Official PS2 network adapter IDE board interchangeable with SATA board from unofficial adapter?

Hello,

I have two network adapters, one is official and the other one is a 3rd party.
I want to use the SATA board (not the main board) from the unofficial one on the official one to maintain a high compatibility.
GameStar adapter boards: https://i.redd.it/36yeoxg567p11.jpg
PlayStation 2 network adapter boards:
http://ddata.over-blog.com/1/06/19/78/SCPH_10350FXN/0001.JPG
http://ddata.over-blog.com/1/06/19/78/SCPH_10350FXN/0002.JPG
Do you think they are interchangeable without any modification, just plug and go?
They have the same pinout between main board and second board with IDE/SATA connectors?

Thanks!

 

It didn't work when one of my friends tried it - just failed to recognize the HDD at all.

He ended up getting one of these, which did work:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...287.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.25913eb2O2pKlM

 

That is not good news for me
I wasted some money on the two adapters...
I think I will sell the original one and stay with the SATA chinese one.
Anyway, thanks!

 

UPDATE:
Comparing the Bitfunx and the GameStar board I see that 3 components are missing:
https://imgur.com/H22STGN
What do you think @TriMesh ?
Good image of Bitfunx:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NVwAAOSw3uBZtz7C/s-l1600.jpg

 

You could try. But if you can import something from Japan and you use a 2.5" HDD, you could get the Sugoi TR-2535.

 

Unfortunately I can't import from Japan but thanks for the recommandation.
Those adapters were bought from Europe...
To understand better my request help: my GameStar adapter is working but I have reading on some forums that the original one with a SATA mod have better compatibility.
From your point of view @sp193 if my adapter is working, it is necessary to do the upgrade for the official one?
I use the last version of FMHD and OPL.

 

The missing component are a voltage regulator and two capacitor. The other side of the board seems the same but, according to this link, it's not possible to make it work with the official adapter. Probably che ide sata bridge chip is not the same.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ps2/comments/9jxuah/gamestar_sata_daughterboard_into_official_network/

 

My guess is that in order to save costs they removed the voltage regulator from the interface board and rewired the inter-board power connector so that the necessary voltage came from a regulator on the main PCB.

I just took apart one of my network adapters (it's a US spec one with a modem, so it's not identical although the boards seem to be the same), and it appears that in the original Sony design the regulator on the board that plugs into the power connector for the drive is supplying the 3.3V for the rest of the circuit - so using a SATA interface board that doesn't have this regulator will result in it not working at all (which was the experience my friend had).

Unfortunately, I don't have a GameStar adapter, so I can't comment on if installing the regulator might allow it to work.



Just saw this post:

And the photos there make it very clear what's happening - the GameStar adapter has the 3.3V regulator on the main board, and uses the last pin on the 5 way as a 3.3V output - on the original network adapter, this pin in an input from the subregulator on the board that plugs into the drive.

So it will definitely not work it the current state - it MAY work if the regulator and caps are moved to the SATA converter board, but this is not certain.

 

You are like a God of electronics
And yes, the photos that I've posted were from the internet.

 

Surprise, surprise my friends.
I've opened mine and I've take some photos.
Look what I have inside my GameStar adapter...


That Bitfunx boards are fakes?

 

I think it's probably real. The original version of the clone network adapter (the "GameStar" one) used an FPGA - later, BitfunX made an ASIC to do the same job. Both of these designs only supported IDE drives.

If you look at the board, it has the BitfunX custom chip on it, and it's hard to see how anyone except them could get their hands on it.

Having said that, the soldering on the SATA adapter board is terrible - the side of the board with the SATA connector has been heavily reworked, and it looks like the converter IC has been changed.

Overall, it looks identical to the V1.0 of the BitFunX IDE/SATA converter that does work with the original network adapter except for some missing components - at least the regulator, two caps and R16. Maybe it will work if you replace them, but there is no way of being sure.