PS1/2 PS2 softmod

[Deleted member 114266]

I have the last EU Slim model from right before it was discontinued

What model number is your PS2? I don't know about EU consoles, but the last revision in the US which I believe were 9xxxx series will not boot MCBoot. MCBoot itself is a hack that exploits the PS2's ability to have upgradable DVD drivers stored on the memory card. The last revision of the slims have the latest DVD drivers already baked in, and the check for newer drivers on the memory card was disabled on the console itself.

 

[ThoD]

What model number is your PS2? I don't know about EU consoles, but the last revision in the US which I believe were 9xxxx series will not boot MCBoot. MCBoot itself is a hack that exploits the PS2's ability to have upgradable DVD drivers stored on the memory card. The last revision of the slims have the latest DVD drivers already baked in, and the check for newer drivers on the memory card was disabled on the console itself.

I read somewhere that MCBoot worked on all models... My model is SCPH-90004, but I know of a friend of mine with the same model that has MCBoot and it works for him (don't know what method he used).

 

[Deleted member 114266]

I read somewhere that MCBoot worked on all models... My model is SCPH-90004, but I know of a friend of mine with the same model that has MCBoot and it works for him (don't know what method he used).

If your friend is running MCBoot, just give your memory card to them. They can easily boot the MCBoot creation software and install it for you.

 

[eagerfud]

I was following a video guide by MrMario2011 but when i got to the part where i have to run ulaunchelf i just get a black screen, the other apps just lead to a black screen as well. I have tried following the guide to the letter
and redid it a few times in case i did the wrong option somewhere.

I bought the ps2 used and used the cheap sata ide adapter that the video linked to.
The ps2 is an SCPH-30001 NTSC
I Tried 2 different Hard drives I have in my house a 1TB HDS721010KLA330 and an 80 GB HD080HJ/P

I dont know what my problem could be. Should I buy a preinstalled fmcb memory card?

 

[Tweaker_Modding]

I was told there was a way to install Free Mcboot with action replay (without the media player) but i’ve been unable to get it to work as my AR won’t read my USB drive

 

[Deleted User]

I was following a video guide by MrMario2011 but when i got to the part where i have to run ulaunchelf i just get a black screen, the other apps just lead to a black screen as well. I have tried following the guide to the letter
and redid it a few times in case i did the wrong option somewhere.

I bought the ps2 used and used the cheap sata ide adapter that the video linked to.
The ps2 is an SCPH-30001 NTSC
I Tried 2 different Hard drives I have in my house a 1TB HDS721010KLA330 and an 80 GB HD080HJ/P

I dont know what my problem could be. Should I buy a preinstalled fmcb memory card?

So you can get to the point where Free HDBoot is loaded and working on your PS2's OSD (On Screen Display) but when you try to open ULE you get a black screen?

Is this the video? Are you at about the 10;20 point in the video?

 

[weatMod]

guys you do know that you can get PS3 magic gate memory cards or clones of them on ebay with free mc boot pre installed for dirt cheap right

 

[uyjulian]

Stop following outdated video guides.
Here's a new one for you people: http://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=1248

 

[eagerfud]

So you can get to the point where Free HDBoot is loaded and working on your PS2's OSD (On Screen Display) but when you try to open ULE you get a black screen?

Is this the video? Are you at about the 10;20 point in the video?

Yes it is. And yes i get to the menu screen, the problem occurs when i try to launch any app other than the default ps2 options. Other people in the comments are having the same issue. i think im going to try to get the exact same hard drive he used to see if i can do it with the exact same stuff he used. If that dosn't work the problem might be the ps2. I dont think it has a hard mod or anything. The seal for the top part was broken but not the bottom part. I assume the previous owner opened it up to blow out the dust. But before i order the hard drive im going to check out check out the link that julialy left. Thank you.

I just followed the guide in the link julialy left, no differences. it must be an issue with hardware not software.

 

[Deleted User]

Yes it is. And yes i get to the menu screen, the problem occurs when i try to launch any app other than the default ps2 options. Other people in the comments are having the same issue. i think im going to try to get the exact same hard drive he used to see if i can do it with the exact same stuff he used. If that dosn't work the problem might be the ps2. I dont think it has a hard mod or anything. The seal for the top part was broken but not the bottom part. I assume the previous owner opened it up to blow out the dust. But before i order the hard drive im going to check out check out the link that julialy left. Thank you.

I just followed the guide in the link julialy left, no differences. it must be an issue with hardware not software.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[uyjulian]

Are you using GameStar network adapter? Those are known to cause problems.

 

[eagerfud]

Are you using GameStar network adapter? Those are known to cause problems.

Yes I am. Would you recommend another one? I didn't know about them having issues. Also I haven't ordered the Hard drive I mentioned earlier yet, I'm in no hurry.

 

[uyjulian]

Yes I am. Would you recommend another one? I didn't know about them having issues. Also I haven't ordered the Hard drive I mentioned earlier yet, I'm in no hurry.

Use the official network adapter. They are cheap on ebay. Network adapter clones may have problems or other issues. Ones that are claiming "USA SHIPPING" are most likely clone resellers. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ps2+network+adapter

Also, if you are looking for a HDD, you can use a 3.5 to 2.5 IDE adapter, a 2.5 to SATA adapter, and a 1TB or 2TB SSHD. It will fit in your PS2. https://www.ebay.com/itm/231406750545 https://www.ebay.com/itm/163222753740 https://www.ebay.com/itm/173040022299 https://www.ebay.com/itm/322505146941

 

[eagerfud]

I got it. Thanks guys.

 

[bert02]

Ok so i got hold of a fat ps2 and looking ţo soft mod it.
I have spent a bit of time looking into everything just want to make sure i haven't missed anything and didn't read something out of date.

Because i have a fat o was thinking of using FHDB
Now i need to buy something to plug the hdd into.
I read some sort of sata drive network card? Or an ide to sata adapter.
What's better and is there any you guys recommend?

I saw there are 64mb and 128mb memory cards are these reliable or do you stick with the 8mb sony ones? And can you save games to the hdd?

Can i rip my games from disc too an iso to put on the hdd or what do i do there?

If i put the hdd into another fat ps2 does it work or do you have to install FHDB onto the ps2 first?

 

[Ryccardo]

Now i need to buy something to plug the hdd into.
I read some sort of sata drive network card? Or an ide to sata adapter.

A "network adapter" (if your console is a 3xxxx or 5xxxx model; 1xxxx ones have PCMCIA hard disks instead)

It is a very good idea to buy original Sony adapters for best compatibility (especially the American model with 56k modem, with no known imitations on the market), then if you want SATA open it up, remove the IDE connectors (each one it's on its own circuit board) and replace them with a SATA conversion kit, like the one available at abittop.com

I saw there are 64mb and 128mb memory cards are these reliable or do you stick with the 8mb sony ones? And can you save games to the hdd?

I always stick to originals, remember the official name for a PS2 memory card is "Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2)" and a small number of games took the name too literally, not to mention the guaranteed quality of the flash memory and MagicGate support

Some games have builtin HDD support, but won't work with 3rd party disks unless you "ATAD patch" the game, or more specifically their HDD driver (they also are 28-bit LBA, meaning it is a corruption hazard to use them on disks over 137 GB; not sure if there's a patch to upgrade them to 48-bit LBA)

Some versions of OPL, if you're going to use that to run your backups, support "VMC" - emulating a memory card with a file on HDD (per-game, shared, shared only among some games - at your discretion), but compatibility is definitely not 100% of the games that can be played from a backup on HDD

Can i rip my games from disc too an iso to put on the hdd or what do i do there?

There are 2 main programs to install games to HDD: HDL-Dum* (which supports disks connected directly to a PC, and via Ethernet), and HDLGameInstaller (which supports original discs inserted into the console, and via Ethernet); however installing original discs directly on the console is slow and fails easily in case of scratches or a bad optical drive, so I recommend always using a PC (directly with original disc or a disc image)

If i put the hdd into another fat ps2 does it work or do you have to install FHDB onto the ps2 first?

FHDB installs on the HDD, however the console's eeprom has an "HDD boot flag" (automatically enabled by the FHDB installer), which if left off causes the HDD to shut down and restart on every boot, which wastes time and unnecessarily wears the disk

For that reason, and because using disk images taken from other disks is a bad idea due to how APA (the PS2's partitioning system works), the first thing you should do once you get to a file manager (*LaunchELF) should be to go to the HDD Manager and reformat the disk, then run the newest FMCB/FHDB installer from an USB drive, and cleanly install FHDB

 

[Zaphod77]

Okay. some real info.

free hd boot only works for consoles that can have internal hard drives. this includes all phats, and the initial slims with the kits.

Free MC Boot works with all ps2s, EXCEPT the last model slims with the mechacon crashes removed. These models have removed the update functionality, because they are the last model ever. For these it's best to just get a modchip and burn discs. The mechacon crashes that tend to be caused by modchips and fry lasers do not happen on this revision of the console. Unlike other slims, these ones just work, and read discs (even burned with chip) very reliably.

Phats are much more awesome, and except for the last model slim, have much more reliable drives in them. working ide hard drives can be a pain to find, though to use with the official adapters.

TL: DR; if free mc boot does not work on your slim, just chip it and burn to your hearts content. softmod is a superior solution for ALL other ps2s.

 

[nz0543]

I have a slim ps2 7900x and I'm thinking of replacing it with a fat ps2 because the fat one has an hdd. Is that a good idea or should I just load games using Ethernet wire?

 

[Zaphod77]

yes, it's a good idea.

 

[rs1n]

I have a slim ps2 7900x and I'm thinking of replacing it with a fat ps2 because the fat one has an hdd. Is that a good idea or should I just load games using Ethernet wire?

There are benefits to both. Having an HDD is going to give you the best load times. Ethernet is a good alternative, and probably the best if you have several PS2's around the house. They can all pull from the same NAS or shared folder (i.e. you don't need to have two separate copies of all your games in the case of two phat PS2s).