Questions
Q&A
Q:How
many wires are there
needed to be soldered
while installing the
TNA-15, TNA-16 and TNA-18
modchip?
A:There
are totally 23 wires
to be soldered for installing
All the TNA modchip.
Q:Is
the wiring critically
sensitive?
A:Improper
wiring could possibly
lead to a problem of
Intermittent. To avoid
this problem you are
highly recommended to
follow strictly the
installation criteria
bellows,
| 1. |
be
sure that there
is 2 grounding
(being marked
as GND 1 &
2) wires and 1
VCC wire to be
soldered by using
wires of thicker
or better conductivity, |
| 2. |
the shorter
the better while
you are wiring
the connections
of the signal
wires and, |
| 3.
|
be sure to clean
all the soldered
points with a
soft dissolver
(Solvent) by means
of an old toothbrush
in order to prevent
from noise interference
happened while
operating or gaming
on the console
which may cause
same problem of
intermittence.
|
Q:
What is the main difference
between TNA-18 and TNA-15
or TNA-16?
A:
All the features and
specifications are the
same except that the
TNA has 1MB of flash
memory which allows
you console to play
all the DVD titles with
DVD region free function.
Q:Why
do I get the "TV
system doesn't match"
error massage on the
screen while trying
to play a DVD movie?
A:
The TV screen will show
this error massage,
if you attempt to play
a PAL movie on a NTSC
console. This is due
to a limitation in the
DVD player software
and currently there
is no way around this.
Q:
Will the console suffer
laser burnout syndrome?
We were reported
from time to time by
our distributors regarding
the syndrome of PSTwo
laser burnout which
remind us to think of
the similar laser burn
out syndrome happened
at the very beginning
stage of the debut of
PS2 50000 series. That
issue was a question
of controversy lasting
for months and, as times
goes by, getting invisible
and now, it comes 70000
series again.
After had a market survey
and failure analysis
over several dead PSTwo
provided by our customers
we concluded our investigation
and analysis about this
syndrome into 3 major
points as stated below
which may cause the
burnout of laser module
(More precisely saying
is the Tracking
coil instead
of the laser diode burnout).
| 1). |
The
design of PSTwo
itself has a weak
point on the interaction
circuitry in between
laser Ass’y
and its servo
control on its
very beginning
stage. |
| 2). |
Improper installation
caused malfunction
of the control
circuitry and
lead to the failure
of the laser Ass’y. |
| 3).
|
Bad
designed high
current consuming
Modchip being
putting on a marginal
designed PSTwo’
power supply system
induced noise
interference over
the DSP IC which
may cause a random
malfunction inside
the DSP IC and
lead to the burnout
of the Tracking
coil or laser
Ass’y. |
Now,
let’s elaborate
the aforementioned as
follows;
1).
The
design of PSTwo itself
has a weak point on
the interaction circuitry
in between laser Ass’y
and its servo control
on its very beginning
stage.
Every design
shall have its weak
point or so called marginal
design which could only
be found on the very
beginning stage of its
debut on the market.
Many design bugs were
not easily to be found
in the lab due to that
so many usage environments
were changing dramatically
and which were unpredictable
in the lab; so as to
PSTwo itself. If someone
has to say that PSTwo
shall have its weak
point and/or marginal
design, then it must
be the servomechanism
as where involves a
lot of high voltage
and rush current etc
complicate design, any
negligence of the complicate
factors may easily crash
the machine out of work.
If this marginal design
is intentionally plotted
by Sony in order to
confine the usage of
the media to be the
original games or DVD
titles only, then certain
protection circuit is
needed to limit the
use of media in order
to prevent from the
laser burnout; On the
other hand, rather than
marginal design, I firmly
believe that this syndrome
is due to a design weak
point occurred in a
negligence occasion;
In such a case then
you don’t have
to worry about it as
Sony will correct the
weak point sooner or
later. As to the dead
laser console, if you’ve
got one, it could only
be attributed to your
bad luck.
2).
Improper installation
caused malfunction of
the control circuitry
and lead to the failure
of the laser Ass’y.
From the failure
analysis of the dead
PSTwo(s), we found that
most of the installation
of the modchip on the
console which we had
investigated are not
being installed strictly
follow our installation
instruction; we summarized
the improper installations
into 4 major problems
as below;
a). miss leading
of the soldering wire
or bad soldering point
and/or solder point
being short circuit
to the adjacent solder
point.
b). inadequate
wires being used on
the wiring of VCC (power
supply) and GND1 &
GND2; please be aware
of that for the wiring
the point of VCC and
GND(s) you have to consider
using a better conductive
and/or bigger diameter
wire.
c). lacking
of one grounding (GND)
wire; we have to remind
you that there are 2
wires of Grounding(GND)
for better noise immunity
on Mars Pro modchip
in order to prevent
from laser burnout,
just 1 point(GND1 or
GND2 only) grounding
is not adequate.
d). the remaining
solder bridge and/or
the soldering paste
on the main board which
may cause the short
circuit and/or electric
leakage on the main
board and lead to the
laser burnout; Please
be sure, by using a
toothbrush come with
some PCB cleaning liquid
on it, to clean all
the re-soldered soldering
point in order to prevent
from any unnecessary
remaining on the main
board.
3).
Bad designed high current
consuming Modchip being
putting on a marginal
designed PSTwo’
power supply system
induced noise interference
over the DSP IC which
may cause a random malfunction
inside the DSP IC and
lead to the burnout
of the Tracking coil
or laser Ass’y.
There
are some bad designed
modchip which consumes
nearly 200 mA of current
in comparison to Mars
Pro’s less than
10 mA; during the time
interval of patching
the peak current could
be possibly ten times
higher than normal of
the current could probably
reaching 2000 mA; under
such a circumstance
the peak current could
be possibly induced
a lot of noise interference
which may cause the
malfunction of the DSP
IC and, as a result,
lead to the burnout
of the laser module.
By adopting a newly
developed LLP (Low Power
Patching) technology,
Mars Pro consumes less
than 10 mA in order
to provide more immunity
of Noise Interference
which makes Mars Pro
modchip more stable
and more reliable particularly
for this problem and
in the meantime, makes
longer MTBF (Mean Time
Between Failure) possible.
>>Laser
protection circuitries
To provide some protections
for laser module probably
could make you feel
safer. There are several
categories of protection
circuitry which, attributed
to different protection
theories, are available
now on the market up
to your choice; by hereinafter
we’d like to give
you a briefing all over
those differences of
the protection circuitry
and its related protection
theory in between as
well as the tradeoff
it might exist for your
pre-studying and selecting
purpose.
1). Diode fix
The schematics shown
on fig. 1 is a basic
differential amplifier
it functions like a
drive of the tracking
coil and/or focusing
coil in PSTwo for driving
the laser lens being
pulled back into the
right orbit and/or corrected
position.
This Diode fix is designed
to provide a “clamping”
function on both the
input of the Differential
Amplifier to get rid
of the noise being imposed
on the inputs in order
to prevent from excessive
output current occurred
on driving Tracking/focusing
coil.
Fig.
1 Differential Amplifier
with Diode fixes Fig.
2 Protection board of
Diode fix
2).
Gain fix
This Gain fix is designed
to be applying on the
same Differential Amplifier
mentioned above. Instead
of “clamping”
function of the Diode
fix, Gain fix is to
put an additional resister
in parallel with the
Gain control resister
in order to reduce the
resistance so as to
reduce the output current
of the Differential
Amplifier and, as a
result, minimized the
possibility of laser
burnout.
This Gain fix is the
simplest and cheapest
way of protection on
the market; it certainly
has its tradeoff of
reducing the reading
ability of PSTwo as
the capability of tracking/focusing
of the laser lens has
been diminished.
Fig.
3 Differential Amplifier
with Gain fix Fig. 4
Picture of after installation
of Gain fix
3). vanDrunen fix
A Dutch guy Mr. vanDrunen
considered that the
laser burnout is caused
by allowing too much
of current being flowed
into the tracking/focusing
coil so, what we have
to do is only to provide
a current limitation
circuitry in prior to
the VCC of the Mechacon
IC (LA6508) to confine
the supplying current
as well as the output
current of the Mechacon
IC within a certain
safe range to prevent
from the burnout of
the coil in the laser
module.
Fig. 5 Protection board
of vanDrunen fix
4).
PIC fix
Some people attribute
the failure of tracking/focusing
coil to the malfunctions
of the DVD/CD DSP IC,
so that they devised
a Micron IC (12C508)
in order to monitor
the operation status
of the DSP IC. Once
the malfunction of the
DSP IC has been detected
by the Micron IC, the
Micron IC will send
out a signal to shut
down the reading process
of the PSTwo in order
to protect the laser
module from burnout.
Fig. 6 is a dual functioned
protection circuitry
of a combination of
vanDrunen fix and PIC
fix provided for your
reference purpose.
Fig. 6 a vanDrunen fix
and PIC fix combined
protection circuitry
>>For
more information about
the installation of
the protection board
please refer to here.
Wrap
up
Every aforementioned
laser protection circuitries
all have their respective
theory of protection;
it’s a controversial
question that which
one is good or not good,
you might be suggested
to try and error for
each proposal for certain;
but you must be aware
of that every counter
measurement, like the
usage of medicine, all
has its side effect,
more or less. Generally
the side effect of adding
protection is the reducing
of the ability of reading
variety of media. Thus
is, for your console’
good it’s better
to limit the reading
capability rather than
burn out the laser lens.
Q:
How to make HDLoader
being installed into
a PS2 memory card ?
1. Preparation:
a). The download
of compressed MC_Installation.zip
file,
b). 2 discs of blank
CD-R,
c). CD-R Burner and
its related utility
software such as Nero,
Alcohol 120% or etc,
d). IDE hard drive and
the installation kit
such as PS2 Network
adapter, HD Combo and
etc,
e). PS2 memory card
with more than 1,500
KB free space available,
and
f). PS2 game console
(any PS2 series console
except 1x000, 7500x
and/or 7700x series)
with any of
the Modchip listed below
installed on it.
Modchip which
supports Dev1 mode are
listed as below;
Brand |
Model
No. |
*Mars
Pro |
GM-806 |
*Mars
Pro |
GM-816 |
*Murano-III |
Grande |
*Murano-III |
Grande
SL |
*M7
|
GP-788
SL |
*M7
|
Auto |
*M7
|
Auto
2 |
*SUPER-7 |
K17 |
*Modbo |
4.0 |
*Modbo |
760 |
*Modbo
4.0 |
Pro |
*OMO |
5.0 |
*OMO |
770 |
*Matrix |
M988A |
*Infinity |
1.88 |
2.
Making 2 CD-R discs
a).
Place the MC_Installation.zip
disc into your PC and
then de-compress it.
After de-compressing,
2 image files, EXPLORE10.iso
and HDLoader_English.iso,
appeared on you PC screen
as below;
 Fig.
2-1
|
b).
Burn those 2 Image files,
EXPLORE10.iso
and HDLoader_English.iso,
into 2 separate CD-R
disc and mark EXPLORE1.0
and HDLoader_English
respectively on top
of it as follow;
Fig. 2-2
|
3.
Installing the EXPLORE1.0
memory card manager
utility program into
PS2 memory card
a).
Insert the memory card
into memory card slot
1.
b). Insert the PS2 controller
into controller slot
1.
c). Place the EXPLORE1.0
disc into the PS2 console,
and then press RESET
button once. The EXPLORE1.0
is now installed automatically
into memory card. (Fig
3-1)
 Fig.
3-1
|
d). To make sure
if the EXPLORE1.0
has been properly installed,
please remove the EXPLORE1.0
CD-R disc
out of the console;
and after then,
press and hold
the  button
of the controller and
then, in the meantime,
press RESET button;
release the pressing
of the
button while the picture
(Fig. 3-2) below appeared
on your TV screen.
 Fig.
3-2
|
4.
Installation of HDLoader
hard disc manager utility
a).
Place the HD
Loader English disc
into PS2 console, then
press and hold the
button of the controller
and, in the meantime,
press RESET once; release
the pressing of
button after the TV
screen pattern (Fig.
4-1) as below appeared.
 Fig.
4-1
|
b).
Under the picture of
Fig. 4-1, press SELECT
button on the controller,
the Installing
HD Loader0.8B (English)
picture (Fig. 4-2) appeared
on the TV screen. After
a while, eventually
the Browser
HD Loader0.8B (English)
picture (Fig. 4-3) appeared
which means you have
completed the installation
of HD Loader into your
PS2 memory card.
 Fig.
4-2
Fig.
4-3
|
Note:
Please
be aware of that there
will be 5 corrupted
Data appeared on your
memory card as shown
in fig. 4-4, after you
have completed the installation.
Those 5 corrupted data
actually are utilities
of memory card manager
and HD Loader Hard drive
manager.
Please
do not delete or erase
any of them in order
not to arise any malfunction
of HDLoader.
Fig. 4-4
|
5.
How
to execute HDLoader
hard disc drive manager
a). Remove the
HDLoader_English
CD-R disc
out of the console.
Press and Hold the
button and, in the meantime,
press RESET button once
till the TV pattern
as fig. 5-1 below appears
on the screen.
Fig.
5-1
|
b).
Under the picture of
fig. 5-1, use the Cross
(+) button to move the
cursor to make HD
Loader0.8B (English)
being selected and then,
press the X button of
the controller to start
loading of the HD
Loader0.8 (English)
. The picture fig 5-2
below appeared on the
screen shows that the
loading are proceeding
now.
 Fig.
5-2
|
c).
After some 30 seconds
of showing the picture
of Fig. 5-2 while loading,
the TV picture shifted
into Fig. 5-3. The appearance
of the picture below
(Fig. 5-3) means that
the loading of HDLoader
has been completed and
been ready on the console
for executing.
 Fig.
5-3
|
Remark:
For more information
about the installation
of hard drive, please
refer to the websites
below;
http://www.hdcombo.com
http://www.hdloader.com.au/
http://forums.afterdawn.com/
http://www.zerocyber.com/en/index_eng.php
http://www.ps21cn.com/hardware/tech/200502/20050222155652.shtml
http://www.shinychan.com/viewthread.php?tid=10377
Q:
How to make HDLoader
being installed in a
HD Drive ?
1.
Preparation:
The preparation of hardware
and software includes,
A. the download of the
Compressed HDD-Install.rar
utility,
B. a blank CD-R
disc,
C. a PC equipped with
CD-R burner
and its related utility
such as Alcohol
120%,
D. an IDE HD
Drive,
E. a PS2 network
adapter or
a HDD installation kit
such as HD Combo,
and
F. a Modded
PS2 console
(Any version of PS2
console, except 1X000,
7500x and 7700x)
installed with the any
of the modchip listed
below which supports
Dev2 (HDD) Mode.
Brand |
Model
No. |
Mars
Pro |
GM-806 |
Mars
Pro |
GM-816 |
Mars
Pro |
GM-806HD |
Mars
Pro |
GM-816HD |
Murano-III |
Grande |
Murano-III |
Grande
SL |
M7
|
GP-788
SL |
M7
|
GP-788
XL |
M7
|
Auto |
M7
|
Auto
2 |
Modbo |
4.0 |
Modbo |
760 |
Modbo
4.0 |
Pro |
OMO |
5.0 |
OMO |
770 |
Infinity |
1.88 |
Infinity |
1.93 |
2.
Making a disc for installation
A. After de-compression
of HDD-Install.rar,
HDD-HDLoader.mdf
and HDD-HDLoader.mds,
2 image files show up
on your PC screen as
in fig 2-1.
 Fig.
2-1
|
B.
Burn the 2 image files
onto a CD-R Disc by
using Alcohol
120% utility
software.
3.
The installation of
HDD EXPLORER utility
A. Make sure
to have the controller
being inserted in the
slot 1 of the PS2 console.
B.
Place the burned disc
onto the console and
press RESET button.
Then, after the picture
(Fig 3-1) appears on
the screen, Press the
“ X ” button
on the controller
to start the installation.
 Fig.
3-1
|
.
After the completion
of the installation,
the picture Fig 3-2
shows on the screen.
gain
to set the
console being
back to Standby
mode.
B.
Press and
Hold the START
button on
the controller
and then,
press the
RESET button
until the
picture Fig
4-1 appears.
Fig. 3-2
|
4.
The installation of
HDLoader
A. Press RESET
button once a
C. When the picture
Fig 4-1 appears, then
press the ””
button of the controller
to start the installation
of HDLoader V0.8.
Eventually, the picture
Fig 4-2 will appear
on the screen to signify
the completion of the
installation of the
HDLoader V0.8.
 Fig.
4-1
|
Fig. 4-2
|
5.
Re-starting the console
and loading the HDLoader
utility onto the console
A. After the installation
of HDLoader, retrieve
the burned utility disc
from the console and
then press RESET button
to set the console being
back to the standby
mode.
B.
Press and hold the ”START”button
and then press the RESET
button until the picture
Fig 5-1 appears.
C.
Under the picture Fig
5-1, press ”X”button
on the controller to
start the loading of
the HDLoader utility
as shown in Fig 5-2.
Fig. 5-1
|
Fig. 5-2
|
D.
After seconds of waiting,
the picture Fig 5-3
appears to signify the
completion of the loading
of HDLoader.
 Fig.
5-3
|
6.
For more detailed Information
about the HDLoader,
please refer to the
website below;
http://www.hdcombo.com
http://www.hdloader.com.au/
http://forums.afterdawn.com/
http://www.zerocyber.com/en/index_eng.php
http://www.ps21cn.com/hardware/tech/200502/20050222155652.shtml
http://www.shinychan.com/viewthread.php?tid=10377
|
