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Duo Q reviews?
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aaur4
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2. April 2006 @ 00:56 |
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thank you thank you! although it is a little lengthy but i know its for my own good.
thank you, now i know freeloader shows "no disc" if a burnt game is inserted. I just wanted to diagnose the problem to see whether the POT needs to be adjusted.
I will mod it tomorrow, and i think it shouldnt need a tweak ;)
As for the tutorial i think i'll skip it , since i will be installing duo q tomorrow.
once again thanks!
Wassup? The Sky
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pda400
Newbie
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3. April 2006 @ 06:46 |
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Missed ...
It's pretty difficult to solder the cables where there was no soldering before, the solder does not stick !!!
I've tried and taken my chance but I quit because otherwise, I feel that my GC is going to burn !
Any one knows where the A point is linked with because while soldering/desoldering to access the C point, the soldering that was before on the circuitry has peeled off with the cable extremity and it seems impossible to solder the A point now: there is nothing under !!! It seems that it is an separated point ?!
I think that I'm going to buy a GC directly modshiped ...
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 3. April 2006 @ 06:47
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aaur4
Member
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3. April 2006 @ 07:39 |
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you have to apply flux on the point before getting solder on.
i mod my gamecube with Duo Q today, and i must say it rocks!
my lens was 220ohms so i did not do any adjustments.
wouldnt recognize 2 games initially (all used verbatim mini DVD-R burnt at 2x), but now i realise its better to boot it from the menu rather than direct from the boot screen.
Wassup? The Sky
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OzMick
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3. April 2006 @ 13:58 |
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I didn't need flux, but I do use a needle point, 10W iron. Yes, 10W is plenty enough for ANY modding needs, anything more just risks damage. It was more than enough to give me a massive scar when I accidentally put my arm down on it while modding a mate's PS2. Damned Sony... There were like 20 wires to do on PS2, so consider yourself lucky there are only 6 here... Made troubleshooting when the PS2 wouldn't boot a bitch too, had to go over every single point twice to try to correct a faulty connection.
I also tinned all of my points prior to actually making any connections. There is a pretty good chance that things are recoverable, but you may have to take more drastic measures if the pad has completely delaminated. First thing you want to do is remove the modchip altogether and try to boot the cube. If you haven't done any permanant damage, you're making a good start. You probably then want to try to get access to the upper side of the PCB of the laser assembly. I don't know if this is technically possible though. You could then identify the chip that is being soldered onto from the other side, and can maybe try to mirror image the original position onto the upper surface, or trace the pin to a safer location to solder to. You'd need to route that wire through a hole to the upper surface too, but it is pretty easy to solder onto the leg of a chip, just gotta be careful to not do any damage to the chip itself.
Worst comes to worst, your cube might be borked, but you should be able to find second hand consoles for maybe US$45 or less. I remember a mate here got one for AU$60 a year ago. One good thing is that you needn't worry about losing game saves at least, all storage is external. Hell, if the thing still boots you might be able to cover your tracks and flog it off second hand, there aren't any seals to indicate tampering as far as I remember, just the security screws.
If you do manage to get access to the upper side of the PCB, take a photo and upload it somewhere, I'm sure the community in general would appreciate it. Good luck with it if you decide to continue.
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aaur4
Member
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5. April 2006 @ 08:02 |
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Personal review of Duo Q:
Very easy to install (everything is, compared to PS2)
Works fine, LEDs show clearly what is happening
Games boot fine (tested only 5 games)
Nothing else to say; it works 100%. Worth the money(not much anyway).
Wassup? The Sky
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t53864
Newbie
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5. April 2006 @ 10:34 |
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Wondering what wire gauge you are using to do the mod. Is #28 good
enough?
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OzMick
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5. April 2006 @ 12:39 |
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From my experience with modding, I've found that the smallest gauge you can find, single strand is easiest to work with. I've been using wrapping wire (#30 I think), so what you've said is probably fine. Just keep your wires short is probably a good idea if using very thin wires to keep any related problems away. Give it a bash, if you've done any soldering before the cube should be a piece of cake.
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aaur4
Member
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6. April 2006 @ 07:56 |
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awg #30 are the best for use on gc and ps2.damn i cant get mini dvd-rw to boot on gc. Verbatim MCC code.
Edit: I did some read ups and found that Duo Q most probably does not support DVD RWs. XenoGC does. Now i regret installing duo q , although i dont like xenogc's wireless install, could still have done it with wires anyway.
Wassup? The Sky
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. April 2006 @ 08:12
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OzMick
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6. April 2006 @ 12:17 |
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Are you sure the Xeno handles RW? Before I had any modchip installed I tried booting from a whole bunch of media by using the PSO/BBA method to boot up GCoS, and found it very picky, only liked the Ridata discs I found. People on the web I seem to remember saying that it doesn't like at least 99% of RW brands, if any, though I might be mistaken.
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aaur4
Member
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6. April 2006 @ 17:16 |
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the websites that sell the chip says the chip boots mini rws.
but it does not mean that the laser can read it LOL.
it simply means that xenogc is able to boot mini dvd rw.
duo q does not, i've tried it, unless its my laser too.
Wassup? The Sky
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dvdmonkey
Junior Member
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26. May 2006 @ 21:23 |
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So is the DuoQ better than the XenoGC? Ive never soldered anything this small before. If one isnt better then the other, which one is easier to install?
Also, is Radioshack a good place to get those needle point irons? I was thinking about buying one of those ColdHeat irons
https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/coldheat/coldheat/158617/
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26. May 2006 @ 21:25
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OzMick
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27. May 2006 @ 04:49 |
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I think they're fairly similar, just get whatever is cheapest I suppose, they have an almost identical feature set. Booting from RW would be nice for initial troubleshooting, but if you just use some Ridata discs all should be ok. As far as I know, RW discs just don't work with the laser full stop, but someone is more than welcome to correct me if they have personal experience to the contrary.
I've seen a lot of people saying they're very very wary about using a cold heat soldering iron. I know I wouldn't use one. They basically work on the principle of
Power (heat) =I (current) ^2 * R (resistance)
if you've done any physics, whereby they use a very high current to get localized heating. They're a fantastic idea in theory, but integrated circuity is very sensitive when it comes to stray currents. Seasoned electronics technicians don't wear those funky anti-static wrist bands to just look cool, static electricity has and can quite easily kill electronics. It is just easy to dismiss until it happens to you and you fry an expensive piece of equipment out of laziness. At least make the effort to touch something large and metallic before commencing work.
If you just spend a decent amount of money straight up you'll have something that will last the better part of a lifetime without any hassles, just don't try to be stingy, especially if you think you might go anywhere near something like a PS2, they can give major headaches without a good quality soldering iron.
EDIT: Was just reading the FAQ for that cold heat soldering iron. This little one caught my eye:
Quote:
8. What is the spark I see sometimes during soldering?
The spark (arc) is caused electrical current passes from one half of the tip to the other. Although the tool's spark should not damage any electrical or electronic components, we recommend caution when soldering sensitive components. Also, ensure that the tool is not used in flammable or explosive environments, such as near gas or gasoline fumes.
Sounds a little risky to me. Conventional soldering irons have been working just fine for decades and decades, why reinvent the wheel?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 27. May 2006 @ 04:56
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wakutan
Junior Member
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25. June 2006 @ 09:50 |
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I like to add that i recently bought a DuoQ chip and modded my gamecube with it. It's freaking stable and cheap!
No bling bling stuff, just direct boot and GO!
Playstation 2: V9 PAL version
Ps2 Modded with: Ripper 2 Gold
Media used for backups: FujiFilm
Burner used: NEC 3520AW
Gamecube Black: PAL version
Gamecube modded with: DuoQ
Media used for backups: Traxdata mini DVD-R (RitekG04)
Burner used: NEC 3520AW
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