Matrix Infinity clone modchip. Can it be flashed?

[Nightman]

Can it be flashed with the newest Infinity firmware? I saw it at www.r o b o t p i g.com I emailed them, but did not get a clear answer, as they did not know.

I don't need the age old lecture how clones are bad, buy the original, etc. This chip is not for me. I have a customer who is wanting to buy it instead of shelling out the extra couple bucks for an official Infinity.

[messiahfan2003]

It cant be flashed because they have added clone protection so it wont work. Sorry to hear about it. Plus some dont work when you change the settings. They are junk anyways. I hope this helps.

[villasg]

My experience say :
NH 9 and MODBO 1.1 CANOT flashed and DONT save any changes you have make in
Infinity option configuration menu :
------------------------------------

Press TRIANGLE + CIRCLE to enter the configuration menu.
---------------------------------------------
Just clone stop to work

[messiahfan2003]

I'd still get the real infinity.

[Nightman]

Yep, you guys just gave me the info I needed to talk him into the original Infinity chip. What good is a flashable Infinity clone if it cannot be flashed, lol!

[summ0ne]

you can prolly prevent the clone from dying by write protecting the eeprom on it

villasg - tell me which pins on the little 8-pin chip are connected to 3v3!

EDIT:

i see on the pic its pin3!
just lift pin3 on the little on the modbo/nh9/InfinitySE and take it to gnd when u install it - and it should never die :-)

here is a practical way of doing it (diagram)

Then u have a cheap and safe non-upgradable infinity which works great with its current firmware.

[villasg]

you can prolly prevent the clone from dying by write protecting the eeprom on it

villasg - tell me which pins on the little 8-pin chip are connected to 3v3!

EDIT:

i see on the pic its pin3!
just lift pin3 on the little on the modbo/nh9/InfinitySE and take it to gnd when u install it - and it should never die :-)

from SAIFUN is conected in =Vcc the legs 3 . 7 . 8
What doing the pin 3 ??

[summ0ne]

not sure its pin3, might be pin7

just let me find the datasheet and make sure.

it is the WP (WriteProtect) pin - if u take it to gnd it protects the chip from being written to

[summ0ne]

http://www.saifun.com/objects/SA25F010-Jan2004.pdf
yup, its pin3 B)

[villasg]

You are correct

I try it tommorow .
Thanks

[villasg]

I thing this have not effect .
Mybe is good to lift the pin 5 ( serial input )

[summ0ne]

nooo - it needs to have serial input to boot!

trust me.

if the chip stays dead even after power off - this means that something wrong got saved somewhere. and the only place on the chip info can be saved is on that eeprom. if u writePROTECT it, its PROTECTed. nothing can change it and the data in it stays forever the same!

get it ;-)

[villasg]

I go to workshop to make some tests now.

[summ0ne]

LOL - report ASAFP! :D

[villasg]

Downgrade to 1.36 OK ---> load copys
Upgrade to 1.39 OK ----> load copys
I go to Infinity option configuration menu :
------------------------------------

Press TRIANGLE + CIRCLE to enter the configuration menu.
---------------------------------------------
change the delay setings from 10 --->2

AND STOP WORK the modchip (black screen)
Dont go to re upgrade (TRIANGLE + CIRCLE ) --->black screen
Dont me disabled ( start pressed ) --------> black screen
Can go to Infinity option configuration menu (Press TRIANGLE + CIRCLE)
Can make changes (like delay setings) no black screen)
Again dont load anithing --->black screen
Again can go to Infinity option configuration menu (Press TRIANGLE + CIRCLE)
Can make changes (like delay setings)(have keeping the previus changes) no black screen


godd bye modbo

:banghead: :banghead:

[summ0ne]

what do u mean downgrade/upgrade....

how can it do that with eeprom protected :\

you surely did it wrong

[uns97]

Summ0ne: If you set the write protect pin to low, still there is the writeable block according to their Table 10 on page 21. This is the only reason why vilasg was able to downgrade/upgrade it and save the settings. Correct me if I got it wrong.

regards, Stephen

[summ0ne]

you are right, the WPb pin has to be enabled by programming a register in the eeprom.

so getting this fix to work is not for every doityourselfer.

but sure would work when designing modbo 1.2

sorry villasg

[aqua]

the modbo can be flashed using infinity software, they come with v1.38, you can upgrade to 1.39, downgrade to 1.36 and visa versa with no problems. The only major problem is you can't touch the configuration settings without blowing the chip.
This is a shame but dont forget many other chips dont have a config option, so just imagine this dont either!!! If we could disable the chip from blowing when changing stuff in config settings, then this will make this chip safer to use!!

[LordX]

need to found a way to block settings eeprom update or fix this some how.
and how to fix reflash bad eeprom ?

[Kurd]

Stupid Question.
Can i configure the Modbo to boot from HDD or MC without changing settings??

[GeToChKn]

I believe you can use the holding down triangle, etc to boot from memory card boot.elf, etc as per the infinity instructions as this worked for me. It was when I changed the blackout time for 10 to 2 seconds, that it never worked again. What is interesting is that the new modbos i have, they seem to boot right away without the delay even if a controller is not plugged in but I am not risking another chip by playing with the configuration.

[ronetoneps2]

peolpe need to just learn to pay a little more to get a better and real mod chip and stay away from clone mod chips which gives people problems and have no support for them

[Nightman]

Some of us do buy the original more expensive chips. But some of us do not. People are always going to do what they want to, especially if it will save a couple of bucks, and there isn't anything wrong with that if they understand the risks.

[uns97]

It also may happen that you want to buy the original and receive the clones without a word. I ordered 20 Xbox chips, and they sent me clones, at the same price as the original was two weeks ago. (that time I went to pick those up directly and I got the original ones...) I learnt that it's nothing but bussines, and it's the dirty one, with no honour or anything like that. Shame, but that's life these days.

regards, Stephen

[Cooliohazord]

So the fix doesnt work?

[swordfish]

I recently installed a ModBo, but haven't dared going into the Configuration Menu after reading this thread..

Does the damage occur when you enter this menu, or only if ANY setting is saved (ie the PAL60 setting)?

[GeToChKn]

It appears its any setting change, that it fries it. Like I said i have ones that seem to react a bit different than others but I'm not risking it. It's the third chip I've put in this ps2 and it runs fine, I'm sticking with it. As for a few dollars more, it's a big price difference, espeically in Canada.

[ronetoneps2]

It appears its any setting change, that it fries it. Like I said i have ones that seem to react a bit different than others but I'm not risking it. It's the third chip I've put in this ps2 and it runs fine, I'm sticking with it. As for a few dollars more, it's a big price difference, espeically in Canada.

but well worth the few more dollars not to mention as much as you have spent on 3 chips for the one you have you could have bought the real thing ;)

[comsoft]

After reading the datasheet of the 25f002 i've decided to open up a premoded ps2 and disable the succer :)

i tryed connecting pin3 (WP) and tryied upgrading to last firmware and flash succeeded. i mean working perfecly like a real infinity - even though the WP was low!!!

so , while i'm confused i tryed to change something in setup, after that nothing worked.

to fix that i tryed pulling wires from the eeprom pins to my programmer, but that also failed. so i took the eeprom out and replaced it with new one.

Now i tryed to cut the SI pin to disable writing, but that "killed" the chip so i wired it again i've cut the SO wire just to test and (abviusly) it "killed" the chip, so i wired it also.

now the chip is back to start working but coulden't disable to write to it.

[SlinkyDink]

Would it be possible to edit the flash itself (edit one of the Infinity update cd's), to change the button's required to press to enter the config screen?

Basically, change the button's required to press to something thats not possible, or change the memory address of the pointer so if one does hit the buttons to trigger the config menu, nothing happens.

I also realize that this could only work if the infinity updates include this portion of code (and also assuming that its not encrypted/protected/whatever)

Just an idea.

[xcode]

page 16 of datasheet said, "The WPb pin function is blocked when the
WPBEN bit in the status register is 0" so it mast be changed to 1 to enable pin 3 protection, any idea if we can reprogram just the wpben bit with an external programmer or a custom cd?

[uns97]

page 16 of datasheet said, "The WPb pin function is blocked when the
WPBEN bit in the status register is 0" so it mast be changed to 1 to enable pin 3 protection, any idea if we can reprogram just the wpben bit with an external programmer or a custom cd?

I doubt it (I mean using a CD). The flash procedure is controled by the program in the Actel, so one should modify the Actel's program first. Anyway, to edit the flash is unimportant as it perfectly works on the mod that it was developed for (I mean on the Matrix Infinity) Too bad that others use that aswell. It would be a better solution to ask those other groups to develop their OWN and WORKING flash. Of course it is not likely happenning that soon. I still suggest to avoid those mods at least until they do find a solution for this problem.

regards, Stephen

[aqua]

I dont see any problem with these mods. As I said before just imagine they dont have a config menu!! but do keep in mind you can flash upgrade them!! Other mods like the R3 have no config menu and cant be flash upgraded and cost 4 times as much, so whats bad with these??? nothing except that they are clones, but who cares, I don't, all the others are clones of eachother, they work the same just change the code a little here and there to make em look different thats all. Well not all they make 400% profit, if you like overpaying then go ahead and buy the overpriced mods, but for me, no way I stick with these.!!!!

[summ0ne]

page 16 of datasheet said, "The WPb pin function is blocked when the
WPBEN bit in the status register is 0" so it mast be changed to 1 to enable pin 3 protection, any idea if we can reprogram just the wpben bit with an external programmer or a custom cd?

you could solder an external programmer and read the flash, set WP bit and program it back, then do the pin3 mod.

how much do you get the modbo for anyway?
as i see it theres not enough of a price difference between the original and the clone to do all that work :P

[aqua]

'summone', I dont think you would be able to read the flash as I guess it would be read protected. If anyone has a bin file of its contents then that would be great, just in case someone enters the config menu by mistake and tries to save new settings.

[xcode]

you could solder an external programmer and read the flash, set WP bit and program it back, then do the pin3 mod.

how much do you get the modbo for anyway?
as i see it theres not enough of a price difference between the original and the clone to do all that work :P

any idea of programmer that I can make to do it? willem, ponyprog, jdm, etc. don`t work with this eeproms

[summ0ne]

eeprom can not be read protected - the file itself might be encrypted, but u can always copy it


xcode
try ponyprog (si-prog) with the spi eeprom adapter.
make sure u read the datasheet of the Saifun, cause the pinout is totally different.

[xcode]

eeprom can not be read protected - the file itself might be encrypted, but u can always copy it


xcode
try ponyprog (si-prog) with the spi eeprom adapter.
make sure u read the datasheet of the Saifun, cause the pinout is totally different.

I will, thanks, what do you suggest that I should use? 25010 setings because I have a 25f005 eeprom on the chips.

[uns97]

I dont see any problem with these mods. As I said before just imagine they dont have a config menu!! but do keep in mind you can flash upgrade them!! Other mods like the R3 have no config menu and cant be flash upgraded and cost 4 times as much, so whats bad with these??? nothing except that they are clones, but who cares, I don't, all the others are clones of eachother, they work the same just change the code a little here and there to make em look different thats all. Well not all they make 400% profit, if you like overpaying then go ahead and buy the overpriced mods, but for me, no way I stick with these.!!!!

Here we go again with thoughts about clones... You really think Infinity is a clone of Magic for example or what ? They had to change quite a lot in the code, hehe:)

If you think so, then here's my thoughts: I do not see any problem with the Infinity flash upgarde/upgrade process, and I do not think there is any problem with the flash IC's aswell. The problem is a protection probably used by MT OR the way that the modbo and others try to handle the flashing/eeprom refresh process. If this is the case, who should we blame ? I think we cannot blame it on MT as they just want to protect their OWN stuff. As the other part, the guys either cannot beat the protection, or wrote a totally wrong code to refresh their settings. Any of these results in dead chips, if that is cheap for anyone, may it be, I do not care, it's not me who has to reinstall/replace the chips. Profit ? How cheap are those clones ? You save 10 bucks or less ??? Sticking with those is everyone's OWN choice, which I admit, but then why are so many people crying here if their mods die.

regards, Stephen

[Unfinity]

it's always funny to see people talk about "overpriced mods". Why is it that the cloners always clone these mods? Because they're GOOD and they bring new things to the market. If it wasn't for innovations, we'd all be stuck with the simple Messiah-style chips and clones of them. :P It takes alot of time to design a mod from scratch, it takes far less time to rip another. Innovation deserves the additional money because it costs additional money to make them. Ripper is an exception, they're just ripping other people's work, producing bad results and still charging too much money. That just sucks all around...

and it's also a shame when people get suckered into buying a shitty clone because they see a huge price difference, only to find out the chip is shit. I know I'd be pretty pissed off if I bought a $20 clone which sucked then had to buy a $50 original chip to replace it just because some assholes like to blur the lines between quality and price...

[aqua]

UNFINITY - they are overpriced!!!

these are truly clones of MI but they work well and thats all I care about, I have no reason to pay more just to support any mod team out there, many of them werent there in the v1-v8 console days anyways so i'm sure they learnt there ways from the old teams that are no more.

And my last word is these are clones of mods that make your console suffer a mechanon crash resulting in dead lasers and la chips, so why pay more for a shitty mod in the first place, i prefer to pay less with the same results.... don't know about you??

[aqua]

and UNS97 no i dont think MI is a magic clone but I do know Modbo is a MI clone!!!!

install them and you wont tell the difference unless you try to fiddle with the config menu!!! hehehehe

[aqua]

who would buy a ship which cost billions to develope but would sink when put to water???

[uns97]

and UNS97 no i dont think MI is a magic clone but I do know Modbo is a MI clone!!!!

I just reflected to this:

... I don't, all the others are clones of eachother, they work the same just change the code a little here and there to make em look different thats all. Well not all they make 400% profit, if you like overpaying then go ahead and buy the overpriced mods, but for me, no way I stick with these.!!!!


And my last word is these are clones of mods that make your console suffer a mechanon crash resulting in dead lasers and la chips, so why pay more for a shitty mod in the first place, i prefer to pay less with the same results.... don't know about you??

:D:D:D This is good. Thinking the story over again, it might be true...:)


regards, Stephen

[fatcat]

I wonder if the TNT modchip will suffer from the same problems - it looks like another MI clone from reading the user guide on there site.

[xcode]

have anyone tryied to flash an 1.39 upgrade version and after that try to save the seting, it seams that firmware 1.38 had some troubles with some bacht of eeproms

regards,

[aqua]

tnt MODCHIP IS AS EXPENSIVE AS MI i just received the prices, its a rip off, it is identical to modbo except it has the 10 bios solder points, I'm sticking with modbo!!

If any one wants to pay a high price go for the MI not TNT chip.

[swordfish]

Hmm, as xcode suggested, I wonder if the ModBo will be fine if flashed to a newer firmware..

Personally I like the Matrix Infinity way better than the ModBo. Reason? I don't mind paying the extra couple bucks to get an official product that works 100% and not 90%. I use the Config Menu all the time to play PAL games for example.

The statement about MI "burning out the laser/LA chips" is false. As a professional installer who's modded many, many V12 systems, I can honestly say that the MI has no problems at all, IF installed correctly. Many of the problems result in bad soldering, which isn't good obviously when dealing with this chip. Now don't get me wrong as I'm not saying the ModBo has this issue. Maybe it does to some people. Haven't had any problems installing this chip either though. Everything always works first try:)

swordfish

[shepd]

So, the only problem is corrupt settings in the eeprom?

Reading the eeprom out with an external programmer like summ0ne suggested, and saving a copy would be a smart thing to do, so that if you manage to corrupt the eeprom, you can write the data back to it later.

Am I wrong in thinking this would work fine? The settings are not stored in the Actel, right?

[xcode]

I do prefer MI original, I have it in stock too, but is the customer who make the choise, here is a 30 dollars diference, and that mean 90 pesos, to much for an usual income of 1000 pesos a month, those are the rule in 3th world :(

[shepd]

I do prefer MI original, I have it in stock too, but is the customer who make the choise, here is a 30 dollars diference, and that mean 90 pesos, to much for an usual income of 1000 pesos a month, those are the rule in 3th world :(

Same rule in the "1st world"! In Canada I find customers so cheap, I was doing mods for $100 installed -- customers would drive 1 hour to the chinese mall because they would save $20 (gas would cost them about $10). The guys there would only install magic chips, probably because they were the cheapest nastiest things they could get. At the time I offered the Messiah. :crazy:

Now I gave up and pretty much only install cheap and nasty clones that only work half the time, and charge the same as the chinese places ($20 less). My business has more than tripled and I just keep getting more and more referrals. Customers just don't care about quality, it's only price price price. Oh well, as long as it isn't going in my PS2 I don't care anymore. I blame it on the customer -- I tell them they're buying cheap and they'll get what they pay for. :lol:

[minos197]

UNFINITY - they are overpriced!!!

these are truly clones of MI but they work well and thats all I care about, I have no reason to pay more just to support any mod team out there........

And my last word is these are clones of mods that make your console suffer a mechanon crash resulting in dead lasers and la chips, so why pay more for a shitty mod in the first place, I prefer to pay less with the same results.... don't know about you??

Question:Why pay more to support any mod team?
The answer in right in the question.You pay more and you get more support from them when you need them.Just think about the Mech crash you mentioned.Hadn't it been for Infinity you should see how many installers and buyers would still be crying.
Did any cloner care to fix it??
-NO!!!!
And note that there will not always be a Sumonne or a Romeo around to get you out of the mess without having personal gain (thanks Guys...)
What cloners do is take others work and sell it more cheap.I personally could sell a ferrari for 5000$ if I HAD STOLEN IT....They only want your money and don't give a shit if the chip gives you nighmares.Why support these greedy B***rds???

Also a note to those who claim to be using clones because it is cheap and the customers prefer it.Why don't you try the ICE chip??The cheapest of them all and they don't rip anyone off.You get the job done the same way.If a customer want DEV mode tell him he has to pay..

Finally shepd I donnot agree to blaming the customers whatsoever.(Even if they smash their ps2 to pieces with a sledghammer :P ).I don't know the conditions there but a smart competitor with less skills and more good face could cause you major trouble.I have seen shops closing for less important reasons..

[shepd]

minos197, I don't blame the customer for everything, but when they buy garbage because they're cheap, my choice is limited. I already told them the chip would be cheap.

I know a lot of you will say "But if you just sell the good mods customers will come". I tried for a year. It didn't happen. Each time a Chinese shop went out of business another 10 would pop up (BTW: Don't think I'm being racist... there really is only one major place to gets mods in this area, in a mall called "Pacific Mall" where all the shops have prices written in Chinese! Seriously! I could show you the homepage...) and most customers, after having a cheap mod that didn't work installed would just give up. They just refuse outright to spend what it takes to do it right.

So, it's either compete or die. The same thing happens in the PC industry, where people only want to buy junk (I run a computer store too), unless it's for a business. Obviously, since there's no business' buying modded PS2s, its satisfy the customer's wallet or die.

Oh well. :( Customers blame companies for places like Wal-Mart and other bottom feeding places for moving in when the real fact they don't want to face is they need to blame themselves for being too cheap. If nobody was so cheap as to shop there, they wouldn't move in to start with!

[xcode]

:)
got from my supplier that they have fixed the bug on the chip, next shipment won´t be able to be writ it. :)

[Robot]

well any more news on this ?????????

[oz_shadow]

OK after getting a modbo v1.1 back after a customer tried changing settings i setabout trying to either to
A) make a programmer or
B) somehow use my existing galep IV programmer
C) flash it any other way possible.

Well i thought to X-Box experiences with hotswapping chips to flash and after reading the datasheet i had an idea.

Why not use a good working modbo to program the bad eeproms?

well its much easier than i even imagined,

What i did

using a 3 pole switch hook centre pole upto Gnd (pin4) and lift this leg off the modbo pcb hookup a piece of kynar to the gnd pad hook the lifted leg upto pole 1 on the 3 pole switch using kynar, then remove the eeprom of the non working modbo (or matrix infinity SE too i would imaging would be identical).
Now strip 7 pieces of kynar wire only around 20mm each now sit the second eeprom above the one on the pcb making sure the dots line up.
Now wire the legs together witht he kynar wiring pin 1 to 1 and 2 to 2 etc etc on all 7 legs.
Now wire the gnd leg of the 2nd eepom to pole 3 on the switch.

Boot the machine with the switch switched to the leg of the good eeprom i used infinity manager on memory card but you could also boot off cdrom to flash.
once the flashing software has booted flick the switch over which enables the 2nd eeprom select upgrade firmware and the 2nd eeprom is flashed.

Check the eeprom by booting with the switch still set to 2nd eeprom.

I have an Infinity SE clone coming in on tuesday with same problem so i will check the pinouts on its eeprom to make sure its also possible on this chip


Tested with V1.4 and all is working perfectly for the last 24hrs, Great being able to play GT4 backup on dual layer media :).
V1.4 works perfectly as long as you dont touch those settings.


If you dont have another working modbo to do this with or its beyond them i would be happy to reprogram anyones eeprom to v1.4 firmware for AU$5 plus stamps for return postage.


Hope this saves someone a few dollars by not having to buy a new chip

[Robot]

i wonder if new chips from the factories will have write enable disabled

[psxforever]

Great info oz shadow!
Thanks for the help.
Haven't needed it yet but good to know they can be fixed.

[LordX]

OK after getting a modbo v1.1 back after a customer tried changing settings i setabout trying to either to
A) make a programmer or
B) somehow use my existing galep IV programmer
C) flash it any other way possible.

Well i thought to X-Box experiences with hotswapping chips to flash and after reading the datasheet i had an idea.

Why not use a good working modbo to program the bad eeproms?

well its much easier than i even imagined,

What i did

using a 3 pole switch hook centre pole upto Gnd (pin4) and lift this leg off the modbo pcb hookup a piece of kynar to the gnd pad hook the lifted leg upto pole 1 on the 3 pole switch using kynar, then remove the eeprom of the non working modbo (or matrix infinity SE too i would imaging would be identical).
Now strip 7 pieces of kynar wire only around 20mm each now sit the second eeprom above the one on the pcb making sure the dots line up.
Now wire the legs together witht he kynar wiring pin 1 to 1 and 2 to 2 etc etc on all 7 legs.
Now wire the gnd leg of the 2nd eepom to pole 3 on the switch.

Boot the machine with the switch switched to the leg of the good eeprom i used infinity manager on memory card but you could also boot off cdrom to flash.
once the flashing software has booted flick the switch over which enables the 2nd eeprom select upgrade firmware and the 2nd eeprom is flashed.

Check the eeprom by booting with the switch still set to 2nd eeprom.

I have an Infinity SE clone coming in on tuesday with same problem so i will check the pinouts on its eeprom to make sure its also possible on this chip


Tested with V1.4 and all is working perfectly for the last 24hrs, Great being able to play GT4 backup on dual layer media :).
V1.4 works perfectly as long as you dont touch those settings.


If you dont have another working modbo to do this with or its beyond them i would be happy to reprogram anyones eeprom to v1.4 firmware for AU$5 plus stamps for return postage.


Hope this saves someone a few dollars by not having to buy a new chip


by default DL Suppot is Off , in the v1.45 ( about 1.4 I dont know ).
how you edit the setting then ? if he cant save them . :chinscrat

[Nightman]

My guess is that is why it is off in v1.45

If you change it and save it on a Modbo, your chip will die. Smart move by the Matrix team.....

[Robot]

modbo people must disable any flashing of the chip

[Robot]

any more flashing techniques ?

HAs anybody tried booting an upgrade disk with swap magic ?

[summ0ne]

or they could code a recovery method - the infinity has it when u hold reset

[jitendra_gamer]

hi the flash chip is 1Mb and the infinity firmware is 512kb can we set the modchip to read the other 512k of the chip by default. i dont know how to do but we can i think

[SlinkyDink]

No, the flashchip is 512KB, look up the part number and you'll see.

[jitendra_gamer]

I upgraded mine to 1.5 firmware it now only shows the matrix logo and freezes nothing can be done. but its cheap i will get a newone for 6.5$ so not a big deal.

[easy123]

I upgraded mine to 1.5 firmware it now only shows the matrix logo and freezes nothing can be done. but its cheap i will get a newone for 6.5$ so not a big deal.

Where did you get it at that price? Bulk sale?

[bunghoolio]

Try this flashing technique Robot http://www.ps2newz.net/forums/showthread.php?t=38513

[danilop2k2]

saw blue modbo 1.2 + new fix for 7 us$ in bulk at consolasdejuegos.com