Worth chipping a jpn ps2 with hard drive??

[nigel1210]

Need some advice, I've got a midnight blue jpn ps2 with offical hdd and network adaptor.I had a us ps2 but sold it and have a few usa ps2 games left over and also want the option of playing u.k and usa games.

I was looking for some opinions wether i should chip this machine, get a usa ps2 as well, or just sell this and get a chipped pal machine.

Any ideas?

[nigel1210]

Anyone?

[randombs]

i'd say chip it, but it depends on whether you want to faff about inside a midnight blue ps2.

if you buy that hd advance thingy, you won't need to chip it and can just stick your games on the hdd and play them off there.

if you have room, grab a us ps2, as a decent ps2 chip like the dms4 will cost you around ?40 anyway. if you're not after fancy features like hard drive loading, etc, you can skimp on the chip and get a cheaper one for around ?20-30.

will you be chipping it yourself or getting someone else to do it?

[wod]

you could chip it but it might affect the ability to go online with it and use the sony online as i know its a different thing to the central station we have over here.

i'd say keep it unmodded and buy a cheap usa ps2

[randombs]

well every chip since the messiah 2 has been able to switch off thus letting you go online just like on the xbox, so that's no problem.

besides, it wouldn't be much fun going online with japanese folk from the uk, what with our crappy broadband speeds!

[nigel1210]

Not really bothered about playing online, especially considering it a jap machine. But like the idea about being able to load the game onto the hdd but would like the machien chipped as well, so i can use pal game as well.

Any idea where i could get it chipped???

[randombs]

dunno as it's all a bit dodgy now unfortunately. i had to do it myself, and it's not something i'd want to do again

unless you really like the midnight machine, you could try selling it and buying a pre-modded uk one instead.

[wod]

nigel you can get the dms4 no solder option that you can fit yourself

[nigel1210]

nigel you can get the dms4 no solder option that you can fit yourself

yeah i saw these, how reliable are they though???

Any ideas mate?

[wod]

haven't used them myself but from looking at this pic

http://www.dms3.com/dms4ezi/uploads/ezi_press4.jpg

it looks easy to fit

[womblingfree]

A chipped Japanese PS2 (and a US PS2) will play all games from all regions and all DVD's from all regions.

BUT it will never play PAL movies, PAL games are fine though.

Just so's you know.

[fahrenheit]

Its not for the fainthearted. I've just installed a DMS4 lite and it has now failed after working fine for less than a week. After the nerve-racking install, the thought of getting the soldering iron out again is doing my head in.

[dj898]

to the amount of headache it's far more trouble free if you get PS2TEST unit...
One thing you cannot do with PS2TEST is playing DVD movie as skanky SONY didn't put the DVD playback capability to save on DVD license fee with these Dev units...

[randombs]

nigel:

i fitted a dms4 pro in my old ps2 and it was such a headache i sold the machine straight afterwards as i couldn't bear to look at it. namely because it's more of a headache for me than even a proper soldered xbox chip. most people have a fine time with the no-solder dms, however, so it's worth a shot. there is one thing - apparently, you're not allowed to remove it once in place as the pins mould to your specific chips, but i used mine in about 4 boards with no problems (it took 4 boards to get it right!)

in comparison, while my proper solder install of my o2mod chip took 2 days (a few hours to do, then the rest of the weekend getting the thing to work, which involved rewiring) and was a bit of a headache, too, i've kept that machine as it's my first proper ps2 job

dj898:

whenever someone discusses chips, you always recommend dev kits - they're nowhere near as cheap as even a pre-modded console, and wouldn't be any less headache than a pre-modded one either. besides, chips let you do things like force pal60 which is handy for non-rgb tellys (my little one does rgb but you can't flick through the normal tv channels as the picture overlaps them in rgb but not in composite hence my love for pal60)

also, surely it's much MORE headache trying to acquire a ps2test? I dunno about AU, but here in the UK it definitely is (and is very expensive, too):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-Playstation-2-PS2-Test-Debug-Kit-RRP-1000_W0QQitemZ8225916961QQcategoryZ11328QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[wod]

its not that hard to install chips as i install a original messiah chip and that was tricky but i wouldn't say was hard just a lot of wires 23 i think

hmm test ps2 on ebay i'll have a bid on that