PlayStation 2 MECHACON Adjustment Program (PMAP)

@Bad_Ad84 you can already prepare your console with hookup cables and give it a try.
I recommend you put a simple on/off switch on the TEST_MODE to ground connection.
That way you can switch easily between production and fun mode

Made a Sanyo HD7 laser work in a GH015 "F Chassis". It was configured for Sony, so someone may have swapped it in the past.
Loaded the EEPROM update which gives the choice between Sanyo or Sony and the laser started working (was dead before)

 

There is a missing check against the return value of the execution function, so it won't report (i.e. no error messages) if any operations time-out.
This is the only known way for the tool to abort the automatic electrics adjustment with no error, so far.

Does your "semi-working" console have a good drive tray? I mean, it should be sliding smoothly with ease.
My SCPH-10000's tray was stiff, so I got timeouts that way before. That was until I updated the EEPROM, which increased the tray's velocity.

If you don't know whether it's actually stiff or not, perhaps you could give it a little speed boost (with your hand) as it is being retracted...
The original SONY electrics adjustment tool already had this problem with stiff drive trays.

The model selection glitch is a different matter, which has been worked on and will be part of the changelog for the next release.

 

The tray speed is mediocre. I'd say good for consumer use but not the fastest tray in existence ;p
I still have the cables attached and when I get the time, I'll test more.
I think I can also just fake the tray motion with it removed.

 

Here's a prototype that had the model selection glitch within the electics adjustment part fixed, along with some other changes: https://www.sendspace.com/file/d2jivp

I was in the process of refactoring various parts of it to allow its UI to be easily replaced, so I do hope that it does work properly.
Also, the code for reading the EEPROM content was changed for safety (based on the SONY checks).

I didn't test any of the changes though, as my test bed is disconnected. If this new tool does not work due to some new glitch, please let me know.
Even if it doesn't work, I think that we can still establish whether the tray was the problem, even with the old tool (even though the electrics adjustment may not be completed properly).

 

Okay, I'll try it out and report back.

Oh and if anyone wonders, the command line usage is like this:
pmap.exe com3

 

@sp193 When you said your PC can't open the Sony help files to determine what points to connect to did you mean the pdf are password protected? I have a bunch of service manuals with the passwords I saved. I'm not sure if this is what you were referring to or not. If not, ignore this message

 

No, they're not password protected. The problem is that I upgraded Windows to Windows 10, which doesn't support the required version of the Microsoft Help Viewer.
It was just a minor inconvenience that I didn't want to deal with at the time. Thanks though!

 

When I fixed the F chassis laser, I noticed the software worked a lot more reliable. It's possible the mechacon firmware is better in those consoles.

 

What do you mean by that? If it's due to the timeouts around the tray retract commands, the F-chassis consoles are newer and have better tray designs.
The communication protocol is connectionless, so any interferrence (i.e. due to poor contact) could also make things go wrong.

Anyway, you can only be sure of any problems, if you actually used the SONY tools.
I know that this isn't something that is even possible for most people to do though.

 

The C chassis generally threw more errors around and didn't like a certain combination of mechanics adjustment commands. For example, it works better if you stop and init often. The F chassis seems just less buggy

 

What errors? Could you please elaborate, so that I can attempt to identify and fix all outstanding bugs in the PMAP tool?

What adjustment commands are you referring to? For mechanism adjustment, all commands are supported by all supported chassis models, except for the AUTO TILT motor commands.

 

Yes, I'll document issues and differences next time I have the consoles hooked up. Will probably be this weekend.

Okay, this'll be my little work log for today

General pmap related:
- would be nice if the auto electronic adjustments gave a confirmation at the end that EEPROM data was written (or not)

GH-013 with working CD and DVD optics:
- ran the new PMAP-160817-WIP on it and entered auto electronic adjustments which works fine now!
- no problems with the tray timing
- no problems with mechanics adjustment commands
- Controller 1 rumbles on startup


GH-007 with working CD but DVD makes lots of noise and won't detect disks:
- fails with "DVD-SL AUTO ADJUSTMENT (STAGE 1) - Rx-command error: 122"
- Controller 1 rumbles on startup
- CD still works, DVD still bad

GH-015 with working CD and DVD (replaced Sanyo OP with default settings)
- This console has the tray issue. I need to speed it up to get to the first stage electronics adjustments.
- Auto electronic adjustments works with the CD stage. CD gets calibrated fine. I need to insert a DVD-SL and then pmap bails out to menu. Disabling test mode and now the console can't read CDs anymore. Restoring the EEPROM defaults for Sanyo fixes it.

 

Here are the error codes. I didn't put them in because I can't tell if their meanings were always the same (the program doesn't always display their descriptions):

• 120 - rx-Parameter Over
• 121 - rx-Execution Error
• 122 - rx-Mecha-Task Error
• 123 - rx-Switch Error

Every return value has "rx-" prefixed to them. I think that it is just an indicator of the source of the value (from the PS2).

Common Return values:

• 101 - rx-TIME OUT
• 102 - rx-TRAY OPEN
• 103 - rx-TRAY CLOSE
• 104 - rx-NO DISC
• 105 - rx-DISC ??
• 106 - rx-NO INIT
• 110 - rx-CD 8cm Mode
• 111 - rx-CD 12cm Mode
• 112 - rx-DVDS 8cm Mode
• 113 - rx-DVDD 8cm Mode
• 114 - rx-DVDS 12cm Mode
• 115 - rx-DVDD 12cm Mode
• 116 - rx-SACD

Common Command errors:

• 2A0 - rx-Command input mistake
• 2A1 - rx-Parameter count mistake
• 2A2 - rx-Parameter value mistake

The Dragon MECHACONs will return error 100 when one tries to initialize them (with new region settings).

Thanks for testing!

It will always be written, if the whole process is successfully completed.

That's great news! I guess that it was due to the wrong commands being used, after all.

For the SCPH-18000 and later, entering service mode will cause rom0:TESTMODE to boot. Perhaps you have accidentally enabled the force-feedback tests?
Or perhaps that is done by default. I never adjusted a newer console, so I can't tell.

More people will have to adjust their C-chassis units to confirm if this is a problem or not. I will double-check the commands on my end.
Those 1xx errors are runtime errors, so it is possible that the DVD part of your optical block is simply bad.

That's great!

I guess that your optical block is also too far gone. Maybe those folks who deal with optical block adjustment can chime in on this if the values are too wrong to be possible, but the jitter is simply too high for the program to consider it passable.

Have you done mechanism adjustement for this? Maybe its previous owner played with the parallex adjustment screws.

 

I since updated the GH-015 results. When trying things out, I accidentally loaded EEPROM defaults for one item and it reverted to the Sony OP. Sorry
There's still something wrong with electronics adjustments on this console with this laser in it.

 

Did you try speeding up the tray again, when inserting the DVD-SL disc?
You need to ensure that it ejects and retracts in a timely manner. The timeout includes the time taken to eject/retract, unfortunately.

 

I tried this about 3 times (it's pretty complicated to get to that step) and all 3 times it bailed out to the menu.
I think I've got the tray speedup right. It works all the time on the CD part.
One thing though: When the CD adjustment is done, it slowly spins out the CD while the tray LED blinks (it waits to get ready to eject).
If that time is included, then it's too long for sure.

The other tool successfully auto adjusted the drive in the GH-015
It was a very close call with the DVD-SL jitter. It demands below 0x1B and mine was slightly above it.
Had to retry a few times with the best skew adjustment I could tweak.

 

That's... not a very good piece of news. I cannot find anything wrong, so at most I will discontinue this project.
I added a check that will indicate the command that timed out: https://www.sendspace.com/file/f492p3

How about your C-chassis set?

EDIT: there may be some problems with PMAP. I will be withdrawing the tool until I can fix it.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Why is it complicated to get there?

The telltale sign if the eject failed, is the tray going back in on its own. Usually, it timed out and/or sent an error code (that the ejection failed).

 

To anyone having issues adjusting their lasers:
When the optical block is worn out and you have to increase the laser power just to get it to do anything, here is a suggestion for a fix: Give your optical block a bath in an ultrasonic cleaner!


I know that it sounds crazy but if you do it right, the water will not damage the electronics.
The bath will remove soot, dust and oils like nicotine from the optical parts deep inside the optical block.
If done properly, this can rejuvenate a worn laser to very good levels!

I tried this on a nearly dead launch machine laser that would get jitter values about 0x2D00 or worse, even after careful skew adjustments. This would never pass the test.
After the bath and drying with warm (not hot!) air, the jitter values came right down to 0x1700!
I could also decrease the laser power again. It needed pretty high levels originally.

Note: You need to be aware of additives in the water you use. Some will leave a residue that will lead to corrosion, especially if it's not dried soon enough. Leaving it out in the air for 2 days to let it dry will almost certainly cause corrosion.

Note2: This probably works on PSX, Saturn, etc as well

If anyone has suggestions on how to make the process safer, please share

 

PMAP v1.10 Changelog:

• Corrected incorrect values for C-chassis detection.
• Corrected incorrect floating-point values used in elect-adjustment.
• Corrected (debug) ID numbers for post-update and post-EEPROM write tasks.
• Corrected detection of the Rohm RTC IC on the F-chassis and later.
• Corrected return values for the Rx handlers of elect-adjustment.
• Added code to reset the RTC.
• Added an option to clear the OSD2 Init Bit during updates.
• Refactored the code under elect adjustment to make it possible to change the UI.
• Removed debug messages from elect adjustment.
• Added an error message for commands that time out.

Downloads/links
PMAP v1.10: http://www.mediafire.com/?y1e619jilhpayao
Source code: http://www.mediafire.com/?ygj18srr92c5gwm

On a side note, I would also like to mention what the "Safety Control" option in the SONY tool's mechanism adjustment screen might have been meant for.
If it is enabled, it prevents some (impossible?) actions from being done:

• Starting DVD-SL Stage 1 initialization (both step 3 and step3+4), when the sled is not in home position.
• Starting DVD-DL Stage 1 initialization, when the sled is not in home position.
• Starting CD-ROM Stage 1 initialization, when the sled is not in home position.

But because initialization for mechanism adjustment in PMAP is automatic (like pressing the "ALL 1>2>3>4" button), there is no need for this option.
In fact, if the PS2 cannot safely perform initialization when the sled is not in home position, I think that it is better to prevent it entirely.

 

Thanks again!
I'll use them next time I repair some consoles. Will report results then!