FACTOIDS: Messiah class install/behaviour issues & Fuse list

[charlie_ps2]

I received this feedback from a US Messiah customer of mine (Alvin - thanks and well done).

The PSX NTSC FIX is just an electronic switch.
So I used a jumper on the wire V (see picture), brought to the outside of the PS2 case.

To play PSX games -----> jumper opened (V not used).
To play PS2 games -----> jumper closed (V used) .

This is a solution for people who don't have the FIX kit.

This advice is, of course, offered at your own risk.

[charlie_ps2]

My famous 'mate round the corner' is the best installer around. The wire with which he is happiest is 34/35 swg = 31/32 awg. It is Enamelled Copper Wire, and of the strangely named sub-type 'self fluxing coating' which means that you don't have to strip it by scraping but rather by applying heat from a 25 watt/400 degrees soldering iron.

The next thicker wire, 33 swg = 30 awg is rather tricky on chip legs less than 0.2 mm apart. You do however need a hot soldering iron, 400 to 480 degrees C to strip the wire. This is far too hot for the fine work you'll be doing on the ps2 board, so you'll need two irons; the other very fine for the actual soldering.

He uses a large tipped iron rated at 25 watts for strippinmg the wire, and 18 watts, 0.1 mm tip for the soldering. For the Messiah, he cuts around 25 lengths, hot-strips one end, puts them in a neat pile, then starts work.

For power and ground he uses 23 swg = 22 AWG plastic covered wire.

To strip the wire he puts a pool of solder on the flat tip of the iron, introduce the enamelled wire then add some more multicore solder. You see a tink puff of smoke (toxic) as the enamel vaporises. Then he dips the stripped end in solder paste, sprays flux spray onto the points he is going to solder and introduces the wire end to it's point; the 18 watt iron is then used to bond the wire to its point, touching the wire rather than the point.

When soldering to legs of the CD/DVD Controller, he puts a razor blade between each leg to prevent bridging and works away from the neighbouring leg and towards the razor blade.

Whatever you do, don't solder to the VIAs - those little copper circles sometimes named as alternative points. They conduct signal either into the multi-layer board or to the other side. If you apply to much heat (easily done), the via can disappear into the board, the inside of the board is fried and your PS2 is useless.

If you disregard my advice on avoiding soldering to the VIAs then you would strip and tin your wire, dip it in solder paste, spray the VIA with flux spray and touch solder the wire end for half a second to just above the end. This is sufficient for the solder paste to take the lacquer away from the VIA and bond the tinned end to the VIA. If you linger too long with the iron, the VIA will disappear into the layers and it’s all over.

To obtain the required wire:

UK: http://www.farnell.co.uk
US/C: http://www.amidon-inductive.com/asso...tapeswires.htm

My advice is offered at your risk.

[charlie_ps2]

Functionality Basics
The Magic 2, like Messiah, basically works like this:

1 It squirts the SCEx code through the SCEx wire - used for booting PS1 games
2 It monitors whether you've pressed RESET once or twice through RESET
3 It sends data to the disk controller through B through I clocked by A
4 It patches the BIOS and manages the PS1 frame rate scenario through M-V clocked by R
5 It acts on the disk type supplied by W

Pin Behaviour
· S SCEx pulses from 3.3v to 0v twice when a disk has just been put in and electrons are whirling
· RESET sits at 3.3v and pulses to 0v following the RESET buton
· A strobes on a “sample now” basis for B-I on the CD/DVD Contoller
· R strobes on a “sample now” basis for M-V on the BIOS chip
· W goes low on RESET in two steps 3.3v à 1v à 0v (Informs Magic 2 of disk type)


Tools needed
To diagnose a mis-install, you will need an 8x magnifying glass to identify bridged pins or small solder splays. A multi-meter helps also to check continuity between pin and pad on the Magic 2. Sometimes the lacquer hasn't been adequately removed (esp. S SCEx) so a continuity check helps.


Clicking Laser - not booting
The laser apparently cannot see a good eye pattern - it apparently cannot focus on the groove. Assuming that the laser lens is clean and the laser diode is not weak, then it is possible that the CD/DVD Controller is unable to report having seen the good eye pattern. Check connexions A through I for bridges.

A sensible check would be to boot the PS2 with no disk inserted. This will bring up the browser. Select "browse" and "no data" displayed. Now insert the DVD movie and wait to see if the laser unit recognises the disk as a Video. If it does, you will see "VIDEO DVD" at the upper right corner of the screen. This demonstrates that the unit can recognise a disk which is a good indicator that the CD/DVD Controller is probably not bridged. Perform this check:

1. With the modchip in and if it doesn't work ...
2. With the modchip fully backed out

Blank Screen at Power On
If the electrons never happened, then some wires likely snagged when you put the PS2 back together and possibly a fuse has blown (one of thos little square chips with a number on them).

If you have a memory card inserted, try removing it. Some people have had black screen issues when their memory card was inserted (see below).
If the black screen is accompanied by one or both of no sound/disk won't spin, then check that the Magic 2 was fully seated on insulating tape.
Check fuses, especially the one located at PS11. If the fuse is blown, there would be a cause that has to be found. Suspect nicked or snagged flat ribbon cables or solder/metal shards.


Blank Screen at Power On - Blue Light Pulsing
Thanks to led1225 for bottoming this one out (with a little help, of course).

Symptoms usually follow this description. RESET button does not switch on but when EJECT is pressed, the green light comes on. On switching on, however, the screen remains blank but the blue light pulses. The tray will not eject and there is no means for shutdown other than the switch at the back.

Assuming the RESET/EJECT loom and switch to be undamaged and properly plugged in, led1225 reported switching the power/ground wires to 22 awg (actually he used 24 awg). I suspect that his complete re-wiring of the chip to the PS2 actually put the matter right.


Blank Screen - no graphics when booting
It is assumed that the whirling electrons appear when the PS2 is switched on. This problem is indicative of an issue with the BIOS which configures the CD/DVD Controller for the right disk bit-stream protocol (they differ as between the various types of permitted disk). If the protocol has not been set no display is possible.

Check that nothing is bridged on the BIOS, wires M through V.


Disk Reading on Browser Screen or clicking sounds
The disk is seen (groove is found and focus established) and the PS2 has been able to identify it as a valid disk type (Audio/DVD/PS1/PS2) but cannot do anything more with the disk or takes ages to load.

This could be a laser related issue (clean the lens and/or the disk).

If the drive seems to load sluggishly (like it seems not to have enough power which is not the case), particularly in PS1 mode, check wire S.

Power cables should be at least 24 awg (25 swg) and GND is advised to be 22 awg (23 swg) as it carries ALL the current. GND should be as short as possible - less than 10 cms..


DVD Movies don't boot/or Movies Choppy
Ditto as for PS1 games. If booting an import movie with GS2/AR2 v2, remember to boot GS2/AR2 with the PS1 method above so as to bypass what the chip would otherwise do for PS2 games.

If movies are choppy, then it is most likely that there is DC on the SCEx line which needs to be removed. That DC is misread as a SCEx interrupt, which triggers PS2 code and disk seek activity, seriously interrupting movie play To overcome this, fit a 1 uF 35 V polarised capacitor (Tantalum) between the S/SCEx point on the chip and the S SCEx point on the PS2. Orientation is + towards the chip, - towards the motherboard. This can be done either by cutting the wire and soldering the capacitor in the middle and insulating all bar wire, or putting the capacitor at one end..


No apparent Disk activity
This is an indication that instructions from the BIOS to the disk drive firmware might not have been received.

Suspect in the first instance the ribbon cables going to the disk drive. They have the control signals.

Then suspect your BIOS connexions (M through V.

Power/GND cables should be at least 24 awg (25 swg) and GND is advised to be 22 awg (23 swg) as it carries ALL the current. GND should be as short as possible less than 10 cms.

There is an outside chance that the servo ICs driving the magnetos on the lens have overheated because they have been run for more than 20 minutes without conducting heat away.


Originals boot but not backups
This refers to PS2 games and is usually due to one or more of A - I or W on the Magic 2.


PS1 games don't boot
Assuming the games are known previously to boot, then assure your Boot Method:

1. All cases: If playing a PS1 game immediately after a PS2 game, switch off to STANDBY in order to clear PS2 mode.
   
2. Magic 2 with the disk in the drive, press and hold RESET from STANDBY until the blue EJECT light comes on
   
3. APPLE with the disk in the drive, press and hold RESET from STANDBY for at least 3 seconds after the blue EJECT light comes on
   
4. MESSIAH with the disk in the drive, double-tap RESET.

The game will boot if there is nothing else wrong.

If it still doesn't work, check wires S and RESET.


PS1 games boot but not PS2 backups
Assuming the games are known to boot, with the disk in the drive, tap RESET from STANDBY . The game will boot if there is nothing else wrong.

Check wires in this order RESET, W, A through I.


PS2 won't boot if Memory Card is in
... but you can re-insert the memory card after booting. This might be accompanied by a loss of controller vibration. Please examine fuse at PS7 marked with the number 57.

Red Screen Displays
The disk is seen (groove is found and focus established) but the PS2 has been unable to identify it as a valid disk type (Audio/DVD/PS1/PS2).

This can either be a laser problem (clean the lens and/or the disk) or, more likely, S or A through I are possibly mis-installed. Also check wire W - a common problem.

It is also possible that your BIOS wires are too long. They should be less than 25 cm.

Likewise your GROUND wire might be too long - it should be less than 10 cm.

Also check the installation of BIOS points M N O P.

If all then fails...
Back out of your installation, get the PS2 under control into "normal condition"


I'll update this as more is learned. Thanks to Go-kun for some updates.

This advice is offered at your own risk

[charlie_ps2]

Update 04-Sep-02
www.china-magic.com have posted this on their web site: For marketing reasons and to stop confusion we have decided to seperate the v5/6 (R type) and V7 magic chips. Please use only the "R" for the version 5 and 6, and the "V7" for the version7. Future magic2 V7 chips will not support v5/6 machines.

Update 03-Sep-02
In relation to the story below, when we installed a PAL Messiah into the PAL v5 in question, everything worked perfectly.

We learn as we go (with thanks to Aerick for refinements) - namely:

2. DVD booting is distinct from DVD-R booting
3. Pressing EJECT after Red Screen and EJECT to close tray invokes disk authentication which is not caught by Magic 2
4. Removing the RESET wire is the easiest way of turning Magic 2 off (already known)

This is what happened in a v5 PAL install today. We tried both the BROWN V7 chip and the RED V7 chip with the same negative results. The Z point was not connected.

1. DVD-R booted perfectly. First time every time.
   
2. PAL DVD game would not boot normally. It would go to Red Screen. We pressed EJECT twice to get the tray out/in and it went to the browser. At the browser we pressed X and let it find the PS2 disk. We pointed to the PS2 disk and it booted. This method worked without fail.
   
3. Import DVD original game failed after the EJECT stage with the red screen.
   
4. We detached RESET from the Magic 2 and the PAL DVD booted first time instantly.

So, without knowing if there is a flaw in Magic 2 (bearing in mind that the non-underline V7 was not subject to the PS2 bug and also that Mr. Magic 2 had sent me the RED V7) we have concluded (possibly wrongly!) the following from this:

1. Because a DVD original was rejected on first boot to Red Screen, there is a failure to properly handle the BIOS call. This could be in the particular Magic 2 chips because we actually chipped a second PAL v5 with a RED R chip with complete success. Or there could be a problem with the BIOS but the two PS2s were identical.
   
2. An in region DVD original game actually goes through the PS2's region check and having passed, goes through a different path than a DVD-R which obviously fails the region check. Because it is in-region and at Red Screen, pressing Eject with no Z wire tells the Magic 2 nothing; so it stays in PS2 mode and passes the region test.
   
3. An out-of-region DVD original game also goes through the region check but, having actually complied in so far as having the wobble in the groove, again goes through a different piece of BIOS code from a DVD-R which has no such wobble. Because it is out-of-region and at Red Screen, pressing Eject with no Z wire tells the Magic 2 nothing; so it stays in PS2 mode and fails the region test.
   
4. A DVD-R has no wobble in the groove and some sort of patch to PS2 behaviour must be applied when this disk is rejected. So here the Magic 2 takes over and happens to correctly patch the BIOS (or whatever it does) at this time.
   
5. Update: Messiah does things differently.

Tomorrow we will connect Z and see what happens. Update: Made no difference. If it still doesn't work, then we will whack a Messiah in! Update: Which we did and it worked.

There will be some of you who will lap this stuff up and others who will yawn or wonder what all this twaddle means. I love it!

[charlie_ps2]

Unfortunately this otherwise ace forum can't hold large attachments.

So go to this location and see the PS2 fuses, their values, the writing on them and the circuit that's protected.

http://209.123.142.155/forums/showth...&threadid=1469

[Warlock]

You can purchase fuses here http://tomekswholesale.zoovy.com/product/PS21AMPFUSEThanks to Spedmetal for providing this link.