[charlie_ps2]

Originally posted by spongebob
I recently got a Messiah 2 mod chip professionally installed on my PAL ps2 SCPH-39002. I have had problems with a variety of different backups.

Firstly - When I run backups of NTSC ps1 games there is a large black border at the bottom of the screen, taking up approx 1/4 of the screen. I haven't tried to run any PAL ps1 backups yet. Is this border meant to be there?
Charlie's Answer: That's a TV thing inhandling the 60Hz frame rate coming out of the pS2 for NTSC games. Not a lot you can do about that.

Secondly - Two ps2 PAL backups will not boot. The first is Kingdom Hearts which is copied on Verbatim DVD+R, and the second is The Sims burnt on TDK cd-r gold. Either the normal ps2 screen will come up with the Browser/ Configeration options, or a red/ pink screen saying to insert a valid ps1 or ps2 disc. These are the only games I have tried so far. I have tried Kingdom Hearts many times, it booted up once, yet froze around 10 seconds into the game. It hasn't worked since
Charlie's Answer: Messiah 2 boots everything as my tests have shown. So the answer lies in something mechanical, so to speak. Media is complex - it interacts with the laser and there's DVD-R/DVD+R, burning speed and so on. If a DVDR game freezes it's nearly always a media/laser ineraction. The laser azimuth can be adjusted to optimise that situation.

Thirdly - When playing a ps2 original game the other day the system froze 4 times, leaving me to reset the ps2 each time. It has never frozen before I got the mod chip.
Charlie's Answer: Maybe this is a common problem with your second point, in which case this answer governs not the one above. If the Messiah 2 is not installed properly, such as a point goes to the wrong end of a resistor, or you use a non-recommended 3.45v point, then instabilities in the PS2 could arise. Original games should never be a problem.

I am going to try more backups and see if it is my system or the discs that are the problem. Does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong? If there is anything wrong at all.