PU-18 MM3 modchip installation diagram
This board was used with a wide range of consoles from the SCPH-5000’s, and SCPH-5500’s, to even some SCPH-7000’s and SCPH-7500’s.
For more information about MM3 chips click here, for more information about PS1 modchips click here.
PU-18 MM3 modchip installation diagram
Above is the diagram for the PU-18.
All of the points are fairly easy to solder to, with the only tricky point being pin one. Just don’t apply too much pressure or you might knock the capacitor off of the board.
Installation tips
Here are some tips I have for you when you are soldering your chip into the PU-18.
- Cut your wires to be as short and direct as possible.
- Don’t connect pin two of the chip to anything.
- Pin 4 can either be connected to the pin 4 location in the diagram, or pulled high by connecting it to pin 1 on the chip.
- Placing the chip in between the circles for pins 3, 5, and 6 seems to be the ideal location.
- Flatten the legs of the chip so it can more easily fit underneath the board.
Example installations
This section has photos of some successful installations which you can use to get a better understanding of how everything is wired and positioned.
Here are some installations I’ve done in some SCPH-5501’s. The first image shows a somewhat cleaner installation using alternate points for pins 1, 3, and 8. Chances are there are alternate points for 1 and 8 that are on the chip I soldered pin 3 to, which could result in an even cleaner installation.
The image below shows a more standard installation using all of the points in the diagram.
Completed my SCPH-5501 and now booting backups – what an adventure!!! Thanks to Williams for this page.
It was pretty easy. It works perfectly fine. I’m brand new to soldering.
So I don’t need to use pin 4?
No. It is used to switch between modes of operation (like being able to disable the chip). This is an artifact of older non stealth chips that couldn’t play anti modchip games without the chip being disabled first.
There’s something giving me problems with this board. The PS works without the chip but when I install the chip it won’t read disc. I’m having the problem with 3 different boards, any ideas?
Could you send me a picture of what your installation looks like? Does it still read genuine discs?
I had a couple bad MM3 chips. I got them working now!
I’m having the same issue
Did you try making sure all your wires are short and connecting pin 4?
Thanks for the clear tutorial. I was able to get it to work with my 5501.
everywhere i look i see this 1st point labeled somewhere else with this contact point used as an alt. is there a reason your first contact point uses the alt point?
Either point will work. Generally you want to use the one that’s closest to the chip.
I really appreciate you hosting these instructions. It worked awesome for me!!
Its full works thank you
Another successful install! Thanks! https://twitter.com/heavenchai/status/1007559837570330624
HY DEAR ALL
Hi, I just cracked open the case of my SCPH-5502 with the intent of installing an mm3 chip, only to discover it already has a chip of some description already installed, with two of the points (5 & 6) being occupied. There’s 6 wires on the chip but one (red) is disconnected and I’m not sure whether it was like this before I opened it up or whether I’ve inadvertently knocked it off somewhere along the way. A little help regarding what this chip’s function is and where to proceed from here would be greatly appreciated, thanks. https://imgtc.com/a/PBvWvqH
That looks interesting. It is not an MM3 modchip. If you could use a multimeter to find out which pin on the chip connects to the red wire I might have a better idea of what it should be connecting to. You could also look around the board for spots that look soldered to.
You might be better off removing the old chip and installing a new one.They usually aren’t installed very well (this one has really long wires, and the red one came loose), and might not support anti modchip games.
Excuse my ignorance man, I’m fairly new to this sort of thing so I’m not really sure how I’d even find out where the wire came from using a multi meter. I could definitely have a go if you could tell me what to look for.
If you reckon it should be okay to just remove the existing chip without killing the board I’ll just go down that route and carry on with the MM3 as per the diagrams.
Cheers.
Upon closer inspection it looks as though that red wire came from here (see pic).
Yeah, it looks like something was soldered there.
Hey man, I got around to installing my MM3 chip, turned on the console only to discover the picture is in black and white and very grainy which leads me to believe the chip that was already installed was some sort of patch to do with the video. The fact that the chip was on a board kind of makes it feel like it may have been a factory mod all along. what are your thoughts, is this fixable? Thanks.
Is the color black and white for both PAL and NTSC games?
Sorry my bad, the first three TV’s I tried were all NTSC and varied from b/w to only blue+green to no picture at all, and then I tried on our old tube PAL tv and it works fine, so there you go. Can’t get Burnt ROMS to boot though, so not sure if modchip issue or disc burning problem.
Hi Terry! Could be the disc burning or the CD-R‘s used… Haven‘t been using backups since back in the late 90‘s to early 2000, but I remember my PS1 (SCPH-5552) being very picky about that. The thing absolutely hated cheap CD-R‘s and even the ones of good quality needed to be written on low speeds (4x max). Otherwise the PS1 would fail to boot the game and go directly to the menu after the boot animation, as if no disc was present at all. High quality CD-R‘s were kinda expensive then, like aprox. 10 EUR per disc in todays money.… Read more »
I buy the cheap cd-rs and yea that is a problome if I burn them with my Windows computer they always seem laggy and only work for a little while and that’s burning on any speed I tried slower speeds and I tried faster speeds didn’t make a difference then I use the same exact disc burner plugged it into my MacBook the slowest speed it will burn is 10x but they work perfectly so I’m not sure what that’s about 😂
I am having the same problem. Only the PAL games show in color whereas the NTSC games show in black/white.
If you are using composite video (yellow, red, white cable) then if you have a PAL console then NTSC games will show in black and white, or if you have a NTSC console PAL games will display in black and white. You’ll need to either use RGB cables or do a dual frequency oscillator mod.
Thanks for the install guide bought some chips off you a long time ago I was able to install it in the matter of about 10 minutes and it fired my backups right up
Thanks for the guide! I just installed a PIC12F675, using a recompiled version of the PIC12F629 code (https://assemblergames.com/threads/ps1-mm3-for-12f683-12f675.53679/#post-873536).
You say that pin 4 is not required, however to get it working I had to link that one in. After checking the source code of the firmware, pin 4 is indeed used in multiple parts of the code.
With a tweak to the laser intensity, and Verbatim DataLifePlus media, it’s working flawlessly. It’s like 1997 again!
i did my installation it worked, then after putting the case back on, im stuck on the white sony screen. took chip out still does the same, everything else that looks fine on the board, any ideas?
Did you check around for any solder that may have splashed somewhere causing a short?
i did, thank you for the reply my man. sorry to bother you honestly haha. but yeah everything is correctly in. and no solder around or “splash” on anything. if i killed the ps1 its my fault lol at least a new one is 15 bucks and ill at least have the chip.
also one first start up with the case on, the screen kinda had a slight flicker, but i moved the tv cable and it went away, after it stay at the white screen i did notice a smell. either plastic or something else, but i looked at literally every single piece , nothing is bloated or blackened
Maybe try checking some of the fuses on the board with a multimeter. They should have labels like “PS#” next to them.
Hi William, Thank you so much for this informative website, everything is extremely well done. With that being said I am having some difficulty with my first mod with the PU-18 using the first circuit diagram provided with all seven wires used including pin 4. What I’m seeing is that the white background boots up with the backup disc and then moves to the Memory card/CD player screen and normal discs continue to operate fine. I’m happy with the solder joints but I’m questioning whether I used the correct chip. I purchased the PIC12C508A-04/P directly from Microchip and loaded the… Read more »
What programmer are you using? You’ll want to make sure the correct fuses are set, and that the internal oscillator calibration value isn’t being overwritten.
Minipro Version 6.60, software came with my Minipro programmer that I typically use for PROM chips and it works well, first time programming a PIC but the software seems to support it as it has the option for the 12C508A. I also have a MPLAB ICD 4 but I haven’t used it yet.
I’m not familiar with the fuse or calibration values should these have been provided by microchip as delivered? If so, maybe that is my problem and I overwrote them…Looking back at the program window it looks like two checkboxes are present for con.Fuse Bit and USER ID, I’m guessing if those are checked and your hex code doesn’t have values for them they get blanked “OFFF”? If so, could I just correct that and reprogram the chips?
The Minipro programmers work. Post a screenshot of the config tab so I can see the fuses. These chips can only be programmed once, so you can’t reprogram them.
From my experience with the Minipro programmer the .hex file loading will set the fuses correctly and just clicking program with all of the program screen checkboxes checked works.
This isn’t the one installed but I did all ten chips the same, there doesn’t appear to be anything there.
That configuration looks correct. Make sure your wires you soldered as as short as possible. Other than that let me know how your friend’s confirmed working CD works.
I could probably make the wires a little shorter but they look fairly comparable to your lengths…maybe I messed up and lost track of pin one with the heat shrink…I’ll cut it open and take a look at that too. Just bought one of your programmed chips as well to try out.
Update: Pins seem to be in the correct sequence after checking with the heat shrink removed.
Yeah, the wire length is fine, and the wires are all going to the correct places.
I did mine just like the instructions say and used one of the pictures for comparison…now my discs won’t spin. ..
Do you have a picture of what it looks like? Some things that could be wrong:
1. A short somewhere on the board.
2. Soldering to the wrong points on the board.
3. Wires that are way too long.
4. A broken or improperly inserted disc drive cable.
I bought the MM3 for ntsc-j. I installed it and everything seems ok, but the psx only read j-games (I have a psx NTSC-J), I put parasite eve II (usa) and it didnt load.
Japanese systems past early SCPH-3000 systems have additional BIOS region locking. Meaning that even with a modchip you can only play Japanese region games. You either need to patch the games to be Japanese region, or swap the BIOS chip with an American BIOS chip.
Hello, I may need help. My ps1 is a 5501 but my board doesn’t look anything like this one or any of the other boards for the other models. It does say PU-18 on it but they don’t look the same. I can only see half of the board though so it’s possible that it may be the other half. But there is a piece of metal covering soldered to the board covering half of it. Is this the part I need to be looking at for the chip install?
Flip the board over. The chip gets soldered to the bottom side.
Worked like a charm on my scph-5501. First try it seemed to have an issue, but I had a soldering issue. After I fixed my mistake, all was good. Thank you!
Don’t have any backups to try yet, I don’t have any blanks CD’s until tomorrow, but I tossed in a regular game, and it played just fine, however I have zero sound now. Which pin or connection would it be that could cause no sound if it were shorted?
Hello can you send me only MM3 for my PS1 SCPH 5502? I Have EUR console. I need play games in PAL and NTSC its a possible?
Thanks..
Yes, you can place an order here: https://quade.co/store/ps1/mm3/
Let me know what country you are in if it won’t let you check out (I don’t have every country enabled to ship to).
Works but it doesn’t boot libcrypt, use the alternate #1 point then test with dino crisis:
The different location of pin 1 shouldn’t have any impact on anything since it’s the VCC/power pin.
Not supposed to but I wired it with both diagrams and this one worked, the other crashed with the anti-mod screen. Only changed one wire, everything else was left alone.
I had this same issue, Spyro 3 crashed with the AntiMod screen with the original Vcc point, and works with the alternate point.
No current modchip can bypass LibCrypt-protection.
You have to either patch the disc-image or burn a properly created disc-image with subchannel data (ccd and similar formats) in a special way, which not all burners may support.
NOTE: LibCrypt is not the same as Anti-mod.
LibCrypt = PAL-only = checks, if the disc is original by comparing the console’s response to intentionally broken subchannel-data on the disc.
Anti-mod = NTSC-only = checks, if the console has been modified with an (old) modchip
so i installed this on a pu-18 board, it will boot the discs up to the black PS screen and then while loading i hear some sounds like grinding noise while the disc is seeking and wont go past that point….any suggestions?
i included a link to a pic of what i did
https://ibb.co/PcZM0pr
Sounds sort of like a worn out laser having trouble reading the discs. Backups are harder to read than genuine discs. Do genuine games still load without issues?
genuine games still load fine. i figured as much, thanks for the response. any links that you can send my way to get the laser replaced? I will be buying more of your chips, they work great!!
Your best bet is probably to buy another identical system with a better laser and swap them. There isn’t a solid source for replacement lasers.
So… I have a PSX 5501 (PU-18 board)…. and I’ve tried to install the chip 12c508/P (04 SAW)…. But i can’t figure it out how to make it work…there’s no problem with original discs so the lasser is not the problem.
Please help!!!
Heres a pic of what I’ve done: https://ibb.co/ysHT2wP
That’s an old chip (date code from 2005). If it has only ever had four pins connected it’s definitely not an MM3 chip so this diagram can’t be used.
So based with the model of the chip I gave you (12c508/P 04 SAW)…is there a diagram for it???…P.S. That chip was working fine in a 9001 model.
thanks in advance
It’s probably a classic four wire chip so this may work:
Didn’t work…I guess I’ll buy a new chip. Thanks for everything
It turns on but the disk barely spins at all (very slowly)
heres the pic https://imgur.com/gallery/PNyfB1w
It looks like you mixed up the order of pins 5-8. See the picture with chip pin numbers in the guide.
Thank you so much! Your chip and instructions were perfect and now my 5501 is modded!
Good night. I have a ps scph-5502 pu18 and when soldering pin 5, it destroys the line .Where can I solder pin 5 alternatively? I hope they help me thanks
It looks like pin 5 connects to one side of the nearby capacitor. If you look closely at some of the pictures (and your actual board) you’ll see a small trace line on the board between point 5 and the capacitor.
Yes, there was a fine line up to the condenser, which in my case ended up disappearing. I will solder point 5 on one side of this capacitor and I hope it will resolve .. Thanks for the help.
Did not work. I don’t know what to do.
You might have to just get a new board and try again. I don’t have a PU-18 in front of me to fully look for alternative points.
OK. If you know any alternative tell me something.thanks
any updates on this? i think i’m having the same issue
Hi successfully modded a Ps1 yesterday using your guide brilliant guide thanks
https://imgur.com/1ry2hzJ https://imgur.com/mLxMXQE https://imgur.com/zeOcO0R Hello William, here are a few pictures of my install, i went with short wires as much as possible, obviously i surrounded the chip with electrical tape at the end. I’m having issues with it, I’m noticing I’m having the same issue to a few comments here in the thread, the console gets stuck on the white bootup screen, the disc spins at first then gives up, and the white screen also flickers a few times, all these 3 problems I’ve read here too, I’m wondering what could it be since I think I did… Read more »
The wire length is good, and all of the pins are connected to where they should.
You might want to check all of the surface mount fuses on the board with a multimeter to see if any of them are blown.
I bought an mm3 from you off eBay. Installed to diagram on a PU-18 board. Put back together and disc drive wouldn’t spin. So I checked all my solder joints. Everything looked good, retried to no avail. Even tried disconnecting pin 4 and reconnecting it. Still no luck. Only thing I get is the white Sony boot screen but no disc spin. So I removed the chip and disc spins with no issue and boots up games. Any suggestions? Could the chip be bad? There is some melted plastic from we’re the wires were soldered to the chip. But there’s… Read more »
The chip could have been damaged somewhere between me sending it and you finishing your installation. Pin 4 needs to be connected to something, either pin 4 in the diagram, or to the same spot as pin 1. Since your system works fine with the chip removed you didn’t damage your system or blow any fuses or anything. Make sure your wires are as short as possible (the included wires are way too long so that you’ll have extra wire), and that you didn’t mix up the order of pins 5-8 (a pretty common issue).
Thanks for the quick response. The wires were short but I could probably make them shorter. I did recheck my wires several times (numbers run counter clockwise 1-8 from the chip notch per diagram) but maybe the wires just need to be shorter. I’ll try reinstalling it tonight and let you know. If it still doesn’t work I’ll buy another chip to try, in case I damaged it somehow bending the pins, before I give up. Thanks!
You can buy the chip only version for a little less and attach the wires from your existing chip (if you have leftover wire). The chips without wires on them are a little easier to bend.
yo nick, great guide! here’s my install i did earlier (some of it is using alt install points): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdBtSOrWsAAzKHl?format=png&name=large
EDIT wtf where did i get nick from. sorry, i meant will. not nick!
#0. With the gamefreax.de guide.
During installation I accidentally ripped the solder pad off of where pin 3 is supposed to connect.
How screwed am I?
It’s fixable if you reconnect the traces and solder the pin to an alternate point. If you had trouble even soldering to the pad then chances are you’d have trouble fixing it.
Installed mine today MM3 on Pu18 and also fixed the SCPH5502 from my girlfriend, discs spun twice and then did nothing, ended reflowing IC701 that fixed the issue.
No issues with the chip so far tried to make the install the cleanest possible, im still a lil bit afraid of the wire gauge used on these chips, will try a Mayumi 4 next.
Successfully installed the MM3 you sold me on a 5501. I used heat shrink tubing to cover the exposed legs of the chip. I followed your guide except for pin #1; on my PU-18 board there was an open pad just down circuit from the capacitor that I was able to use which did not appear on the picture you shared of your PU-18 board. It made the installation a whole lot easier! This playstation is now playing CD-Rs well with the exception of the FMV cutscenes which are very choppy in some games despite adjusting the laser potentiometer.
I installed the chip on my pu-18, but now the console doesn’t turn on anymore. do I have to throw everything away?
It’s probably fixable. What happens if you remove the chip? Check for blown fuses and shorts.
Hi man i did all like it seys on this websitw with my pu18 with mm3 chip and its shows me insert playstation cd when it is a playstation cd original
What should i do to play it right?
You must have messed something up or have a worn out laser. If you send me a picture of your installation I could take a look.
Laser is new from china , chip is in place all wires are corect, is it laser isues ? it makes strenge noise thou
“New” Chinese lasers don’t always work. Sometimes they need adjusted, sometimes they don’t work at all. Make sure you have removed the anti static solder blob from it if it has that.
Ok i will try, thanks
Pin 5 is broken from the board for me. Is there any chance to solder it in another place?
Just installed mine in my 5501 last night. Was my first time soldering ever and it somehow worked without a hitch, despite me being very liberal with the solder and barely knowing how to get if off the roll and onto the board. I did end up covering up my stripped wires with scotch tape cuz I stripped them too much and I don’t wanna short this thing. Yes, I did catch that short near solder point 4.
Ola tengo una consola 5501… dentro de ella tenía un chip el cual es 12c508p 04 syx 0808 …. el chip No es mm3 pero lo conecte con el diagrama del mm3 y me funciono…. lo puedo dejar así ?
Por que los cables tienen que ser lo más cortos posibles??
Cuantos archivos hex para programar chips de ps1 existen aparte de los mm3 ?
If the chip works it works, I’d leave it at that.