PS3 CECHA00 - Questions about black screen in PS2

[luvbuckets]

There's really no point in trying to play inspector gadget with this issue. It's pretty simple. Swap stuff until it works. The only problem is most of the time it won't work. You'll spend hours trying to fix this issue and have no results. Even if you do fix it, it's not a one fix for all consoles. Swapping the bridge chip might work for you, it doesn't mean it will work for everyone. This thread doesn't deserve to be a million pages like the YLOD fault finding one. It's just not that important. If you get nops2, cut your losses and move on (that's my opinion).

 

[Frish]

I'm an idiot for telling you guys this so late but I left out a pretty important piece of context. Before the first 40nm RSX was replaced, the menu was able to be brought up. After replacing it with another 40nm RSX, it gave a black screen unable to bring up the menu. Ugh, I feel pretty stupid right now but at least this is another clue.

I belive that it could be due to the high temperatures needed for reballing that warps the board slightly and causes an open line and a break somewhere, which is important to the EEGS. I still haven't gotten my B00 back, so I can't check myself. I've also thought about it maybe being a voltage issue to the EEGS or RAM.

 

[Kalulo24]

Dang. I guess I'll just have to buy a pre-Frankensteined board then. I have the money to spare for one but not the money for a whole new console. Might just have to sit and wait until one becomes available.

 

[Frish]

I just got my B00 back and I can open the menu to change controllers etc., but it still doesn´t work. I tried AV with no change. I checked the resistormod and it´s fine. But I did see one odd thing. R7002 and R7003 are at 380 Ohm and 414 Ohm (should be 470 and 1000 Ohm). I don´t know if it´s related but it is connected to the 2.5V and 1.8V lines for the RDRAM.
(Edit due to Voltages)

 

[Frish]

I also forgot to say that the board has a slight curve to it (warped). Maybe my theory is correct with the open line due to a break but I'm not sure.

 

[Frish]

I just got my B00 back and I can open the menu to change controllers etc., but it still doesn´t work. I tried AV with no change. I checked the resistormod and it´s fine. But I did see one odd thing. R7002 and R7003 are at 380 Ohm and 414 Ohm (should be 470 and 1000 Ohm). I don´t know if it´s related but it is connected to the 2.5V and 1.8V lines for the RDRAM.
(Edit due to Voltages)

I found some replacement resistors on a spare COK-002 which I´ll extract them from. I ordered a hot air station to remove the resistors and replace them. I´ll give an update once I replace them.

 

[Frish]

Good and bad news. Good news are that the console still boots and works. Bad news are that the PS2 mode still doesn´t work. I put confirmed good resistors in and they now have the same value on the board like the old ones (380 and 414).

 

[Frish]

I just re read the Syscon tutorial thread from Felix and saw that the EE+GS has UART testpoints. Does anyone know if we can do anything with them (because I can´t find anyone talking about it)?

 

[Kalulo24]

I just re read the Syscon tutorial thread from Felix and saw that the EE+GS has UART testpoints. Does anyone know if we can do anything with them (because I can´t find anyone talking about it)?

I believe you can. It would also help to read from the southbridge as well. I know either ComputerBooter or Ace have done it on one of their streams.

 

[Frish]

I believe you can. It would also help to read from the southbridge as well. I know either ComputerBooter or Ace have done it on one of their streams.

Only issue is that at least I don't know any of the commands that can be used so it's basically just a novelty thing for now, but I'll try hooking it up and see what happens.

 

[Frish]

Good and bad news. Good news are that the console still boots and works. Bad news are that the PS2 mode still doesn´t work. I put confirmed good resistors in and they now have the same value on the board like the old ones (380 and 414).

I got another CECHB00 that wasn´t frankied or anything with a similar Serial Number. I measured R7002 and R7003 and got 379 and 574 Ohms. It has a CXD2971DGB RSX and was still sealed. PS2 mode works perfectly fine so I think something is defective further down the voltage tree.

 

[ngpman]

Ready to PGA this ic someday.

 

[bastiqui]

I got another CECHB00 that wasn´t frankied or anything with a similar Serial Number. I measured R7002 and R7003 and got 379 and 574 Ohms. It has a CXD2971DGB RSX and was still sealed. PS2 mode works perfectly fine so I think something is defective further down the voltage tree.

Hi, Fris!

So another sealed were its ps2 mode works... Hopefully it won't break or anything. I'm gonna try to read more about the resistors and such so maybe I can get more to do with this CECHA00... Is there any useful threads I should look up to? Appreciate the help!

 

[bastiqui]

Ready to PGA this ic someday.

The images doesn't seems to work, but the email I've got I can see them. So hopefully the day you PGA it, it will be sooner than later. Maybe even @Frish 's answer about the voltage may be true. Only time and experience would tell us I guess. What a shame.

 

[Frish]

Hi, Fris!

So another sealed were its ps2 mode works... Hopefully it won't break or anything. I'm gonna try to read more about the resistors and such so maybe I can get more to do with this CECHA00... Is there any useful threads I should look up to? Appreciate the help!

I looked at the service book, which showed me the resistor values, but now I know that they were fine and that I measured all the resistances on that line. I´ll try measuring the voltages on the resistors to confirm if the EEGS or RDRAM are getting power.

 

[Frish]

Hi, Fris!

So another sealed were its ps2 mode works... Hopefully it won't break or anything. I'm gonna try to read more about the resistors and such so maybe I can get more to do with this CECHA00... Is there any useful threads I should look up to? Appreciate the help!

I just checked the voltages for the PS2 circuits and found something interesting. +1.8V EEGS VDDIO is 1.8 volts in the menu, but after around 30 secs in the PS2 mode the screen starts to flicker (turn off and on) and the voltage drops to zero and back to 1.8V. I believe this can confirm a dead or working EEGS due to the menu probably being made by the EEGS. I'll check other voltages and give a reply.

 

[Frish]

I just hooked up to the EEGS UART and got some good info from it. It doesn´t get far in the POST and already failing at the RDRAM (at least I think so due to the UART readings). And about the voltages for the EEGS. It turned out to be a fluke due to it having stable voltage every time.

# Initialize memory (rev:4.00, ctm:118Mhz, cpuclk:88Mhz detected)
# failed to initialize memory: InitRDRAM returned -1

 

[bastiqui]

I just hooked up to the EEGS UART and got some good info from it. It doesn´t get far in the POST and already failing at the RDRAM (at least I think so due to the UART readings). And about the voltages for the EEGS. It turned out to be a fluke due to it having stable voltage every time.

# Initialize memory (rev:4.00, ctm:118Mhz, cpuclk:88Mhz detected)
# failed to initialize memory: InitRDRAM returned -1

Thanks for this valuable info! So it could be the memory, let's say in your case. Wish we had some more tools to test with. Today I've tried to contact another technician here in Spain to see if he's done something else, but there's been no news from him since 1st of August...

Are you willing to do more testing? I'm asking so I can try and follow your steps with mine ps3.

 

[Frish]

Thanks for this valuable info! So it could be the memory, let's say in your case. Wish we had some more tools to test with. Today I've tried to contact another technician here in Spain to see if he's done something else, but there's been no news from him since 1st of August...

Are you willing to do more testing? I'm asking so I can try and follow your steps with mine ps3.

I can try connecting up to the Southbridge UART to see if it´s communicating with the PS2 bridge chip (CXD9208GP). If it´s communicating with it then I can also tick it as good. Other then that I might attempt replacing the RDRAM chips from a Phat PS2 (SCPH-50004). I´ll inform myself if the RDRAM is the same across all the PS2 modells and if the pinout would match.

 

[Frish]

I can try connecting up to the Southbridge UART to see if it´s communicating with the PS2 bridge chip (CXD9208GP). If it´s communicating with it then I can also tick it as good. Other then that I might attempt replacing the RDRAM chips from a Phat PS2 (SCPH-50004). I´ll inform myself if the RDRAM is the same across all the PS2 modells and if the pinout would match.

I just checked the GH-023 service manual and the RDRAM is compatible I´ll try to find the BGA sizes and maybe try replacing them.