Task
26th December 2007, 05:52 PM
So in the realm of good news, I got lots of PSP game for Xmas! Silent Hill 0, Field Commander, and Capcom Puzzle Collection (mostly for Super! Puzzle Fighter! 2! Turbo!). So this pretty quickly lead to me removing WOPure from the UMD slot, for the first time in... well, a while!
It looks like turn-based strategy wargaming might be the only force strong enough to pry WO out of the PSP for any length of time.
As soon as I got into it though, I was having serious issues with up/down control. I eventually figured out that the d-pad was stuck in the up/down direction so that down was somehow being pressed even when I wasn't touching it. This made my new game nearly unplayable. Bad thing! 8 (
So this morning, it was obviously time to stop putting off the "open my PSP and clean it" and get down to it.
So the first step was to gather intelligence. The field of operations was to be just underneath the PSP faceplate, a bit of looking around gave me a guide for replacing the faceplate that told me exactly which 5 screws to take out (and importantly to leave the rest alone!). Having gathered necessary information on the field of battle, it was time to collect my instruments of combat: Small screwdrivers, microfibre cleaning cloth, kleenex, q-tips, and cleaning solution.
Finally prepared, I washed up and got ready to void my warranty*. I think I actually washed up 4 or 5 times in total, I didn't want any chance of smudging the internals and failing or having to repeat the mission.
Taking out the 5 screws gave me a look at the internals of my machine. I removed the faceplate, seperated all the little pieces in it, and started cleaning the faceplate. A first go-over with the q-tip with a tiny bit of the cleaner (very weak stuff, all natural and close to water, perfect for this application) picked up most of the filth in there. Then a go-over with the kleenex. Then a total polish with the microfibre cloth. Then I hid the faceplate under another kleenex so that dust would not gather!
The removed pieces (rubber pads, buttons, d-pad) were filthy and required scrubbing with a cleanser-wet q-tip, but eventually they were back to being something I wouldn't mind touching. Then they got re-installed into the faceplate.
I then repeated the same procedure for the now visible electronics, being careful to use no cleaning solution whatsoever on anything that would touch components. The screen itself was very finicky, I had to clean it at least 5 times before I was happy with it, little bits of dust would keep settling on it. The microfibre cloth was the clear victor of this engagement.
Eventually though I was happy with it, and I uncovered the faceplate and quickly slapped the two together before the enemy (dust, grit, etc) could re-invade the sacred ground.
Then came the moment of truth. Put the screws back in (only 1 of which required a special location, the rest are generic, nice design), put the battery back in, put the memory card back in, put the game back in, and fire it up.
Results: Enemy defeated! The d-pad was back to perfect working order! And there was much rejoicing!
Combat Log: At no point did I ever spot the bulk of the enemy forces. I never saw any particular strand of hair or large clump-o-crud that was causing my issue. A general go-in-and-clean-it-out mission took care of all the issues. So it didn't take much to cause the problem! And it equally didn't take much to fix it. I'm very happy with this electronics package if this remains true.
Debreifing: Overall, I'd give this mission a 3/10 difficulty rating. All of the difficulty was in setup, very little difficulty in mission execution. Proper prior planning prevents problems. Like usual.
* Since my PSP is used and well over 3 months old, I don't have a warranty, so no actual warranty was harmed in the opening of this PSP. If you actually _have_ a warranty, don't do this!
It looks like turn-based strategy wargaming might be the only force strong enough to pry WO out of the PSP for any length of time.
As soon as I got into it though, I was having serious issues with up/down control. I eventually figured out that the d-pad was stuck in the up/down direction so that down was somehow being pressed even when I wasn't touching it. This made my new game nearly unplayable. Bad thing! 8 (
So this morning, it was obviously time to stop putting off the "open my PSP and clean it" and get down to it.
So the first step was to gather intelligence. The field of operations was to be just underneath the PSP faceplate, a bit of looking around gave me a guide for replacing the faceplate that told me exactly which 5 screws to take out (and importantly to leave the rest alone!). Having gathered necessary information on the field of battle, it was time to collect my instruments of combat: Small screwdrivers, microfibre cleaning cloth, kleenex, q-tips, and cleaning solution.
Finally prepared, I washed up and got ready to void my warranty*. I think I actually washed up 4 or 5 times in total, I didn't want any chance of smudging the internals and failing or having to repeat the mission.
Taking out the 5 screws gave me a look at the internals of my machine. I removed the faceplate, seperated all the little pieces in it, and started cleaning the faceplate. A first go-over with the q-tip with a tiny bit of the cleaner (very weak stuff, all natural and close to water, perfect for this application) picked up most of the filth in there. Then a go-over with the kleenex. Then a total polish with the microfibre cloth. Then I hid the faceplate under another kleenex so that dust would not gather!
The removed pieces (rubber pads, buttons, d-pad) were filthy and required scrubbing with a cleanser-wet q-tip, but eventually they were back to being something I wouldn't mind touching. Then they got re-installed into the faceplate.
I then repeated the same procedure for the now visible electronics, being careful to use no cleaning solution whatsoever on anything that would touch components. The screen itself was very finicky, I had to clean it at least 5 times before I was happy with it, little bits of dust would keep settling on it. The microfibre cloth was the clear victor of this engagement.
Eventually though I was happy with it, and I uncovered the faceplate and quickly slapped the two together before the enemy (dust, grit, etc) could re-invade the sacred ground.
Then came the moment of truth. Put the screws back in (only 1 of which required a special location, the rest are generic, nice design), put the battery back in, put the memory card back in, put the game back in, and fire it up.
Results: Enemy defeated! The d-pad was back to perfect working order! And there was much rejoicing!
Combat Log: At no point did I ever spot the bulk of the enemy forces. I never saw any particular strand of hair or large clump-o-crud that was causing my issue. A general go-in-and-clean-it-out mission took care of all the issues. So it didn't take much to cause the problem! And it equally didn't take much to fix it. I'm very happy with this electronics package if this remains true.
Debreifing: Overall, I'd give this mission a 3/10 difficulty rating. All of the difficulty was in setup, very little difficulty in mission execution. Proper prior planning prevents problems. Like usual.
* Since my PSP is used and well over 3 months old, I don't have a warranty, so no actual warranty was harmed in the opening of this PSP. If you actually _have_ a warranty, don't do this!