First time - 2 dud Messiah2's!

[LarZ]

I installed one (which in hindsight, I should've been wary of due to the lack of the sticker on the ASIC, which I presume is an inspection sticker) that didn't work at all. I discovered that pad D did not make contact with the relevant pin on the ASIC so think that's all it was, I resoldered that leg to the PCB but still no go. Definitely a dud.

The next one is a VERY surprising one. I've always known M2's to be of the higher standards compared to those of the other types of chip out there. I'm far from impressed, but check out the JPG to see what I mean. What you're looking for is in the middle of the bottom row of pins. It's hard to tell from the scan, but the pins in the middle of the row are actually bent out of shape - up, down, left, right, whatever. I'm amazed this one even passed testing. Even if it does work, I don't trust that kind of workmanship. I've never produced anything like that in any of my prototypes, I can't see why a major manufacturer would even dare to pass off something like that!

Has anyone ever had any issues with faulty Messiah2's? It's surprising, but I honestly never expected any due to the supposedly stringent testing they go through (although sh_t happens sometimes - just that 2 in the same batch concern me).

If you're wondering about the ASIC's batch number, it's 301, Euro v1.21. Note, they are NOT Pro's.

Adios,
LarZ

Artstar Technologies
Design and Prototyping - with Messiah2 (PS2) and ArtstarX (XBOX) modifications on the side 3#-)
http://www.artstar.com.au

[hhh]

none of my 200 m2 are duds...

[charlie_ps2]

I'm sure Chris replaced the duds for you. He sent back a small number from that batch which had capacitors missing or had failed on install and i sent him replacements.

I must hasten to say that Messiah 2s have no inspection sticker when they leave the factory. The Messiah 2s are machine produced and there appears to have been some sort of mis-timing on the belt. The misaligned pins are not visible to the naked eye and, the product coming out on a big sheet, is not readily testable.

So when that happens, the supplier will exchange the customer's dud & so on up the supply chain.

One thing that did happen between Christmas and New Year was that the factory relocated to new premises. I suspect that the machines have been recalibrated now.

[chikamir]

in my experience 2 dud M2P so far out of 80.

1. destroyed BIOS on 2 consoles, one after another.
first one won't boot up, just black screen. 2nd one boots up to Playstation 2 sign and no more. uninstalled the chips and still the same faults remain.

2. after a week, customer complained no loading copied games. only red screen. replaced with identical chip and its OK. wiring was perfect.

so could be classic examples of short circuit and open circuit in the chips respectively.

[charlie_ps2]

We have to distinguish between mis-install and dud chips. The first issue listed by chikamir doesn't strike me as the consequences of a dud chip. Of course that's diagnosis at a distance by me. No doubt you've returned the chips to your supplier.

[LarZ]

Originally posted by charlie_ps2
I'm sure Chris replaced the duds for you. He sent back a small number from that batch which had capacitors missing or had failed on install and i sent him replacements.

I must hasten to say that Messiah 2s have no inspection sticker when they leave the factory. The Messiah 2s are machine produced and there appears to have been some sort of mis-timing on the belt. The misaligned pins are not visible to the naked eye and, the product coming out on a big sheet, is not readily testable.

So when that happens, the supplier will exchange the customer's dud & so on up the supply chain.

One thing that did happen between Christmas and New Year was that the factory relocated to new premises. I suspect that the machines have been recalibrated now.

I've seen that happen before with production runs of some of my prototypes where the manufacturer shifts their gear elsewhere so I know where you're coming from with that possibility.

I have no doubt Chris will help me out accordingly. I'm very pleased with his business accumen and I've already emailed him about it as I only discovered the 2 duds tonight. I was just wondering what the odds were of such issues. I've bought close to about 38 from Chris and prior to that, I would've bought closer to about another 50 and all bar these present 2 have been fine. It's just one of those things that does surprise you when it happens after such a long winning streak 3#-)

So I take it then that the stickers are just a manufacturer's marking/branding within HK then eh?

Thanks for the prompt response Charlie!!

Artstar Technologies
Design and Prototyping - with Messiah2 (PS2) and ArtstarX (XBOX) modifications on the side 3#-)
http://www.artstar.com.au

[inoxxx]

yes. i bought 5 Messiah2 Euro v.1.21 / 301 mods and all of them was faulty.

i detected it accidently (thanks god...) just when showing my maginfy lens to a friend... imagine that :|

its now clear that i had probs with the same version as u LarZ...

BE CAREFULL.

[chikamir]

Yes and no. I got them from 2 different suppliers. The first chip wasn't replaced by supplier on grounds of transit damage. The resistor close to points QTU fell off. He could've soldered it back and test it for me but he simply couldn't be bothered. This had the KTMB05 4702 batch with 0245 printed on the Actel chip.

The second chip was replaced without any quibbles. This had BHK printed on the board.

[NEWCASTLEmodchi]

So far I have had 1 dud messiah2 and 2 with missing capacitors. I'm certain the one that is the dud is truely faulty because I replaced it with another chip (without touching other wires) and it worked straight away. I did that on two machines just to be sure. And I agree that Chris has excellent customer service... much appreciated Chris

Nm