Hardware DMS 4 EZI Pro Modchip help

[qzack]

Looking for some help on this chip.
It is not working in my PS2 phat Model 50001.

To make a long story short I took this off another board (GH-23) that didn't make it. My replacement board is a (GH-26) so newer but the specs for installing are the same. This is the solderless version of the chip I have on hand. After spending most of the weekend on this and troubleshooting I believe the issue lies with the chip that sits over the bios chip on the PS2. In testing the CPU chip, it works but both chips need to work together in order to get Toxic OS to boot. When I power on the PS2 Toxic OS will not boot. The chip has been flashed with it onboard so on my older board I would just turn on the PS2 and after a few seconds the OS would load.

I know this is the solderless version but in my testing if I could hard-wire the bios chip to the console it would solve all my issues. Thing is, these chips are old, out of production and out of support and rare.
In further troubleshooting, I suspected the pins are getting wacky on the chip that snaps over the bios chip. I tried to touch the top of the chip with some solder to wake it up as I noticed one of the pins was loose and possibly causing connection issues. To my surprise after I got done doing this and did a quick test, the console actually booted Toxic OS. I thought my issue was fixed as I put everything back together and now it won't boot again.

Does anyone know of a wiring diagram for these chips so I can try hardwiring? I believe this chip will work, it just needs to be hard wired.

Post automatically merged: Nov 7, 2023

Adding to my Captains log.
Spent another three hours on this last night with no success
I retouched the solder on the bios chip and took tweezers (very gently with minimum force) and tried to push
those little pins inward. My thinking was if this chip is not making contact with the bios chip then maybe this will
make the connection better. No dice.

The chip will not boot Toxic OS so that tells me their is something up with the bios chip.
Tonight (if I have enough energy left from being at work all day) I am going to try touching the remaining last four
solder points. In my picture of the bios chip their are four points or two sets of two right next to one another.
I did not touch these when I re-surfaced as I was worried about making a bridge with them so close to one another.

 

[qzack]

I found this picture from a post on Reddit. Replied to the thread and received no response as of yet.
This is the same chip that I have. Question I have is how to follow the wiring on this so I can duplicate it.
The problem is the wires are all bunched up and I'm getting cross-eyed trying to trace them.

 

[slaphappygamer]

I traced these out. Using the image above. I like doing that. I’ve traced wires many times. Hopefully I have explained it right. I started with the outer most wire, from the top of the image.

Please note the correction of wires 6 and 7 at the SCE chip.
Wire 6 goes to pin 1 and wire 7 goes to pin 16.

Penmanship is not my strong suit.

If anyone wants to double check me, that is fine. I’d appreciate it, actually. I have gone over this about three times to verify.

 

[qzack]

I appreciate your efforts in order to help me out but I am having trouble deciphering what goes where from your sheet.
What I was originally going to do was take the image and color code the wires with MS Paint or something to that effect.
So I could look at the picture (edited) and follow the wiring diagram along to completion.

 

[qzack]

I searched around some more and found this. This might be my best bet for getting this hard wired.

Post automatically merged: Nov 21, 2023

Also that PS2 board in my top screenshot is a v10
I have a v9 and the wiring won't work.
Just found that out after cross-examination of wiring patterns.

 

[SylverReZ]

In further troubleshooting, I suspected the pins are getting wacky on the chip that snaps over the bios chip. I tried to touch the top of the chip with some solder to wake it up as I noticed one of the pins was loose and possibly causing connection issues. To my surprise after I got done doing this and did a quick test, the console actually booted Toxic OS. I thought my issue was fixed as I put everything back together and now it won't boot again.

That's because these clips are prone to actually breaking the pins on the BIOS chip. Do make sure you check the contacts on the chip and add some fresh solder.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Is there much point to modchips anymore, when we have FMCB/FHDB and you can even patch ISOs to work on completely stock consoles thanks to a DVD exploit?

 

[SylverReZ]

Is there much point to modchips anymore, when we have FMCB/FHDB and you can even patch ISOs to work on completely stock consoles thanks to a DVD exploit?

Yes. A modchip is good if you want to play PS1 backups or other burned media if you don't want to resort to loading games off a HDD or USB.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Yes. A modchip is good if you want to play PS1 backups or other burned media if you don't want to resort to loading games off a HDD or USB.

Ah, fair point on PS1, I had completely forgotten that burned PS1 discs don't work with FMCB.

 

[qzack]

That's because these clips are prone to actually breaking the pins on the BIOS chip. Do make sure you check the contacts on the chip and add some fresh solder.

The chip itself as it stands now is a "lost cause". I had to retire it and seek another replacement. I had the part that snaps over the CPU controller not break the pins but bend them in a awkward fashion to the point when I had to go in and try to bend them back into place without causing further damage to the chip itself. I had lost one PS2 motherboard to damage caused by this chip, that should've been my first clue right there to replace it.

Their is a manual for this chip and in their it specially states "this chip once installed is not recommended to move to another board" So if you have major issues with your board and replace the board the chip doesn't like to be moved to a new board.

Post automatically merged: Jan 3, 2024

Yes. A modchip is good if you want to play PS1 backups or other burned media if you don't want to resort to loading games off a HDD or USB.

The other thing I've read about the whole FMCB thing is you have to patch your ISO's to work with it. So they boot correctly as a raw or unmodified format won't work.

 

[master801]

Ah, fair point on PS1, I had completely forgotten that burned PS1 discs don't work with FMCB.

They kinda do, with PSXLauncher. https://www.psx-place.com/resources/psxlauncher-elf-by-vegito_93.689/

-snip-

The other thing I've read about the whole FMCB thing is you have to patch your ISO's to work with it. So they boot correctly as a raw or unmodified format won't work.

Yes, PS2 ISOs must be patched with ESR before using with FMCB. And PS2 CD-based games won't work at all due to how ESR works.