibration data for Mechacon required, use LensChanger or PMAP)
• Some markings on the mechanism have been made by the owner during alignment; they are not from the factory
• Button assembly now mounted on the drive assembly
• Mechanical changes:
  • Tilt of the two rods that the optical pickup slides on can be adjusted individually
  • Slide arm of the optical pickup now made of a metal spring instead of plastic

J chassis drive block

late SCPH-5xxxx consoles in some regions

• Very different drive:
  • Uses Mitsumi TDP062W drive mechanism based around the Mitsumi PVR-702W pickup

Slim drive assemblies

• Some of the slim drives exist with different cable lengths for different chassis. K-chassis and L-chassis use same cable length between each other, as do P-chassis and R-chassis between each other. M-chassis and N-chassis both use different cable lenghts. This makes a total of 4 slim PS2 drive "types" regarding cable length.

Sony assemblies

The Sony assemblies are identical to and fully compatible with their Mitsumi-counterparts from the same chassis. The only difference is the branding.

• KHM-430AAA
  • K-chassis, L-chassis
  • KHM-430(A) pickup (has only "KHM-430" embossed in it's base)

• KHM-430BAA
  • M-chassis
  • KHM-430B pickup

• KHM-430CAA
  • N-chassis, P-chassis, R-chassis
  • KHM-430C pickup

Mitsumi assemblies

The Mitsumi assemblies are identical to and fully compatible with their Sony-counterparts from the same chassis. The only difference is the branding. Not found in R-chassis consoles.

• TDP082W
  • K-chassis, L-chassis
  • PVR-802W pickup

• TDP182W (with M-chassis compatible cable length)
  • M-chassis
  • PVR-802W pickup

• TDP182W (with N-chassis compatible cable length)
  • N-chassis
  • PVR-802W pickup

• TDP182W (with P-chassis compatible cable length)
  • P-chassis
  • PVR-802W pickup

Sankyo/Philips assemblies

The Sankyo assembly is incompatible with the Sony/Mitsumi assemblies. It requires different top shells for the case and different MechaCon calibration data. Only found in K and L-chassis consoles.
While Sankyo is confirmed as the manufacturer of the whole assembly, the actual laser pickup might be manufacturerd by Philips, as SPU3170 would be consistent with their naming scheme for pickups and Sankyo was never known to produce pickups, since their expertise lies within electromechanical systems.

• SPU3170
  • K-chassis, L-chassis
  • This is likely the name of just the optical pickup, not the whole assembly

PSX drive assemblies

The PS2-part of the drive is based on the H/I chassis (SCPH-50000/55000) PS2 drive, both electrically and mechanically. The whole drive assembly is connected to the motherboard using 3 flat flex cables: One is an IDE connection to the dedicated drive board of the PSX-part, one provides power (5V, 12V, GND) and also connects the PS2-part sled motor to the motherboard (since it is controlled by the motherboard directly), and one connects the KHS-400C PS2-part pickup to the motherboard, since it is also directly controlled by the motherboard. The spindle motor is always controlled by the dedicated PSX-part drive electronics over IDE, even in PS2 mode.

• DESR-x000 and DESR-x100 drive
  • Uses Sony KWS-200A optical pickup (in addition to a KHS-400C)

• DESR-x500 and DESR-x700 drive
  • Uses Sanyo SF-DB11 optical pickup (in addition to a KHS-400C)