PS2 Version 9 - Yellow power light after removing non-working modchip install

[SkinnyV]

Hey guys, I just got myself a really good condition Version 9 PS2 and installer a crappy Super-7 E17 chip in it (most likely clone) and had alot of issue with it not powering (light would turn green then quickly red). After I fixed the VCC point (made a mistake) the ps2 booted to the menu and then I'm not sure what happened (the ps2 was not fully assemble) the screen turned black and you could still see the outline of the menu item. To make a long story short, I had black screen since then and erratic behavior. Sometime I could press power and have the green light but no image and clicking laser, sometime it would have no light at all. I completely removed the modchip and wire, cleaned all the point with desoldering wick and clean everything good with isopropyl alcohol and pcb cleaning brush. Double checked every inch of the board and checked all the fuse I could see but the Ps2 still won't boot. The Power light is kinda flashing a shade of yellow (not really flashing but you can see constant change of brightness lever in the LED). I'm completely at a loss and it wasn't my first install either. Back in the days I modded about 20 different consoles (and had to fight with some of them a couple of time to have them work properly:P ). I'm pretty disappointed because I just got this PS2 yesterday and it was a super good condition with barely used laser. I was very excited to have another Playstation 2 again to play all the game I missed but now it seem hopeless.

Anyway, sorry for the long message but I really hope someone can help me with this, it's not like it's worth alot of money but I'm pretty bummed to have messed up.

Thanks!

[sandman378]

The only thing I can remember and suggest is getting yourself a good magnifying glass and inspect each and every point. I'ts possible some solder splay may be bridging a pair of points that's not easily visible. Or hopefully you didn't burn any vias. Hope that helps

[SkinnyV]

Actually, I did check with a jeweler 30x magnifying glass and everything seem spot on... Only thing I can think of is maybe a micro solder ball went somewhere.

[SkinnyV]

Well, I cleaned and looked some more. Now I don't get yellow light anymore but PS2 still don't turn on. It goes from RED (Sleep) to Green for a second then goes back to RED. All fuse seem fine when I do continuity test on them. Could this kind of issue caused by a burned LA6508? I thought the LA would only cause laser related problem but it's worth to ask.

Edit: Some progress. I was reading all the old thread I could find on the board and found one person with a similar issue (turning off automatically or flashing between red and green power light) and he managed to fix it temporarily by replacing a burned SMD capacitor. It reminded me of the spot where I had some issue and where I made mistake with VCC wire and there was 2 component there, 1 capacitor and 1 part identified as J106 that I'm not sure is. I replaced the capacitor with another SMD one that was the same size (no way to know value with SMD cap...) and when I tried to start it, it turned on with green light and fan spinning but distorted black screen. Now the problem is, every time I turn it on and then put it back in sleep mode to figure out the black screen, the problem come back and it doesn't turn on anymore until I replace the cap again. The guy in the other thread had the exact same issue (except he had video) and kept having the cap burn out. Unfortunately, there was never any solution posted from him or other user in regard to that PS2. I tried replacing the J106 component with one from a dead V4 but doesn't seem to change.

What is that J106 component anyway? Here's a picture of the problematic area:

[SkinnyV]

Well it seem I'm kinda talking to myself here since it seem all PS2 expert have since moved on to other console but I've made progress. One address line (4th pin) coming right by the capacitor got exposed after getting heated too much and there was a short there with the cap solder that was almost impossible to see with the magnifying glass. Found it using my multimeter. Now the PS2 boot but show some erratic behavior. Difficulty reading disk, I thought at first the LA6805 got friend and took lense with it but I was able to have disc show up in the browser and it even started to boot a PSX game (showed PS logo) but then turned off by itself. It seem that the PS" turn off every once in a while while trying to access the disc or sometime the boot and menu background sound get distorted or seem to be missing note and skipping. I doubt all of that could be cause by the LA6805...

[sandman378]

Stupid question, but did you ever test the PS2 prior to installing the modchip? I know I've made that mistake at least a couple of times before. Otherwise, I honestly have never seen that problem before so I'm not sure how else to help. Hopefully you're soldering with a 15 watt iron in order to not risk burning components.

[SkinnyV]

Yes I did test it before As for my iron, I have a good Soldering/Reflow Station with temperature control from 200 to 500 degree. In any case, the PS2 started booting consistently but would reboot 1 time out of 3 when disc were inserted so I swapped the LA chip but there something wrong with this board as the PCB started sparkling and smoking even after I removed the LA and tried it so I kinda decide then that even though I might have been able to fix it with a few more days of testing, I do not want a console that might catch fire while I'm playing Shadow of the Collossus:0 I'm trying to fix my old V4 with part from this one now but don't get any video on it (seem like it might be working and loading the disc tho)

[sandman378]

Holy crap. Sparks and smoke from a PCB is never a good thing lol. Good luck on the V4. That laser must be super old by now.

[PlsNoRush]

Hi guys, i have a similar weird problem with this yellow light.

I have a v10, lens dead, but i play from an IDE HDD (Hitachi 80 GB). My Ps2 is moded with Modbo 750, and boot HDLoader 0.8c directly on start up (DEV-2). Points Y and SX of modchip aren't connected cuz i cant use CD/DVDs to play anyway. RST, GND and 3.3v wires are thicker from the others.

Well, the ps2 works just fine... but if i push the power button to shut it down in the select game menu of HDLoader, light goes yellow instead red (it mix red+green) but it does turn off. And blue light is turn on too (in fact, blue light is always on since i turn on the system, even when there is no CD/DVD on drive... dunno why).

If i shut down the console in game, it goes red light only normally (don't know if is normal, but if i press power/reset button in game it just turn off, it wont reset when i am into HDLoader already).

I double checked for shortcuts, found none. Maybe some diode or transistor is defective, or maybe some component is overpowered. As i said, im just curious with this problem cuz the ps2 works fine. For the record, the system was previously moded with a fake matrix infinity v1.99 wich was deffective, so i replaced it with the modbo 750, but the problem remains.

Can anyone help? Thanks!!

PS: Sorry for my english ~~

[Rikimaru]

I think it's normal with HDLoader (maybe turning off in incorrect PS2 state). Just use OPL.