Time to mod the ol' PS2! (installing a mod chip)

How can I tell if this is a GH-007? Ask the seller to count how many screws are in the case, or is there's a model/serial/code somewhere on it that identifies it?

Thanks for the tip! I'll watch some of those YouTube videos, and I might ask the seller if he was doing the swap trick.

 

its 10 screws on the bottom by the way the screws are all philips/x head
and 2-3 screws below stickers

 

As I understand it, v3 have 10 "squares" on the bottom while v4 have 8 instead? Also, I hear that the serial number of v3s all start with U2, while v4 start with either U3, U4, U5 or U6?

 

Okay, the seller tells me it's a SCPH-30002, so it's either a v3 or v4. I've asked him to count how many "squares" are on the bottom, but he hasn't responded yet. In case he doesn't, is the v3 just as good of a choice for a installing a modchip as the v4 is? I would have thought it would be even better being an older model.

 

Clone modchips will not work on V3 or lower.
You might want to look into a ICE based chip such as the Duo3 Ultra

 

Modbo 4.0 is supposed to work on the v3 (not personally done it, but plenty of sites offer them for sale as compatible v3+)

 

From what I have read the modbo only supports GH-010 and up. Plus I have never seen any Modbo Diagrams for the anything lower than the GH-010

 

Apparently...

 

I guess the only way to find out is to install one.

Need to find one to test it.

 

It's a bit of a worry, various websites say it has different compatibility. One says v5 to v16, one says v5 to v19, one says v3 to v16 and a few of them say they're compatible with all versions. How are you suppose to know who's right?

 

Contacted a local seller about compatibility, he says that the manufacturer claims it works in v3 and v4, though he hasn't installed one in a v4 (so he has installed one in a v3 then?). Sounds like I should be safe, though it would be cool if someone could confirm if the v3 is the same/better/worse than the v4 in terms of being able to install a modchip and not having the hardware commit seppuku

 

Modchip *might* blow the laser regardless of the model of the PS2. The catch is that the PS2 is *more likely* to blow the laser if it's 3900x or newer.

 

Ah, well in that case, is the v3 better/equal/less than the v4 when it comes to it's likeliness of blowing the laser?

 

They're made of the exact same chips so they're exactly the same thing. They're only different physically at the motherboard layout. Also, the V4 comes with a newer boot ROM.

 

Cool, I'll grab this PS2 then and see what it is! Thanks l_oliveira!

 

Okay, I've won that PS2! Do you think I should order the Modbo 4.0 now to be ready for it's arrival? Do you think my chances of being able to get the tray working are high?

 

fixing the tray is rather high even if you cant fix the tray there is open PS2 loader

 

Yeah, in the YouTube videos I've seen, the tray coming out of alignment from the little white thing seems to be a common problem. Are there any other things that can make the tray not operate properly (i.e does the PS2 have a drive belt that wears out)?

 

nope no drive belt sony used basically off the shelf drive componets
like standard disk trays it uses a work gear to open and close the disk tray
if it ever gets stripped you just need a donor PS2 to get the worm gear from

 

Or just buy replacement parts. Dont need a while console as a donor - just fix both.