DUO2 SE VS. MarsIII MA-502 mochip.

[jay_85]

I have a v7 PS2 (PAL) SCPH-39004.
It was premoded with original Magic 3.1 mod-chip.
I got a really weird problem with the mod-chip.
All my backup?s, original games etc. would play fine but on games like Splinter Cell & the original DEMO discs which I get from the PS2 magazine, MGS:2 Substance & other games I encounter a weird problem.
In Splinter Cell whenever a new level loads I used to get the red clouds error saying insert PS2 or PS1 disk. Same with the original demo disc when I played a game & then went back to the menu of the demo disc I used to get this error. & in MGS2 whenever I selected skateboarding game & went back to the original game I used to get this error.
So I removed the mod-chip & played original Splinter Cell, MGS:2 & the same demo disc game & didn?t get that error, not even once.
So it had to be the mod-chip?s fault.

But a month back I took it to a repair shop & the guy installed a new mod in my PS2 (dunno which one but maybe he too installed the magic mod-chip) & again I got these same errors. I returned the mod-chip.

Now I can understand that 1 modchip being faulty but another one also giving same errors? I don?t understand this weird problem with my PS2? (does it mean that my PS2 doesn?t support mod-chips or something?)

Anyways I was looking to give it a one last shot & get a new mod-chip(definitely not a Magic one!)
So I?ve come down to these 2 chips
Duo 2 SE & Mars III MA-502.
Which one will perform better & play the new DVD-9 games(backups as well) without any problems.

On www.robotpig.com it says that the Mars III is supposedly better than the DUO2 SE chip also I hear that DUO2 has a stolen ICE or something?

I?m confused! I?m leaning towards the DUO2 SE chip, shall I go for it or get the Mars one?
I will be getting the DUO 2 SE chip form here. http://www.eurasia.nu/shop/product_...products_id=269

Is it a good price for the chip?

Thanks.

[T07N]

Duo 2 SE is less work I believe.

[aerofx]

Mars III ma-502 is a bit more work but it's also more reliable when it comes to boot rate.

[T07N]

More reliable? In what ways over the Duo 2 SE? I have modded tons of ps2s with Duo 2 SE never had I experience boot failure...

[aerofx]

Yes boot rate. I've installed a lot of Duo2 SE's as well, maybe not in the tons but I've had enough with bad boot rates to recommend Mars III over the DUo2se. To be honest with you it has more to do with the V1-4's that I had problems with, even after replacing the lasers. Of course when the Duo2SE's didn't peform as I wanted, I slapped in the Mars II MA-303s with excellent boot rate. None of that gold disc or red screen stuff. Can't be my install either because we both know that the Mars has more wires and is more difficult to install than the Duo2SE's; especially in the V1-3's. So naturally I'd recommend the Mars 3 MA-502 for the V7 as I figure it's just the successor to Mars 2 for V1-7's.

Maybe I'm just unlucky. Not trying to discount the Duo2SE, I know a lot of people have had great success with it.

[LanEvoVII]

boot rate is never 100% for duos
its about 80% of the time.
its great for the price
i dont mind rebooting once in awhile

[thinkaholic]

I have never tried the Mars but Duo2 works fine for me , I can say 99% of the time. The only problem I have in that 1 % is CD-R media backups , and DVD-R or DVD+R movie backups. Not sure if anyone else has to , but I have to disable the chip in sleep mode to load a backup DVD-R or DVD+R movie. Other than that , it is great for the price. I'm leaning towards getting a flashable mod in the future but , nothing really catches my eye to even need it.

Are you sure you don't have a fake mod? It might not be the original but a clone.

[T07N]

I'm thinking you guys are using bad media and it's the laser's problem not the modchip. I've never experience any boot failure with Duo 2 SE other than at times when I have ground wire too long or too thin. If installed properly and the proper media is fed it should boot 99 or 100% of the time. I personally had a Duo 2 SE for months.

[LanEvoVII]

quoting automan
i want something to say about bootrate guys...finally it depends on the sx28 not only on the code...50 mhz clock is not enough to get the sx28 synchronized perfectly on the data stream within the ps2, you see ?...syncronizing is needed to inject patch code perfectly...that's why we added the 74hc73 to point 'A' who is capable to syncronize up to 200 mhz...that's why FPGA based chips like the MI have 100 % bootrate...those FPGA's can synchronize on data streams up to 300 mhz and more perfectly...you have to think about what you want...a cheap solution with 60 - 80 % bootrate or an expensive solution with a 100 % ???

being of the nature that duo are basically ice...

[GTZ]

I've installed lots of Duo2se's, they're great for Ver5-9, some Ver10's are problematic, however, when it comes to Ver1-4, they can be very problematic, nothing to do with the laser either as I've swapped em out on quite a few consoles for Crystals which then boot great afterwards.

Cheers,
GTZ