And There Was Blue Screen of Death? Or Not...?

[xpace]

A Tale of Troubles and Tribulations with Matrix Infinity 1.99

For those who just want to know how I got my 1.99 to work, skip to the second post. This part is mostly a story and rant of my problems.



OK, I knew I was taking a risk when I decided to take the plunge and mod my own PS2. Obviously, it breaks the warranty (which was long past anyway). And there is a real possibility of damaging something and hencefore be stuck with an expensive paperweight (or parts). But I've had a year of Electronics in Vo-Tech as well as many years of piddling around with electronics as a hobby, so I thought I could handle it.

Last year I bought a Matrix Infinity 1.99 from modchipcity.com. It did not come with any diagrams or instructions, so I had to search the net to find those. My PS2 model number is SCPH-30001 R and I learned that this (and an extra screw hole) means it's Version 5.

There's more than one diagram for modchips for Version 5. However, I was very confused on which of these diagrams I should use. And many V5 diagrams do not specify the model number. Strangely, some of these diagrams differ somewhat on where to connect certain tabs. Also, it was only recently (upon reading the Beware of fake Matrix Infinity's thread) that I learned that the Matrix Infinity 1.99 is a clone. (Though, the price tag of US $11 should have been a big clue.)

I decided to use two diagrams for Matrix Infinity. Mostly, I used this one from www.blade.cc for the SCPH-30002 R:



However, I made two exceptions:

1) Instead of soldering the 3.3V lead as indicated above, I soldered to the 3.3V point indicated on the following (another diagram for Matrix Infinity on a V5 USA PS2):



The reason I did this was because of my placement of my mod chip, so this method made for a shorter 3.3V lead. (I read somewhere that some modchip installs fail or run into problems because they made the leads to 3.3V or GND too long.)

2) Instead of soldering to the Ground indicated on the SCPH-30002R diagram I soldered directly to the bare copper edge of the board, which made for a connection only 3 mm long.

Finding a place on the crowded and bumpy mainboard to mount the modchip was a bit of a challenge. But I used the mostly vacant end of the board where there's a big rectangular hole. I was worried that the steel shield plate might short out a solder joint if it protuded too far, so I was mindful of that.

Also, my chip placement put it near one of the main screw holes. This caused some problems in that the numerous wires going to my chip had to go around this hole and leave a lot of leeway for the joint or risk having the wires smashed. To fix this and other loose wire issues I used small dabs of hot glue to hold the wires in place and close to the board.

I was concerned that hot glue might have very slight electrical conductivity or interfere with PS2 operation in some way. But I've seen circuit boards before with large amounts of hot glue on them and they seem to function fine. However, the hot glue caused headaches later when I had to remove a bad wire or change a wire path.

I did the best solder job I could with the tools I had. I wore a static grounding wrist strap most of the time. (Except on occations when I'd forget and start without.) I used a 30 watt iron (being mindful not to touch contacts for more than a second or so for fear of overheating). And I used some strands of wire from a recovered/recycled cord. In hindsight, I should have went out and bought a new 15 watt iron to be on the safe side (with new tip) and used brand new wire. (What can I say? I'm on a tight budget.)

I took my time with it. And I used an old toothbrush occationally to carefully brush away any debris or solder beads that might be left behind. Some of the solder joints are very tricky, though! I had particular trouble around P, O, N, M, Q, T, U, V, R, and W. These are all closely spaced. V and R in particular are next together and nearly touch. (I used a knife to careful scrape between them to make sure there was no connection.)

Soldering "W" gave me a nightmare because I accidentally touched the surface-mount resistor above it. My 30 watt iron loosened this resistor and to my horror it stuck to the iron! I wasn't even positive it was a resistor (Maybe a diode?) but I somehow managed to resolder it back in place. Using a large iron to solder a surface mount much smaller than a grain of rice is not easy!

But as bad as that was, it paled in comparisons to the trouble I had with the lead to "S" (also called "SCEX" on some diagrams). First, it's soldering to one end of a surface mount resistor. So there's risk of a hot iron loosening it. And a protruding chip nearby makes the task more challenging. But neither of those were my downfall. My problem was that - no matter what I tried - I could not get the solder to stick to the end of that resistor! I repeatedly scraped the end clean with a knife... no stick. I repeatedly filed it down (carefully) with a file from a jeweler's file set... still no stick. I must have tried a dozen times to solder it! A few times I thought I had it soldered, but when I gingerly pushed on the wire it broke loose. Eventually, though, I got it solid enough.

OK, so I put my unit back together. (I'd say assembly and disassembly itself is a challenge for those of us without much experience doing it. Thankfully, there's this step-by-step illustrated guide. Unfortunately, I assembled and disassembled mine a couple times before I found that help.) And as I hook it up, turn it on and push the Reset I hold my breath...

[PS2 fan blows but NOTHING else...]
All I see is the bright blue screen of A/V input... ;__;

So, I take it apart and carefully inspect all my solder joints and wires. But everything seems to be in order. I do resolder a couple I had a bit of doubt about. Then I tried assembling it and trying again. Still nothing but fan and blue! Finally, I take it apart (3rd or 4th time) and decided that since one of the V5 Matrix Infinity diagrams did not use "G" or "H", then maybe it was not needed for my PS2 model. So I unsoldered those two joints and taped the ends. I put it back together and crossed my fingers...

Still just a PS2 fan and a blue screen...

[xpace]

That was about a year ago. Lately, I've been getting bored with the games I usually play and Hulu has started to loose it's luster for me. I have fond memories of my PS2 and PS1 games and I want to revisit them. Plus there are other PSX games I wanted to try.

Determined to fix this somehow (or buy another used PS2), I did some Google searches and found this forum. I learned that my Matrix Infinity 1.99 is a clone. Though, it's supposedly pretty good for a clone. But I realized I was still missing something vital to figuring out my problem. So I created a strategy:

1) Re-examine the soldering diagrams and try to find other soldering diagrams to compare. I need to make sure I'm using the correct diagram.
2) Take it apart and re-examine all connections. Perhaps there's one loose?
3) If I was using an incorrect diagram, then I'd make the changes and try again.
4) If everything failed so far, I'd completely remove my modchip and see if my PS2 still functions without. (Or... [gasp] find out if my unit is fried!]
5) If my PS2 still operates without, then it's either a faulty chip or I can't get it to work for some reason. Then I'd either keep it as an un-modded PS2 or sell it and buy a used PS2 with a differed Version and then try that with a different modchip.

This what happened:

Using Google, I found another Matrix Infinity clone and other install diagrams. With the knowledge I had gained that 1.99 was a clone, I saw that their diagram that I had been using was for the original. Scrolling down their list of PS2 modchip install diagrams, I find this:

Installation and use of the Matrix Infinity Clone
V5/6 (SCPH-3000xR, x for 0,1,2,3,4....)


Right away I noticed that their connection for "Y" was a bit different from that shown in the diagram from www.blade.cc. So I made that change. Also, testing all my solder joints, I found that my connection to "S" (always a headache for me) was loose after all. After spending over half an hour on it, soldering, filing and re-soldering, I finally got a connection that seemed to hold.

I re-assembled it and tested... ARG! Still a fan and blue screen of death!

Undaunted, I disassembled and looked at it again. But even before this failure I knew I was I was going to try next. Up until now I had been use the copper edge of the board as "GND", but now I changed it to the point indicated in the Matrix Infinity Clone diagram. Also, I recognized that when I attached my 3.3V lead I was using the diagram for the original Matrix Infinity chip: http://www.mod-chip.bz/PS2/images/matrix/USA-v5.jpg

So, I connected it to the point indicated in the Matrix Infinity Clone diagram, near "Y". These changes made, I reassembled it once more and tested. A prayer on my lips, I turned it on...

And there was a black screen with a Matrix logo!
Halleluiah!

But wait... What's this sound?... SILENCE! There's no PS2 fan! O__O
I quickly hit the power switch!

However, hope had been returned to me and at this point I was undaunted. Obviously, the numerous times I had assembled and disassebled the unit had taken it's toll on the delicate fan cord and plug. with the top cover off only and one additional screw, I lifted out the fan and plugged in the power. A fan wire might have been pinched or stretched. Turning it on again, I got fan! So I carefully reassembled and put it on top of the TV.

So far everything seems to work fine. The fan runs, it plays games, the joystick works, the memory cards read, and I even got a backup of a Japanese import to run!

[xpace]

Epilogue:

Something I failed to mention earlier is that I made several attempts to communicate with both the company that sold me this modchip (www.modchipcity.com) and another modchip company who's install diagram I had been using (www.blade.cc). Unfortunately, email correspondance to neither place was helpful to me.

When I contacted ModChipCity.com and explained in detail how I installed the chip and the problems I was having, they basically said that they do not do technical support:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry.

We try our best to place as much information that we can about the product on our website.

Unfortunately, this may be technical question that is beyond our scope.

We recommend that you consult a qualified technician as we have limited in house information.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.

Since they did not provide any install diagrams either on their website or shipped with their product, the least they could do is point me in the right direction. Or maybe they should have told me that the install diagram that I had been using was wrong? Doing that much could have saved me countless hours and headaches of trouble.

The reply I got from www.Blade.cc was even worse in that the information they told me was not only false, but seemed to be a ploy to get me to buy their products instead:

Hello

You do not use modbo most V5 This your error Sir.

Mars Pro HD or Apple 75K OK

Cheers

I got the impression that English was a second language to them. This in itself might not be surprising, except that this company was supposedly based in Australia? I wanted clarification, so I wrote back:

Thanks for the reply. But I'm not sure I understand...

You said "You do not use modbo most V5" and "Mars Pro HD or Apple 75K OK."
This seems to imply that the Matrix Infinity 1.99 was not designed to work with V5 (or most types of V5) and that I should use one of the other two modchips you suggested. Is this correct?

I will take this up with the company which sold me the chip in the first place (Modchipcity.com). But I wanted expert advice before I took it up with them.
This is the description of the modchip I used:

http://www.modchipcity.com/main1forps2a.html

As you can see, it claims that it works with all PS2 versions:

"Full 512 Kb Flash Memory on board- Compatible with Playstation 2 USA/PAL/Japanese -V1,V2,V3,V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, V9,V10,V11,V12,V13.- Jumper less (Automatic Version detection)"

Their reply:

You can suuccess with

Mars Team M7
Mars Team Mars Pro HD
Apple 75K

Oh well... I finally got my modchip to work and I now have my PS2 functional and better than ever. Worth all my troubles? Maybe... maybe not. Hindsight is 20/20. But now that it's fixed and I'm done ranting, I've got a gaming itch to scratch.

[Kasugano]

Hmm, thats fine if you wanted to play your PS1 backups so bad on your PS2, but if you just wanted to play PS2 backup games and/or run homebrews you can just install FMCB on your memory card, less trouble for you!

You remember my first try replacing a "swap-type" modchip with a non-swap one almost 8 years ago.... Black/Red screens a galore!