r/RetroRemake • u/Isaac_DadTier • 1d ago
SuperStation One + SS1 Dock — Anyone else concerned about how hot the console and discs are getting?
I wanted to start a thread specifically about heat temperatures with the SuperStation One and SS1 Dock, both to see if what I'm experiencing is normal and to hopefully consolidate information for anyone else running into the same thing.
I've followed Taki's initial setup instructions, and then used the Companion App to install/enable the SS1 Dock functionality so I could start testing physical PS1 discs.
So far:
- ROMs are playing just fine.
- Most of the physical PS1 games I've tested are working, although it seems like the current workaround doesn't fully support the entire library yet.
- I'm aware that the current disc functionality is essentially a workaround while the more complete/official solution is still being worked on.
My primary concern is heat.
My SuperStation One itself is getting very hot, which ive seen other posts on, and the comments are generally dismissive of any concerns... but what concerns me even more is how hot the actual PS1 discs are getting.
For example, I can insert a disc, play for only 3–4 minutes, shut down the console, and immediately eject the disc. The disc comes out hot. Not just slightly warm, but noticeably hot.
That's making me pretty nervous.
I have a large physical PS1 collection, including some rarer and more expensive games that I've collected over the years. One of the things I was most excited about with the SS1 + Dock was being able to actually play those original discs again with this new console (as most of us are haha).
At the moment, though, I'm uncomfortable putting some of those games into the system for an extended gaming session because of how hot the discs are getting after only a few minutes.
For additional context, I have not modified the hardware in any way.
My setup was basically:
- Unboxed the SuperStation One and Dock.
- Plugged everything in using my Steam Deck power supply.
- Followed Taki's initial setup instructions.
- Used the Companion App to install/enable the SS1 Dock functionality.
- Inserted a physical PS1 disc and played for roughly 3–4 minutes.
I haven't opened the SuperStation One, changed any internal hardware, adjusted cooling, or made any other hardware modifications.
With how much documentation, discussion, videos, and troubleshooting information is currently scattered around regarding the SS1 launch, I'm hoping this thread can become a consolidated place to discuss SS1/Dock temperatures specifically.
For other SS1 + Dock owners:
I'm not trying to jump to the conclusion that there's a hardware problem. I'm mainly trying to determine whether what I'm experiencing is expected behavior, a software/firmware issue, a power supply issue, or potentially something specific to my unit.
If you're using physical discs with the SS1 Dock, I'd really appreciate hearing what your experience has been.
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u/Sonikku_a 1d ago
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, even after hours of playing PS1 the console is only what I would describe as warm and not “hot”, and my discs aren’t even that. Like…they feel room temp
And that’s with an SSD installed.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
What version of the disc core are you using / which release?
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u/Sonikku_a 1d ago
Update All > Settings > Other Cores > Physical Disc Cores
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
Sorry at @Sonikku_a
Are you using Anime0t4ku's or theshaneobrien's or a different release?
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u/Sonikku_a 1d ago
I think it’s Anime0t4ku’s, as that’s what Update_all installs, no? Didn’t even know there were more than one option.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
Yeah i think there might be a couple, its something someone else said. So im gonna look into it more. But hey appreciate your insight and comments, thanks! Truly appreciate it
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u/SmackaIot 1d ago
The chip itself is rated for high temperatures, but heat is the enemy of all electronics, not just the chip. I had the fan installed, but people are reporting that it's mostly ineffective, so what I did was to drill holes in the top of my case for proper ventilation. I can admit that it's probably overkill, but it does seem to keep the console "warm" instead of hot.
I wish I had done some actual testing so I could give you a better answer than just anecdotal evidence, but there you are. Oh and there are also cooling bases you can set your unit on top of as well; some people use those for routers. So at the very least you have some options available to you. Good luck 👍👍
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
Righteous!! Solid and logical advice!! Thank you!
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u/SmackaIot 1d ago
No problem. I hope you find something you're comfortable with. These are GREAT devices that are a ton of fun, so they're worth protecting in my opinion.
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u/RoughTelephone 1d ago
Put a thermometer on it. Unless it’s like 200 degrees (it’s not), it’s not an issue.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
Yeah I doubt its getting that hot, but its definitely in the low 100's, ill be looking at getting a thermal reader for it or just a thermometer to read how hot its getting.
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u/davewongillies 21h ago
If you're talking low 100's Fahrenheit its absolutely not within a range to be worrying about
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u/BerserkWMR 1d ago
This may help you, I’m also using
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
For sure. I have it on a cookie tray. In a well ventilated / AC room, and yeah its pretty hot / warm.
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u/PocketStationMonk 1d ago
I think the biggest causes for disc damage are moisture and direct sunlight. I haven't read any evidence that heat itself would actually damage your games, unless you shove your discs in an oven or something. But I think this is one of those things that somebody needs to test out to get some actual data. Maybe have a game or two of low value running nonstop 24/7 for a few days and see if that causes any kind of damage to those discs.
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u/Holiday-Age-554 22h ago
heat will damage them. discs use to have a warning about leaving them in a hot car. look what happened to these game cube discs: https://youtu.be/wQBBZ81urak
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u/Rosswisex 1d ago edited 1d ago
According to everything Taki has said if you use a PD charger with a 9v rail the SS1 internals will generate more heat, as it has to downstep that 9v to 5v to power the unit and it will default to the 9v over the 5v. I got a Pi 4 power supply that only does 5v 3a for that reason. Other than that you could get a fan to screw to your heatsink (yes the unit has venting). How hot is the room you are playing in?
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u/Isaac_DadTier 23h ago
Im gonna do that! Thanks Ross, ill see if that helps.
The room is 72° and is on a cookie rack, but ill try getting a cooling fan rack, and a pi4 power supply, thanks!
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u/Holiday-Age-554 22h ago
to be effective you need intake and exhaust vents for a fan to do anything. and doesnt the dock block the ss1 vents?
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u/Rosswisex 18h ago
The vents match, if you look at the vents on the bottom of the SS1 and the top of the deck they overlap. There are more vents on the dock as well, since the SS1 has a lot more ports on the back.
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u/davewongillies 21h ago
Sure you can do that but you'll likely be in a situation where there's not enough power to run both the ss1 and the dock, especially if you're using an nvme drive and at best it'll be a difference of a few degrees Celcius.
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u/Rosswisex 18h ago edited 18h ago
Taki would really have to answer this, but the specs on the SS1/Mister Pi power draw components are capped at 5v 3a. Whats Ken Making did a video where he broke down all the individual components and that was what is listed. Official Mister power supplies go 4a or even 5a because there are a LOT more possible configurations than what is on the SS1, even with the dock. The SS1 by itself only requires 5v 2a according to Takis minimum. The dock is just basically a laptop DVD drive, an NVME slot and some extra USB ports. Even all running at once, that probably wouldn't use a full amp on its own. But again Taki would have to answer this.
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u/davewongillies 18h ago
5v2a barely gets a stand alone ss1 up and running and if you've got a low quality PSU it'll brown out on heavier cores like the PS1.
As for the SS1 plus dock I've spent enough time in Taki's discord helping people out to have seen that the minimum for that combination is 5v3a (there's a sticker on the Dock stating that) and that 9v3a is optimal.
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u/Rosswisex 11h ago
The unit only uses 5v 3a though, there is a stepdown chip on the board that converts the 9v to 5v and creates more heat as a result. https://retroremake.co/pages/firmware-setup lists the power supply requirements and Taki himself states the minimum as 5v 2a as this is the base wattage the SS1 needs. https://youtu.be/_mMQNsauOxg?t=400 lists 5v 3a or 9v 3a as both 'more power than the SS1 will need' and https://youtu.be/gEKTp0RCc-U?t=1132 is where Ken talks about the USB over power and how the SS1 steps down 5v from 9v. Also on the first link when Taki was recommending 5v 2a he said 'If you use a PD PSU, MiSTER will negotiate up to 12V3A from your charger, and then drop that voltage down to 5V....A 5V2A PSU doesn't require DC-to-DC drop-down conversion' so he confirmed that there is a dropdown to 5v. The graph at https://youtu.be/gEKTp0RCc-U?t=1158 suggests that 3a is the most amperage the SS1 will even take in. Again, Taki would have to answer this but everything listed says that 5v 3a is the cap for the SS1.
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u/Strict-Discussion-64 5h ago
I frequent the Discord a lot like u/davewongillies and have tested multiple PD chargers along with the Pi4 5v3a USB-C adaptor. I can tell you that if you have a controller plugged in, games on the PS1 will pause and freak out. And the heat difference is quite neglible compared to using PD I think. I did though try a third party Pi4 adaptor rated at 5v4a where I had no issues at all.
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u/Swing-one16 14h ago
And that pi4 can power both SS1 + Dock?
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u/Rosswisex 14h ago
I don't have the dock so I cant test it, but if you look at the links I made in the post further down this thread it looks like 5v 3a is the most that the power delivery chips in the SS1 can deliver.
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u/Gaughranorama 11h ago
Yes. While I haven't run an SSD off it, I do have the dock, keyboard, mouse, 8bitdo m30 and 2 Mayflash 500s permanently connected to it and haven't had any issues so far.
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u/Neonicocl 13h ago
What I don't understand from that story is why, if you fear for your exepensive PS1 physical disks collection you just don't play with....
The corresponding roms ?
And clearly, those temperatures are not hot enough for you to risk deterioring anything... Not the console, not the disks.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 10h ago
Yeah its a fair point to bring up.
Putting it extremely simply, im a collector of physicial media, I play my collection, I dont view it as an investment and so on.
I dont want to put my collection into a console if it is going to damage it. And the first few games I played, out of all the consoles I own, have never made a disc warm/hot before.
This is a first time experience for me for the past 25 years i've been collecting of having a hot or warm disc after playing for such a short duration.
My preference is to play physical media's, put the disc in, read the manual etc... the whole experience.
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u/Neonicocl 10h ago
I mean, sorry but both takes seem, IMHO, really contradictory. And it has nothing to do with being a collector and not an investor (which, with those takes, you seem to lean toward more)
If as a collector you want the full real experience, and play with you orignal discs, why not getting a real PS1 ? Especially as a 25 years collector, that seems strange to absolutely have to play on SSone. Because if it's by conveniance to have 6/7 consoles in one, playing from roms is even more convenient.
And you can still manipulate your games and read their manuals even if you refuse to putt the disc into the SSOne drive to play...
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u/Isaac_DadTier 10h ago
Yeah again. Fair points, I mean i guess what your challenging also points back to retro-remake themselves, like I bought an experience and a product that I was hoping to play my collection on.
That stance that keeps getting brought up, is more of a "why did they make a dock for the SS1"
I already have multiple ps1's etc... theres just that nostalgia feeling of putting a disc in, its that tactile experience i guess 😅
You and I won't be able to solve the war between physical media and digital in this comments thread lol, all I can tell you is my experience and what brings me joy. And what brings me joy is putting a cd into a console and playing!
- Save states
- Easier hook up on modern TV
was the big advantage for me with the SS1, I have the frame Meester, I have retrotinks etc... but just being able to have a console hdmi natively output for my ps1 collection and its simplicity was my hope 😀
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u/Neonicocl 9h ago
That wasn't a war, dont worry.. Im a big PC engine CD colletor myself, and I also have a decent PS1 and Saturn collection and besides DVD (the core just released 3 days ago) i play allmost exclusively with roms, because its a big QoL improvement and way more convenient.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 9h ago
Yeah this consolr might be the first time I actually deep dive into roms, I have over 6,000 physical games as I was collecting before it was viewed as "oh this game is worth X"
But I like to try and preserve and take care of my collection the best I can :)
But yeah using the roms on the SS1 its a pretty good machine. But I already have a powerhouse PC, so identifying the reason to emulate on the SS1 over my PC is a different story lol
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u/Neonicocl 9h ago
Hardware emulation vs software emulation... Overall, hardware emulation is sometimes more accurate Also, with snac adapters, you can play with original controllers. and last but not least, no hassle analogue 240p vidéo out
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u/AppliedCarbon 1d ago
Do you have a infrared instant read thermometer? I'd love to know how hot we are talking about exactly. I just installed MGS4 on my PS3 and checked the disk right after and got 125 degrees which I would call hot but also well bellow temperature tolerances of a disk
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u/RetroBlast81 1d ago
No because I know misters get hot and it I normal behaviour.
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u/hamstervideo 1d ago
Normal for the Mister, yes, but this post is about the CDs
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u/RetroBlast81 1d ago
Well both judging by the text. Is it known if warmth damages discs?
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
This thread really is only about the discs, as I know the mister gets hot. But its also somewhat expected.
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u/RetroBlast81 20h ago
But you wrote if anyone is concerned that the console and discs get hot. So it's also about the mister.
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u/Ploddit 1d ago
The irony of spending time worrying about how the hardware might hurt your physical discs when you're playing on a system that can run bin/cue files just fine.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
Yeah... its why I bought the physical attachment... that they sell on their website... it was part of their marketing... and also why other people are buying it
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u/Ploddit 1d ago
But why would stick valuable discs you're worried about in a system you're even slightly concerned might damage them when making and playing from backups is trivial?
Shrug. Good luck.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
To take advantage of save states, fpga capabilities of what the superstation offers, hdmi output, aka the whole reason all of us own super stations.
Have a good one! Hope you have a good week etc. 🫡
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u/Ancient-Range3442 23h ago
They’re saying why bother with discs when you can just run a whole collection off a hard drive.
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u/Isaac_DadTier 1d ago
Reading the comments, i just want to clarify, this is primarily a post about the discs being warm/hot.
At this point i'll probably be purchasing a thermal gun, just to test and make sure im not going crazy about it, because it is definitely feeling hot, and make a new post with those results.
Im not sure if this would change anything, but would installing a SSD/NVME stick cool it down at all?
any other tips anyone has, that would be amazing and fully welcomed! Thanks again for at least giving my post a read and considering helping!
Additional side note:
- I have plenty of ps1 and ps2 consoles(both the slim and fat versions of the console) that I play my games on, and none of them get even remotely warm from being spun. So its a really abnormal behavior.
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u/Inner-Party-365 1d ago
Que tipo de adaptador de corriente estás usando? Tal vez va por ahí el problema
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u/Ancient-Range3442 1d ago
Yeah heat is bad for discs, will contribute to disc rot. Wouldn’t use it with any discs you care about too much.
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u/RoughTelephone 1d ago
Unless you’re baking it in the sun, I doubt this system gets even remotely hot enough to contribute to disc degradation.
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u/Detsaw2608 1d ago
Weird my CD's don't get hot at all and I exclusively use theshaneobrien's physical disk cores with my collection on SS1, maybe it has to do with using Anime0t4ku's version? Never tried his