flashing the ps2 bios

Hi, first post here, though ive been lurking on this forum for a few monthes now.

I was wondering if it was possible to flash the bios of the ps2 to a different version. The exact kind of flash im wondering about is wether its possible to flash a retail bios with a debug bios. I have two v0 ps2s, one is scph-10000 and the other is scph-18000. I'm wondering if this flash is possible because I'd kind of like to get rid of my modchip in the scph-10000. I have a messiah 2 v1.33b that I installed myself about 2 years ago. however, I also have the pcmcia bb unit and I would like to be able to use the network adaptor if i need to use it (ie with american games, seeing as how this is a japanese unit but i live in america).

so anyway, back to the original question: is it possible to flash the ps2 retail bios with a debug bios?

by the way, someone let me know if this question is against the rules. thanks

 

I don't think it is possible to flash the PS2 BIOS. Most PS2 modchips patches the BIOS, but that's another story...

CF

 

10000 Collect

18000 Throw

& buy a 3000X ~ ：）

 

No. To my knowledge there is currently no way of changing the bios. There is a possibility that a bios on the PS2 can be updated(this was discussed in a previous topic) but that basically only applies to updating a debug PS2 so that it can run utility discs, but even then no one outside of Sony knows how to do this. The weight of a debug PS2 is quite heavier than a regular PS2, suggesting considerable hardware differences. And finally, retail US games won’t even run on a debug bios from a DTL-H10000(the corresponding debug to the SCPH-10000).

 

The passion and pain of a V0...

Since you already got a Messiah 2 chip installed and want the debug BIOS, I guess your motive is development-related rather than piracy-related

Check out the Ghost 2 chip. It's one of the few chips with V0 support, which supports most modern modchip features, such as booting homebrew applications from a memorycard. It's fast and saves the laser. Then use the USB or iLink interface for your harddrive and development needs.

As for the PCMCIA interface, the japanese PS2 Linux and even NetBSD, as well as a few japanese games, support it.

If you want true debugger hardware, get the real thing

Regards,

CF

PS: The Ghost 2 chip uses the same installation diagrams as the Messiah 2 for the V0.

 

As far as i'm aware, even sony doesn't change the bios when they do the upgrades. I think they just toss the mobo and put in a new one. Either way, it's not something that a user can do.

 

got that right. i bought the v0 a while back thinking it was awesome.......what a horrible mistake. i cant even tell you how many compatibility issues and crap like that you have to deal with on a daily basis with the v0. I first had the DMS3 for my v0 a long time ago, but even though it worked with the pcmcia bb unit, the devolution didnt work (because of the v0's incomplete bios) and the ps1 imports (us games) didnt work either due to compatibility issues. so thats why i have the messiah 2 now, except it doesnt cooperate too well with the bb unit.

well, thanks for the help guys. I was kind of under the impression that the test ps2s were more or less the same hardware, just with different software pre-loaded onto them. therefore i was thinking you could use the procedures at ps2dev.org but instead of using the scph 10000 bios modules (which i obviously already have) you would use the DTL-H10000 modules.

meh, can't go wrong really. I got the 10000 for like $150 about two years ago, and i got the 18000 broken for 5900 yen (around $55) while i was studying abroad in Japan for six monthes last august to this february. fixed it in literally 5 minutes. i figure if i dont find any real use for it, ill just end up selling it.

nah, i think ill stick with my messiah 2. thanks for the idea though

alright, i got one last question: does the scph-18000 have a complete bios (dvd drivers, harddrive files) or is it basically the same as the scph-10000 bios?

 

There are some pins on the Messiah 2 that do not exsist on the Ghost 2. Do you have to ignore anything?

-kreg

 

I just installed a Ghost 2 v2 onto a scph-10000. Just getting a black screen on boot mostly. Sometimes it boots, but it's just the typical ps2 splash screen. Half the time it's distorted and locks up.

Anyhow, is this normal behavior for the v0 by chance? I'm also not sure what to do now that the chip is installed. I'm still sorting through fourms trying to learn how to flash it.

 

Man ... The 10k is a great machine. Sturdy, well built...
The only problem is the missing xmodules on the bios (stuff like xmcman, xpadman, and a few others like for example libsounsd, which causes trouble with homebrewn apps...)

Any machine with internal DVD player (DVD player software bundled with the ROM) will have these. The 18000 has them and works just fine with any (compatible) mod including advanced stuff like DEV1 and 2.

Also, as other members mentioned, there's no practical means to update the PS2 bios since it's Read Only Memory (MASK-ROM chip)

About official games and the PCMCIA HDD kit, all official games support it regardless of the region (US/JPN) as it's access code is into the low level HDD driver and that's the same for all games. Most modern homebrewn apps do work with the PCMCIA HDD kit also.

Edit:
PS1 exports fail because the PS1 driver on japanese machines check the string "Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc." and your discs will have "Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America." causing it to hang in a black screen. To fix it, burn a copy of the disc with that string edited.

 

I have installed a Ghost 2 v2 on a scph-10000 jap v0. Can anyone confirm how to use the chip after the initial install? I think that I am having problems with the chip.

Here are pics of my install.
hxxp://www2.directcom.com/~kreg/ghost2/IMG_2244.jpg
hxxp://www2.directcom.com/~kreg/ghost2/IMG_2238.jpg

I used the Messiah 2 diagram for install:
hxxp://www2.directcom.com/~kreg/ghost2/Messiah2_Jap_10000_15000 Install Guide1.2c.pdf

I referred to the Ghost 2 diagram for which wires to use:
hxxp://www2.directcom.com/~kreg/ghost2/G2_v0-v2.jpg

I only used wires:
A,B,H,I
M,N,O,P,Q,T,U,V
W,R
SX, CLK,
3v5, GND

I only used those wires because the Ghost 2 diagram says to only use those if it's an NTSC-J. Confusingly, it lists NTSC-J for the other wire choice too but does not include pin H. If anyone can clear this up, that would be helpful.

Only other picture i've found online so far, is this one from ps3news.
hxxp://www.ps3news.com/forums/site-news/ghost-2-v2-reviewed-team-ps3news-8114.html

When I power up, I usually get nothing sent to the screen. Sometimes I get a black screen. Sometimes I get the PS2 boot splash but it usually gets corrupted and freezes after a few moments.

I have tried the "press reset 1,2,3,4,5 times" to access different modes. If this was working properly, I'm assuming I would want to press 5 times to get it to read a boot CDR with the latest firmware on it, and flash it. However I am not sure.

Does any of my boot limitations in this problem relate to the scph-10000 bios and it's inability to boot stuff from it's bios? I know you normally need to use a memory card to boot things with this model, however I don't think this is related. Again, I'm not sure...

Any input would be helpful. Common qfx8001, i know you're still out there you v0 guru.

-Kreg

 

If you did then it probably won't do what you want. Nothing in the bios controls whether the console will read backups.

If it did, then you would be able to use that technique in something like ESR, which wouldn't need to update the bios anyway.

 

There is nothing to flash on the PS2 besides 1024 bytes of EEPROM where it stores the Unit model, Serial number, DVD drive/user configurations and DVD player settings.

The copy protection on the PS2 is based on two different stamps of data encoded on the disc initial sectors.
The first one identifies the disc as PS2 dsic and contains regional data.
The second one is the "disc-id" and is checked just before the "Playstation 2" logo is printed.
Both checks are made by the DVD drive CPU "mechanics controller". The first check is performed automatically by the DVD drive upon a disc is detected. If this check fails, the disc is stopped and any attempt to perform data reads returns "drive not ready" error code.

The second check is triggered by the bios through an special command.

The modchip patches the "mechanics controller" bus to modify the data it reads from the DSP chip (208 pin LSI) and make it think the disc inserted is PS2 software that matches it's own region. the wire A is the chip select line that comes from the mechanics controller. B-I are the eight bit bus used for communications.

The wires M-V W and R are used to patch the bios so the "disc-id" check (PS2LOGO module) is bypassed and the backup disc is booted. The patching is possible because during boot the IOP caches portions of the boot rom into it's own RAM for execution purposes.

 

Sorry if my question is in an improper place. Do you suggest a better posting place?

 

Is there any difference in the PS2 bios within each of the several SCPH-30001 models? I think motherboard GH-004 - GH-013 were all the models after the SCPH-18000 and before the SCPH-30001 R.

Also seems like the SCPH-30001 models used two bios chips, and the R versions only had free unused solder pads on the bottom side of the motherboard where a bios could be soldered to.

 

Board chronology on retail units:

2000:
GH-001/GH-002 (All 10000 and some 15000)
GH-003 (Some 10000 most of the 15000 and early 18000s)
GH-001-003 have the early EE/GS chips.
All of these come with the EE chip that has bugs. CXD9542GB(EE)/CXD2934GB(GS)
Pirates call this "V0". Sony calls this as "A-Chassis"


GH-004 (30001 with auto tilt motor. Out only in North America. U.S. launch units) new version EE/GS chips CXD9615GB(EE)/CX2944GB(GS)
Pirates call this as V1. Sony calls it "B-Chassis"


GH-005 (30001 with auto tilt motor. About the same as GH-004 but has CDX2934GB(OLD GS) as GS chip
Pirates call this as "V2". Sony calls this as "B'-Chassis"

GH-006 (30001 About the same chipset as the GH-004/005 but the board has been completely re-designed. Auto tilt was removed. More of the DVD servo circuitry has been moved away from the mainboard to the drive. This version of board is what they used to make PS2 based arcade hardware)
Pirates call this "V3". Sony call it "C-Chassis"

GH-007 (Mostly same thing as the GH-006 but comes with CXD2934GB as GS chip. I've seen this board only on PAL consoles.)
Pirates call this "V3". I'm not sure about how Sony named this oen but I toss a rough guess it's "C'-Chassis"...

GH-008 (Ah one of my favorites here. SCPH-18000 with new chipset from GH-004/GH-006)
Pirates call this as "V0". Sony calls this as "AB-Chassis"

I've never seen an GH-009...

2001:
GH-010/012/013/014/016 (I've seen this kind of mobo on all regions.)
Pirates call it "V4". Sony call it "D-Chassis"

GH-015/017/019/022
V5,V6,V7,V8 ... "G-Chassis"

But I'd like to mention that I have most interest on the earliest models... lol

About BIOS, consoles with two chips usually have one 4MB chip with the bios and a 2MB chip with the DVD player and related extensions.

For the 10k there is two versions of the bios. 001 and 010. 010 contains a fix to keep the DVD utility disc 1.00 from working. These come with a 1.01 utility disc on their box.
Sony was obligated to recall the utilty disc 1.00 because if the user set the PS2 video output into RGB mode it would play DVD video in RGB while the newer 1.01 would ignore the setting and force YCbPr as video output. The issue was that RGB output allows for macrovision bypass.

sorry for this long post and a "blob" of "crude information" tossed here but I hope it makes a interesting read.

 

That is great info. Thank you very much. Especially about the bios chips. I know what you mean about interest in early models. I don't know why, but I share the same interest.

Been trying to mod a v0 and curious to see how well it can handle something like God of War. >: )

The reason I ask, is because i damaged the bios chip (no gap) on a GH-013. Wondering if i could salvage a bios chip from a non GH-013, but still in the scph-30001 range. Gap or no gap.

 

Hi mate!

H should be connected for the V0s.

From my collection:
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6836
Here you can see the H wire connected

It could be that you need to redo the BIOS points, but my guess is that this is due to the chip not being flashed yet.

Correct. Doublecheck SCEx.

Not related. No memory card needed for PS2 games.

I would check and/or redo the soldering.

Good luck mate

 

Great pics! Awesome collection. I've never seen the N64 cd drive.

Well I just worked backwards on the soldering as you suggested. Got the v0 to come back to life after discovering an almost unnoticeable solder bridge on one of the easiest points. Point U was bridged onto a trace running along side it by accident. Thanks for the suggestion.

Now back to doing it all over again. I don't mind thought. It's still fun.

 

The 10k is a Playstation 2, like any other PS2 console. The devkit used to program the games is actually built on the same chips as the 10k so I see absolutely no reason why it would not play GoW or any other recent PS2 game. To ensure compatibility the games come with all modules and drivers they require on the disc so missing modules in ROM are no source for concern. There's very few US games that won't work on the 10k because of missing libsd.irx but I think you can count that with the fingers of one hand.

Back in 2003 I even played Tony Hawk 3 on the 10k online using the PCMCIA network adapter... Worked just as it would on a US 30001.

About your GH-013, if you were to use an older bios on your system it would boot but because Sony changed the video encoder chip, the video encoder would be set up wrong and then the video would be B&W. If your board has the bios 030 it has the old encoder. 040 will be the new one.