Worklog AtomicPlayStation2: My first portable project. My first portable PS2.

[megmati]

Hi guys! I decided to start my first portable project based on PS2. The first stage was to get some PS2s and select what to be used. I decide to use that:

This is a SCPH79006 with the GH-061-42 mainboard:

As you can see I started to remove some components that are out of the trimm region just to familiarize with my soldering station (This is a new one I bought recently)
I'm using a parking car screen just to do quick tests. My plan is to use a 5inch hdmidisplay + PS2 2 HDMI adapter for the final mount, but for now this is ok.

In order to start the board trim, last night I was removing the components that are over the cutting line. I'm using the worklog of @Benge : benge_ps2_worklog because it seems to be the same boards.
I ended removing all the components of the bottom side but I still have to remove the ones of the upper side:

I'll be cutting it in the next days but I'm thinking to buy a new drill because mine has the axis not centered.

In the mean time, I bought 4 voltage regulators. All of them are not lineal so probably I'll need to buy one for them for the 1.75v source.

And that's all for now! See you guys !!!!!

 

[Benge]

For the trim here is the link to the official trimming guide :

https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-definitive-ps2-trimming-guide.1841/

But yes you can try to do like me, try to cut a little wider anyway, there is no second chance if you cut too much.
In addition, if this is your first cut, it is more safe.

And yes a good drill with a straight axis is much precise.

So good luck for the trim

 

[megmati]

For the trim here is the link to the official trimming guide :

https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-definitive-ps2-trimming-guide.1841/

But yes you can try to do like me, try to cut a little wider anyway, there is no second chance if you cut too much.
In addition, if this is your first cut, it is more safe.

And yes a good drill with a straight axis is much precise.

So good luck for the trim

Yesss!!! Thanks Benge! I was comparing the board used in the guide but I think that is a little bit different that the one I have.
Regarding to the drill, thanks for your advice. it triggers to me to buy a new one

By the way, your ps2 is really beautilful.. you inspired me to build my own portable

See you soon !!

 

[megmati]

Hi guys, I have some updates !!

Finally, one of my best friends (Thanks Eze Manoukian) and Me trimmed the mainboard and this is the results of that:

After some sanding with sandpaper of 80,500 and 600 and cleaning I got the next result:

I ensured that there is no short circuit between layers. After sanding the layers seems to be good isolated between them:

Finally, I made my temporal source for the required voltage, wired them to the main board and connect it to my screen... and everything looked good

BUT! I realized that I removed all the components related with the audio and the YPrPb functionality ( ouch... My mistake.. Probably I should have read a little bit more about those topics)
So the situation now is,

1. For audio i need something like the Uamp but there is no stock of that right now. I also could use the github open source project to do one of them by hand, but here in my country is not easy to find some electronica components like the microcontrollers used in that board. I'm thinking in to start again with another ps2 mainboard but leaving the audio circuitery intact.
2. For video , my idea was to use an ps2tohdmi (actually, I already bought one of them) but I'm in the same scenario that in the point 1): I removed all the circuitry. Here, I can start again with a new mainboard OR use only the RCA output.

For now, I think that I'll start to work in a new mainboard. I think that this is the straight forward option that I have. I don't know yet

An adittional thing is that i wired the joystick to the mainboard and it works properly.

Anyway... bye guys!!!!!!

 

[megmati]

Ok guys, I'm here again. I had to start again with a new mainboard. This time, I use a very similar version: the GH-061-12. I did all the trimming work again and after that it works. Here some photos:

<OFFTOPIC> I added to my microscope a little reed switch to trigger the photo using a little magnet because when you push the "photo button" photos are taken but the movement
of the entire microscope spoils it.

As you can see, now I didn't touch the audio/video circuitry ! My idea is to use a really simple audio amplifier connected to some speakers.

Here is the voltage relocation made:

After that, turning all on, the mainboard works fine (again)!!

I had problems testing the audio outputs but after some measurements and look into the trimming guide I realized that 5v were missing in the pin7 of the audio DAC :

Probably I could remove the 78M05 regulator. I'll do it for the next update!

I still have to test:

• Joystick
• Memory card
• ps2toHDMI
• USB

If everything goes fine, I'll be posting a new update after test those things. See you soon!!!!!!!!

 

[megmati]

Hi guys.. here again! after some days, I could test joystick, USB, memory and PS2toHDMI. I tested it with Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and it runs ok!! I put temporal connectors for joystick and memory to be able to disconnect it during this process. I'm using the ps2 usb board just for now, I'll be dealing with that soon.

This is the PS2HDMI board. I removed some unused components(like the audio jack) and connected the board to a video ps2 connector. It worked
fine so I'll be working on that when I design the case for my APS2.

After All those tests, I started to study the Dualshock protocol to implement a ps2 controller with an arduino board or something like that.
In order to make a "ps2 controller sniffer" I made these connections that allows me to monitor the transactions between them.

I'm using an Arduino Nano board and this is the first version of the state machine that I implemented. Currently, this is not working(LOL)
but I'm going to get a logic analyzer in a few days and I'll be able to log all the transactions between the ps2 and the joystick.

Another thing I tried was to remove the ethernet integrated circuit of the mainboard. I just wanted to know if it reduces the power consuption. So,
before to do that, I took the power measurement. I got 1.30A while DBZ were running and 1.24 during a , let say, waiting state.
Then, I removed the ethernet chip..... and my ps2 didn't boot anymore conclusion: DON'T DO THAT!!!
After resoldering the chip ( about to 10 times) my ps2 finally booted!!! (close enough)

Finally, I soldered the wires of the USB (B+ and B-) to a bigger board to make easier the final soldering:

So... that's it for now. see you in the next days!!!!

 

[eze_manou]

Nice work buddy! Keep it going!

 

[djsedaw]

Very interested if you can get an Arduino Nano working as a controller interface, good luck with that!

 

[megmati]

Nice work buddy! Keep it going!

Thanks Eze!

 

[megmati]

Very interested if you can get an Arduino Nano working as a controller interface, good luck with that!

Thanks djsedaw!!... let's see what happens with that! :-)

 

[MRKane]

Do you get any letterboxing through the image upscaler? The one that I used for one of my portables had quite a large border around the entire image and it was a true shame as it'd be perfect if it didn't do that. I'd hope that this issue has been resolved because it really knocks down the quality of the HDMI scalar!

 

[megmati]

Do you get any letterboxing through the image upscaler? The one that I used for one of my portables had quite a large border around the entire image and it was a true shame as it'd be perfect if it didn't do that. I'd hope that this issue has been resolved because it really knocks down the quality of the HDMI scalar!

Hi MRKane.. sorry what is an image upscaler?

 

[MRKane]

The PS2toHDMI board you've got there is an image upscaler that uses yPbPr and gives a very nice picture over HDMI. The only issue I had with them a few years ago was the black borders around the image and I'm keen to know if the picture now fills the screen during use

 

[megmati]

The PS2toHDMI board you've got there is an image upscaler that uses yPbPr and gives a very nice picture over HDMI. The only issue I had with them a few years ago was the black borders around the image and I'm keen to know if the picture now fills the screen during use

Oh I see!!! You know what? Yesterday was the first time that I tested the PS2toHDMI with a 5'' HDMI screen... and yessss.. There are black borders there!! And I though the same thing as you: It's a shame I'll upload a picture of that in my next post

 

[Wenderson]

estou com esse medelo de playstation 2 para o meu projeto, so que ele esta sem áudioe video, alguem consegue me ajudar ?

 

[CLAUDIO]

estou com esse medelo de playstation 2 para o meu projeto, so que ele esta sem áudioe video, alguem consegue me ajudar ?

Wenderson
The language used in the forum is English. The fact that you use Portuguese will undoubtedly delay the receipt of any type of assistance.

 

[megmati]

It was a long time after my last update. A made a lot of things in these week but I'll make the history short

Related to the Joystick
I finally implemented the APS2 joystick using a STM32 bluepill board because the arduino board is too slow. I bought a logic analizer and after a lot of hours(days) I could have the joystick firmware coded and working well. I had to spy into the communication between the PS2 and the Joy while some games (as Shadow of the colossus) in order to implement the expected responses by the PS2 for the joystick initialization.

After that I made the PCB and I request it to JLCPB so I'll wait after to get it. I couldn't find any place here in Argentina where to buy the nintendo switch sticks connectors, so I put some test points in order to solder the PS2 power flex connector because this connector has the the same pitch than the one I need.

Here is how the PCB look like:

Related to the Mainboard:
In order to get the memory card fixed to the mainboard, I made a custom holder for it and I also, wired the memory to the port.
All the blue wires are the ones used to connect the joystick so I'll remove it when the PCB arrives. For now, it doesn't matter.
Lastly, the power wires are together into a little piece that I made to fix them to the board.

Next steps:
Now, I started modeling the pieces of the APS2 using freecad (I'm learning about 3D printing and modeling, I bought a Creality CR10-s V2, my first printer). I still have to deal with the power boards, I already have the batteries but I'm not sure if they will work properly (probably I'll have current consumption problems) but this is another history.

 

[djsedaw]

Amazing work!, will you be releasing the code for the STM32 bluepill, I would be interested in trying it?

 

[megmati]

Amazing work!, will you be releasing the code for the STM32 bluepill, I would be interested in trying it?

Thank you!!! Yes at all!! once I have the joystick working on my APS2, I'll share the code here! Now, it's a little bit disordered

 

[megmati]

Here again! a lot of things!!!

Joystick PCB Working
The PCB arrived after a few days and everything seems to work properly. I soldered all the components and I tested the right side(the brain). There are still some little things that I not tested but I hope everything is ok!

Power sources:

This is the power scheme that I implemented. I have 2S 4200mAh batteries and BMS to protect them. After that, I have an indicator to know when it is running out and the power sources for the entire system. The 5V power source it's a little bit bigger the the other mp2307 based source because It will have to source the screen too.

The 1.25v power source is a LM2595 based step down module. I modified it to support more power consumption by replacing the
SMD shockley diode by a TO-220 extracted from a PC power source. I also modified a heatsink (of the same PC power source) to add it to the LM2595 power source.

The 12v generic step up will be used to source the audio amplifier that I'll put into the console.

HDMI screen and upscaler

For the screen and the up-scaler I had to remove the HDMI connectors and then, wire both of them. I disconnected the touch because I won't use it.

Not so cute, but... it works.

3D modeling

I'm modeling the pieces and the holders for the components of the APS2. This is my first time so it's taking a lot of time... but it's really funny!!!

Here some of the pieces/holders that I modeled:

And that's it for now! as I mentioned, I'll be sharing the code for the STM32 based joystick once I have it working at 100% in my console(I'll need help to share it to the community, I'm not pretty sure where is the place I have to put the code here in bitbuilt.net )

See u guys!!