Worklog The PSBlock

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Ah dang that's long gone haha, threw it out last week! I guess i could always buy another port as long as it's the same type.
Darn, I don't see why another 8 pin ethernet jack wouldn't work. So long as the coils go to the same spots may just need to look at the traces and you could be all set. Can always see what Gman has to say too
 
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For some reason my ps2 takes over a minute to load now. I unsoldered all the wires and cleaned the board and strangely it did a factory reset! But after hooking it all up again it starting being slow.

I might sand the sides of my trim better to see if that helps since some parts are very ugly looking.
Anyway I’m hoping this is the cause of my ps2 not picking up Ethernet all of a sudden :(
 
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Alrighty, was having some very strange issues with my ps2's motherboard. Appart from it taking around a minute to boot now, everything seems to work fine regardless. I eventually decided to load games via usb as Ethernet was not playing ball at all.

I will likey make a much better revision of this portable down the line so for my first attempt i am satisfied with usb loading for the time being.

Anyway i thought this was quite interesting, and perhaps I have found some sort of safe/recover mode by accident in the PS2.

Basically when I was trying to fix the slow boot issue occasionally the ps2 would boot assuming it was it's first time set up and on top of that it was also all in japanese with the circle and cross button reversed (Not suprising since this is how sony maps japanese consoles). Finishing the set up and resetting the console would not save the first time set up and you would have to go through it again.

It is likely some sort of damage but i thought it was rather intriguing as i havent seen anyone discuss this sort of quirk happen before on a PS2.

I attached a photo (sorry for the bad angle and blur, the whole thing was very awkard to catch on camera) of start up as well as kh running which happens to be one of my favourite games of all time :)

All that's left now is a lil more 3D printing and some much neater wiring, and all should be done!
 

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Alright, I think I am at a comfortable point where I can call this Finished.

I have a couple long term issues I need to address, namely thermals and wiring (It's an absolute rats nest).

I decided on Red and black and not blue and white, it kind of looked like a fisher price toy. I much prefer this colour scheme.

IMG_5117.jpg
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The back gets very hot, but only the middle section where the motherboard is resting on the back plastic.I will get a temperature gun to check that as It kind of concerns me

I am also concerned about hot air being blown onto one of the batteries so will likely move it down to the bottom, it's a good thing I actually made a slot for a 3rd lol.

I had to give up on SMB as I just couldn't figure it out, so we have good 'ol USB loading instead.

Screen is obviously...meh since it's composite but I can deal with it for now, kind of gives me retro vibes anyway.

As for battery life, it's pretty mediocre too but I am not suprised honestly. It draws about 9w and lasts more or less around an hour.

For a first time project I am quite happy with it but there are obviously things i would have changed knowing what I know now. I will most likely have a go at another ps2 portable as i have a second 79003 laying around.

Thank you all for the help and support and I hope to continue this hobby for a long time!

P.S. the horrific internals :s

IMG_5120.jpg
 
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Nice job man, really like the color scheme you ended up with. The first is always the most challenging, but gets easier and cleaner with time!
 
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Nice job man, really like the color scheme you ended up with. The first is always the most challenging, but gets easier and cleaner with time!
Thank you for the kind words!

She's a looker on the outside just not the inside, I just don't know how you guys get such straight and neat wiring without hot glue lol.

The hot rod red also reflects how poorly i dealt with the thermals, seems to overheat and shut off after a while since i don't have a proper air intake solution so a redesign might be necessary for the back if i have time.
 

Ollie

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you got it finished!!! congrats!!!!
that colour scheme really pops, it looks amazing, hope my portable ends up as good as yours!!
 
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When I said i was Finished I was lying, here is the final revision.

Basically I sorted out all of the thermal issues by redesigning the back of my portable. It now pulls air in from the back which is a lot smarter than pulling hot air from inside the case and just recycling hot hair over and over till it overheats.

In addition to this i swapped that terrible JST connector out for a zy12pdn pd module for more versatile charging. Unfortunetly it seems i have an issue with my cmb as it now does not charge the batteries properly,

I charged it overnight and it seems to have charged one to 4.1v and the other is still at 2.9v. I swapped the battery out for another and same thing happens. I have ordered a new one but I can get around this for now using a battery bank to power it, hopefully it's not an issue with the pd module.


Edit: Seems to be working fine with my more up-to-date pd power bank. I can hear the inductor whining and the battery voltage is rising steadily again. I have an old 2017 Anker PowerPort with pd charging but I think it's too primitve to be used like this.

I even updated OPL to the latest version and now most of the FMV files run smooth on USB which suprises me. It also fixed a couple games i previously could not run.

The plastic bracket i made to mount the USB port however seems to warp very easily. I think the excess heat created from the USB is the cause of this, it makes the hot glue holding it in go tacky.
 

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