PS1/2 How to: Playing PS2 games on DVD (+-) RW media

[Acid_Snake]

Since there isn't much information about rewritable DVD media on PS2, and information is a bit contradictory (some claiming you can't, some claiming you can) I decided to give it a try and post my results.

So, can you play PS2 games using rewritable DVD media?
Short answer: yes, but you need to patch them with ESR, a modchip alone won't work.

Long answer:
From what I can tell reading online, PS2 added support for DVD RW media starting with SCPH-5000X. However (as it's expected) the mechacon only verifies these discs if they contain DVD-VIDEO, which is the case for all media that isn't DVD-ROM. Modchips don't have patches to allow playback of DVD RW (they only patch the mechacon for DVD+-R), so they will just appear as unsupported discs. However as you may know you can patch them with ESR to fool the mechacon into thinking it's a DVD-VIDEO and correctly allow for its playback.
I have tested this with three very different models (SCPH-5000X, SCPH-7700X and SCPH-9000X), with and without modchip, and they all play the discs just fine, no stuttering or read errors and the laser doesn't seem to wear out (it shouldn't, as the mechacon will correctly configure the laser for DVD RW playback), as long as the discs themselves are not scratched, there should be no issue. The brand I used for testing is Verbatim, both DVD-RW and DVD+RW as well as mini-DVD (1.4GB).

Hope this helps some people that are tempted to buy DVD RW for their PS2.

 

[Deleted User]

I mean, it's 2020 so it's a lot more convenient just to drag and drop the ISO to the HDD/USB than burn it to a DVD and then erase it, and then burn it again.

Burning games to DVDs was great back in the early 2000's, though.

 

[Acid_Snake]

I mean, it's 2020 so it's a lot more convenient just to drag and drop the ISO to the HDD/USB than burn it to a DVD and then erase it, and then burn it again.

Burning games to DVDs was great back in the early 2000's, though.

Yeah I know that, I have a fat PS2 with HDD, much better than anything else. But I had a few brand new DVD-RW and didn't know what to do with them so I just use them for games I want to play once and replace with other games.

 

[real3do]

Yeah I know that, I have a fat PS2 with HDD, much better than anything else. But I had a few brand new DVD-RW and didn't know what to do with them so I just use them for games I want to play once and replace with other games.

mine is slim but still , can load but cannot read

Post automatically merged: Aug 5, 2023

even for ps2 slim, it can load but it cannot play, although slimline model can read dvd+rw. mine is scph-70007

 

[KleinesSinchen]

mine is slim but still , can load but cannot read

Post automatically merged: Aug 5, 2023

even for ps2 slim, it can load but it cannot play, although slimline model can read dvd+rw. mine is scph-70007

The reflective characteristics of RW media are much worse than on R and ROM media.
I'm surprised to see some PS2 models read RW at all (for video).

Unsurprisingly a drive has to be in very good condition in order to read rewritable discs.

First thing to try would obviously be normal DVD video on DVD-RW. If that doesn't work your drive simply wont do it.

Good luck!