"disk read error" after installing Matrix modchip. CDs work though!

So I've spent the better half of today installing a modchip in my V7 Japanese PS2. Having heard stories of how important it is to keep your wires short and avoid crossing them over (and drawing inspiration from jinn's sexy work) I made sure to keep everything neat and check my solder points for continuity and for any bridges. Check this out!


Not too shabby eh?

Anyway, I connected everything back up and... I got the Matrix boot screen! Success! Until I tried to boot up a PS2 game, at which point I got a read error. PS1 games give me a "please insert a PlayStation or PlayStation 2 disk" error. If put an audio CD in (in this case, I used a Sega Saturn game) it loads that up. Is this a common issue with fresh modchip installs? Does anyone know how to fix this? Here's a bit more information that might help:

1) This is a mostly unused PS2 and it was working fine before the modchip install, so I don't think the laser is dead.
2) The "SCEX" solder point is kinda sketchy. I had a hellva time trying to get the wire to stay, and even then, it will break off if it's tugged (the other wires hold firm even if violently tugged). I really can't seem to get this damned wire to solder firmly, might this be the cause of the issue?
3) Speaking of the SCEX point, I had a solder bridging issue previously, that bridged this solder point to the rectangle whats-it down below it as well as the other rectangle whats-it to the right. After hours with a soldering braid, I'm pretty sure I've got all the solder cleaned up. I've checked it with a magnifying glass, and I don't see anymore solder. In terms of continuity, there is continuity between the points that were bridged, but there appears to be a trace between these two points anyway, so I think that's normal.
4) You might have noticed there's nothing soldered to the G point. The instructions didn't have G marked on them, is this the way it's suppose to be?

 

Hi, can you please link to the install guide you used? That will make it easier for others to help you troubleshoot

I'm not terribly knowledgeable about PS2s myself. I have installed some modchips over the years, but I can't say that I know why your mod doesn't work.

As for the SCEX-point, if it's the one I think it is (the wire immediately top left of the large IC, right?) then yes, those two components are connected by a trace. I actually just solder the two components together as it makes it much easier to solder the wire to

 

I used this guide:


Yep, that's the SCEX wire! I don't trust the current SCEX connection and I suspect this point is related to disk authentication, so I think I'll take your advice about creating a solder bridge between those two components (the SCEX point on the guide to the top of the component directly below it) and solder the wire to that, that should keep it firm. Even though THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE AND CAUSED ME TO SPEND HOURS REMOVING THE BRIDGE. How frustrating I found a thread in which Bad_Ad recommended soldering all wires, even if the guide doesn't call for it. I also found a thread on the internet where a guy had trouble getting his modchip to work until he soldered the G point. You think I should do this too?

*EDIT* Okay, I've tried soldering the SCEX wire in the way bearking suggested. I also soldered the G wire (based on guides for other models that had the same layout as mine, it's the pad to the left of the H point) but nothing has changed. I've tried upgrading the Matrix's firmware, but I can't get the disk to boot. It gives me the "please insert a PlayStation disk" screen. If I hold down the reset button while the console boots, it goes to the manager screen and detects a PlayStation disk, but when I press circle to boot it, the screen fades, but it doesn't load the disk and goes back to the screen it was on before. I've also tried running the console with the modchip disabled, bit it still can't read disks.

Here's some close ups of the install:








Sorry they're not the best, direct overhead photos were casting shadows all over everything.

 

Some of your soldering does look like it could use more work. I'm not trying to put you down or anything. At least your console didn't die like the first few PS2s I tried to mod years ago The A point looks like it could be a cold solder joint, but that's sometimes hard to tell from pictures.
I would also inspect the H and I wires, because the insulation on those looks really messy. Test these wires for shorts with your multimeter.
Be careful not to press too hard when using a screwdriver or similar tool to hold down the wires, as it will ruin the insulation when you apply heat. I usually hold the wires by hand, or use a really thin pair of pliers.

I would try using some liquid flux when resoldering these points, as it makes stuff like this much easier to solder. I usually use this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Liquid-Fl...al_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item4ae413a68e
Cleaning the PCB with isopropanyl alcohol can also help tremendously if you're having trouble soldering, and the contact point are starting to get dirty. Btw you should use this too, to clean the liquid flux if you decide to try that out

If that doesn't work, I would remove the chip and see if the console is working.

 

Yeah, I know I'm a bit of an amateur at soldering. I'm trying not to move the part while the solder cools, but might temperature be a problem? I've got my iron set as low as it can go, at the point where the solder JUST starts to melt. Is it too low or something? I had already tested continuity on the H and I wires, there doesn't seem to be any bridging and they seem to be connected to the modchip. As I recall, these points are related to disk authentication, so this might be where the issue is. Does anyone know which points I should be giving the most attention to? Like, which points are related to loading and authenticating disks (H and I like I said?) The modchip seems to be mostly functional (i.e it boots up and the eject and power buttons work) it's just not booting disks.

Hmmm, I did use liquid flux on the SCEX point, but not on any of the other points. I'll try re-soldering a few of them again with some liquid flux and see if this helps. Speaking of isopropanyl alcohol, I remember cleaning a Neo Geo board with the stuff and it made the board REALLY sticky. It doesn't seem to harm the board, I find it a little weird and am I little worried dust might stick to it and build up.

 

When you say you try a PS2 or PS1 game, are you referring to burned or pressed discs? Does it do the same thing with both?

All I can really suggest is re-soldering everything. You could try a few points at a time until it works or remove the thing entirely and start again. I had a similar issue before and ended up just removing the entire thing and starting from scratch. I think you should have waited before gluing the wires until you had it working.

 

No point trying to upgrade firmware - they are all 1.93, which is the latest version.

 

Original pressed disks, but I'll check and see what happens with a burned copy.

Oh, okay.

 

Okay, still getting a disk read error with a burned disk. Tried re-soldering the I, H and G points, but I'm still having the exact same issue.

 

It's probably inconvenient but like I said, might be best to start again. Remove it, make sure it works perfectly after the chip is entirely removed and booting games, and then re-do it. If it's still not working after the chip is removed, there may be a solder bridge.

 

Aw, all the neatness But yeah, about my only option.

 

Okay, I've removed the modchip and everything works as normal. What do you think the cause of my previous issues might have been? I did clean the board up a bit, mostly the area around the SCEX point because it looks like there were bits of solder braid stuck in the solder. Although, if the braid was creating a bridge, it looks like it would simply be bridging two points that are already connected by a trace. I got the PS2 up and running again first try with not much effort, so I'm not sure there even was a bridge somewhere. Might improper installation have been an issue?

 

A lot of the joints look dry too, or not that shiny anyway.

Mainly near GND and 3.3V

 

Yeah, I noticed that too. I've since found that turning the temperature of my iron up gives me nice shiny joints. For some reason, I seem to need to set the temperature up much higher the iron I had in Australia. The voltage difference maybe?

 

Go over it again, clean the points. If it still fails then maybe the chip is fucked.

 

Yeah, but I think I'll use a wire stripper this time. I had read in multiple places that an easy way to do a modchip install was to use the solder on the iron to both tin and strip back the insulation. I think this is kinda messy, the insulation ends up kinda gooey and messy. Well, in the end, even if there was lots of insulation left, the end of the wire is still exposed, so it would probably work anyway, but let's increase our chances of success Not sure I wanna go through the neat and tidy install again though, that was really time-consuming!

 

You shouldn't strip wires using the iron, you'll ruin the tip. Then it will go into the solder :\

 

Yeah, I'm thinking the same.

Just now, I notice there was a bit of solder stuck to the legs of the modchips, uh, chip. It wasn't a serious bridge, as I could just pick it off the legs with my fingernail, but probably would have still bridged all the same. Don't tell me that THIS might have been the cause of my issue and there was actually nothing wrong with the system...

 

There was no need to desolder modchip completely.

Modchip menu showing up means that you correctly soldered bios and sx, rst, gnd, power points. If you screw up on bios points PS2 most probably will start up and display black screen.

Scex is for Ps1 games only. ps2 should be able to play ps2 games even without it.

 

Are the BIOS points that big group of wires on the right of the modchip that go to that little chip? So if I got all those correct, what could I get wrong that could prevent the console from authenticating games?