SONY PLAYSTATION

 ITEM: Sony Playstation SCPH 7502

 SOURCE: Ebay item, £10 including postage, console only.

PROJECT: Clean it up, add a modchip!







          So I bought this from Flea Bay hoping it worked, as luck had it, it did. I have modded the original playstation in the 90`s, 4 wires and massive pads on the motherboards then.
This version is pretty modern, still has a parallel port though which got removed in later versions, be it hidden behind the casing or non existent. 

         I removed all screws and various components, CD laser, controller port, mobo cover etc. I had to de-solder a shielding that covered a lot of points I needed to access, this was something I had never found back at the time I modded these. 

      I set the soldering station high and made short work of it. My blank modchip can be seen looking lost on the mat. I own a K150 Pic Programmer so decided to flash the MM3 Hex to it, old crows hex file is a bit long in the tooth now, no anti stealth features etc. I got all info I needed from the Eurasia website. The programmer gave me hassle on Windows 10 but fortunately I have a little EEEPC notebook I keep with Windows XP for such headaches and com port issues. 

             With the chip ready it was time to tin it and prep it for install, out with the helping hands (crocodile clip stand). I used Kynar wire 30AWG, most console modding is made easier with this single core light weight cable. The insulation tends to burn back quickly when tinning but stops receding after a few millimeters.

Pin 2 is not used for this install
The wire is easily straightened by gently pulling it between fingers with friction.

             I checked my drawing from Eurasia and using a fibre glass pen i cleaned up my solder points, applied flux and soldered in my chip. I used extra long cable as I have a place in mind for storing the chip. Most points were easy, high heat and quick joint. Low wattage irons and poor solder without flux will not only damage the board but give a crap joint.

As you can see I applied heat shrink to the mod chip as it protects the leg joints as well as insulator. Double checked my joints with diagram.

        So this was the finished install, chip held with double sided foam tape bottom right corner.  The machine is now multi region and able to play copied back-ups of which I obviously own the original game discs. I may have to re-calibrate the laser as I remember these lasers can be picky with cd media. I ran a copy of Resident Evil 2 but could not find my game-pad, be in the attic I suspect. Happy with my  work I thought I`d earned a cold one!