Why You Need A PlayStation 2 Modchip In 2022!

[@rigues]

Back in the PS2 days, the console wasn't officially available in Brazil. So, EVERY SINGLE console you could buy on the gray market was already pre-modded. The most popular chip was Matrix Infinity, but it wasn't rare to pay for a console with a specific chip and get a "counterfeit" instead, and only find about it much later. Of course, the best part of a modded console is being able to run pirate/backups/burned games. Those usually sold for about US$ 2 ou US$ 3 each, and it was not unusual for me and my friends to buy one or two new titles per week.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Pretty awesome they were all pre modded! Thank you for sharing

[@eloigomesdealmeidaloloi7376]

Brazil Caraí kkk

[@irregulargamer1352]

South America loved the ps2. So many cheap pirated games and pre modded ps2s that were most likely illegally imported

[@markslater6220]

i read an article saying the snes was never released in brazil so some legends reverse engenieered it and put on the market. because nintendo had no presence in the country at the time it was legit .

[@rigues]

@@markslater6220 No true. The SNES was widely available as grey market imports shortly after it's release in the US, and in 1993 was officially released in Brazil by Playtronic, a joint venture between Nintendo and brazilian companies Estrela and Gradiente.

[@alphaking88]

Modchip is awsome back in the day for PS2. I still have my DMS4 PRO modchip installed in my PS2 39001 model console. It was the best of the best ones in the market back then. It even has its own OS system, ability to install homebrew apps and play import & backup flawlessly. Not even that, it can also play games from the hard drive natively and that is much earlier than OPL. I abosultely love the DMS4 PRO modchip, it has brought me so much fun to play PS2 games back then. If I have to install a modchip for PS2 and it must be DMS4 PRO but of course it's not available to purchase today.

[@ModzvilleUSA]

Nice dude! A homie just recently gave me a DMS4 Ezi chip. I think I'ma pop it in my sakura pink console soonish. The Mars Pro is actually a clone the DMS4 lite but it has quite a few issues like not being able to save settings ect.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Dude that sounds like an amazing chip! I need to get my hands on one of those! Stinks they’re out of production!

[@nkw1985]

@@MachoNachoProductions - Is there a mod to increase video quality on PS2? It can look great on CRT TVs but for modern HDTVs it looks pretty rough imo so I was wondering if you have any suggestions on that?

[@alphaking88]

@@MachoNachoProductions If you can get one of this modchip on hand right now, trust me you won't regret it. It's well worth it for what it can do for PS2 console. They even have solderless version which require absolutely 0 soldering skills, but of course its price is higher than regular solder version. I actually had this solderless PRO version installed because back in the year around 2005 I was still young and had no experience for soldering at all so I had to pay more for this solderless version just to make everything easier. Beside the above features I had mentioned, it also support Codebreaker cheat code feature which allow you to input cheat code and turn it on before you launch a game. Fast boot feature which will cut the PS2 bios screen everytime when you run a game and so much more.

[@alphaking88]

@@nkw1985 There isn't a mod to increase PS2 video quality. PS2 was borned in an era where CRT TV is transmitting to LCD TV. Most of the PS2 game libraries are 480i quality which look fine on old CRT TV but terrible on the LCD TV. With some game titles support 480P quality which look good on the LCD TV, you can turn on 480P feature by press a combination of buttons on your controller after launch a game if the game supports it. A very few games especially those Capcom fighting games are still 240P and that look terrible on LCD TV too. In order to get best picture quality you can try the following: 1. If you still have a CRT TV in home, play PS2 games on CRT TV is the best choice; 2. If you only have LCD TV, then get an official SONY component cable (don't buy cheap ones) they will provide the best picture quality on your LCD TV especially those 480P libraries; for 480i games you will still noticing picture flickering 3. Get an OSSC or RetroTINK upscaler, they will help you get the best picture quality on your HDTV 4. Install OPL and go to Display Setting, in there you can force the video mode output to EDTV (480P)

[@ezerrrivas]

In Argentina we did that mod in order to play pirate games with this mod, the pirate games in that time cost around 0.5 usd , and with this mod, the ps2 can read any game . Included Japanese or European, when i was a little boy i had around 400 games to play, for example "PES" and "winning eleven" (in japan) was the same game, and the winning eleven always was the first to release, then Konami do the translation ,and many months later, you can buy PES in english. I learned many languages playing other countrys games without translation. For example "Winning eleven" and "Final fantasy" were both in japanese, and i played it first in that languages with a dictionary in my hands, and many months later, in english. Sorry for my english, was learned only playing videogames :)

[@cloud1494]

Lord Voultar has some awesome modding skillz. IIRC he cut his teeth on the PS2 back in the day, and he’s been in the modding scene for decades. Would love to see you do an interview with him!

[@Mclaneinc]

As stressed in the video, it's a tough mod. Make sure your soldering skills are up to the job, and I do mean that, you start shorting legs on the SMD chips and it's a world of pain unless your eyesight (use magnification) is good.I was a prolific PS1 mod chip installer, but the PS2 is using much finer scale SMD chips, needless to say I mucked the first one up. After revising my skills it was better but there's a high level of challenge. Tito makes it look rather easy, it's not for any novice.

[@BRKsEDU]

You should age-restrict this video because it's too damn sexy 🤣 really nice work

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Haha! I may just have too 😅

[@l0k048]

azideia o Edu aqui do nada

[@matheus.hsfarias]

Do nada BRKsEDU fazendo comentários salientes

[@gorgarath]

I bought my first PS2 (a v7) in 2002 (possibly early 2003). Then I wanted to be able to take the PS2 on our vacations with my wife's family, I wanted to do a modchip so I could put all the games on a hard drive and save space by not having to lug all the discs around. I didn't think I'd be able to do the soldering required but found the DMS4 Pro EZI which was all solderless. I still have it hooked up to the downstairs old CRT TV. I'm now down to 4 PS2s still in the house as I just gave my oldest a v7 running FreeHDBoot with a SATA adapter for the official NA that she took back with her to NY. I've got another v7 that I picked up at a pawn shop that had a network adapter for less than I could find NAs at the time that has a broken controller port and I needed the NA for a friend. (I've since gotten that NA back as well, so it's a full machine. It's been opened before, but I've not looked to see if it is chipped or not.) Then I have another v7 Goodwill find that I'll get around to setting up as well. In the living room, I'm currently working on setting up what I believe is a v9 (I've not opened it to verify the motherboard) with a SATA mod to the official network adapter and FreeHDBoot. While I had no problems with the SATA mod I did for my oldest, it was from a different seller that only had 1 left. I bought the other 3 from a different seller and I've had issues with 2 of them. I just swapped the hard drive though and seem to be having better luck now with my initial test, though I haven't copied much over yet. I'll eventually get back to seeing if I can get the DMS4 Pro to work with newer versions of Free[MC|HD]Boot than the 1.8c that I did have running on it.

[@r.a.w.talentart]

I know from personal experience how time consuming these wire art mods are so well done and thanks for taking the time to do this for our viewing pleasure! Super, smashing great!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you raw talent! It’s certainly a labor of love

[@gyrenrockz]

Mod chip runs faster than free mcboot..

[@scarvello]

Where can I get one for Japanese ps2 slim?

[@sfx3256]

@@scarvello eBay

[@jimmyaustin4325]

It 2:32 am eastern time. I want to know, whenever I get a ps2 I want to know how to get a mod pro gm-806HD and I want to if you can install it for me.

[@V4mpyrZ]

How ? As far as I know mod chips allow you to play from the dvd drive, Free Mcbot allows you to play from the usb or hard drive, which will be way faster! Also it removes dependency towards the most common point of failure of the console: it's optical drive !

[@mortalballdc]

It does but the minority of people can use them. It is very hard to install. I broke 6 PS2 before I got the first PS2 working with a mod chip. Now I have 3 PS2 consoles with mod chips but it is very very hard to solder all those points without messing up and very easy to brick your PS2 the Mecacon or the bios chip and the Mecacon has the hardest soldering points which are G,H,I,A and B which are very close to each others in all the board revisions. I wish you the best luck and the fat PS2 are a little bit more complex to disassemble than the slim models. You are better off to let somebody else work very high soldering skills to do that job, it requires very high soldering skills and know what you are doing with the soldering machine. Never buy a 30001 model, they have nothing but problems unless you can get it dirt cheap for $10 or $20 bucks in working conditions but they don‘t last with with a mod chip installed.

[@Daniel-it1dp]

Good on you for owning up to your mistake on the Japanese mod instal to show even experienced misdeed can make mistakes and to always triple check your work 😁. I really loved the PS2 era of games and I think this is a mod I’d really like to try when I dust off my soldering skills and get some good practice in.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thanks dude! Yeah, definitely got to double and triple check. I got lazy and I paid for it dearly 😅. Cheers dude!

[@nou9964]

You didn't even answer the question in the title of the video. You just installed a modchip and did exactly the things people woulda done when the PS2 was still relevant.

[@marcosramirez385]

I remember when I bought a Mars mod chip and used a butane soldering iron from radioshack with 30 gauge wire to mod a ps2 slim. My first soldering project and discovering my love for modding and soldering.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Nice!

[@contytub]

Butane soldering as first job ? Respect

[@zelimirfedoran9720]

If you’ve shorted something out on the first board then chances are the fried component might be warmer when turned on. You could try putting some isopropyl on the board while it’s turned on to see where it evaporates and then replace that component if possible. I hope you’re able to restore it instead of having to trash it.

[@TheRedOwl]

Good and smart thinking about the IPA.

[@markbessert1883]

Mod chips put a ton of wear on the laser when using burned discs. I’ve had to replace my laser assembly twice on my modded PS2 slim. I still love it though. :)

[@MachoNachoProductions]

I have a video for that coming soon 😉

[@_baniraaisu6711]

In my country it's common to have ps1 and ps2 with modchip pre installed by sellers and funny enough also riddled with faulty lasers lmao. I guess that's why rentals gave up and change to hard drive instead.

[@nuthinnew]

Cheap burnable discs put wear on the laser not the mod chips

[@markbessert1883]

@@nuthinnew I use taiyo yuden discs. Still tougher on a laser than the actual game discs.

[@tnaplastic2182]

@@nuthinnew Well... Both, depending on the chip. ALL burned or scratched discs put strain on the laser, BUT bad discs do more and some old chips do some bad stuff as well. Hence 3.3Volt was promoted as a feature!

[@RastaJediX]

I really really hope we can get all of that spread-out modchip documentation copied over to the Console Mods wiki for archival and easy reference. Can we get video on setting up OPL with strictly a chip next? I'm absolutely interested in this. Thanks for vid.

[@ZeroHourProductions407]

After having a couple of ps2's fail on me for "disc read error" endemics, I had finally had enough of the consoles refusing to read discs and damaging them in the process. I made a point to buy a pre-chipped one, that ended up having the matrix infinity in it. Soon enough, it too started having the errors again, but the seller was at least willing to take it in to get it repaired and hopefully sort out the issues. Per his word, _on the last day of testing_ before it was meant to be packed up and sent back to me, the disc drive *shattered to pieces*. The plastic tray, the motor, the rails... everything! It might have been a freak occurrence, but it was enough to seemingly convince him to do something big to insure against it. From there, he was able to transsfer the chip to a more familiar revision of the console, and basically reinforce and re-cap the whole motherboard. To this day, that's still the longest lasting anything I've had with a playstation badge, since. Every stock console from Sony has just been garbage for hardware reliability for me. And given Sony doesn't even try to bring any form of backward compatibility since even the slim PS3, much less the PS4... I've just had no reason to even look at another console of theirs again.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

I wonder how the ps5 is hardwarewise. It seems like a beast. Yeah I agree, I wish Sony and other console manufactures did more for backwards compatibility.

[@ZeroHourProductions407]

@@MachoNachoProductions The series x at least allows you to stick an OG Xbox or Xbox 360 game to try and play it, though part of that is dictated by the online DRM of the console. That said, I don't recall if this was ever changed, but something like a one time payment of $20 USD to your Xbox live profile granted developer privileges, so you could sideload your own apps for homebrew at the least. It _sort of helps_ I suppose. Still not as fun IMO as a jailbroken console

[@serimar]

Disc read errors is easy fix

[@ZeroHourProductions407]

@@serimar FIle that under "things I could have appreciated knowing about two decades ago".

[@nexxusty]

Exact opposite for me. I still have the PS1 that I chipped 20 years ago, works perfectly. Haven't even needed to tweak the pot yet.

[@MatSpeedle]

As far as I know the only way to (easily) run import games on another region console is still the modchip option. Without doubt one of the hardest mods I've had to install. Look forward to hearing your take on this.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Completely agree with you Mat! 👍

[@xGMV]

@@MachoNachoProductions There's MechaPwn, though. No need to patch discs, no need to burn discs, and also plays PS1.

[@JerryBaezAlchemus]

Yes, MechaPwn for the win! It only works on SCPH-5000X fat PS2s and all the slim PS2 models, but it's super easy to setup, and it doesn't require any hard mod. You only need a way to run homebrew like FreeMcBoot, and that's it! I got it done on both my slim PS2 and a SCPH-5000X fat PS2 that I recently got, and it works fantastic! You can run both PS1 and PS2 games from all regions, as well as backup discs for both PS1 and PS2. The only caveat is that the ability to run DVDs on a PS2 may go away. Bu hey, who wants to use their old PS2s to watch DVDs in these days!

[@TheSpooniest]

@@JerryBaezAlchemus MechaPwn is nice, but it only works on 50000-series models or later. If you have something earlier, you still need a chip for that.

[@tnaplastic2182]

Erm... Tonyhax for PS2s 39k and older...

[@youreprettygood2603]

This is beautiful. I also take great pride in my hard modded PS2 even though I can't see the wires I know that they're in there neatly lined up and glued to the motherboard, and this alone makes my day when playing it.

[@sebastian19745]

I used always Matrix Infinity modchip. Even if they were clones, all my modded PS2 worked flawlessly. I used to listen music or play videos with SMS, used ULElf as file manager to browse files on memory card(s), USB mass storage, HDD and CD/DVD, installed FMCB on FAT and slim PS2, even booted Linux with KLoader. When I found a sync-on-green compatible PC monitor (a huge 19" CRT), I played many hours on it, by selecting the video output from the Matrix chip. And, by mistake, once I upgraded a modchip and broken it, because well, it was a clone and not compatible with the original Matrix Infinity firmware.

[@Nicpezer]

I tried modding one of the Slim model PS2s with a Modbo. I found some documentation on the solder points but that was it, nothing deeper. After I finished I couldn't get the system to turn on and after removing the chip it still wouldn't power on. A tricky mod indeed.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Yeah, that’s the one thing that’s a downer with some of these chips, documentation is a bit scattered

[@socialjusticewarrior2316]

RIP PS2 Slim

[@nexxusty]

Hard fail.

[@me0262]

Great video. Voultar has a couple videos on installing PS2 modchips, he's often referred to them as "PS2 Killers" because they more than likely end up killing the console. I myself killed my launch PS2 back in the day with a NEO 4.1 modchip that I got from Lik Sang (remember that one back in the day). This was back when I didn't know anything about soldering, and didn't have the right tools. I should pull that out and give it another try now that I have a station and some proper gear.

[@ShadowZero1980]

Ooooh, Lik Sang! Good old days! (as well as Lan Kwei (sp?))

[@ShadowZero1980]

Should I worry though? Don't think Ive had issues with my matrix infinities so far...

[@me0262]

@@ShadowZero1980 I mean if it's installed you shouldn't have to worry about it.

[@Null_Experis]

I'd recommend against superglue to hold those wires down. It's almost impossible to remove without damaging the solder mask and possibly traces underneath. I know how glue gets a lot of guff from certain modders, but this is the right place to use it. Apply some solder and press it down with a piece of paper to flatten it and not burn yourself. Hot glue comes off very easily with a little alcohol, so you can always undo your work or repair it if you make a mistake.

[@naliboi93]

I think RetroGamingArts did a video explaining why superglue is one of the best and safest things to use in this application. All you need is isopropyl alcohol and the glue is no longer active.

[@Null_Experis]

@@naliboi93 that's not true. In order to dissolve superglue (cyanoacrylate), you need acetone. Acetone dissolves solder mask as well.

[@naliboi93]

@@Null_Experis you can use both. From experience of using alcohol in the past, you simply let it sit for some time and then the glue releases your wire or whatever else you'd binded. Let the alcohol sit a bit longer and you can brush away the solid clumps of superglue. It won't fully dissolve, but it comes away in chunks with minimal damage to the PCB if any. Obviously acetone has its properties that make it risky for solder mask, so you'd steer clear. If we were going really crazy with superglue for a more permanent sturdy bond, you can even add bicarbonate of soda powder. Heck, with medical grade superglue for cuts, I've heard some nurses say you could even use cola to immediately release the glue in a pinch if you've accidentally applied it to yourself.

[@ShadowZero1980]

How about electrical tape?

[@TheAmazingMoose-Man]

I would honestly love to see a video on using OPL on a modchip. I would love to see that process work

[@ShadowZero1980]

For completeness sake you could've mentioned a modchip also makes the dvd player region free. For us Europeans a nice option for our US import anime dvd's back in the day ;)

[@MRooodddvvv]

Not to be rude or something, but thats kinda nice example of point and state of whole thing now - lot of work, risk to break somehow becoming rare hardware only to be able to do things which pretty possible to be done with software only hacks and exploits like region change which can be easy done with flashing mechacon, running homebrew and backups which can be done with dvd player exploit and freemcboot and everything else. Anyway cheers to you for not hiding your mistakes as those who doing this sort of stuff for years and somehow magically never do any mistakes...

[@grungegazer]

Exactly. They should rename the title of the video.

[@xamtra]

In those days ps2 dealers sell modded ps2 to us which is very small in size and play any region and any cd flawlessly but these look like complicated and limited mod chips.

[@BadMax02_VR]

i gotta say, nothing beats a cleanly installed mod chip, gives you full control over the console and when you open it up it does look really sexy when done nicely xD

[@retro_hd_]

0:18 I love your soldering station. And you've kept it in good condition as well.

[@SuperNicktendo]

This is my "walk to school uphill both ways moment" it was such an involved process to modify consoles back in the day. When the xecuter series for the Xbox came out that requires no soldering it was a game changer. You still needed software but it was way easier than chipping this ps2. I have the same chip and plan to upgrade one of my slim ps2. Hopefully before the snac adapter releases for the ps1 core on Mister

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Haha, I’ll also have to start using it as my uphill both ways story 😂

[@thegoodolddays9193]

Not much has actually changed in terms of console modding, except that it's become even harder. The original Xbox eventually did get a softmod, but the 360 didn't and probably never will. I believe the ps3 did have a softmod but it was patched. So far none of the consoles past that have a hardmod or softmod. So I don't think modding ever got easier.

[@tntmaxter8607]

@@thegoodolddays9193 the ps3 does a soft mod, that works on all ps3 consoles, its called hen if you want to search it

[@DarkWorldQ8]

Most of the PS2s in my country are modded to be region-free and to play bootleg games, at least back when the PS2 was relevant. That is done since most consumers at that time will not buy games at MSRP or an unmodded console. A bootleg PS2 game was around $3.50.

[@mattrogers6646]

Tree fiddy! God damn Loch Ness Monster!

[@dantech4427]

Why You don't need modchip? -Mechapwn -free dvd boot

[@Evercade_Effect]

Fantastic job! You should get a clear case to show it off. I love the ease of the plug and play when inserting the discs

[@no-one3795]

I used to have a PS2 slim that I modded with a mod chip. And I was amazed at how many games I can now store on the console itself.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Nice!

[@Evhen_Velikiy]

Nice wiring, but... you shouldn't use cyanocrylate based glue. Cyanocrylate can be conductive, or its can become conductive over time. Its good idea to use silicon based crystal clear glue, its much safer and can be easy removed with IPA.

[@araujofi]

I would like to add some info that may not be very common in other countries. Modchips in Brazil had a greater importance for the survival of games here. The Playstation division never had any real interest in latin countries tbh, they always focused on europe and US for obvious reasons, this caused a problem, original games were never officially sold here, it was only possible to import and the price of the these games cost half of a minimum wage. To get around this, practically all PS2s in Brazil had modchips, this became so cultural, that even big companies like Carrefour (a french Walmart) started selling PS2s with modchips installed! They themselves had an employee who made these modifications. LoL. The brazilian market accepted modchips so well, that there were brazilian companies that started to create their own modchips, like the acclaimed Thunder Pro 2, considered the best modchip for the PS2. Great video btw

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Dude! Thank you for sharing that 🙏. That is such a cool piece of gaming history. I love hearing things like this, as it gives a lot of insight and perspective. Cheers buddy!!

[@thump3r]

damn i remember mod chips for these old systems. i was in high school and had 0 soldering experience at the time so these mod chips where like out of my reach. also kinda a unicorn in the wild. in high school i had a hdloader CD and that was the extend of mods for me at that time lmao! and with my solder experiance now i wouldnt consider this mod challenging at any level, but time consuming, since there is no desoldering. now i will do this to my old ps2!! this is still the best option compaired to softmods. thanks for the nostalgia!

[@murraykriner9425]

Just recently bought a lightly used PS2 Fat (US) from my nephew who's more enamoured with X-Box One than the whole retro video gaming segment. My initial interest was a HDD in the factory supplied port, but after some digging around I seriously considered doing the Mod Chip conversion since it would let me have an All in One Platform. I adore the idea of playing Japanese Titles so much that I'll have refreshing my current purchase with both pick-me-ups, along with a thorough troubleshooting & cleaning. So amped.

[@lain328]

If I'm not mistaken Initial D has recently been partially English patched. So anyone with a way to play backups can now play it easier not that it really needed to be translated.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

That would be awesome!

[@victoriafoard1994]

I'll never stop being pleased with myself for soldering one of these during the early Pandemic shutdown shenanigans. Hard mod to install but the native ps1 backups are -nice- and that's the one area where free mc boot still falls short.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Awesome Victoria! Definitely a difficult mod and I’m glad you for it working. Ps1 backup playback is definitely crucial

[@HattoriZero]

My PS2 is the SCPH-30004 R PAL model was first modded with Origa chip that required disc swap booting with ActionReplay 2 disc & dongle. (Was sold as a complete bundle) A year or 2 later, I resent it back to my PS2 vendor to be remoded with newer chip as it no longer be able to boot some newer games like VirtualON Mars & Start Ocean 3 as it just boots with a black screen. (You can't just buy a modchip from shops directly, it has to be included with installation) At that time the Messiah modchip was the most popular and they claimed it was this modchip that they replaced in my PS2. I went home and failed to boot any PS1 games, so I decided to strip my PS2 to the motherboard by myself although booting PS2 games VirtualON Mars & Start Ocean 3 is now working correctly. After comparing it to pictures of all available modchips online at that time period, I found that installed modchip is actually a Mars modchip & not Messiah as claimed. I also found the tech has incorrectly soldered 1 of the wire points according to the Mars modchip soldering diagrams and therefore I proceed to resolder the wire correctly by myself. Finally after reassembly, all regions PS1 games are able to boot correctly. Till this day, it is still working and compatible with FreeMcBoot as it is able to boot all games that I throw at it including burned PS2 DVDs. I was contemplating whether to replace it with a newer modchip. Should I ?

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Depends on your goals. If you want to play ps1 game backups, then I think it may be a good thing to do. If you just want to play ps2 games free mcboot is probably all you need

[@HattoriZero]

@@MachoNachoProductions I already have a modchiped SCPH-5503 PS1 which I will upgrade to Mayumi v4.0 next week. Guess I'll leave my PS2 alone since my Mars modchip may contain a stable code that is no longer manufactured by anyone.

[@MrAnimeMilitary]

Viewer here from the Philippines. I am thinking of getting a Japanese SCPH-50000 Fat PS2 and having it modded. However it should be noted that each modchip works differently when booting-up PS1 games. Back on Sunday, August 25, 2002, my uncle bought a mod chipped SCPH-30006 Fat PS2. It would play PS2 and PS1 games and DVD movie discs from any region. PS2 games would do straight boot-up but if you wanted to play PS1 games or watch DVD movies, you would have to insert the disc, close the disc tray, press the reset button to put the PS2 in standby mode, then boot-up the PS2 by firmly holding down the reset button until the disc is read by the console. I asked RETRO GAMING ARTS about this and he replied stating it must be a Messiah or Magic mod chip that is installed in my uncle's PS2. I have been searching KZbin to see if any later mod chips can boot-up PS2 and PS1 games as well as DVD movie discs from any region automatically without resorting to any boot-up trickery as if it were an unmodded PS2 and it looks like the ModBo 5.0 and 7.50 mod chips are able to do so however I am not sure if they are Free McBoot compatible. What would be the best mod chip that you would recommend for a Fat PS2 that are models SCPH-3000x, SCPH-3900x, and SCPH-5000x?

[@SAZERU]

BUMP PLZ REPLY TO THIS COMMENT THINKIN ABOUT GETTING A JAP SCPH-5000X AS WELL

[@GamingPlus10]

I just used the mechapwn soft mod and it's the way to go. It took about 10 minutes and I can now play any region games natively on my ps2. No free mcboot necessary.

[@just_j6514]

Nice! The inside of yours is sooo clean. Mine was such a mess. Great job 👏 on the very detailed video 📹!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you🙏

[@reptilez13]

You are 10x better than myself at shaping wires. I can solder fine, but God. I hate shaping wires haha. Great vid!

[@ThAlEdison]

Not PS2, back in the day I installed a PS1 modchip to play a Japanese Final Fantasy IX prior to its North American release. I was disappointed that the save files weren't compatible between the different language versions.

[@k.k9206]

You should make a "Macho nacho extras" channel for just the extra mod footage. I'd be curious to see the other ps2's process as well. Or other niche mods that arent up to mach nacho production standards.

[@rediculousman]

Surely there must be a design for the flexible PCB that you can lay on the board and solder into place. Would be waaaay more elegant

[@lucasn0tch]

Initial D: best choice for showcasing the modchip's region free capabilities

[@xero110]

The most difficult mod chip install I ever did was the Undiluted Platinum for my PSP back in the day. That install was pure pain but was a great thing to own during the heyday of the PSP.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Nice!

[@kitterbug]

The idea of having region-free games from the mod chip, and backups loaded from your SSD is cool, but you don't have to do the trivial soldering to make your console region free. I'm not sure if it works on all systems, but there's a softmod method called MechaPwn, which modifies the PS2's lockout chip into changing the region, specifically changing it into a development system allows it to load PlayStation 1 and 2 games of any region, including backups. All of this being done without any chips installed, You don't have to boot into PS1 mode to play ps1 games as well

[@MachoNachoProductions]

I think mechapwn isn’t compatible with all systems but it does seem like a fantastic alternative for consoles that work with it

[@SEGACD32XMODEL1]

Now you can use a windows program that patches the iso so it can run without a modchip

[@johnnycha]

13:56 OMG! Also, if you didn’t know, Tito, I am also a fan of Initial D as well! (I have been a fan of it since the mid-2000s when I was young) Other than that, it’s interesting to see modchips in the PS2 in the present day, as we all know that they are kind of uncommon in most modded PS2s of today in that soft-mods such as Free McBoot are a common type of modding for the PS2. Having best of both worlds are kind of nice in that respect, if you can get such a thing working! Another thing, I think we had a modded PS2 back in the day, an original fat model, with that S-BOX usb dongle going along with the modchip inside the console (that console is long gone though, unfortunately).

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Gotta love initial d 😁. That sounds interesting, never heard of the s-box before

[@johnnycha]

@@MachoNachoProductions Yep, I agree, Initial D is a great anime to me, and yes, the SBOX was one of the early PS2 modchips that we owned back in the day.

[@astrocactus3910]

I've probably watched this video close to 8 times at this point, I think using the individual wires instead of a ribbon cable just looks so cool. Although I like the ps2 and modding it, I really just keep coming back to this video for the wiring you did! The next time you do a video about a ribbon cable and mod chip please consider showing off how much work it saves, and running individual wires like in this video. I'll keep watching your content even if it doesn't end up making the cut because I love your work. Just wanted to toss an idea in the ring.

[@Fireshot844]

So I just can’t seem to find replacement housings in alternate colors for the PS2 fat model. It’s really perplexing. I bought one that has a damaged shell simply to mod because the disc drive was broken as well. Any leads people have? I think it’d be sweet to get either a clear blue. Not that I dislike the black, but I like to have options.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

I’m hoping with all the strides we’re seeing with other console shells the ps2 will come soon. I remember when it was easy to buy ps2 shells back in the day. I had a sweet clear one for my ps2

[@billybro1999]

I still have my phat ps2 with a dms4 pro modchip in it. Everything still works. No soldering. Idk if they are even able to be found these days.

[@dannyball2503]

Most people will not be able to do the solder work, very nice work. Attention to detail, wires routed nicely. Kapton tape !

[@itsdeonlol]

Good job sir! Your soldering skills are top notch!!!

[@santospoland]

Personally I wouldn't be gluing like this to the board. I appreciate the care in managing wires of this scale. No thumbs down from me but I would have preferred to know the glue in use and wether it can be safely removed without damaging the board. I would just use some kapton tape. Thanks for the video though!

[@lookitskazzy]

You can very easily configure a Matrix Infinity chip to boot right into any ELF you want at startup, like OPL for example. Unless you need to play physical imports or PS1 burned discs, there is no reason to get a modchip anymore between FMCB/FMHD, Mechapwn, and the SD card reader. OPL is just too good at this stage and modchips are difficult to install and there's no reliable Mechacon fix for every console revision. But for people with large physical import collections (me) it still makes sense to have a chipped console.

[@burning190]

I have a year 2000 PS2 Japanese version with modchip installed but the DVD player doesn’t read anymore, sadly ......

[@ProfessorShroom]

Where can you buy a Mars Pro though? Finding a modchip in 24 is hard lol

[@Septer_Sever]

Oh good, I was gonna comment about Retro Gaming Arts...but you beat me to it!!

[@ChrisOBrienMusic]

I remember people doing this when the PS2 first came out... mad it's still happening...

[@handheldgamer3643]

Dude, when I saw the white PS2, I immediately thought of how cool it would be to have a custom AE86 themed PS2 modded to be region free to play Street Stage, so when I saw you not only had it but are also a big fan I had to say something haha. Great taste!

[@shanez1215]

6:15 Madlad me used an Xacto knife when RGHing 360's

[@bwgti]

That is balls of steel. Supergluing wires to the Mainboard. Too bad it didn't (for other reasons I know) work. You got your point across in the end. Even in 2022 mod chips are mixed bag. Know you PS2 model number for sure before you even start. Do your research. Take your time. Be ready to fail. Thanks for the video.

[@Michael-oi8pu]

Nice organic touch with the cable routing

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you! 🙏

[@Wolfie1262]

I remember one of my friends in high school had his OG PS1 modded so he could play games he downloaded and burned to disc lol I don’t know why he paid to have it done, as I’m pretty sure he could have done it himself. He also paid to have his SNES modded to use S-Video out. Which is outdated now, but back then that was unheard of.

[@gumbyx84]

My butt was clenched throughout the entire modchip install. Your soldering skills are outstanding. I could never do this kind of mod myself. Sucks the first mod install went bad.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thanks GumbyX!!

[@tnaplastic2182]

0:00 Me: "watching the video happily" 1:15 Also me: "tears start to roll" (figuratively) 1:49 That's a CLONE, not the original "Matrix Infinity"!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Yeah, I believe most chips made now are clones

[@tnaplastic2182]

@@MachoNachoProductions They indeed are!

[@junker15]

I have 2 fat PS2s: a V7 and a V4. I put Modbo 5.0 in the V7 and it works fine, but not before I did some heavy searching as to how to get the software running. Too bad I'll have to repeat all that for the other Modbo 5.0, for the V4. Definitely have good wire and soldering tools around; these mods benefit greatly from them (and patience! It takes a lot of time to do it right, but not a lot of time to mess up and get the wrong solder point, create bridges, knock components off, etc.) I'm chipping the fat ones because I can use a hard drive with them.

[@paolovisentin]

For me the best feature for a chipped ps2 is the ability to play backup ps1 disk!

[@KubuntuYou]

That's a really nice soldering job. Clean tools. Neat work. Bravo.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

I have one of these white ones. So pretty. Great to hear more ps2 videos are coming! I absolutely love how you in a serious voice said that modding is for playing imports. actually modding a ps2 is not even needed. Just put in a HHD and use a HDD loader disc to play games of the hdd. Then after that you can mod easily what is the battery even for? What happens when you leave the battery out? Initial D can be forced to 480p with GSM or better yet OPL+GSM. It will blow you away. and I know if you tried this, because you will then make a video about forcing games to 480p. Also, but I have no experience, you should be able to run European ps2 and ps1 games. Not that there is any reason to try that at all. Love all your videos and also love this video, but I still think that a mod chip is one of the least cool things you can do to a ps2. I think I have some modded ps2's, but there is no use for them. My guess is that about 20% of all ps1's are modded so they play all region ps1 games. As for aps2, just get a internal HDD and load the japanese games on to the hdd and play them from there.

[@fluffycritter]

At one point I was trying to install a mod chip on my PS2 because the optical drive on my Japanese PS2 Slim died and I still wanted to play import games on both PS1 and PS2, and I didn't feel like dealing with all the rigamarole of ripping my games to .iso and juggling them on my Linux Kit drive. The process went poorly, and long story short I ended up just buying a Japanese PS2 and installing FreeMcBoot and an older SSD. Thankfully my US PS2 still works (aside from the power light). I mostly just found the tiny solder points way too difficult to deal with.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Yes, it’s definitely a challenging mod to do.

[@brent16]

Man your videos are the best and I think You deserve more subscribers than you have at the moment

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you Brent 🙏☺️

[@draconic5129]

What about soft mods like Mechapwn, that allows you to play any region PS2 game as well as any PS1 game (original or burned) without opening the console at all.

[@tom940]

i got a bunch of ps2s just to install modchips, its alittle time consuming but alot of fun

[@James_D.]

This video was amazing! Keep up the good work!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you James! I will for as long as I can 🙏😁

[@stephenshelottiii3272]

Great video as usual. Your wiring is amazing.

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank you 🙏☺️

[@TheZax85]

I still prefer FreeMCboot, either on the memory card or an internal harddisk. That way you can always move it to another Playstation 2, if something starts acting funny, or even reverse the mod if you wanna sell it.

[@rosergio7227]

Trully a artform the way You put the wires, beautiful 😍

[@RobertJene]

I put a modchip in my PS2 back in 2006, and I got TONS of use out of it. It was a DMS4 Pro on a V4 motherboard. At the time, there was no documentation for how to do a V4 mobo because they were rare. I studied the V2, V3, V5, and V6 instructions to figure it out.

[@evansusmc]

My modded PS2 just stopped playing copied games. 😢. Please help. It worked great for years. After I took a year off of video games I came back to play it. It plays regular PS2 games but no longer copied games.

[@pokiblue5870]

i see so many versions of Ps2..a fat one, slim one, different color…do you know which versions is the best to mod ?

[@evansusmc]

@@pokiblue5870 the best to mod? Not sure. I just have the mod chip that allowed it to play copied games. I got it done in Thailand. Wouldn’t know how to do it myself.

[@ArmandoDoval]

Mod chips (or a PSIO) had a strong use case a couple of years ago but between Free McBoot and the MiSTer's new PSX core it's really hard for me to justify going to all this trouble these days.

[@retrogm_]

This is my favorite MNP vid ever!!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thanks retroGM 🙏!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thanks retroGM 🙏!

[@e99g]

I actually still have the old school Crystal Chip V1 since I was 7 years old. But never knew how to install it, and I let it inside the expansion bay

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Awesome!

[@enricoroselino7557]

wow the cable splicer is very convenient, can you provide link to the product please?

[@Lilithe]

I swear one day I'll do a teardown of my SCPH-9000 series slim to show the shitshow of a mod I did back in the 2000s. I actually don't remember how I routed it butI think it's bad. I didn't know what I was doing at all but I had the benefits of much younger eyesight. So I took my time and did it right the first time, and with much trepidation, I turned it on to be greeted with the ChipMod boot logo. Now I have that slim and a Fat that I bought in a thrift store. I use the slim to make memory cards for the fat because the slim's drive kept failing. Old ChipMods used to put strain on the DVD drive somehow and burn out the laser diode quicker than usual. I had never done the fix for that yet. I did buy some more recent mods with the laser fix but I haven't bothered to dive back into it again. My eyesight for up close stuff is nowhere near as good as it used to be. SMD soldering is okay with a magnifying glass but it's tricky! Gotta have a perfectly hot iron and just tap the trace so you don't lift it! What a rush!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

There’s a mod to protect the laser which I plan to cover soon

[@Lilithe]

Yeah I saw you had one in the video. The mod I have in my parts bin is similar, but smaller.

[@martinvonhausmeister782]

Gr8 music in background... I'm so chill.

[@redherring3253]

This install looks so good! Awesome job!

[@MachoNachoProductions]

Thank buddy!! 🙏😁

[@szabo_bakter]

I have a Matrix chip in my SCPH-500xx PAL console and it plays everything. It is also fully compatible with FMCB and I also play games from the installed 1TB HDD.

[@JamieKitchens6]

That is some neat wiring and soldering Tito, kudos to you good sir!

[@isa300100]

Tito: this is actually a very strange MoBo. Also Tito: I fried it.

[@chasefournier]

Super cool Tido!! You should make a video about the e3flasher with the PS3! OR even a NAND downgrade tool for the PS3! Amazing video & solid soldering! You made the install look easy! No worries about the first install, I've destroyed many consoles before i got it right!

[@gcfreak898]

Back in the day there was modchip websites that had all the modchip compatibility list. It was simple just look up what you got and make a decision on which chip you wanted. Hard part was installing it. I went through five PS2s before I got it right. What a huge pain that was back in the day. There was also a swap disc mode where you put a custom ps2 slim disc lid. That was way easier than the modchip solution. But, backing up discs is a lost art and who knows how long them disc drives will last. Just had my slim PS2 disc drive go out on me recently. I tried swapping the laser out and broke it. Optical disc emulators are the way to go.

[@TheOriginalVersatile]

Loved the video. Installed modbo 5.0 in my slim 70012 and it fried my Lazer. Did it later with 75001 for hell of it and it was the hardest mod I ever done. It worked and it was a fun learning experience. Gamecube mod chips are simple compared to PS2 lol

[@moonshine4991]

when I was 12. I order a mod chip for the ps1 not knowing it was a scam back in the day. I use a search engine and I found a website that look like a mod chip store website, so I order it and send the money order to the guy that email me back from the website. I never receive anything and the guy stop responding to my email after he got the money . it hurted so bad because I had lost 12 dollars of my saving.I remember it was a United State address. one of my friend brother end up ordering a game shark device call gold finger and it was cool. you can play backup and apply cheats too. I no longer play games anymore, but I do watch KZbin videos . just to reminiscence the good old time with my bros and friend playing games

[@ModeSOLOgaming]

I really wanna do this but have no experience soldering. Don't really know where to start but I was thinking I could just buy broken consoles and get practice repairing them.

[@max.wilson]

I used to have a modded PS1 Slim back in 2002-2003. There was a store in my town that did it in shop. Playing burned and Japanese games was awesome.