The MESSIAH 2 No-Swap Mod v5/v6 Install Diagrams (at your own risk)

v1.2c 07-Dec-02 by Charlie_ps2

CONTENTS

Disassembly
Soldering Notes
Messiah 2 Installation
_REASSEMBLY
Using the Messiah 2
NTSC/PAL Colour Fix
Troubleshooting
Disclaimer

Amended to:
1. Display the correct Messiah 2 image
2. Add information to the Troubleshooting section
3. Adds the NTSC/PAL Colour Fix advice
4. Update diagrams in line with the above
5. Correct Messiah 2 usage instructions

DISASSEMBLY

Prior to disassembly, test the PS2 for both CD and DVD games. This should then be the first test
to perform when the PS2 is re-assembled.

You will need the following tools to accomplish the disassembly task

1. A Philips screwdriver for Disassembly/Reassembly

2. An optional pair of TWEEZERs (a TWEEZER) to manipulate the flat cables
3. Double-sided tape to hold detached objects and the Messiah 2 in a stable position

Detailed disassembly instructions are provided in a separate document (split out for size reasons
when posting on the forums).

Please note that disassembling the PS2 which requires removal of the warranty sticker renders
void the manufacturer’s warranty and by doing so you accept all associated risk.

When you have disassembled your PS2, you are ready to commence installation of the modchip.

1
SOLDERING NOTES

The recommended equipment needed for the soldering job is:

a) 15-18 watt soldering iron for the solder work (not higher than 18 watt or damage could result)
b) 25-35 watt soldering iron (450°C) for stripping enamelled copper wire** (if you use that wire)
c) 0.10 mm solder tip (this is very small)
d) 35/36 swg wire (=32/33 awg) ** for all but 3.3v and GROUND
e) 23 swg = 22 awg insulated stranded wire for 3.3v and GROUND
f) Liquid Flux for assisting in the cleaning of target points
g) Solder paste (a mixture of flux and solder) to assist soldering to lacquered points
h) De-soldering braid
i) A safety razor blade & Blue Tack (plastic dough) to hold the razor blade in place
j) Double sided tape to fix the mod chip into final position

** “Self-Stripping” (a misnomer), 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.

With reference to the picture on the left, it is straightforward to

solder a wire to a PAD.

PAD However soldering a wire to a VIA must be performed with great

care since damage to a VIA can ruin the motherboard. If you solder
VIA
to a VIA, you would strip and tin your wire, dip it in solder paste,
spray the VIA with flux spray and touch solder the wire end for half
a second to just above the end. This is sufficient for the solder
paste to take the lacquer away from the VIA and bond the tinned
end to the VIA. If you linger too long with the iron, the VIA will
disappear into the motherboard layers and it’s all over.

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 25W iron.
• Dip the stripped end into the solder paste
• Squirt a small amount of flux spray onto the BIOS pins to assist adhesion of the solder
• Solder to the pin using the razor blade technique described below.

The razor blade technique is to place a single safety blade between the pin on which you are working
and a neighbour. This protects the neighbour from bridging and splatter. With your 0.1mm tip and 15W
or 18W iron, work towards the blade (so as to avoid contaminating the other neighbour).

For the Ground pads a low wattage iron is challenged. The tip must be clean so that it is able to reach
full temperature; the Ground pad should be scraped back to bare copper which should then be freshly
tinned, as with the end of the Ground wire and heat then applied to the end of the wire touching the
tinned pad.

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MESSIAH 2 INSTALLATION

There are 24 wires to solder and this is a difficult, specialised job. The Messiah 2 is small (the picture
below is at c. 9x magnification). The official Messiah 2 web site (http://messiah2.com/) may be worth a
visit for cross-reference. All of the Messiah 1 points are preserved and the only additional point is the
clock CLK since the Messiah 2 carries no internal clock. The chip may appear ‘upside down’ in the
pcture but that is the recommended orientation for placement on the motherboard.
A B C D E F G H I

U
Reset
T
SCEx
Q

P
CLK
O

N
GND
M

W 3.45v

The schematics below show which PS2 motherboard chips are directly affected by the installation
process together with their orientation on the motherboard. This covers points B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I on
the CD/DVD Controller and Digital Signal processor; M, N, O, P, Q, R, T, U, V, W on the BIOS chip.

pin pin
P 26 25
Q
O T
N U
M pin V Sony Computer
17 R Entertainment Inc.
W

BIOS Controller
(50 pin) (CPU)

pin
pin 1
50

C F G H

B E D

3
 BCDEFGHI pass CLK NTSC/PAL Fix
through to the
underside here A

CLK
(Alt)

v5/6 ORIENTATION
TOP SIDE

Reset SCEx MNOP QRTUVW GND 3.3v

Green Screen Defeat

BCDEFGHI

Sony
Computer
Entertainment Inc.
Sony Computer

EE

v5/6 ORIENTATION
UNDER SIDE

It is recommended that you solder to the PS2 motherboard first and then connect each wire to
the appropriate point on the Messiah 2.

4
Power (3.3v), Ground (GND), RESET, SCEx and CLK)

Install these points first. Note that 3.3v &

GND are 23 or 25 swg = 22 or 24 awg
GND insulated stranded cable.
3.3v The GND copper pads are covered with
lacquer that must be scraped off or the
lacquer removed with flux spray as
described in the soldering section.

Care should be taken to ensure that the SCEx signal is properly soldered to its proper location on the
resistor; the bond must be good (without damaging the resistor).

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 The CLK signal was not present on
Messiah 1. Without it nothing on the
Messiah 2 will work.

Note also the alternate CLK point

(see the BIOS chip picture) should
there be any sound problems during
PS2 operation.

The CLK wire should be laid along

the PS2 motherboard rather than
allowed to run “in air”. This is to
ensure a proper ground plane to
preserve the fidelity of the 36 MHz.
Clock.

The A point shown in the picture at the

right is recommended for ease over the
alternative point at the Controller chip

With the “easy” points now connected on

the PS2 motherboard, you will need to Hole for B - I
solder the wires to the BIOS chip (points
MNOP QRTUVW).

The BIOS pins are very close together; so

you should take one safety razor blade (or
Exacto blade) and some blue-tack (plastic
dough) into which you would bed the
blade. The blade would be placed
between the pins to prevent solder from
bridging to the adjacent pins. You would A
work towards the blade.

Note that there is very little available

solder on each pin and you should be
skilled in soldering techniques to
ensure a good bond.

6
 Points QRTUVW should
be soldered first followed
CLK by MNOP which should
(Alt)
traverse the BIOS chip
and be secured to the top
of the chip with Epoxy glue
P (lower photograph –
please note this was taken
Q before W was connected).

Note also the alternate

O T CLK point should there be
U any sound problems
during PS2 operation.

N V R

M
W

If you wish you may also implement the

NTSC/PAL COLOUR FIX as documented
below. Avoid soldering to the via if you can.

NTSC motherboards would require the

Colour Fix point to be taken to 3.3v. It
forces NTSC on all output. All PAL games
will then be put out in NTSC and all PS1
games will display proper NTSC colour.

Glue PAL motherboards would require the Colour

Glue Fix point to be taken to GND. All NTSC
games will then be put out in PAL.

Colour Fix Point

NTSC/PAL
Colour Fix

This completes wiring to the “top” side of the PS2 motherboard.

7
On the other side of the motherboard, note the position on the PS2 motherboard topside of the hole
through which wires BCDEFGHI are to pass. (See picture on page 6). Ensure you have enough wire
length to run from the CD/DVD Controller pads on the underside, through the hole to the Messiah 2 chip.
You are advised to solder to the pads first, and then pass the wires through the hole.

Turn the PS2 motherboard

over. Locate the PS2
Hole for B - I CD/DVD Controller pads
(with reference to the
schematic if necessary).
Solder BCDEFGHI to the
A pads illustrated in the
(Alt) F G picture to the left.
H You may care to place a
sticky identification label
onto each wire to ensure
that it is subsequently
C correctly connected to the
Messiah 2. Alternatively,
connect each wire in turn to
the Messiah 2; this will
B I ensure you don't cross-
connect any wires.

E D When this is done, wiring

to the motherboard is
complete and the
connexions can be made to
the Messiah 2 with
reference to the
Messiah/Clone Schematic.

With that done, installation is complete.

8
REASSEMBLY

Reassembly is essentially the reverse of disassembly. These steps are:

1. Carefully place the PS2 motherboard onto the bottom casing ensuring that everything sits square.
Take care that no damage occurs to the memory card/controller cable (which should have been
taped down).
2. Reattach the memory card/controller flat cable to the PS2 motherboard and refasten its securing
clip.
3. Seat the memory card/controller back into position and re-insert the two brass screws to fasten
the PS2 to its lower casing. The locator pins for the memory card/controller go into the middle
locating holes.
4. Reattach the disk drive cables to the PS2 motherboard.
5. Insert the RESET/EJECT switch back into the upper casing. This might be tricky on first attempt.
Put the switch flat in correct orientation against the underside of the upper casing. Push it toward
the holes through which the buttons emerge keeping the switch parallel with the short side of the
casing. When a resistance is felt to the push, slide the buttons into the holes at whatever angle is
necessary. Once the buttons are located in the holes, the switch should have moved forward
slightly and be properly seated in its housing. Take great care to ensure that the flat ribbon
cable is not snagged or damaged.
6. Now put the top back onto the PS2 (again taking care not to snag or damage the flat ribbon
cable).
7. Turn the PS2 upside down and re-insert to casing screws.

9
USING THE MESSIAH 2

BOOTING PS2 ORIGINALS (CD or DVD, DVD9 ALL REGIONS)

• Switch on the PS2 to STANDBY (red light) and press EJECT to open the disk tray
• Insert the game into the disk tray and press EJECT or RESET to close the tray & boot the game

BOOTING PS2 BACKUPS (CD-R or DVD-R ALL REGIONS)

• Switch on the PS2 to STANDBY (red light) and press EJECT to open the disk tray
• Insert the game into the disk tray and press EJECT or RESET to close the tray & boot the game

BOOTING PS1 GAMES (CD or CD-R ALL REGIONS)

• Assuming the PS1 disk to be in the disk tray, put the PS2 into STANDBY mode (red light)
• Hold RESET (until the blue EJECT light comes on) then release RESET. The game will boot.

PLAYING LOCAL REGION DVD MOVIES

• Insert the DVD movie into the disk tray and put the PS2 to STANDBY (red light)
• Hold RESET (until the blue EJECT light comes on) then release RESET.
• If the Browser appears, select the gold disk and press X to complete the movie load.
• Alternatively hold RESET for 5 seconds to turn the Messiah 2 off.

PLAYING OUT-OF-REGION DVD MOVIES (Needs AR2/v2 or GS 2/v2 or DVD Region X)

• Insert AR2/v2, GS2/v2 or DVDRX into the disk tray and close the tray
• Hold RESET (until the blue EJECT light comes on) and then release to boot AR2/GS2/DVDRX
• Alternatively hold RESET for 5 seconds to turn the Messiah 2 off.
• At the menu, select DVD MOVIE PLAYER and press X on the controller
• The disk tray will eject; remove AR2/GS2/DVRX and put the out-of-region movie into the tray
• Press EJECT to close the tray and wait for a few seconds
• Whe/ifn the Browser appears, select the gold disk and press X to complete the boot

DISABLING THE MESSIAH 2 (e.g. PS1 anti-mod protected game)

• Insert the relevant game into the disk tray and put the PS2 to STANDBY (red light)
• Hold RESET for 5 seconds beyond the moment when the blue EJECT lamp comes on
• The game will then boot according to standard PS2 rules for the region concerned
• The Messiah 2 is disabled until it has been put back to STANDBY and booted normally

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TROUBLESHOOTING (no guarantees)

Tools needed
To diagnose a mis-install, you will need an 8x magnifying glass to identify bridged pins or small
solder splays. A multi-meter helps also to check continuity between pin and pad on the
Messiah 2. Sometimes the lacquer hasn't been adequately removed (esp. SCEx) so a
continuity check helps.

PS1 backups won't boot

Suspect SCEx in the first instance. Remember that the PS2 components are lacquered and a
good electrical connexion is necessary. It is also important to note that if too much heat is
applied during soldering to the point where SCEx is located might have damaged that
component. Otherwise suspect that you haven’t put the Messiah 2 into PS1 mode.

PS2 backups/imports won’t boot or Red Screen Displays

First suspect SCEx as per PS1 backups. If that’s OK, the consider further.

In this scenario, the disk has been seen (the groove is found and focus established) but the PS2
has been unable to identify it as a valid disk type (Audio/DVD/PS1/PS2).

Check all soldering for bridges or balls lying beneath or behind the BIOS legs. Difficult to spot.

If it’s all backups that won’t boot, then try cleaning the laser lens with a cleaning CD. If it’s just
DVD-Rs that won’t boot, suspect wire E, wire W or the DVD laser diode (which may need
recalibration). Laser Azimuth might also need adjusting.

Then suspect solder bridges. If you can’t see bridges, then it’s the hard way. If the BIOS wires
are attached, detach them from the BIOS and clean up. Then boot a backup using AR2/GS2. If
it works, A-I are OK and the BIOS was the problem. (You can try this with the BIOS wires still
attached but if it doesn’t work, you’ll have to take the BIOS wires off).

When you can boot backups (including DVD-R) with AR2/GS2, then carefully re-attach the
BIOS wires, MNOP QRTUVW. Then try direct booting of backups and/or imports.

‘Disc Reading’ on Browser Screen or clicking sounds

The disk is seen (groove is found and focus established) and the PS2 has been able to identify
it as a valid disk type (Audio/DVD/PS1/PS2) but cannot do anything more with the disk or takes
ages to load.

This is most likely a laser related issue (clean the lens and/or the disk). Or recalibrate the laser.

If the drive seems to load sluggishly (like it seems not to have enough power which is not the
case), particularly in PS1 mode, check wire SCEx.

Screen remains black

Assuming that the electrons were whirling initially, then this is usually a mis-install on the BIOS,
often MNOP.

If the electrons never happened, then some wires likely snagged when you put the PS2 back
together and possibly a fuse has blown (one of those little square chips with a number on them).

If you have a memory card inserted, try removing it. Some people have had black screen issues
when their memory card was inserted (see below).

11
DVD Movies are choppy
Suspect the media or laser condition. No Messiah 2 condition is likely to arise in this regard.

DVD Movies don't boot

Check your boot method. If booting an import movie with GS2/AR2, remember to boot GS2/AR2
with the PS1 method above (or with Messiah 2 switched off) so as to bypass what the Messiah
2 would otherwise do for PS2 games.

CD/CD-R games boot but not DVD/DVD-R

It is likely that one of the following causes applies:
• The W wire or the R may be incorrectly connected.
• The laser lens is dirty and should be cleaned with a cleaning disk or a cotton swab. A lens can
easily collect dirt if the PS2 is played horizontally. The DVD is read at a higher frequency than a
CD and results are more sensitive to a dirty lens.
• The laser needs re-calibrating because of wear and tear. This is a complex process and should
be carried out by a competent engineer. Pot resistance should not be lowered by more than 10%
otherwise there is risk of the DVD laser diode overheating and giving out.
• The laser needs replacement because of severe wear and tear. This is more likely on older
PS2s especially if they have been used extensively to play DVDs or have been regularly used
with a NEO2.2 mod chip and the DVD-R boot method.

The PS2 disk tray won’t open when EJECT is pressed at power on
If the lights are on but you can’t open the tray, then the Messiah 2 installation is likely to be incorrect and
most likely the connexions to the BIOS chip.
Messiah 2 won't boot if Memory Card is in
... but you can re-insert the memory card after booting. This might be accompanied by a loss of
controller vibration. Please examine fuse at PS7 marked with the legend S7.
Messiah 2 appears dead (pcb fault)
If you are certain that your install is good yet the Messiah 2 appears dead, then you might have
a Messiah 2 from the Actel batch 245 (or earlier); the Messiah 2 pcbs have an error whereby a
diode that regulates input voltage for the Actel chip is shorted and thus ineffective. Some Actel
chip batches (particularly 245 written on the chip) work tightly within a spec 2.6v to 3.0v and
hence the Messiah 2 will not function.
The required fix is to be found at cut a track or drill out a via as shown in the photograph.

CUT HERE

OR with a 1.5mm bit drill out the via. This is

best done by hand. When the bit bites, drill a
little bit more and test the red diode with a
multi-meter. It should not show 0 ohms.

12
Sound is tinny or odd or fails
This problem has manifest itself on v5/v6 PS2s – but in theory it could happen in any case.
Basically what is happening is that the wire carrying the 36MHz. clock to the Messiah 2 is
inducing noise in other circuits. A long CLK wire at frequencies above 20MHz acts as it own
capacitor which also degrades the clock. This is resolved by ensuring that there is a proper
ground plane along the length of the clock wire.

The alternative ways of dealing with this in order of priority are:

1. Lay the CLK wire flat along the motherboard not crossing over any components.
2. Wire the CLK signal as a twisted pair, with the other wire being grounded at both ends.
3. Use thicker wire (24 awg/25 swg) but lay it flat.

If all else fails and it still doesn’t work ...

Back out of your installation, get the PS2 under control into "normal condition" and begin again.
Perhaps consider obtaining professional assistance.

DISCLAIMER

The author of this document can accept no responsibility nor liability for the outcome of any
work performed in conjunction with the contents of this document. Any such work carried out on
a Playstation2 is at the risk of the person using this material. The material is essentially accurate
and has been used to guide installation of the Messiah 2 device on both a v7 PAL Playstation2
(39002/3/4) and it’s US equivalent (39001); however the skills of the installer are a key factor in
enabling a successful outcome in the same way as the quality of media and burners used to
make backups affects game loading/playing characteristics.

You are reminded that it is illegal to make pirate copies of software and it is not the intention of
the author that you should make pirate copies of PS2 games.

END.

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