PS1/2 Feasibility of an SD2PS Memory Card?

[Seraphic]

Was wondering with it anyone has talked about working on a SD2PS (i.e SD2VITA) style adapter that works with PS1/2 and lets to store many multiple memory cards on each SD card.
Prices of OEM SONY memory cards for PS2 and especially PS1 are going up slowly but surely. They 3rd party ones are not very good.

 

[Ryccardo]

For PS1 it's likely doable (with the usual limitation that each virtual memory card must be 15+1 blocks), but literally any size of SD is gross overkill , providing a decent interface for selecting which card to mount would add to size and cost, and there are quality clones around (I personally recommend the "X-Tecnologies" brand, pretty much anything that promises 1 megabit and delivers 1 megabit without compression/multipartitioning tricks is decent)

PS2 adds the complication of having to deal with MagicGate security (and $ony still gets pissed at people trying to clone it) to the above size/comfort issue...

...and at least in my area, an original 8MB card can be bought in a physical store for 4 euros which is still a long way from their original full retail price!

Between existing solutions to backup your cards to a computer, not great but non-negligible either VMC compatibility in OPL and Popstarter, and 99%/90% PS1/PS2 compatibility of full-hardware PS3s, not to mention people preferring to play on emulators with deliberate inaccuracies... I think there just isn't that much of demand

 

[Seraphic]

For PS1 it's likely doable (with the usual limitation that each virtual memory card must be 15+1 blocks), but literally any size of SD is gross overkill , providing a decent interface for selecting which card to mount would add to size and cost, and there are quality clones around (I personally recommend the "X-Tecnologies" brand, pretty much anything that promises 1 megabit and delivers 1 megabit without compression/multipartitioning tricks is decent)

Only see a PS2 type memory card by X-Tecnologies on ebay at the moment. But yeah, you would need d way to cycle/mount each virtual memory card. There were brands that did that, like the "Performance Mega Memory Card" which stored about 8 memory cards in one. But I hear they can corrupt easily and the cheap white ones that say 1mb on ebay I have heard will corrupt if you try to store more then 8 blocks. Have you tried these?

PS2 adds the complication of having to deal with MagicGate security (and $ony still gets pissed at people trying to clone it) to the above size/comfort issue...

...and at least in my area, an original 8MB card can be bought in a physical store for 4 euros which is still a long way from their original full retail price!

Surprised Sony would care at this point. PS2 cards still aren't too bad as you can store a lot of data on each for about $6-$8 for OEM brands. But that may change in the future.

Between existing solutions to backup your cards to a computer, not great but non-negligible either VMC compatibility in OPL and Popstarter, and 99%/90% PS1/PS2 compatibility of full-hardware PS3s, not to mention people preferring to play on emulators with deliberate inaccuracies... I think there just isn't that much of demand

I use a PS3 to store all my PS2 and PS1 game save files and it's great as you have UNLIMITED storage. However, moving data back and forth to a memory card is very tedious.
Basically, I would like to get hold of about 30 more PS1 memory cards to store all my RPG save files. I wanted to try to purchase OEM ones but would cost too much to buy that many.

An internal PS2 HDMI solution is coming in the next few months, so the demand for such a solution may change.

 

[Ryccardo]

Basically, I would like to get hold of about 30 more PS1 memory cards to store all my RPG save files.

30??? Well, yeah, that would be quite above average use

There were brands that did that, like the "Performance Mega Memory Card" which stored about 8 memory cards in one.

Don't know about that specific one, but I vote against the kind with an LCD displaying the partition number that you change by pushing buttons - had a couple of those, the first was returned in less than 2 weeks, the other mostly worked for 3-4 years but had a tendency to spontaneously change bank and, in general, did not inspire confidence (flickering display and rattling inside the shell)...
It also probably used 5 volt flash which wouldn't work on a stock PS2 slim (when they decided to cut costs by removing the motor power line from the memory card sockets, leaving only the 3.3V one)

the cheap white ones that say 1mb on ebay I have heard will corrupt if you try to store more then 8 blocks. Have you tried these?

No, sorry - after the 2 above mentioned ones (and even borrowing a PS2 card from a friend thinking they were the same for saying "8 mega") I got a plain 1 mega one around 2003 and it's what I use to date
A shame if even alleged 1:1 clones now suck!

[magicgate] Surprised Sony would care at this point.

And the thing is, nobody really has a clue why! Perhaps it has more than it should in common with, well, Magicgate as in the DRM scheme for memory sticks, ATRAC, and minidiscs?

 

[wiewiec]

Was wondering with it anyone has talked about working on a SD2PS (i.e SD2VITA) style adapter that works with PS1/2 and lets to store many multiple memory cards on each SD card.
Prices of OEM SONY memory cards for PS2 and especially PS1 are going up slowly but surely. They 3rd party ones are not very good.

Only way to use SD card in PS1 is to use mod chip called PSIO, it is expensive and difficult to install, and not all PS1 models are supported, but have good reviews.

https://ps-io.com/

 

[uyjulian]

Yes, it's possible. http://psx-scene.com/forums/f19/sd-card-sio2-driver-157485/

SIO is basically a serial port, so it can communicate with SD card via SPI.

There's not really going to be a market for SD to memory card adapters, especially since PSIO on the PS1 and USB ports on the PS2 exist.