So do I need to hardmod it, (I do not care if I have to tamper with the motherboard.) or do I just need to do a softmod. I lost my only Memory Card (8MB), and I assume that FreeHDBoot uses the network adapter to load from a hdd (both of which I have).The ability to run homebrew in pretty much any way (for a 100% clean console* that means FreeMCBoot, FreeHDBoot, or a forwarder disc such as the last version of Swap Magic which can run programs from USB) - then you just load up "PS2Ident" which has a rom dumper feature (or the one recommended by the developers of that inaccurate emulator)
* as it should be for this purpose - after all modchips work by substituting or modifying on the fly data entering the mechacon and leaving the rom, so they would generally cause a bad dump
Yep, that's fine, and appropriate for this purpose
and properly install FHDB, now you have FHDB and the newest wLaunchELF - with which you can run (from USB, for example) PS2Ident to backup your console's roms
Perhaps you figured this out already, but you should flash it to the HDD
I did, but thanks for the clarification though. But to me, this seems too simple. Do I just do the process stated by Ryccardo? (I feel like something is missing from this process, but this is my first time doing it.)
The method proposed by Ryccardo is what I would recommend as well, that should work fine. You don't need a memory card to do this (that would be FMCB), you only need the HDD (i.e. FHDB). You can read more about FMCB and FHDB here
I lost my only memory card (I still have it, I just don't know where,) so this is very helpful. Thank you.
Conventionally a "disc" is optical and a "disk" is magnetic (or equivalent)
How big of a capacity does my USB need? Also, once I get FHDB on my hard drive, how do I use it to rip the bios? (Do I need a SwapMagic disc or something of the like?)Conventionally a "disc" is optical and a "disk" is magnetic (or equivalent)
Yep, for FHDB you only need a network adapter (very preferably a Sony original), a disk you can plug into it (oh, and remember: always turn off the mechanical power switch before inserting or removing it), a compatible USB drive (must be MBR and FAT16/32, compatibility isn't very high though reasonable and light years better than Xbox), and some way of writing to the two previous items
And, if that's got you confused, the FMCB installer is used for installing either FMCB for PS2s, FHDB for PS2s, and FMCB for PSXes
(Not really for you, but since others may read this in the future: while the 700xx models have a full network adapter onboard, and support a proper "internal" HDD, it's not bootable so it can't use FHDB directly)
hmmm... 64 MB should be more than enough
FMCB (of which, as previously said, FHDB is a variant of) includes the newest version of wLaunchELF, a file manager; with it you can simply select and open any homebrew on any supported storage device - in your case you'll probably want to run PS2Ident from USB
That's good then, because mine has a capacity of 64 gigabytes. (I use it to install my Xbox 360 discs)hmmm... 64 MB should be more than enough
As of right now, I just want to know how to run it. Am I supposed to intercept something during boot, or will it just load on my console? My PS2 hasn't been hardmodded or softmodded before. I "tampered" with it last night by opening it and fully dissaembling it; There was a thick layer of dust everywhere, so I was cleaning it out.
FMCB and FHDB autoboot on every (supported) console - they are technically system updates
Oh, well that's nice to know. Thank you for clarifying this with me.
Only the early 1xxxx Japanese models officially needed or had updates from memory card (hence why removing support for them in most superslims to block FMCB wasn't really a compromise) - being early models, the kernel and drivers baked into ROM were lacking, so they were bundled with a CD to install said update, as well as movie DVD player software*
looks like the standard firmware but with added HDD support!
I would, but I'm not in a position where I can buy one. (Considering that I only have 20 dollars at the moment and was going to buy Jak 2.)
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