PS3 downgrade using universal programmer

Double Post (Delete)

 

Yup. I can spend the extra time and and remove dual nands/nor or wire directly to the board. I can wire directly to .5mm legs, I bet I could do .4mm if I tried. But I'll still grab for a clip everytime.

 

Seems there's not much consensus. Some hate clips, some are fine with them. Personally I like sockets over clips, so taking the chip from the board with hot air and resoldering with a nice concave drag soldering tip appeals most to me.
Soldering wires to test point/ic legs definitely is the most labor intensive, so I'd never opt for that.

 

Annd this attitude is why the modding scene fucking sucks...
Why is it everyone who does "modding professionally" seem to be on some sort of high horse of self righteousness, pull your head in FFS!

 

Maybe "garbage" is a bit hard - but surely you can see that a product that's so easy to misuse that a majority of the people trying to use it end up using it in a manner that damages it, the system it's connected to or both has to be considered at least problematic. Especially when it's being sold on the basis that it's an easier solution for people without much experience. I've fixed some consoles that were damaged by bad clip attachment and had a play with the clips, and they work perfectly well if you get the alignment correct - but that's something that's only easy after you have some experience of it, and if you get it wrong the first time (which most people will) then it tends to mash up the pins on the chip to the point where the chip won't connect properly even if you do subsequently get it in the right position.

 

... Mmhh... LEhaM... Maybe you have not seen the high numbers of clip kids at job that i have seen. If it's not a garbage dump.. It's an ylod maked by apply stupid force to the shit clip. But we are in free world, this kind of people help my money health... So... Who cares. Peace!

 

it's not to do with people making mistakes, it's to with this attitude.
"bla bla this person is an idiot bla bla"
Maybe they just don't know they are doing something wrong, being a dick and acting like you have some kind of secret sauce, doesn't help the community..
Instead of acting all master race, explain why you think it's bad in a constructive adult manner..

Bad attitudes like this make the whole modding community look like a bunch of dirty naked cave trolls squandering over a tiny piece of gold ..

Yes TSOP clips and the like probably aren't very good at connecting to oxidized leads on a chip, kind of expected really...

come to think of it, no tutorials I've seen that use a clip say anything about cleaning the leads first?...

 

That's because (and I don't mean this in a dickish way) most tutorials presume that the installer has at minimum, and elementary understanding of electronics. Giving the package a quick wipe-down can be integral in achieving profound contact between a "kid clip" and the package itself. That's why (someday) I'd like to revise the tutorials for the clip childrens. As none of those tutorials that I've seen place emphasis or even mention in passing the most important factors in achieving solid reads/writes. What would be 101 stuff and common sense for me isn't for someone who hasn't done stuff with electronics actively for several years. And that's completely understandable.

Other than a dedicated programmer. I find the TEENSY to be the most competent for both NAND and NOR systems.

Those clips aren't designed for novices. They're designed for people who don't want to solder 40+ conductors (two times) to downgrade a system, and for people who don't want to remove packages from the main-board to read/write with an external device.

Back to what Tri-mesh said. I absolutely agree with him. And that's why people shouldn't presume that using clips is a "turn-key" alternative to other methods. It's vastly easier and simpler, but you've gotta know it goes. You can get into trouble just as easily and just as quickly.

I use them, and I've never had a problem with them. I guess I'm just a silly nub novice.

 

LeHaM, No secret sauce will ever heal the immense stupidity of those who are convinced of his reason without any practical affinities. An adult speaks from experience, a child speaks from absolutes. But I can also say the clips are the panacea of all evil if it can help the heal of your crusade. Health First!

 

To be fair, if one messes up their memory chip when using a clip, we can probably conclude with near-certainty they wouldn't be able to successfully pull the chip, dump/patch it externally and reattach it without breaking legs or pads. In that case soldering wires to test points may be a safer solution, but ripping those pads due to using 80W iron/coarse tip/20 gauge wire/incautious treatment of soldered wires/general clumsiness isn't ruled out either

 

Just to add. Firstly, Assembler Games is one of the best enthusiast forums I've had the fortune of being a member of. Everyone is really sound and always keen to share information and help across the widest ranges of electronic issues. The occasional 'elitist' elements are nothing compared to the fanboy venom on other sites. From a modder viewpoint, there are too many newbies who think they can do a mod with zero experience and no practice. Making 'newbie friendly' devices only enables their in capability.

I've spent a few years on other sites trying to help people mod their consoles and the horror stories would make your toes curl. I won't mention the sites out of respect for the good professionals who donate their free time endlessly trying to unfuck people's fuck ups.

My point is, it is not 'elitist' to ask that people develop basic electronics knowledge and skill before even going near a working motherboard. People who dive in without due planning give modders and the tools a bad name. People who have spent time learning basics of electronics and soldering can make pretty much any approach work or even develop their own. That's why I always listen to the professionals who have 100's of consoles collectively in their experience.

 

Is this directed to me? Are you implying that I'm a child who speaks in absolutes while being deprived of any "adult" experience with electronics?

Hold my beer while I chuckle.

 

Voultar, you have not such priority in my mind. Thanks for the Beer. Cheers.

 

I believe it's mostly an end user issue with the clips. My theory of the issue of them wearing down fast, is because of excess solder that coat the upper legs of IC's. I've seen untouched boards from factory like this. While looking great, I can see some contacts of the clip to be still unconnected, while applying stress to the contacts in the clip that do make contact with the pins, especially for those that apply pressure to get them to make contact with the NAND pins. If I were going to be using clips (Got an elnec too as well, no point investing and messing with clips), I would give the pins a nice clean and reflow before using them.