PS1/2 Can I trust a MODBO 5.0 from ebay?

[shawly]

I'm planning to hard mod my PS2 fat so I can play my PS1 backups. But I wondered where I should by the Modbo from, there are a lot of ebay listings for less than 2 bucks shipped from china, but I'm not sure if the quality is even good.

Is there any trusted source I can buy a Modbo from in the EU or from China?

 

[FR0ZN]

You can just buy them from eBay for 2 bucks. They work perfectly fine.
They are so cheap because they have been overproduced and the sellers now try to get them out of the stock.
If you can, get a ModBo 4.0 on FW 1.93 tho.

 

[shawly]

If you can, get a ModBo 4.0 on FW 1.93 tho.

So, how is it superior to a Modbo 5.0?

 

[FR0ZN]

So, how is it superior to a Modbo 5.0?

The ModBo is a clone of the Matrix Infinity. And the Matrix Team stopped releasing FWs after v1.93.
So a ModBo 4 on 1.93 is considered to be a replica of what the Matrix Team did.
If you see a ModBo 4 on FW 1.99 you can be sure that the cloners messed with the FW and made things worse, because people tend to buy things with higher FW versions.
ModBo 5 is a clone of a clone if you will with further FW modifications. So even if you see a ModBo 5 on FW 1.93, it's BS because of its USB ELF launching capabilities which the original Matrix FW didn't have.

On the bottom line, all of them work, but if you have the chance try to get a ModBo 4 on FW 1.93. If not, buy whatever actually.

 

[shawly]

Alright, thanks for the explanation! I could get a Modbo 4.0 with 1.93 on eurasia.nu https://www.eurasia.nu/shop/product_info.php?cPath=48&products_id=376 . Guess I'll go with that one then!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I'm planning to hard mod my PS2 fat so I can play my PS1 backups. But I wondered where I should by the Modbo from, there are a lot of ebay listings for less than 2 bucks shipped from china, but I'm not sure if the quality is even good.

Is there any trusted source I can buy a Modbo from in the EU or from China?

For the record you can load PSX games from a HDD with just FMCB/FHDB thanks to POPStarter.

 

[shawly]

For the record you can load PSX games from a HDD with just FMCB/FHDB thanks to POPStarter.

I know, but POPStarter is just using the internal software emulator. While my FAT is backwards compatible, so I get a more true experience without having to buy a PSX.
Even though I'd like to get the original hardware, I already have too many consoles in my household and I only got the PS2 because my PS3 Slim had issues emulating some PS2 titles.
Maybe I'll get the original hardware when I figured out how to store all my consoles in a nice way.

 

[FR0ZN]

Also the POPStarter compatability has its limits. It's great but nowhere near what the PS2 can do by itself.

 

[shawly]

Just installed the Modbo 4.0 I ordered from Eurasia, man the ABGI contacts where a pain. But the Matrix logo on boot shows up and I can access the config menu, so I guess it seems to work! Just have to get some CD-Rs for my backups, thought I still have a few but I was wrong..

 

[ChinoyPepino]

Just installed the Modbo 4.0 I ordered from Eurasia, man the ABGI contacts where a pain. But the Matrix logo on boot shows up and I can access the config menu, so I guess it seems to work! Just have to get some CD-Rs for my backups, thought I still have a few but I was wrong..

Hey dude did the mobdo play ps1 backups on your end ? or the chip still uses popsloader ?

 

[FR0ZN]

Hey dude did the mobdo play ps1 backups on your end ? or the chip still uses popsloader ?

No chip ever used POPStarter.
Modchips enable the PS2 to launch burned PS1 games natively.

 

[ChinoyPepino]

No chip ever used POPStarter.
Modchips enable the PS2 to launch burned PS1 games natively.

I got a v7 Fat so I guess it will use the physical chip to play ps1 right ? The reason I want to play them on the Ps2 is do to the Texture filtering features, OPL is already installed through a memory card but some of them run really bad.

 

[Ryccardo]

I got a v7 Fat so I guess it will use the physical chip to play ps1 right ? The reason I want to play them on the Ps2 is do to the Texture filtering features, OPL is already installed through a memory card but some of them run really bad.

All PS1 discs ran through every single method that's not Popstarter will use "semi-hardware" virtualization - and if you only want a chip for PS1 discs, no need to bother with invasive PS2 chips, just install a non-stealth 4-wire PS1 chip (with a power switch to have manual stealth and just not have it work unnecessarily)

 

[FR0ZN]

I got a v7 Fat so I guess it will use the physical chip to play ps1 right ? The reason I want to play them on the Ps2 is do to the Texture filtering features, OPL is already installed through a memory card but some of them run really bad.

As I said, Modchips have nothing to do with POPStarter or OPL - (OPL uses POPStarter btw).
The PS2 can natively run PS1 games and a modchip enables you to run burned PS1 copies.

POPStarter uses a patched PS1 emulator / VM from the PSBBN days to play PS1 games, which has nothing to do with the native PS1 functionality - hence the "bad" compatability.

 

[Robert McCoy]

All PS1 discs ran through every single method that's not Popstarter will use "semi-hardware" virtualization - and if you only want a chip for PS1 discs, no need to bother with invasive PS2 chips, just install a non-stealth 4-wire PS1 chip (with a power switch to have manual stealth and just not have it work unnecessarily)

Can you explain this further? I can't find anything online about installing a non-stealth 4-wire PS1 chip in a PS2.

 

[Ryccardo]

Can you explain this further? I can't find anything online about installing a non-stealth 4-wire PS1 chip in a PS2.

As you may have noticed, most PS2 chips agreed to a certain extent to the names of pins - high letters are the mechacon, low letters are the bootrom, etc - the "SX" one is the one of interest, as it happens to be the same thing as the one on a PS1 where you're supposed the region string signal!

Unfortunately most of the discussion was on AssemblerGames, which did indeed close near the end of last year (just 6 months after the planned date!), but basically you just get a MM3 or equivalent chip (preferably programmed to only output the correct region for your console instead of rotating through all three), connect its power input through a power switch (some people chose to disconnect the data pins of one usb port, reconnect one of those to the SX pin, and have the chip as a ghetto external dongle...) and that's it iirc!

 

[Alexander1970]

Maybe there is something "useful" to find:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100102004103/http://sksapps.com/index.php?page=modchips.html