H2O Chip

[Skelaratus]

Has anyone heard anything about the H2O chip? I am tyring to help my cousin out because he is getting his PS2 modded locally, and the installer only uses the H2O chip. I wanted to know if there was any feedback on it. Is it a knock off of the Magic (as I find most smaller brand names are), does it have any issues, etc?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Warlock]

I dont know much about this one Skelaratus. It says it will autoboot everything, PSX/PS2. There's not much difference in the price of it verses a infinity or CC.

Hopefully Spedmetal will see this and be able to fill us in on the quality of this chip :)

[Skelaratus]

Thank you Warlock.

I will wait for Sped or anyone else who has worked with this chip. And don't be afraid to give me the dirty on it. This is an investment for my cousin, as modding is for anyone (time, labor, equiptment, and price of your system if you install a crap chip).

I have seen many knock offs in my day, so I am open to commenst on this
H2O chip.

Thanks again :)

[spedmetal]

The H2O uses the ICE code which was originally a freely distributed homebrew code that started way back in the Magic3 days. The code over time has evolved into much more then the code of the magic3 days with the help of lacyg, RCE and a few others.

The H2O chip is produced my a guy that goes by the handle of summ0ne, fitting isnt it. Yes summ0ne is also one of the guys that has developed the summ0ne v12 laser fix. This chip simply uses the ICE final code and works fairly well. The only bug that I have run into is the autoboot feature can be a little troublesome at times. It has trouble detecting PSX games and at times fails to switch modes. Its default mode is PS2 games so it boots PS2 games no problem. There however is a workaround for this you can force PSX/DVD mode if you like with a reset button sequence. The ICE code does have a nice feature for such a low end chip, this feature is Dev1 mode which will allow you to boot ELF's from the memory card.

However like I said this is a low end chip and you shouldnt be paying anywhere near the price of a CC or MI. If your interested in this chip look around for a good deal.

summ0ne has made claims that lacyg has once again been able to update the ICE code to be able to correctly patch the new V14 consoles. However him and the rest of the ICE team are not going to release this new code, not anytime soon anyway. So what was once a free fun homebrew code/chip combo has now gone 100% commercial through the H20 chip. But oh well I guess its about time lacyg and the rest of the ICE team make some cash from all their hard work.

Here is the readme from the Final ICE hex.


;ICE REVOLUTION FINAL CODE - FIX
;code optimalized and fixed
;Most of the code is completely rewriten AND new
;Developed by : Lacyg, vdavide , RCE .
;Tested on PAL/NTSC/JAP versions
;CODES :FINAL.hex => use F as second rest (addon pics F10.jpg,F1-9.jpg)
; FINALR.hex => need addon on rest (see pic ... rest.bmp)
; both for SX48 included
;--------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Special thanks to :
; - Summ0ne for reset addon
; - Automan, Summ0ne, Romeo and many others for testing
; - Someone that ... help without know ... he he ...
; - many others for support
;--------------------------------------------------------------------------

; CURRENT VERSION FEATURES
; - Only 3 wire on cddvd controller for V9> PAL and NTSC (B,G,I) for JAP need H
; - Only 2 wire on cddvd controller for V1-V8> PAL and NTSC (B,I)
; - F wire now used for AUTOBOOT operation !!! see addons
; - NOTE : RW SUPPORT = H for PAL or F for 'R' codes
; - AR2 operations and PSX bootdisk operations if need .
; - Boot ps2 dvd-r and dvd+r
; - Chip can be disabled and auto-sleep
; - Automode for ps2 prot. games :)
; - RGB fix
; - PSX1 imports fix screen position FIX
; - DEV1 mode : boot mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF , standards as commercial chips use
; - AUTOBOOT : PSX2/PSX1/MOVIES boot automaticaly

; CURRENT VERSION Operation mode
; -PSX1,PSX2,DVD VIDEO : insert disk and play (note: simple rest if false)
; -FORCE PS1 game/DVD video : 2sec reset from STBY
; -DEV1 mode : 4 sec reset from STBY and second short reset until 10 sec
; RESET from DEV1 mode = back to DEV1MODE
; -EJECT after boot from mode = back to mode (example eject from PSX1 = back to PSX1)
; -Turn off chip : keep reset for 4 sec. (about) from STBY (you can load only original, video & audio CD).
; May be usefull for future online games ( may check chip ...)

; FUSE SETTINGS
; -use FUSE=7F1, FUSEX=F7F

[Skelaratus]

Sped once again you have astounded me.

This information was excellant, and you gave me some avenues to research certain issues on my own.

I will pass this stuff on to my cousin, and will also make sure he isnt getting ripped in price. Like you said, it is a low end chip, and compared to my CC which he has experienced, I dont know why he would wan to go low-end.

But save the convincing for me, I couldnt be happier with my CC.

Thanks again.

[drifter-in]

Ok, I'm new to this forum and seen your ? For the price you can get an H2O
for around 18 bucks if you look around the web, Its a dang great chip, It auto boots everything even from browser, It allows DL + Media like God of War backup, The only flaw, I have seen is in ps1 mode its not stealth so
even anti mod game will not play, unless its a backup with a patch, But ive used a few of these and going to use more, allready in shipping, But I also like other chips, " BUT FOR THE PRICE YOU CANT BEAT THIS CHIP" its easy to install, Ive used a many of diffrent mods, been around the psx scene for around 8-9 years, When I first tried a H2O I was like wow, 18 dollar chip that will do this, I could care less whoes modified hex codes it is , it works, and works good, For the price Thumbs up. Look around the web,

Now Ninja yuk yuk yuk, Suckiest chip ive ever used tried.

Yea theres better chips for for a little more than double the cost. And they are good, but even on those shop around, I was looking at crystals earlier
every one 55, 60, 65, bucks US, I finally found some for 45, Just like the LA6508 every where 16, 24, 26, I found a place for 12US so look around,

[Warlock]

Hi drifter, welcome to the forum :) .
Where are you buying the chips at for $18. The cheapest i have found was 24.50 a piece but you must buy a min of 5. Most other sites sell them for 39.99 to 49.99. For that price i must stick with my CC's and infinity's :)