FBGA Device (Messiah/Clone) Works Fine
 

I thought the Forum should know that the Messiah/Clone inauspiciously known as the "FBGA Device" has just had its first successful customer install on a v4 PAL PS2.

It's always an act of faith when you get your batch of chips in and send them out to Australia and Singapore expecting them to work; confirmation is a good thing.

Why is it called the "FBGA Device"? God knows - my supplier didn't say, but I put on the delivery note and terms of trade the description given by my wholesaler for traceability.

Isn't "FBGA Device" a great name? Doesn't it beat Bootmaster (now defunct I believe), Gameslayer, Phoenix, Elvis? Nah.

So that's another Messiah/Clone working OK. Let's hope that supply keeps up.

Yep he's done it guys!!!
He just needed to sort out his S WIRE from his W WIRE.
He was up till midnight doing it and when he got home his wife said
Wait for it.

WIRE ARE YOU INSOLATE.

Sorry about that one in advance folks.

THANKS CHARLIE.

ARGO.

lol argo
but how do u like your messiah clone?
does it beat pushing trays?

DUST 2 DUST,
not quite got it back home yet
but its on it's way.
Thanks again to you and Charlie for making it happen.


ARGO.

Yo ppl,

Hope that my mod can be successful mate,

Still waiting for it to arrive in my mail box thou' :P

Simply can't wait, haha I've got all my soldering equipments and wires ready....

Well lets hope the supply last,

Cheers

Jack, I reckon it'll be the end of the week as per our e-mail exchange. Swiftair is targeted at 6 days (but very good value) and it went on a Friday - Sundays don't count, wouldn't count on a Saturday either. So patience please.

Charlie,
it is strange how names come about.
Such as MESSIAH, GAMESLAYER, ELVIS and FBGA device.
I was only asking my dad the other day,
Why did you call my brother David, David?
He said it's because he was born on St' Davids day.
I said why did you call my other brother Stephen?
He said it's because he was born on St' Stephens day.

Then he said how come your asking all these questions

PANCAKE!!!

That's definately the last one otherwise people will stop taking seriously!!

ARGO.

No worries on that Charlie Matey,

Just can't wait on the new chip :)

hahaha i can't get any sleep, just thinking of it

I'm interested in getting a messiah/clone for my v4 30003 Pal ps2. I've already mailed you charlie, did you get it?
Please mail me...

dose

I know how u feel
I'm just waiting for a local shop to email me there prices before I choose between getting it from charlie or them :)

Get it while you can. Sony are now pursuing distributors.

hmmmm they don't have any in and when/if they do it will be up to $500 ozzie for chip+install

Is this thing hard to install? It's gonna cost to much to get it done professionaly :(

JD_13,
the m chip is not hard to install if your good with a soldering iron and know exactly what your doing.
I didn't fit into that catagory so got it done by someone who did who also turned out to be someone who i could trust.
My advice is get the chip now while you can from Charlie and / or Dust to DUST you never know how long it will be available for.
It might sound like i'm becoming an advertising agency for C and D to D but frankly i'm not it's just in the computer game you can easily get your fingers burned.
These people are genuine guys with the genuine article, so come on people wake and get in touch with them Aussie land is know problem, see the other threads on this subject.
On the questoin of getting it fitted, if you don't know someone yourself, ask around see if you can find a name that has a good reputation from one or two people.
How much to pay for the job?
Well how much is it worth to have it done right and the peace of mind that goes with it?
How much would it cost if someone knackered it up?
UK prices vary between £50 to a £100 for fitting but often these are irrelevant because many of them don't have the chip anyway,
it's always going arrive tomorrow, next week or whatever and often never does.
Put your mind at rest make the decision and contact the two guys above before Sony gets in the way.

ARGO

well my local suplier says they will have them in -2 weeks but i doubt it but they want $500 Australian dollars for the chip+install

so thats around $210 for install how can they justify that when it will only take them 2-3hrs?

I am 99% likely to be ordering my m clone from charile on friday so hopefully Dad will know some good solderes or something :)

i not know aussie exchange rate so i explain in english
he has to dismantle solder micro points
if he pisses up your ps2 he has to pay
he pro his wages is £25 a hour
if chip stops working (he have to open check his wiring again called a garauntee)
plus your other option is to learn to solder like a pro
that cost u more :)

Well Dust, Partner - it would have been nice if you had explained it in English! I got the "if he p*isses up your PS2" bit, of course. I think what you were saying is to get a pro to do it who will take responsibility for his work.

For JD, I'd say that if "my mate round the corner" is an electronics pro, there will others likewise especially in a big city (I know there's a possible issue there). The advantage of the pro is that he can spot what went wrong when he goes over it again. If JD learns but gets it wrong, he won't know what to look for.

JD - get a pro to do it is the message.

does this clone work with the ntsc u/c v4 & v5 boards

This clone is the same as every other clone. If they work, this works on US systems. Reports say it only works with v4.

Importantly for you is to know that I havee no means of trying this out and so I do not know if it works on US systems.

Yo charlie my man,

I got the FBGA...thanks mate,

I'll be installing it later after work...hopefully to have some good news for all of you...

Well Charles,Partner-it would have been nice to be born skills u have S C M to name just 1(supr console man .my only excuse is i dont wear red pants(trousers) blue sweatshirt with s c m on it so sometimes when u read my replies u have to switch your brain on to understand it.
BUT I CAN WALK DOWN STREET WITHOUT EVERYONE LOOKING AT ME AS IF IM A SUPERHERO

which by the way u answer questions so clearly u surely are
:D

jackng im sure all will go well

Thanks Jack. Now we know it really does take under a week to go from UK to Singapore. That's a load off my mind and Grahame in Australia will be pleased too.

On the soldering side your install guide omits the following info:

The recommended equipment needed for the soldering job is:

a) 15 watt soldering iron for the solder work (not higher or damage could result)
b) 100 watt soldering iron for stripping enamelled copper wire**
c) 0.10 mm solder tip (this is very small)
d) 33 or 35 swg wire** for all but 3.3v and GROUND
e) “Normal” sheathed wire for 3.3v and GROUND
f) Liquid Flux
g) Solder paste
h) De-solder braid
i) Pair of safety razor blades & Blue Tack to hold them in place
j) Double sided tape to fix the mod chip into final place

** Self-Stripping, enamelled copper wire is recommended rather than sheathed as it requires less space and is easier to feed through to the other side of the motherboard.

The diagrams show PADs and VIAs (The via is a link through to both sides of the board and isn't tinned). It is straightforward to solder a wire to a PAD. If there is a problem, there is usually the source to which a solder can be made.

However soldering a wire to a VIA must be performed with great care since damage to a VIA can ruin the motherboard.

Generally, this is the soldering technique where the small processor pins are involved:

· Strip the solder end of the enamelled copper wire using the hot 100W iron.
· Dip the stripped end into the solder paste
· Squirt a small amount of flux onto the CPU or BIOS pins to assist adhesion of the solder
· Solder to the pin using the razor blade technique described in the guide.

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU HAVE A v3 OR v4 PS2 THEN THE DETAIL DIAGRAMS ARE ON WWW.CHINA-MESSIAH.COM. THE BRIDGES THAT HAVE TO BE SET ON THE MOD CHIP DIFFER BETWEEN DIFFERENT PS2 VERSIONS.

It is recommended for v4 PS2s not to use the alternate points but to solder directly to the CPU as problems have been reported with alternate point installation. (The "vias" are difficult)

charlie,

one quick question,

for the ground soldering point, i don't see anything on the main board.

does it mean that i need to scratch away the protective layer and solder it there??

the rest of the points are ok...expect for the ground...

please let me know

Regards

Yes - I think that's stated on page 9 of the install guide. Scratch away at the indicated point. This orientatin of the M-Clone keeps the leads short. Your alternative is to turn the M-Clone round and use the 3.3v/GND point shown at www.china-,essiah.com.

Installer in Singapore??
 

Charlie, Dust 2 Dust, or any other gamer in Singapore reading.

You guys know of a good installer for the FBGA in Singapore? Read somewhere that the soldering required for the M-clone requires quite a bit of skill, and don't wanna send to someone to screw my PS2 up! :mad:

Since most of you guys have had success installing it, will someone who has successfully installed Neo, Origa, etc, be able to do a solder of the FBGA?

Anyone who knows a good solderer in Singapore, pleas pm me or mail me at chipme34**********com.

Thanks a bunch :D :D

Noni

Jackng may have succeeded by now!

In any case, a person who has installed Origa successfully has the experience necessary for the Messiah. That's because they both use the same 8 legs on the CD/DVD Controller, less than 0.2mm apart.

At this distance, of course, my asdvice has to be at your risk.

Re: FBGA Device (Messiah/Clone) Works Fine
 

Actually it's FPGA : Field Programmable Gate Array

FPGAs can implement thousand of gates of logic in a single IC and it can be programmed by the user.

/Isildur

Re: Re: FBGA Device (Messiah/Clone) Works Fine
 

No it's not it's Finepitch Ball Gate Array

Hey Jackng

How's the install? Waiting anxiously for your result, and to see if you're willing to mod one for me.

Need your reply so that can order the chip before you-know-who
;) ;) ;) steps in!

btw, has anyone had a success install for NTSC U/C PS2? There was a mail that it should work on v4 NTSC, but any success stories? Also, can FBGA be used on NTSC/J, as I got a SCPH 10000 as well? Or do I stick with the Origa v1.25?

:D :D

Sorry guys,

I was very tied up with my work lately, and I don't have the change to mod it yet, I'll be sending it in for modification later tonight, Hopefully i can get it back by this weekend, I'll let you guys know on this.

BTW charlie, I've managed to replace the faulty part and everything seems to be working fine right now

Jack

Hi Noni and Jack,

Looks like Jack's geting someone to do it for him. Jack - make sure he follows the instructions and takes no short cuts!

Noni - for the 10000, stay with the Origa 1.25 - it's a fine chip I'm sure you agree. There's no Messiah coming for v1 boards.

Thanks Charlie! Yeah, suppose I'll stick to the Origa for now.

BTW, read that Origa has stopped dev on v2, since you-know-who laid heat on them. Anyone read of a no-swap for Jap PS2's?

Jack: Good news man! I hope to hear good news from you...got my fingers, toes, eyes, and anything else cross-able!!!:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Hi Charlie,

Thanks Mate, I've spoken to him and was wondering if can i use the alternative "GND" point as shown at the china-messiah.com website, and still having the FBGA oriented at the position you've shown on your documentation. Since the 3.3V point is nearer.

I presume that the GND point is not as important as the 3.3v point, therefore the length of the "GND" cable is not an issue.

Cheers Mate

Jack

Jack, short power wires is a principle and my diagram showed an acceptable GND point. Any GND point of shorter or similar distance from the chip will be fine. We re-oriented it from the China site in order to keep the wires short so I can't recommend a long GND wire.

On the other hand I would say try it if it simplifies matters for the installer. If it works at all it'll always work.

I'll do just that, I'll keep you guys inform

Thanks Mate

Hi Everyone!!

Just got back my PS2 fully mod with the messiah!!

just one word...........PERFECT!!!!

got it working!!!

Charlie, aren't you going to welcome me into the club??

All buyers of charlie out there, if you are in singapore please drop me an email, i'll set you up with the installer with 100% soldering success!!

Thanks Everyone!!! n Special Thanks To Charlie!!!!!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D

Jack

Welcome to the Messiah Club!

I can't reach you!
 

Jackng-

Couldn't e-mail you for help to hook up with the guy who modded your set.

Could you mail me?

Charlie_ps2-

Sent you a mail for a you-know-what. Let me know, right?

Thanks a bunch, guys

:D :D :D

Re: I can't reach you!
 

Whats your email pal?? if you turn off the emailing function of file forums, its near to impossible to email you from here.

Anyway my email address is [email protected]

Cheers Mate, hope you get the FBGA fast. It Rocks!!

welcome jackng
good c u got it sorted
:D

Thanks dust2dust

Glad that every turns out fine...

Thanks