No, there's no typo in the title. It's 2020 and Sony's second home console, the PlayStation 2, got a new exploit; and an interesting one at that! Aptly named FreeDVDBoot, this exploit allows users to run burnt homebrew games on an unmodified PS2. Just slide in a DVD into the console as you would with any other game and boot it without any additional tools.

@CTurt , the software engineer behind FreeDVDBoot and fellow GBAtemp member, explained in length his method that exploits the console's DVD player functionality in a blog post. He also made all of FreeDVDBoot's code available on GitHub, along with a step-by-step guide.

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In case you're wondering about actual PS2 games rather than homebrew titles, yes, FreeDVDBoot also enables you to run backup copy of those. CTurt shared a video using his exploit to run a backup of Shadow of the Colossus:

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It doesn't end there either. CTurt further goes on to speculate that this method could potentially work on every single PlayStation home consoles and that he will investigate this possibility in the future:

There's really no reason this general attack scenario is specific to the PlayStation 2 as all generations support some combination of burned media: from the PlayStation 1's CD support, to the PlayStation 3 and 4's Blu-ray support, with the PlayStation 4 having only removed CD support. Hacking the PS4 through Blu-ray BD-J functionality has long been discussed as an idea for an entry point. This may be something I would be interested in looking into for a long-term future project: imagine being able to burn your own PlayStation games for all generations; 1 down, 3 to go...

SOURCE
FreeDVDBoot code and guide on GitHub

 

[Deleted User]

i might get a ps2 now, i saw the slim at a friend's house and it seems like the perfect console to just put on a backpack when you are going somewere you know there's a tv

 

[StrayGuitarist]

i might get a ps2 now, i saw the slim at a friend's house and it seems like the perfect console to just put on a backpack when you are going somewere you know there's a tv

Honestly, yeah. I used to bring my slim PS2 with Burnout 3 to my friend’s houses all the time. That and Guitar Hero 2.

 

[Deleted User]

There was a model of slim PS2 that had squared off buttons instead of rounded ones that I recall had some major difficulty with FMCB for some reason. Then again, getting your hands on a Slim with a working laser is.. tricky. But hey, now if I wanna set up a friend with some homebrew, I don’t have to make a FMCB card for them.

really? i might ask my friend to test and sell me his then, although that one already has a modchip so this wont be that useful,a local fair had two for sale but they did not include power bricks or controllers, and werent in good overall condition

 

[Deleted User]

Thinking deeper and deeper about this, if folks start experimenting and get a drag and drop patcher for iso's to work this this, that'd be absolutely incredible. I could build a collection of burned ps2 games again, and not have to worry about having to find them/emulate them, ect. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone out there in the world right this very moment giving it a try. Maybe 2 someone's.

Hopefully a universal exploit can be accomplished for all dvd firmwares so burners don't need to worry about any sort of compatibility issues for, say when lending to a friend.

Edit: Sudden thought, what's the compatibility with multi-disk games? I'd imagine those will break....

 

[Goku1992A]

This is good for me because quite a few games stutter way too much off the HDD loaders.

For me personally I always had a hard time making games work on my external HD for my wii I honestly gaveup so I don't mind burning DVD's for my wii. My PS2 on the other hand freemcboot did the job fine I guess I got tired of burning DVD's and waiting a long time with winhip I just use my Computer for both my Wii and PS2.

The sweet thing I get a better resolution

 

[PainToad]

Amazing work. Guessing this won't work with PS1 CDRs?

 

[Tweaker_Modding]

i’m really interested in the last part which is the possibility of this exploit (or similar) working on PS3 and PS4

 

[weatMod]

this is pretty amazing , the only thing that would be more amazing is finding a PS2 that still has a working DVD drive

i just bought a free mc boot card like a year and half ago , but since none of the 5 PS2's i own have a working DVD drive i still don't feel so bad about this release

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Just so everyone knows, burning PS2 games games is a bigger PITA than Wii. You need to use a special patcher on the ISO for the PS2 to be able to read it if you're using a softmodded PS2

 

[SSG Vegeta]

This is going to be awesome since I was looking for some DBZ BudoKai 3 mods to play on my PS2.

 

[LeyendaV]

This is interesting cause the DVD player runs on embedded software nowdays on basically anything, and I can't imagine companies modifying that silly component on their consoles. This could be (emphasis on could) an entry point to the OG Xbox, the 360, the PS3 and any other system with a standar built-in VideoDVD reader.

 

[Windows_10_User]

.

 

[Plstic]

Just so everyone knows, burning PS2 games games is a bigger PITA than Wii. You need to use a special patcher on the ISO for the PS2 to be able to read it if you're using a softmodded PS2

That is only for ESR. This is for stock consoles.

 

[Lumstar]

If this can be refined to work reliably enough to play any burnt PS2 game on any model console, it'll make Freemcboot obsolete for most titles.

Barring a few a exceptions. Like PS1 games. Or games with load times bothersome enough they belong on HDD.

 

[Immortallix]

For me personally I always had a hard time making games work on my external HD for my wii I honestly gaveup so I don't mind burning DVD's for my wii. My PS2 on the other hand freemcboot did the job fine I guess I got tired of burning DVD's and waiting a long time with winhip I just use my Computer for both my Wii and PS2.

The sweet thing I get a better resolution

That's pretty much the opposite of my experience, what issues are you having on Wii? I find loading games off Wii much easier (with USBLoader GX anyways).

 

[64bitmodels]

i might get a ps2 now, i saw the slim at a friend's house and it seems like the perfect console to just put on a backpack when you are going somewere you know there's a tv

wouldnt it be a better option to get a used ps3 and homebrew it tho???
PS3 has ps2 backwards compatibility

 

[Deleted User]

wouldnt it be a better option to get a used ps3 and homebrew it tho???
PS3 has ps2 backwards compatibility

same friend had a superslim ps3, its way bigger than the ps2 slim, and take into account only some of the fat models support ps2 bc, also, ps3 is still fairly expensive here, 7000-9000 uyu (166-213ish dollars) for a working slim or superslim, a slim ps2 is between 2000 and 4000 uyu (47-95ish usd) i just want something to throw into my backpack, that plugs into any tv with composite (for when in hotels or visiting relatives because they all have old tvs) and that wont make me (too) angry/sad if it ever ends up stolen/lost/destroyed

 

[banjo2]

If this can be refined to work reliably enough to play any burnt PS2 game on any model console, it'll make Freemcboot obsolete for most titles.

Barring a few a exceptions. Like PS1 games. Or games with load times bothersome enough they belong on HDD.

Wouldn't most prefer to stick to USB loading? I'd rather do that than having to swap my discs every time I want to play something else.

 

[64bitmodels]

Wouldn't most prefer to stick to USB loading? I'd rather do that than having to swap my discs every time I want to play something else.

please dont start another digital vs physical argument

 

[player594]

you dont have to buy, its free to download and its easily accessible, works on every console, can run everything.

nice idea but pointless as its already possible to do anything without a modchip and has been for years

This only works if you have a working usb port which my ps2 does not. Think I'll try to burn freemcboot to a dvd and install it to my memory card.