Magic 3.1 and modchip.ca

Well, just a couple of days ago I decided to get a chip, did a bunch of research, and settled on the Magic 3.1 (although the massiah was a close 2nd I had read of a few minor issues). Anyway, it looked like modchip.ca was the only official seller of the 3.1, so I went with them. Seemed like a really nice company, but they messed up and missed sending me one of hte boards in the install kit (which cost an additional 30 bucks...). The board you solder the actual chip to that the ribbon cables plug into to be more specific. Here's the kicker, I am visiting my brother currently, and was relying on his expertise to do the soldering (I could, but it would be a lot more risky). Anyway, these jerks at modchip.ca are out until the 8th, which is well after myself and my PS2 are over 1,000 miles away form my installer. I'm trying to figure out what to do at this point, and I'm down to two options. Reorder a non magic 3.1 chip (likely masiah 2) from a different company and send back my crap from Canada when those drunken, lazy bastards get back to work, or I try to order another clip / install kit from another place. Does anyone know if the kit used to install 3.0s is the same as the one for 3.1? I understood hardware was the same, it was just different code between the two. What would you guys suggest? I'd be inclined to just order the mounting kit from someone else, install it, and then send back my partial mounting kit ot the canuks. If I cannot be certain a new kit will work with the 3.1, I might just go with the misiah. Just looking for any advice from you folks - thanks in advance!

First, I think you are being abnormally harsh on modchip.ca. If you look around, you will find most people are very satisfied with the level of service from modchip.ca. I understand your frustration because of the timing, but shit happens. The holidays are the holidays are the holidays. Hell, I know companies in Ireland that shutdown from the middle of December and don't open back up until the middle of January.

Second, the Magic 3 doesn't have have a clip kit...that is only part of the 3.1.

Why don't you just leave the machine where it is and have it sorted when modchip.ca returns from the holidays? If it is your brother doing the job, I am sure you can trust him to help work this out and get the chip installed after the holidays. Yes, you will be out the shipping cost to have your brother ship it to you when all is finished, but maybe modchip.ca will work with you on this. You never know until you ask. Just remember, you attract more bees with honey than vinegar. If you contact modchip.ca and immediately go off on them, you can be sure you will be met with less than a desireable response. Just talk with them and try to work it out.

Last, and this is my personal opinion here, my choice would be to get a Messiah 2 while you are at your brother's, get it installed, and then send the Magic back to modchip.ca for a full refund when they return from the holidays. If you chose Magic 3 over Messiah 2 because you thought Messiah 2 had issues, you obviously didn't do enough research.

I've ordered and referred a number of people to modchip.ca and they all seem to be very happy with the service. But even companies like modchip.ca are only run by humans, we all make mistakes.

If they mis-shipped you something then there's no reason to get all anal about it. If you want to return it and get a Messiah2 then go for it. But I too would think you didn't do enough research on the matter. Plus how much expertise would you have if you had to rely on a clip kit?

modchip.ca is a very trustworthy company, and they would never scam you. A lot of people are very satisfied by their service, just be patient until they come back.

if you got a clip kit with the Magic 3.1, and didnt get one part of it.....what does it matter, if you have an installer that will solder it, why do you need the other part?

besides, modchip.ca is great, but imagine how many orders they must get.....people are prone to make mistakes. Chris at modchip.ca (the owner i believe) is a really nice guy. I ordered a no-solder mod (as well as a neo key in an earlier transaction) from them, and it was missing :( but i emailed chris, and he emailed back in a couple hours with his phone number. i got in touch with him directly. He apoligized, said a couple chips were not packaged recently (probably because of lazy packagers or something), and that he would send it out right away on the fastest at no extra charge. I got it the next day :D

they are the only widely known reseller of the magic 3.1, so image how many orders they are getting.

I would suggest you let your brother install the chip without the clip if you have a v5/6,7 PS2. The clip kit isn't much help since it only helps with the bios pins and since there are now alternate points for these on the back of the board you don't need it. I think the bios pins are easy compare to cd/dvd conroller. Just have him take his time take plent of brakes. The clip kit still requires 9 wires if he can to those he can do the 9 bios connections.

What did you pay for the chip? Did you try their price match. I think 60 dollars for a magic is rather steep. 5 more bucks messiah2. I order 3 magic 3.1 from elite backups great service already have tracking number same day as order. He say they are not clones and I tend to believe him will post again when I get my chips.

Good Luck.

The Magic 3 does have a clip kit available from Modchip.ca. I purchased 1 awhile back but decided not to use it as soldering the connections is a much better (not easier by any means but much more secure) install method. It is the same kit you would use with a 3.1. The clip kit is PS2 version specific though.

Moe

Well, first of all, I'd like to clarify my comments that I think a lot of people took the wrong way. The "lazy, druken bastards" comment was sarcastic, and I think a lot of people took offense to it. I think they are a decent company too, but didn't realize people were so emotional over modchip companies. As for the being closed for two weeks thing, I think that is lame - irregardless of what they do in Ireland or wherever else - if they continue to ship during the holiday, they should continue to do order support (not necessarily technical but at least order support). Its understandable to mess up an order, but it put me in a crappy position because I intentially got next day air just so I'd have the chip in time, and now its useless to me because they wont' answer emails to fix the issue. It would be nice if they had a # you could call as well.

Anyway, I am kicking myself for getting the magic. I did read around, and got the feeling magic 3.1 was comparable to the Massiah. I went with the M3 because of two reasons - 1, I read something about issues with the Massiah and V5 machines (although I don't know which mine is, I usually see its either 5 or 6...its a 30001 R, which is it??), and 2 I could not find a site selling the Massiah for some reason. Not easily anyway. I saw a lot of good info on modchip.ca so I felt more comforatable ordering from them (and they didn't have the massiah).

So, right now, I'm considering either doing the install of the M3.1 without the kit and returning the kit, or ordering a Massiah elsewhere and returning the whole order to modchip.ca. It isn't a matter of money, I paid too much for the stuff from modchip.ca - it was 60 for the M3.1 and 30 for the install kit. I couldn't find the 3.1 anywhere else so that's why I ended up paying so much - I didn't want to risk getting a clone or something. Anyway, can someone tell me where to get a Massiah? I might just do that because it sounds like it works better (assumign there are no issues with my PS2 - 30001 R).

Thanks for all the help

Got mine from foundmy.com. They are also pledging support for homebrew development whenever you buy a Messiah from them.

http://www.ps2newz.net/forums/showth...&threadid=3827

The place to get Messiah2 is foundmy.com great service and support. Price is fair for the extra support you get good service and not just a reseller someone who install and test the product. The first one to detect the v6 issue and post info. You will want to open you PS2 up and make sure it isn't version 6. They show bios difference on their page. Don't look at serial or date code the last line on the bios is the tell tale factor.

As far as returning the chip to modchip.ca they only take it back if it doesn't work and you pay all shipping. So you 60 dollar magic will end up costing you 80 dollars since when you send it back they will say they tested it and it works fine.

Both places are located in Canada.