PS1/2 SMB 4 PS2 - GL-AR150

MicroNut99 · May 15, 2021

Hello,
I was gifted a PS2 and have been using McBoot USB and Network SMB to play games.
SMB is ok from my phone or computer but I wanted it more portable like a USB drive without the speed or USB file system limitations.

I found this mini network router GL-AR150 with a USB2.0 Samba server that supports many file systems including NTFS.

I am not sure if its worth it yet vs. dealing with FAT32 and its inevitable file corruption or making sure my computer is on, my phone ready and on the local network.
The GL-AR150 takes about a minute to boot but with smoother FMV and file system sanity.

The GL-AR150 out of the box.
Setup as a router.

For best FMV performance two lines should be added to "smb.conf.template" using something from the console using putty and vi or in Windows: WinSCP
getwd cache = yes
write cache size = 262144

And then edit "smb.conf"
[GL-Samba]
path = /mnt/PS2
read only = no
guest ok = yes

Both files are located here: "/etc/samba/"

This is important. The path name for the USB drive is /mnt/NAME <<< the name of your usb drive.
The name of my USB drive is: PS2
Then make sure the OPL file structure is at the root of the drive.

The GL-AR150 runs openwrt and this means the device could be over-clocked or customized in many ways.

Hayato213 · May 15, 2021

MicroNut99 said:
dealing with FAT32 and its inevitable file corruption

You sure you ain't talking about exFAT instead?

MicroNut99 · May 15, 2021

Hayato213 said:
You sure you ain't talking about exFAT instead?

Technically you are correct, exFAT is probably the most commonly corrupted file system.
On large formatted drives, personally I lean on NTFS for stability.
Also I didn't know that exFAT works with OPL.

MicroNut99 · May 15, 2021

For anyone interested an instructable is here:
https://www.instructables.com/USB-SMB-Server-for-PlayStation-2-Using-the-GL-AR15/

MicroNut99 · May 31, 2021

Upgrading to the GL-AR300M.
This router is roughly ten dollars more and about 30% faster than the GL-AR150.
The PS2 Slim takes about 1min 20secs to be SMB/USB share ready after initial power on.
I don't see any difference when running the SMB share from my home network and this router.

The Gigabit ethernet GL-AR750S-Ext offers Gigabit ethernet, 5G WiFi and so much more.
At this price the device is probably overkill for a PS2 Slim hard drive.

Editing the" smb.conf.template" file using WinSCP is all that should be needed.
Editing the "smb.conf" file should not be required if the settings are correctly set in the GUI.

Also Heat.
The PS2 Slim gets very hot so does the router.
I used a small strip of Velcro at the very front to hold the device in place.
It also lifts the router off the surface of the PS2 Slim.

And some math estimates.

Mbps to MB/s Converter
https://www.gbmb.org/mbps-to-mbs

PlayStation 2
Optical disc drive:
Maximum 5.28 MB/s
24x speed CD-ROM [3.6 MB/s],
4x speed DVD-ROM [5.28 MB/s]

USB 1.1 read rate:
12 Mbps = 1200 kB/s
12 Mbps = 1.5 MB/s

USB 2.0 read rate:
480 Mbps = 60000 kB/s
480 Mbps = 60 MB/s

GL.iNet GL-AR150 and GL-AR300M
Both Ethernet ports are: 100Mb/s
100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s

MicroNut99 · Jun 2, 2021

Add an external 2TB NTFS hard drive to the PS2 SLIM.
"super easy barely an inconvenience"

No really.
Easily swap between a USB flash drive and a 2TB SSD.
Keep the drive and folder names the same.
Playing Burnout 3 to test.

Easy to pull the drive and update on PC using usb 3.0 or more slowly over the network.

NTFS is sane enough to hold all art and games.

I used this PNG art package and OPL manager to generate proper names for the art.
The drive and art display does slow down with the more games added.
Instructable updated.

MicroNut99 · Jun 5, 2021

POPS_IOX.PAK
You will have to find a copy of POPS_IOX.PAK on your own.
It's not hard to find one using Google.
Once you have it, copy it to your POPS folder.

POPS and POPSTARTER
You will have to find a copy of POPS_IOX.PAK on your own.
It's not hard to find one using Google.
Once you have it, copy it to your POPS folder.

1. Download these preconfigured popstarter_gl.net files.
2. Copy the POPS folder to the root of the PS2 hard drive.
3. Copy the POPSTARTER folder to the root of memory card, MC0 or MC1.
-Using FreeMcBoot, start ulaunchelf.
-Then copy and paste the POPSTARTER folder to your memory card

4. Setup Open PS2 Loader with a static IP address.
IP: 192.168.8.8
Subnet: 255.225.225.0
Gateway: 192.168.8.1
DNS: 192.168.8.1

5. Reconnect, Save Settings, even if the connection fails, and move on to the next step.

MicroNut99 · Jun 7, 2021

PSX NAS

On the PS2 use the Browser and press the triangle button to find your PS2 MAC address.

1. Log into the router. Scroll to Clients on the left side and find the the MAC address of the PS2 and copy it.

2. Then scroll down to More Settings and enter the MAC and Static IP address of the PS2.

3. Click on Add.

4. Reboot the router.

Optional: Move the setup to router.
If you've got two USB ports on your router then move the setup.
Now the PS2 is free from the clutter.

Destructable is here:
https://www.instructables.com/USB-SMB-Server-for-PlayStation-2-Using-the-GL-AR15/

Th3Vip3rPr01 · Aug 2, 2021

Hello, I'm here to ask for some help, I followed the tutorial and it partially worked, most games runs correctly, mainly 2D fighters, but there is a lot that freezes in middle of gameplay, also the fmv's still runs slower than dvd. Do you know what I did wrong or what can i do to solve it?

MicroNut99 · Aug 2, 2021

Th3Vip3rPr01 said:
Hello, I'm here to ask for some help, I followed the tutorial and it partially worked, most games runs correctly, mainly 2D fighters, but there is a lot that freezes in middle of gameplay, also the fmv's still runs slower than dvd. Do you know what I did wrong or what can i do to solve it?

What game is freezing?

fmv's will run a tad slower than dvd but not by much.
Which fmv's are giving you problems?

wanderson64fr · Sep 11, 2021

MicroNut99 said:
What game is freezing?

fmv's will run a tad slower than dvd but not by much.
Which fmv's are giving you problems?

Can you save any game using popstarter? In my save, however, the save does not appear to load after turning off the ps2

MicroNut99 · Sep 12, 2021

wanderson64fr said:
Can you save any game using popstarter? In my save, however, the save does not appear to load after turning off the ps2

Correct they do not work.
I have not been able to save a PS1 game.

wanderson64fr · Sep 12, 2021

MicroNut99 said:
Correct they do not work.
I have not been able to save a PS1 game.

After so many attempts I managed, just install the firmware v3.102.

PS1/2 SMB 4 PS2 - GL-AR150

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