i think Duo 3 Gold is a great mod chip for its price if you wanted to solder ($15)
or infinity/dms4 chip if you need all that fancy features. Ps2 is just like modding a wii, small points, just alot of it, then the bios pad is like soldering on the leg of panasonic since their so damn close to each other and small. take it slow and tripple check your joints and points.
i have to suggest either a swap method or a mod chip. i dont know how well the hdloader loads but god usb hard drive loader was trash.
*Edit*
oh if its Ps2 Fat then try independence hack. maybe find someone with a mod chip already and ask them to load hack into the MC
Yup,I used that method.
The MC had over 800+ SLUS's,and no matter what psx game i used it booted. =D
EDIT:You can hack the MC w/ Swap magic/fliptop.Whatever floats your boat.