I just received a Magic 3.1+ modchip from www.modchip.com. The package just had the modchip and a bunch of the wires, with no instructions or anything. Does this look suspicious, or what? Where can I find instructions, and even if I solder it in correctly, what are the odds that it will break my PS2? I have an older V4 PS2, so...
I read some stuff about people's PS2's being broken by modchips. Is this because they installed them incorrectly or because of a bad modchip?
i have a magic 3.1+, it has been working fairly good for me. a lot of time ppl think they can solder one in and can't so they ruin the ps2 and not the chip. (unless you blame the chip for bad soldering techniques).
what cheaper chips do is wear the BA chip faster then the two best chips out there(matrix infinity and the DMS series)
What does the BA chip do? If I wear it out, how much would it cost to get a new one and how much trouble would it be?
As for the soldering, I have a friend who might be able to help me with that. He's good with hardware, he installed his own modchip with no problems. What's the difference between gap and no gap, anyway?
Just how difficult is it to solder anyway? Do you have to be, like, REALLY good or is not being able to solder more like "I burned my fingers because I couldn't tell which end of the solder was hot!" sort of incompetence? Cause my neighbor is a mechanic, he may be able to help with soldering also.
the BA chip controls, ejecting, laser movements and that kind of functions. if you wear it out and i think it would take a while to wear it out i am sure. it is not all that expensive. 10-15 USD.
the bad part is replacing it. not easy to do. soldering in modchip is a lot easier in my opinion.
i would not worry about it.
i am afraid that i don't know about the gap and non-gap for i have a v5 and didn't have to worry about that. sorry.
soldering, is not extremely hard but you are soldering onto very small connections. 1-2 sq. mm. maybe a little bigger. but very small.
you should be fine w/ your friend as long as you take your time and do it carefully.
tips:
1. make the wires shorter as needed. you don't need all the wire they give you.
2. get a little solder on the tip of the wire and the tip of the soldering iron and go from there. don't use too much solder.
3. don't use a real hot soldering iron. i used 15 watt. you don't want to overheat the mobo. then its 60 USD to replace it.
4. do it with a lot of light and have a mag class to check connections.
5. make sure you do not bridge a connection. if you do, no big deal, use desoldering braid to remove it.
6. be careful and do it with no distractions.
I have a v4 modchip. Don't know if I already mentioned it. Anyway, I tried opening up the console to take a look, but it turns out I can't even figure out how to get to the motherboard. Does anyone have a comprehensive guide for how to get to the motherboard, or can walk me through it step by step? There's a bunch of cases and stuff I can't figure out how to take off.
ok, i am goint to try my best to explain how i take my v5 apart. not that much difference.
make sure you pay attention to how you take it apart b/c you will have to put it back together.
1. unscrew the screws on the bottom.
2. take off the top and set it aside. there is a ribbon cable, you can take it out, but make sure you know how and where to put it back in.
3. with you screwdriver. unscrew the controller and memory card slot, take that off and the ribbon cable. (don't pull the ribbon cable off, there is a black piece that you lift up and then take the ribbon off)
4. turn the ps2 over and gently take off the bottom.
5. unscrew the screws that you see. and take off the metal cage and gently pull the power supply off. (smaller of the two circuit boards) and unplug the fan from the motherboard. you can set the power supply aside.
6. take off the plastic cover and unscrew the tiny screws, then lift off the metal piece gently. you will have to disconnect the dvd drive. there are two in the back that connect to the metal piece and one in the front
7. then you should see the part of the mobo that you will be doing most of the soldering too. if it is like the v5, there is two pts on the other side that you need to solder to.
8. from there you can take off the rest of the ribbon cables and the dvd drive and the other metal piece. then you have a plain mobo. good for soldering.
i am counting on the v4 not being a whole lot different than the v5, which i don't think it is. remember how you took it apart.
Thanks. It's rare to find someone as helpful as you. In any case, I'll give it a shot, and let's see how it goes. Likely, I'll mess it up and will need more help XD.
