Worklog An attempt to recreate the PS2 PCB

[Mister M]

I believe this will be the last designer update I will do before sending the pcb to be manufactured. In this last update I put the micro SD card slot to read games from the memory card, I had a spare space on the pcb and I decided to put this option, I thought about putting the data multiplexer, but I decided to save time and as I possibly wouldn't use it I left out of this first project.

As I already mentioned, I have the two schematics that I extract from the 90k and 79k, I've reviewed both several times, and finally now I compared them, pin by pin to see if I found any errors, I'm happy because I didn't find any, they are 97% identical, with some very small differences in the mechacon, now I need to review the footprints I created, check the pad distances, and finally send them to be manufactured.

One of the biggest challenges in assembling this project will be BGA soldering, I have no experience, but I spent hours and days watching tutorial videos and different ways to make BGA soldering. I could send it to a console technical workshop to make the BGA for me, but this would take all the fun out of building something so dreamed of, so using a little creativity, I created a PCB to train BGA soldering, the idea consists of a pcb that I can cut the footprints in the shape of the chip and solder on the same board, with that I will use two boards of the same to practice BGA soldering, after soldering I test the continuity on both sides of the PCB with a multimeter. BGA welding requires practice and knowledge.

Finally, this is the size of the PCB.

 

[cfc_12]

It looks like potentially, the size of the PCB could fit to a G-Boy case, I'm not sure though

 

[bns]

Can't wait to see results, this is really exciting

 

[thedrew]

I could send it to a console technical workshop to make the BGA for me, but this would take all the fun out of building something so dreamed of

I agree with you. It's not the same having it done for you. I find soldering BGA packages easier than QFN. With flux, when you place the BGA chip in position and heat it up, it just snaps into place due to surface tension. I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[Customledmods]

This is great work, now hopefully you find the rest of the needed parts if not i could possibly ship you some 79k motherboards so you could finish your project.

 

[bns]

I put the micro SD card slot to read games from the memory card, I had a spare space on the pcb and I decided to put this option

SD2SIO, that's a really cool addon! I'm wondering, when your project is complete are you gonna sell the PCB's or make it open source?

 

[Mister M]

SD2SIO, that's a really cool addon! I'm wondering, when your project is complete are you gonna sell the PCB's or make it open source?

It's still too early for me to make a decision, as I said it's an attempt, but I intend to somehow benefit the whole community. So far I have made available the mappings I made of the 90k and 79k, this same mapping a Chinese company asked me for 2,000 dollars per board to do it, so I decided to do it myself, I spent a few months studying before starting the mapping of the 90k and I did it , and soon after I made the 79k, and I shared both mappings here, the decision I make about the pcb I want to benefit everyone in some way.

 

[Mister M]

I agree with you. It's not the same having it done for you. I find soldering BGA packages easier than QFN. With flux, when you place the BGA chip in position and heat it up, it just snaps into place due to surface tension. I think you'll enjoy it.

It's good to hear that Bro, I'm going to need to acquire tools for this, and take some time to train and feel confident in soldering with Chips, this is new territory, so I'm looking for ways to make it easier and cheaper to perform these solders.

 

[thedrew]

Yeah the tools can get pretty expensive if you buy top notch brands. Like at my job, my desk has about $3000 worth of micro soldering equipment but you can get away with a cheap hot air station and soldering iron for this project honestly. It will be easier with a microscope, but you won't necessarily need one. You have inspired me to recreate the PS2 board as well, I'll have to get started on that sometime soon. Thanks for sharing all of your research, that's really going to come in handy.

 

[sequetuveu]

It's still too early for me to make a decision, as I said it's an attempt, but I intend to somehow benefit the whole community. So far I have made available the mappings I made of the 90k and 79k, this same mapping a Chinese company asked me for 2,000 dollars per board to do it, so I decided to do it myself, I spent a few months studying before starting the mapping of the 90k and I did it , and soon after I made the 79k, and I shared both mappings here, the decision I make about the pcb I want to benefit everyone in some way.

geart work I can't imagine how much time it toke to do all of this work
do you think it's possible to give some links to the ressources you used to study mapping I'm interested
thanks

 

[Mister M]

I printed the footprints that I created on paper to see if they were correct, and everything is fine, they are perfect.

As the print is 1:1 scale, full scale, I was able to get a physical sense of the size of the PCB.

 

[MASTER_Samoyed]

Hi i am very new to these kinds of mods a builds, but i was wondering if could just order some of the ps2 chips seperately using the website ''kynix'', and i have a few examples of ps2 chips they have in stock, like:https://www.kynix.com/Detail/526774/CXD2976GB.html, just an idea that im wondering if could work

 

[thedrew]

Hi i am very new to these kinds of mods a builds, but i was wondering if could just order some of the ps2 chips seperately using the website ''kynix'', and i have a few examples of ps2 chips they have in stock, like:https://www.kynix.com/Detail/526774/CXD2976GB.html, just an idea that im wondering if could work

It will not make sense to order any chips separately and you will still need other chips off the motherboard of the original ps2 that are not sold separately anywhere anyway.

 

[Mister M]

Hi i am very new to these kinds of mods a builds, but i was wondering if could just order some of the ps2 chips seperately using the website ''kynix'', and i have a few examples of ps2 chips they have in stock, like:https://www.kynix.com/Detail/526774/CXD2976GB.html, just an idea that im wondering if could work

Although the schematic of the 90k pcb is 97% identical to the 79k pcb, there is a BIOS firmware difference and the mechacon has about 5 different pins, I advise you to get a defective PS2 and transplant the component you need, there will be less risk of making a mistake.

 

[Stitches]

Does the PS2 not use hardware keys like the Wii? I'm surprised there are so many transplanatable ICs.

 

[perigoso]

This is very cool, it's something I've been thinking about lately, I very much enjoy the custom PCB way of doing things (do EE and SE for a living), If there's anything you need/could use help with let us know.
I have an extra 79k laying around too, that I might sacrifice for something like this if it works out, keep up with the updates.

Do you have a link or something for the original resources you created? for the original reverse engineering? I'm particularly interested in schematics

Cheers!

 

[Mister M]

This is very cool, it's something I've been thinking about lately, I very much enjoy the custom PCB way of doing things (do EE and SE for a living), If there's anything you need/could use help with let us know.
I have an extra 79k laying around too, that I might sacrifice for something like this if it works out, keep up with the updates.

Do you have a link or something for the original resources you created? for the original reverse engineering? I'm particularly interested in schematics

Cheers!

Remoticon Video: How To Reverse Engineer A PCB

You hold in your hand a circuit board from a product you didn’t make. How does the thing work? What a daunting question, but it’s both solvable and approachable if you know what you&#82…

hackaday.com

 

[insestito]

Awesome project...
I hope this go Forward!

 

[perigoso]

Remoticon Video: How To Reverse Engineer A PCB

You hold in your hand a circuit board from a product you didn’t make. How does the thing work? What a daunting question, but it’s both solvable and approachable if you know what you&#82…

hackaday.com

I was asking for the schematics you reverse engineered already

 

[Mister M]

I was asking for the schematics you reverse engineered already

Okay, I haven't made the decision about sharing the project yet, it's too early for that, I'm still working on the PCBs and making changes and corrections, but count on my help in learning reverse engineering and creating PCBs if you need it.