PS2 tool not booting

Discussion in 'Sony Programming and Development' started by FlamingSpaz, Aug 17, 2017.

  1. FlamingSpaz

    FlamingSpaz Rising Member

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    I recently sold @M54B25 a tool unit which was working fine in my possession, but after shipping it to him it no longer appears to boot correctly. We've gone through the basic troubleshooting steps but I'm running out of ideas.

    The TOOL light turns green after a while as expected, but there is no output from either the tool or PC side. It just shows a blank screen. It doesn't make the POST beep and the network is also not connecting, but shows some type of link on his switch.

    Anyone know what else to try and get this thing to show an error or something useful?
     
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  2. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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    Yep, it still doesn't work.
    There are 3 short beeps after pushing power button, and then green light turns on. After that, Tool doesn't start.
    I remember that old computers has emergency signals - 3 signals means problem with RAM. Maybe that is a problem?
     
  3. FlamingSpaz

    FlamingSpaz Rising Member

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    The first three beeps are normal - they come before the POST beep. Is it possible for you to take a video of it when you power it on?

    Edit: Ideally for a minute or two so we can see which other lights come on?
     
  4. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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  5. FlamingSpaz

    FlamingSpaz Rising Member

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    Okay yeah, that seems like a PC card issue to me, might have come loose in shipping.

    Does anyone have other suggestions on what could be the issue or ways to test?
     
  6. HI_Ricky

    HI_Ricky Intrepid Member

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    may be backup battery dead, try plug vga cable to cp card, check the on screen message
     
  7. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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  8. Shuji

    Shuji Rising Member

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    Hello, I would like to help you resolve this issue you are having with this majestic, but also complex piece of hardware.
    I noticed right off the bat your tool or WS (workstation/backup rom) led light did not flash orange or stay green meaning it did not boot into the linux/development environment. Here are some possibilities as to why that might be happening;

    1. The hard drive is dying due to old age or shipping in that case I suggest replacing it with a compact flash drive for silence and reliability. If you do decide to go with the compact flash solution I can provide with my working image it has both ftp & telnet software installed. So you can control it and type in commands from your PC with putty either through lan or rs232 (serial). Also one of the images is for the Pentium MMX SBC (Red Hat 5.2 Apollo) while the other one is for the Celeron SBC (Red Hat 6.2 Zoot).

    2. The CMOS battery for the SBC (single board computer) could be dead like someone else suggested to bypass this press f1 to continue booting into linux or simply replace it.
    3. The SBC might have been disconnected from the PCI though I highly doubt this due to the screw holding the bracket in place.

    4. The ram may be dead thus needing to be replaced with either two EDO 64mb sticks or one SDRAM 256mb not 512mb depending on which SBC you have. I say 256mb SDRAM not 512mb because the MRP (It ensures the backplane and ps2 motherboard are in sync) refuses to work with a 512mb ram stick believe me I've tried. Even changing the boot loader lilo config file to read 512mb instead of auto detecting does not work it's not a kernel limitation rather a driver.

    5. The CPU in the SBC may have overheated or the pin connectors may very well be bent and thus making it no longer operational resulting in it not beeping or posting. It could be because the fan had stopped working or the fan was caked with dust thus not allowing it to spin anymore because of the additional weight. In other words clean the inside of the tool kit with wipes that are designed for electronics to increase it's longevity.


    Out of all those issues I can't help, but think it's the hard drive failing since it does make an awful sound when it's turned on which is a good indication that it's on it's last leg. To be 100% sure though can you please connect it to a computer monitor through the SBC's/PC VGA port not the ps2 motherboard VGA port. It's located on the very bottom hidden underneath a metal bracket and also can you please tell me what it outputs. If it does not boot into linux it should report that a hard drive can not be found after completing the memory test or though the bios.

    Honestly I wish sliverbull, sp193, & unclejun would comment because either one of them could explain in detail how the system does it's magic with their prolific knowledge on how the PS2 operates. Thanks to them I've learned so much from their old posts and in the process I even gained a lot of linux knowledge hence why I'm able to diagnose the ps2 tool kit. Anyways please keep me updated.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2017
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  9. FlamingSpaz

    FlamingSpaz Rising Member

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    Thanks for the suggestions, super helpful!

    http://psx-core.ru/_ld/5/579_PS2_Tool_guide.pdf can be used to help open it up (The copper tape is actually really sharp, be careful taking it off!). Listening back to the video properly it does actually seem like it might be the HDD that is broken, but I think it would still POST if that was the case. Might be worth also reseating the RAM on the SBC.

    Edit: For more info, I'm 100% sure this is not related to the tool ROM, as I flashed it myself to the latest available and tested it working. I don't think its possible for that to get damaged in shipping.
     
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  10. Shuji

    Shuji Rising Member

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    You are welcome and I am happy to help out even with my somewhat limited knowledge.

    Let's say it isn't the hard drive that is the underlining issue here regardless it should be replaced with a compact flash drive like me and unclejun have done. Though he would need an adapter and would have to clone it with one my images using EaseUS Partition Master other methods won't work. In my opinion it'd be worth the extra steps just knowing it has no mechanical moving parts and is more robust though you could argue write limits. But we would never exceed them anyways since we're mainly using it to read/execute .sh (applications) files. Truthfully he or she could even buy a cheap ide hard drive and I would gladly guide him or her through the process on how to clone one of my images to the newly acquired hard drive with clonezilla.

    Anyways I just hope he or she did not connect the vga cable to the ps2 motherboard rather than the SBC which of course would cause it to not post because it was only meant for ps2-linux, ffxi, & vga compatible games. Not to forget the fact that it also only supports green on sync monitors so without such a monitor it would display out of signal. I say this because I too made this mistake when I first attempted to experiment with the linux side to gain some insight on how to use it since I'm mostly a windows guy.

    Edit: FlamingSpaz I think you might have misunderstood me when I said flash I didn't say you tampered with the rom I was simply trying to say neither mode would display a orange light while booting. I guess I shouldn't have used the word flash when I meant repeatedly showing the same light over and over again until it turns into a solid green thus letting the user know it's in linux. Sorry for the confusion.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2017
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  11. sp193

    sp193 Site Soldier

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    As this is a PC and a PS2 in one (but they are still separate sub-systems), I would check the SBC board for problems. A list of things that I would check, were already listed above.

    The PS2 side will work independently of the PC, but is useless if the communications processor (the Linux PC) is dysfunctional.

    The TOOL LED is controlled during the Linux boot process. So if your PC (SBC board) cannot even boot, it will not go that far.

    The HDD does not matter if the SBC board is dysfunctional. There are beeps when the TOOL is switched on, but they do not sound like POST beep codes.

    Finally, all the best to you with solving the hardware problems.
     
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  12. Shuji

    Shuji Rising Member

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    Thank you sp193 for giving us your opinion on what exactly is going on and for sharing your extensive knowledge with us. I'm constantly learning from you and I'm always amazed by your dedication to this intricate system.

    I forgot to mention that the dvd drive did not blink also indicating linux never booted nor did the ps2 reset.

    I just want to put this out there assuming that the is problem narrowed down and resolved. There are a couple of ways of checking if any of the ps2 or backplane board components have been damaged or gone out.

    1. The green led lights on the very far left side of the backplane should all be lite up expect for the reset which blinks red at the beginning anyways.

    2. Launch your preferred web browser
    2.1 Type in your ps2's network ip it can be found by connecting an AV cable from the PS2 to a TV.
    If you ever want to change it go to the network page/section within development tool web page.

    2.2 Now that your in the development tool web page log in as the administrator and start the self-diagnostic program.

    2.3 Launch the do all this test it verifies everything from the emotion engine to the communication processor is in good working order. After the test is completed it should hopefully report that each and every component is fully functional. For demonstrations purposes here is an example of where the important tests are successful while as some not so important tests will throw errors;

    http://www.mediafire.com/file/uk44o4t6zn5w5yf/View_completed_results.htm

    Note; there is a guide right when you enter the main development tool web page it should be in the documentation section. For anyone who's curious this pdf resides in the ps2tooldiag package.

    1. Extract the package with the rpm -ql ps2tooldiag-<version>.rpm | xargs tar -zcvf command.
    2. Use the ls command to list the newly created archive.
    3. Ftp it to your pc using ftp in linux or using your preferred ftp client.

    Note; user & password is the same as your login for linux. For example; user name root & password root.

    4. Extract it with 7zip.
    5. Lastly go into \usr\local\sony\www\htdocs\english\docs\admin-tool folder the file is labeled devtool-e.pdf.

    I suggest doing all this remotely with telnet or ssh as it will make life so much easier. Follow this guide by CJ! to setup ftp & ssh; https://assemblergames.com/threads/how-to-install-and-run-ssh-on-your-ps2-tool.14827

    Another method would be to list the files within the installed rpm's use the rpm -qi command it should display every rpm installed find the ps2tooldiag version package and type in rpm -ql ps2tooldiag<version> it lists every file within the package. You can also just navigate to the admin-tool folder using cd \usr\local\sony\www\htdocs\english\docs\admin-tool command and ftp the file from there with.

    Remember as sp193 has said many times this is tool kit is designed for debugging/testing purposes only everything else is done on the computer or laptop.
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2017
  13. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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    Thanks guys for all informations.
    Tool is disassembled now. I've changed internal battery (CR2032) - no results, disconeccted all hard drives - no results. Starting Tool without RAM memory - the same result like with the RAM (hard discs spinning but no POST sounds).
    Below the hard discs are 4 LEDs. Two of them are lights on red - OS and DRIVE. I don't know is it good or not?
    VGA port underneath metal bracket has two rows of pins - I don't have a monitor with that socket.
    Tool connected to my switch shows only 1 green LED on it.
    I think it could be a RAM problem, need to find a new one.

    EDIT:
    Look what I found on second side of PCB with RAM memory:
    [​IMG]

    Completely disaster :mad::mad:
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2017
  14. FlamingSpaz

    FlamingSpaz Rising Member

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    Looks like a cap or mosfet is missing there, so the RAM isn't getting any power. Is there anything moving around in the bottom of the TOOL where it could have fallen to?
     
  15. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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    Below that element is CPU fan only, no other moving parts.
    When I opened the Tool, that PCB doesn't fit properly in PCI slot.
     
  16. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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    It is Tantalum Capacitor 10uF 16V. I found it in Tool, made a bypass and soldered. Still the same effect.
     
  17. sp193

    sp193 Site Soldier

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    Did you check why it's like that? Perhaps the PCI slot is damaged.
     
  18. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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    No, PCI slot is Ok. It was something like this:
    [​IMG]
    but less. I've corrected it, then start Tool.
    Now is soldered and gluted, but still not working.
     
  19. wisi

    wisi Rising Member

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    It may have been a better idea to first disassemble the TOOL rather than turning it on with misplaced SBC card... given how prone are the TOOLs toward internal parts disconnecting.
    Do you have a theory as to what may have happened? It probably takes significant force to break this tantalum capacitor from the PCB...
    You probably have, but just in case to ask - did you replaced it in the correct polarity?
    Either way it may be best to first get the SBC PCB working and for that it is best to have a monitor connected to it. First try with only RAM and CPU on it and nothing else connected to it (but the monitor).
    If I remember correctly there is a part of the TOOL hardware that controls the power-on line of the SBC, and this connection is made through a single wire connecting to some of the pin headers of the SBC PCB. (Please correct me if I am wrong about the purpose of that wire.) So if it is for powering-up the SBC, and it got disconnected, that would explain why it doesn't power on. However In that case the HDDs might mot have spun-up...
    Maybe you can test the SBC card on some PC motherboard (I am not sure that would work though), so you can test it in a quieter environment (both it and the PS2 backplane have buzzers).
     
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  20. M54B25

    M54B25 Spirited Member

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    Yeah, but who knows that?
    TC is soldered correctly. One side was tear away from PCB, so I soldered it in right place.
    How may it happened? This capacitor is on the same level like CPU fan below SBC. When SBC moved up from PCI slot, capacitor bump off the fan edge. It is my theory.
    The easiest way is to make a WTB thread, but I want to resolve it repairing this PCB.
     
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