Modchips and Sony Online

[[email protected]]

Just tried at the weekend to go online with a US version of SOCOM II which boots and works fine until you try to login via DNAS which it reports a region error and boots you off. Luckily I hadn't sold my US PS-2. Anyone know if this is a chip issue that can be fixed?

Neil.

[superkully]

Unfortunately not I'm afraid... Same problem with US FFXI.

[will2003]

Just tried at the weekend to go online with a US version of SOCOM II which boots and works fine until you try to login via DNAS which it reports a region error and boots you off. Luckily I hadn't sold my US PS-2. Anyone know if this is a chip issue that can be fixed?

Neil.

It's not kicking off your US copy of SOCOM, it's kicking off your PAL PS2, I think. As far as I'm aware, it's trying to connect to an American server. The modchips that have disable features are essentialy to let you play an original say, PAL, game on a modded PAL machine with no trace of the modchip.

DNAS seems to be Sony's way of combatting people using hacked games online and making a mockery of people's genuine scores etc, isn't it?

Will.

[[email protected]]

Yes, the modchip allows me to boot the SOCOM II US disc in my PAL console, and the single player game works fine. However, as with Live, the modchip is failing to deal with otherways to detect what region the console is on. DNAS is detecting this and booting the console off.

Neil.

[will2003]

Ahhh... OK. I think the big difference between a modded Xbox and a modded PS2 is that if you do it the thorough way on an Xbox (i.e. eeprom editiing a la Config Magic type of program) the UK Xbox is to all intents and purposes a genuine USA or JPN machine at BIOS level - a bit like changing the eeprom setting for video region to NTSC, and all the prog scan games having the feature active from that point. The way the current generation of PS2 mods work, , and regardless of which of these mod you are using, is to hijack and edit BIOS data on-the-fly, as it passes between the BIOS controller and the CD/DVD controller. The PS2 mods don't make the PAL PS2 BIOS appear to be, say, a Japanese BIOS when you boot a JPN game - it just overwrites the data at the exact point when it sends a mismatch flag between the console region and the game disc region (which would normally result in the console failing to boot the non PAL disc).

The PS2 mods trick the PS2 into just going ahead and booting the disc regardless, rather than the Xbox which can be made to totally assume the idenity of a different region console.

Alas, I think that means the problem you mention will always / could always happen when using that regional combination of game / console / server with online PS2 stuff

[Papercut]

Just tried at the weekend to go online with a US version of SOCOM II which boots and works fine until you try to login via DNAS which it reports a region error and boots you off.

Told you...

As will is suggesting, it seems DNAS detects the region of the console by running code client side. The PS2 reports this to the server, and then the server refuses to authenticate the client. It's probably something as simple as looking up the bios revision, which could be checked against region.

Some US PS2s will not work online with DNAS games (certain serial no.s - Sony exchange affected machines), which seems to back up this idea.

This has been discussed here before, but the forum search isn't picking it up.

[[email protected]]

Yeah I knew this was coming also. Whats strange abot this is that it used to work so they obviously flicked a switch. Annoying but not unsurprising. Modchips are just now completely unreliable as a way to region change machines.

[will2003]

In fairness, modchips (esp. PS2 ones) are not supposed to region change the console - they are more about making it regionless, which is a totally different thing.

If there's been any one main factor in Sony tightening up their online checks for modded machines or hacked / trained online games being used, it's the stupid s**t that people like those morons at ps2ownz.com are into - DNAS ID patching to be able to play backups online, and hacking online games for infinite lives, weapons, scores, whatever else...

Taken from their site:
"Project Lithium 2: This cheat tool (v1.1 BETA) will automatically patch games on-the-fly via a new routine for on-line use with cheats. Based off of NoID's original work and the past NIP files, Project Lithium 2 is currently in the final development/packaging process and is coded by SkyD."

What's so dumb about that is that Sony will fight tooth and nail to make sure no-one jeopardises their online stuff - it will be a PR disaster for them if kids with an application like this can go online and cheat... if that becomes widespread, who's going to bother paying subsciptions for online games, or buying the games themselves for that matter? I'm hardly going to put in the hours getting good at an online enabled game if some idiot is going to beat me every time because he's running some kind of cheat program...

In answer to Neil's point, don't blame the modchips - they, as you pointed out, used to work just great in this regard. If Sony have "flicked the switch" to stop all that, it's 99.9% certain that they are trying to stop people cheating online with an application like the one I'm talking about, as you would need a modchip to use such an application.

[Papercut]

I agree there, it is not really the mod chip's fault.

Another point is that the DNAS client as well as the server is undergoing constant revision, so if one game works with a mod chip, that doesn't mean subsequent ones will.

Another thought is that the DNAS client may allow code upload to the PS2 to carry out cheat device/mod chip/region checks. This could mean new detection methods are retrofitted to older DNAS games.

[[email protected]]

PC, yeah SOCOM Navy Seals II in the US has a patch that downloads to the memory card and if you have a hard drive it will download new levels.

Neil.

[[email protected]]

Will,
I don't blame the mod chips, but the stupid vendors for making us have to mod things in the first place. I only bought a modded PS-2 to play import games across all three teritories without having to have 3 PS-2s which is simple insane.

Neil.