PS2 Mod Disaster

[gar3]

Hi there - My buddy and I have opened and modified many a console before but nothing could prepare us for the disaster that was (is) the internals of a Sony PlayStation2. Needless to say my Japanese version 9 motherboard is now toast. Meh, what can ya do? We had to have screwed up sooner or later.

Anywho, I know this is a long shot, but would this board (if functioning upon arrival :rolleyes:) work in my PS2:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PS2-GH-023-Version-9-M...1QQcmdZViewItem

NTSC is fine and all but what about the BIOS or even power? Sorry to sound so silly here but trying to find a Japanese v9 motherboard isn't exactly easy. I would assume this board would either not work or turn my former JPN console into a US one. Again, sorry to sound so dumb but I've never screwed up a motherboard before.

[atom]

Well of course if its a USA mobo, it will make it a USA console, but im not too sure what your asking. Are you asking if any of us know if its an American mobo? You could always mod chip it, bios swap would be possible but tedious beyond plausibility...

[gar3]

Thanks, atom.

Nope, I just wanted confirmation that a US motherboard would indeed turn my former JPN PS2 into a US PS2. I don't think I will be attempting another PS2 mod any time soon, heh, heh.

[phreak97]

can you post pics of the motherboard? some people decide things are dead before they really are, i cant really think of alot of things you might have done to kill it unless you wired 5v somewhere bad.. stuffed traces can be repaired for the most part, and you get one shot at repairing each broken pin.
so your ps2 may not be dead..  

[gar3]

Yeah, you are probably correct, phreak97. I really do not think either myself or my friend screwed up the mod. I am guessing it's either:

-Dead LA-6508 IC
-Damaged or misaligned ribbon cable

I couldn't believe the four ribbon cables when I saw where and how I was suppose to reattach 'em while putting the PS2 back together. I'm certainly going to check everything out again before I really start going crazy but, alas, with family responsibilities on both ends, I don't know when I'll be able to hook back up with my bud. I have the PS2 but he has all the tools/instruments. Sigh.

[hellbound]

Try this site

http://www.llama.com

look for the ps2 page

[gar3]

Finally had some time this afternoon to take everything apart and get a good look around. I still do not believe my friend or I screwed up the mod job. Everything looked good, tight and clean. Now here's some additional information that might help shed some light on the situation:

-The unit powers up and down and the fan runs.
-No audio/video signal at all.
-When the disc tray closes, the DVD-ROM makes a couple clicking noises and, if a disc happens to be present, the PS2 will try to spin it near the end but cuts out after about two seconds.

Any ideas? I know, I know . . . could be anything you idiot Seriously though, if anyone has any additional thoughts I'm all ears. And if I still can't get the thing running, anyone here wanna take a look at it  

[Yod@]

What modchip did you use? Is it still installed? I know some modchips can be very fussy about the length of the wires used - keep them as short as possible.

If you're still stuck, try removing all the wires and make sure there aren't any shorts. The black screen usually indicates a problem (shorts/crossed wires etc) around the BIOS connections, or else a blown fuse. There'll be some surface-mount fuses around - depending on which board you have you may find both the normal white coloured ones as well as the flatter green ones - check them all.

[gar3]

I bought the Magic V PLUS 50k for V9 mod chip from:
http://www.mod-chip.com/index-cart-us.php?...ct_ps2_main.htm

Apparently the thing's even cheaper now :lol:

Anywho, thanks for the advice, Yod@ I'll give the area around the BIOS another good look as well as the fuses. I'm so silly though. I should have just kept this JPN PS2 a JPN PS2 and left it alone. Meh, I'm a sucker for punishment.

[phreak97]

yeah, i'm now wishing i left my japanese v6 a japanese v6, but i did use it modded for quite a while, and the laser is showing it strongly:(

but anyway, i modded the thing myself, and i managed to bridge bios bits apparently, i didnt fix it myself cos i fried the psu with 240v after i modded it, several hours of soldering to tiny places can mess with your head i guess.. anyway, before the 240v, it was turning on and giving a black screen, pretty similarly to yours, and it was most definately bridged connections around the bios. i would imagine putting wires in the wrong places there could do the same thing. before you get a new motherboard, try removing the mod, see if it works, if it does, you can choose if you want to remod it, or just leave it.

edit: a note to keep myself some credit: since then, i have successfully completed a certificate in advanced soldering:)

[gar3]

I took the PlaySta apart and poked around again but found no problems. I certainly wouldn't consider myself a Pro or anything so I just sent off an e-mail to my buddy to ask when I could come over to his house and remove the mod chip altogether. Hopefully, once out, the system will work like it did before I attempted the modification. And it'll be just in time too since my daughter's Japanese language region 2 instructional DVDs are coming, once a month. I own a Panasonic Q and a white PStwo but, well, wear is wear, ya know what I mean :lol:

[Darklegion]

Check all of the fuses, this is the most likely cause of your problems.If any are bad replace them, preferably not with stock sony fuses as they are very sensitive.Not using fast-acting fuses is probably a good idea too.If all the fuses are good, check for shorts on any of the bios points as this will cause a black screen.Check pin 17 of  the LA6508 chip and if it is shorted to ground the LA chip is gone, although I believe if the tray and eject light work, then this is not your problem.

BTW a quick way of checking possible modchip problems, outside of installation, is to remove the ground and power wires.