New PlayStation 2 exploit 'FreeDVDBoot' allows burnt DVD games to run without modchip

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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.


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:


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...

:arrow: SOURCE
:arrow: FreeDVDBoot code and guide on GitHub
 
Last edited by Prans, , Reason: edited post to tag CTurt

xstationbr

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[QUOTE = "antoclass, post: 9112060, membro: 398691"] Finalmente poderei reproduzir backups disso, que momento maravilhoso para estar vivo.
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[/CITAR]

I found it here.
 

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Moon164

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This is incredible, I am amazed to see that in the middle of 2020 there are still people developing incredible things for the Playstation 2. Although I find this incredible, here in Brazil it is practically impossible to find a PS2 without modchip.
 
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FR0ZN

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Another good use I see with this development is the indie dev community.
There are still several smaller devs who are developing games for retro consoles and so far the Dreamcast was the most advanced console, which could play pressed discs without any modification to the hardware.

FreeDVDBoot opens the same possibility for PS2 ports, which is pretty neat if you ask me.
 

smf

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Good thing this exploit uses discs. Ya know considering how well made the PS2 disc drives are.

If your disc drive isn't working then you'd need to get someone to put freemcboot on a memory card, this is for people who don't have anyone that can do that for them.

FreeDVDBoot opens the same possibility for PS2 ports, which is pretty neat if you ask me.

You would need to come up with a way to exploit every single dvd player version with one disc for that to be practical, which I'm not sure is possible. You could put out a game on MILCD for dreamcast and it will work on most consoles and fail on late ones. With FreeDVDBoot you have to put a DVD out for each DVD player version you wish to support. Which might be okay if you're burning discs to order, but won't work for pressing.
 
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FR0ZN

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You would need to come up with a way to exploit every single dvd player version with one disc for that to be practical, which I'm not sure is possible. You could put out a game on MILCD for dreamcast and it will work on most consoles and fail on late ones. With FreeDVDBoot you have to put a DVD out for each DVD player version you wish to support. Which might be okay if you're burning discs to order, but won't work for pressing.

CTurt released a hybrid DVD image, which works on 3.10 and 3.11 - he also had this to say:

https://twitter.com/CTurtE/status/1277664806523285504

I'm optimistic it will work out ;)
 

Urbanshadow

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CTurt released a hybrid DVD image, which works on 3.10 and 3.11 - he also had this to say:

https://twitter.com/CTurtE/status/1277664806523285504

I'm optimistic it will work out ;)

I tested it and can report the hybrid iso as working for v3.11E drive version, with the OSD language changed to english. I even chained it to OpenPS2Loader in an usb and launched a game in that very same usb without a memory card present.

Burned on a regular DVD-R with the Windows 10 integrated dvd burner.
 
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Goku1992A

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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).

I don't remember well but sometimes it recognize my external HD and sometimes it doesn't I just ended up using my laptop with Dolphin emulator.

I regret buying the Wii instead of the Wii U Luckily my laptop can play Wii and Wii U games flawlessly and also in HD
 

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Great Achievement,Congratulations to @CTurt .:yay:
Very good Work.

I think it also could work on the older Modells.
I tried it on the Phat Modell 30004R PAL with English Language.
The 3.10 DVD is recognized and starts into the DVD Movie Player Controls,but goes not further
(This Disc can not played).


Thank you for this Exploit.:)
 

smf

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CTurt released a hybrid DVD image, which works on 3.10 and 3.11 - he also had this to say:

https://twitter.com/CTurtE/status/1277664806523285504

I'm optimistic it will work out ;)

It would be great if it did happen, but he only says it might be possible. I am not going to get excited yet as he just added a 3.04 payload, but it's not merged with the 3.10 & 3.11 one.

They're both cool or w/e, I just don't see how this makes FMCB as a whole "obsolete"

It doesn't, practically it's useful for anyone who doesn't have FMCB installed yet or doesn't have a memory card to install FMCB onto. But it's also interesting from a theoretical point of view.
 
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kumikochan

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Will test it on my special edition PS2 Bravia tv edition since know that mostly all exploits were patched on it seeing the USB exploit or hard drive loading doesn't work on that unit. If it's like the previous disc exploit that are used on a lot of systems actually then I wouldn't advise doing it because it burns out the DVD player. Something that has to do with the reading speeds being a lot more intense with a Burned disc because of how it is burned compared to a PS2 disc that was burned differently to combat piracy. I'm guessing it's gonna mess up the DVD drive like it did with copied dvd's back in the day

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I will finally be able to play backups on this, what a great time to be alive.
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Haha I have the exact same unit ! Never sell it, gonna be a collecters item later on since they are quite rare.
 
D

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This is incredible, I am amazed to see that in the middle of 2020 there are still people developing incredible things for the Playstation 2. Although I find this incredible, here in Brazil it is practically impossible to find a PS2 without modchip.
same for uruguay lol
 
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