PS3 Frankenstein PHAT PS3: CECHA with 40nm RSX

[RIP-Felix]

Felix,I think you lost me with the resistors. Cok-002 never had R2001 or R2002 resistors populated, so we did use a 47k in the R2002 spot all the time. This is what it said in the instruction. The only confusion we bumped into was with the Cok-001.

I was talking about the 40nm Official SONY refirb COK-001 board and Attempts to to replicate it (like squeepts and I thought yours too...am I wrong that your Japanese A00 console is a COK-001?). I wasn't talking about COK-002 or the mod chip. I was saying that we never noticed that R2002 is different and that R2001 was missing on that picture posted of an official refirb. Just like the modchip tutorial for a COK-002...but on a COK-001. That is new AFAIK.

I am still focused on trying to revive the board with a 302GB syscon. You'll never guess, but turned out the thermal errors 2030, 2031 and 2033 I was getting were caused by a dodgy button board of all things. After reconnecting it once more, the ps3 stopped beeping and its light almost faded. The moment I replaced it , it returned back to 3034 just like in Vyktor's test.

Interesting, the 2030-33 errors were related to the Power/Eject Daughter-board. I'm making note of it in my copy of the SYSCON codes PDF (I add comments as I go of various ways we've triggered/removed errors).

I could use a little advice though, can anybody confirm how important are the capacitors on top of RSX? Can one missing cap cause a 3034 error? Because I had some doubts of whether I should take that tiny missing capacitor seriously or not.

About that cap on the RSX, most of the time engineers go overboard with decoupling capacitors. If that's all it is, then loosing one is probably inconsequential. Those SMD components on top of the RSX "look important." I mean, why put them there unless there was a good reason? But, they could just be the closest place to put decoupling for the RAM modules. Since the RSX is a closed book as far as schematics go. And some of those look like resistors for voltage dividers, RC low pass filtering, etc. If that cap was part of an RC filter then it's important. Point is, the only way to know for sure it to take the parts from another RSX and replade the ones you lost.

 

[DeadEnd]

I was talking about the 40nm Official SONY refirb COK-001 board and Attempts to to replicate it (like squeepts and I thought yours too...am I wrong that your Japanese A00 console is a COK-001?). I wasn't talking about COK-002 or the mod chip. I was saying that we never noticed that R2002 is different and that R2001 was missing on that picture posted of an official refirb. Just like the modchip tutorial for a COK-002...but on a COK-001. That is new AFAIK.

I see. Maybe I misunderstood something, but I don't own a japanese console A00. I have been trying to win some auctions with one and considered selecting the slowest shipping option that takes 2-3 months, because otherwise it will costs 4 times the console itself.. This is for meant for a distant future...

Or are you referring to this comment ?

I'm just hung up on the fact that you got this model from THE Japan. Never entered my mind that Japan needed a "the" header. Lol.

I have no clue what or who he was talking about, but I never claimed to own any models from Japan or THE Japan lol.

The tests I've been performing were done on a COK-002 yet again. Yes, the resistor discovery is new for a COK-001, which I have not yet had the privilege of holding in my hands

I think I need a break from electronics for some time. I have a tendency to overload myself with projects and then get nearly a mental breakdown. I need to sort my priorities and just take it easy...

 

[DoublesAdvocate]

@RIP-Felix I'm still trying to find a second 40nm CECHA before I take the first one apart as I'm not 100% sure about the issue with the PS2 and fear I might make it worse tinkering around with the board.

 

[DeadEnd]

Btw, in case you were wondering about what was going on behind the curtains. Here is what I have been trying to convey, written by M4jor himself.

Thanks for your tests!
Yes, it seems like that now we know why Sony introduced the 303GB. Even though the 301GB and 302GB support the 65nm RSX (it's not even used on the DIA-001), they only support certain combinations.
Which means: 65nm CELL + 90nm or 65nm RSX + newer SB (CXD2984GB), which doesn't have any real value to us. Also the thermal management doesn't seem to support the older boards, it's really bugged. So the only thing you could do is to put a 65nm RSX on a SEM or DIA-001 board lol.
Well, I guess the 301GB and 302GB tests are done, just use the modchip (or the 303GB/304GB Syscon).

 

[truemaster]

dont forget guys i have a cecha00 japan model. it was sealed when arrived at me. i had to open it because it was overheating, the fan has busted but after that it gives ylod and the syscon test if full of 3034 just like @RIP-Felix. the board is just perfect no sighs of tampering. i just wait patiencly till someone give me the green light for the mod.

 

[RIP-Felix]

@RIP-Felix I'm still trying to find a second 40nm CECHA before I take the first one apart as I'm not 100% sure about the issue with the PS2 and fear I might make it worse tinkering around with the board.

If just opening it to take a few pictures/measurements brakes it more, it might actually give us some insight into how to fix it. If small pressure changes from opening the console have any effect whatsoever, I'd suspect a dodgy solder connection. But let's get real, It wont hurt to take a few pictures, resistance measurements, and confirm part numbers. No soldering, no heat. Just passive observation.

And to put it bluntly, you're the only one still active on the forums that has one. Or another way to say it, if it can't play more than 2 minutes of PS2 games before freezing, what's the point of even having one if you're not going to study it? Or at least attempt to figure out how to fix it so you can enjoy using it. You may as well buy a slim, because it has no other utility except to be studied - which we can't do if you lock away from viewing.

 

[RIP-Felix]

.. i just wait patiencly till someone give me the green light for the mod.

That's all on you my man. If you want to give this a go, have at it! And good luck, your gonna need it.

 

[vyktormvmpay25]

I've been testing "a mod". Only working way will be with one syscon with F model or 714120-303/304 later year revision 2009 think. Early syscon models won't react to patches found on new syscon models.
Only way to work for moment with Orbis modchip.
Even if I'm trying to be dumb persistent I don't get it working, but for everyone's knowledge is good to be tested.

 

[RIP-Felix]

...I don't own a japanese console A00...The tests I've been performing were done on a COK-002...

I see. Since I was only talking about COK-001's, I thought your comment meant you were attempting it on one. My mistake.

I think I need a break from electronics for some time. I have a tendency to overload myself with projects and then get nearly a mental breakdown. I need to sort my priorities and just take it easy...

Haha...If you haven't noticed I have a tendency to get obsessed too. Yes, balance is important. If it's not fun for you, yeah take a break. This is a hobby after all.

Spoiler: A personal, but related Anecdote

Start this and listen to it while reading the following...

I've reached an age and level of education where finding things that are completely new to me and add that spice of life are becoming fewer and further between. I enjoyed watching documentaries as a kid, because I enjoyed learning about new things. That's a great time of life, when you're experiencing everything for the 1st time. And while there are plenty of things I haven't experienced yet, that pace has slowed as I age and my perception of time speeds up. Keeping life interesting is a chore I have to work at! To quote my favorite song (for this exact reason and because it TOTALLY ROCKS)...

I'm reaching for the random or
Whatever will bewilder me
Whatever will bewilder me
And following our will and wind
We may just go where no one's been
We'll ride the spiral to the end
And may just go where no one's been
Spiral out, keep going
Spiral out, keep going
Spiral out, keep going
Spiral out, keep going​

I think that's what I like about electronics. It's new and everything is mysterious. Basically, a grown-up's video game. Instead of grinding a Kaizo Mario level for that elation when you finally reach the end, it's the reward of finding a physical principal or equation that solves a puzzle I've been stumped on for a while. And it builds a skill with real world application.

For example, yesterday I dug back into the TRSTNEG rabbit hole. It led me to JTAG, again (despite @M4jor's insistance that JTAG has been disabled by SONY at the factory). I still want to understand why both mods remove R2153. That JTAG signal led me to Power On Reset (POR) and how the processor block of the JTAG inteface's TRSTNEG signal fits in. I'm working on a post about it because It's directly related to how this mod works. That might be uninteresting for M4jor or Sandungas, who have more knowledge about why I'm wasting my time, or are just engaged in other more interesting projects of their own. But the entire concept is completely new to me! And I "feel" like I'm onto something. Like a detective on the trail. It's a clue that might lead me to another clue, or nowhere. Or it might just be the key to understanding how the mod works. So it's still exciting for me.

I wore my mind out yesterday reading and watching videos about something basic to electrical engineers. But it's exciting to me because of it's application to this project! It's the way our brains are supposed to ingest information. Not by listening to boring lectures and studing for midterms! That works, but it strips all the fun out of learning. Learning should be a discovery process. I'm not going to school so I can get a job. Learning about electronics isn't an obstical in the way of my carreer. Something I have to do before I can start my life. It's the thing I choose to do in my spare time to solve an interesting puzzle. One with a reward at the end. Even if we don't figure out how to frankenstein a PS3, I will learn more about electronics in an organic manner that will translate to other projects.

Every problem starts at the center of hell. You have to spin in circles, chewing through the same old madnes looking for the next level. "Spiral out. Keep going." Each consecutive layer acts as a barrier to progress until you find the path to Spiral out, and keep going into the next layer. Eventually you "Spiral Out"and acomplish your goal. But the metaphor for life is to always...

Spiral out. Keep going​

Fixing broken consoles is my grown-up troll level! I fall for every trap along the way, but it feels good when I beat it. And hopefully I wont fall for the same traps in the future! But when electronics no longer provides me the bewilderment I'm looking for, I'll spiral out and keep going.

I'm reaching for the random or
Whatever will bewilder me​

 

[RIP-Felix]

@DeadEnd, I just revisited the official SONY refirb of as CECHC with a 65nm thread that @tristen8878 posed. In his picture of the SIDE B of that COK-002, R2001 and R2002 are left unpopulated. Sony's method does not require a 47K resistor there.

I thought it might be relevant in case you attempted to follow @botakompong's mod chip tutorial for that part of your attempt to replicate the official method.

 

[vyktormvmpay25]

I will try much more with time as well as having second working board with 65nm rsx. Still unsorted 3034, that will be continued with new syscon type model 713F120 and help from M4j0r. It was about to be more easy if I had one board originally refurbished.
As in dia001 modchip don't have to move any resistance though it will be simple patch.
We may come up with updates if owner of dia001 refurbished by Sony will like and geting time to take measurements/ photos.
A dump of his syscon confirmed some changes.

 

[sandungas]

Just to be clear about what @vyktormvmpay25 is mentioning...
He found a official sony refurbishement of a DIA-001 motherboard with a 40nm RSX (and a syscon CXR714120-304GB), and he made a dump of the syscon eeprom

This is the special thermal config found in it (eepcsum: 800C)
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/index...mal_Config&curid=10401&diff=61108&oldid=59681
I added it to a list with other samples we are using to try to identify some unkown bytes located inside the thermal config (nothing specially clarifying, but this is the final confirmation of some of my brainstormings about that unknown bytes)
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/index...mal_Config&curid=10402&diff=61109&oldid=59415
Added also a note here
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/index.php?title=CXR714120-304GB&curid=10416&diff=61111&oldid=59849
And another here
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/index.php?title=Syscon_Hardware&curid=41&diff=61110&oldid=59892

Previouslly we only had the dump of 1 frankenstein (there was 2 frankensteins found but only 1 of them dumped), so it was not posible to compare the dump with other frankeinsteins
And now we have dumps from 2 frankensteins, is the same syscon CXR714120-304GB but configured for different motherboards

Next step is to wait for m4j0r to compare the dumps (he has been offlne in the last days so be patient), to try to see if he finds something interesting that we could be missing before
Specially... im thinking in the "unknown bytes" located in some "unused" areas of the syscon eeprom (the ones marked as optional steps in the mini-tutorial i made), that bytes are still unkown but this could help us understand what we need to do with them

Also, this discovery of the DIA-001 frankestein increases the counter of frankensteins found up to 3, in order of apparence we have:
COK-001/CXR714120-304GB/RSX40nm
COK-002/CXR714120-303GB/RSX65nm
DIA-001/CXR714120-304GB/RSX40nm

 

[RIP-Felix]

Also, this discovery of the DIA-001 frankestein increases the counter of frankensteins found up to 3, in order of apparence we have:
COK-001/CXR714120-304GB/RSX40nm
COK-002/CXR714120-303GB/RSX65nm
DIA-001/CXR714120-304GB/RSX40nm

There were 2x 40nm COK-001's found. The OP's initial post on this thread, and another one with better pictures by @LeoTW630 on page 8.

 

[sandungas]

There were 2x 40nm COK-001's found. The OP's initial post on this thread, and another one with better pictures by @LeoTW630 on page 8.

Oki, yeah and with good photos, but the list i made is focused in the syscon software configuration, so i was not counting the "clones" of the frankenstein familly

Theoreticaly there are around 10 combinations of syscon/motherboard that sony could use to create official PS3 fat frankensteins with the 40nm and 65nm RSX... so lets say... the frankenstein familly is composed by 10 members or so, and the best way to understand how are "built" is if we get a DNA sample of all the brothers
We only found 2, but only 1 of them was dumped and examined by m4j0r (the syscon 304GB configured for COK-001)

The new frankenstein found by vyktor (a syscon 304GB configured for DIA-001) can be considered the third brother of the frankenstein familly, and is the first time we can compare the DNA of 2 brothers of the frankenstein familly

This is just theory, nothing assures us that we are going to find something interesting by comparing them, but i have some hopes, we will have to wait a bit for Dr. m4j0r to return to the lab to compare them and try to make sense of what does that unknown weird bytes

 

[DeadEnd]

@RIP-Felix

I'm afraid you've got a case of a damaged board. @botakompong has sent me a video today of a modded cok-001 and it loaded a ps2 game just fine. I think the resistor confusion still needs to be clarified as well, because it appears the original instruction was the correct one? He said something about a 47k resistor being a per-need-basis, in case you get a GLOD. I am busy this week so I don't have time to recheck. Perhaps he will post here later on as well.

 

[RIP-Felix]

@RIP-Felix

I'm afraid you've got a case of a damaged board. @botakompong has sent me a video today of a modded cok-001 and it loaded a ps2 game just fine. I think the resistor confusion still needs to be clarified as well, because it appears the original instruction was the correct one? He said something about a 47k resistor being a per-need-basis, in case you get a GLOD. I am busy this week so I don't have time to recheck. Perhaps he will post here later on as well.

Okay, thanks. I guess I need to troubleshoot the PS2 HW then.

Does anyone have any idea where I can get another modchip? It looks like all the links to the Indonesian shops that used to sell it have gone dry. I was hoping to get a couple more. I just bought an E01 for $80 (COK-002). It sounds like it's just overheating, based on the description, "flashes red BEFORE shutting down." If so, that will make a nice candidate for the mod chip (a console I know works, that I don't have too much invested in). I also have a COK-001 that I tore 2 traces on, but that can probably be repaired if I want to try my hand at some micro-soldering with 0.1mm enameled wire. I guess that's the next step in my skill progression. That and finally reballing a chip, which I have still to master.

 

[DeadEnd]

Okay, thanks. I guess I need to troubleshoot the PS2 HW then.

Does anyone have any idea where I can get another modchip? It looks like all the links to the Indonesian shops that used to sell it have gone dry. I was hoping to get a couple more. I just bought an E01 for $80 (COK-002). It sounds like it's just overheating, based on the description, "flashes red BEFORE shutting down." If so, that will make a nice candidate for the mod chip (a console I know works, that I don't have too much invested in). I also have a COK-001 that I tore 2 traces on, but that can probably be repaired if I want to try my hand at some micro-soldering with 0.1mm enameled wire. I guess that's the next step in my skill progression. That and finally reballing a chip, which I have still to master.

I believe this linked worked for me last time. https://www.tokopedia.com/orbis/ic-mot-rsx

I have a few modchips put aside, but I've been planning to use those myself. I've received a few requests for the swap...I finally got better flux, so now I don't have to breathe migraine triggering chemicals anymore.

 

[RIP-Felix]

...I finally got better flux, so now I don't have to breathe migraine triggering chemicals anymore.

I just use my oven's downdraft exhaust fan and a cardboard box cut to duct the fumes better. Eventually, when I decide to move and get more space, I'm planning to setup a workshop in the garage. I was thinking a box fan with 2" (5mm) filter, the kind used for HVAC system, possabley an activated carbon filter...

Spoiler: like this

I was thinking I could make a simple cardboard box to house it and attach hoses for routing to wherever I need fume extraction. Or I could build a pair of them into a DIY fume hood and keep all of my soldering equipment inside.

 

[DeadEnd]

I have a simple fume extractor which consists of 2 fans in a shoebox and a flexible air ducting attached in the back.

Spoiler: DIY link

 

[RIP-Felix]

I have a simple fume extractor which consists of 2 fans in a shoebox and a flexible air ducting attached in the back.

Spoiler: DIY link

Haha, yup. It doesn't have to be fancy as long as it gets the job done!

I suspect that wouldn't have the power to work for reflowing/reballing, however. But it can be scaled up using a box fan, which is what I'm planning.