PS1/2 PlayStation 2:Install Games with WinHIIP/HDL Dump Helper GUI

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

I want to ask for your experiences please,my esteemed PlayStation 2 users.

Until today I have used WinHiip for install Games on the HDD.
Today I stumbled again over the only "weak spot" on WinHiip.The "fragments" size.
Even tough the "reduce Fragmentation" option is on,when it goes to the "End" of free space the space of the fragments is not used.

In an actual case it is about ~9 GB and the "official" free space is ~3 GB.
Now i tried to install an 8 GB image and guess what happens ?



After searching a little i get on HDL Dump Helper GUI.
Very clear and very nice UI (with Network support too) and also german.

And the best: it uses the "fragmented" space.

My only "concern" is: Are there any known issues with Open PS2 Loader if i use 2 different programs ?

Thank you for your "student comments" and any help from you.

 

[Ryccardo]

No, it's not a problem to alternate between different PS2 game backup installers, however you should avoid using WinHiip in general because (as a 2006 program) it didn't keep up with modern scene standards of following the official HDD standards more accurately

 

[Alexander1970]

No, it's not a problem to alternate between different PS2 game backup installers, however you should avoid using WinHiip in general because (as a 2006 program) it didn't keep up with modern scene standards of following the official HDD standards more accurately

Thank you.

Since i use the Sony HDD Adaptor and "old" IDE Seagate/Maxtor HDD´s (120 - 300 GB in size) I never stumbled over an issue with WinHIIP except the "fragments".Thank you for your Advise.

But yes,HDL Dump Helper GUI appeals to me a lot.

Thank you.

 

[WeAreVenom]

No, it's not a problem to alternate between different PS2 game backup installers, however you should avoid using WinHiip in general because (as a 2006 program) it didn't keep up with modern scene standards of following the official HDD standards more accurately

Is it possible to have a pinned post for the modern tools/methods? Feels like there's a shortage of this and people end up running in circles once the old good links and such disappear (isozone, etc). Between this site and reddit and how they have pin and have wikis for everything, there's nothing pinned for ps2, like the way it is for og xbox or even ps3.

 

[Alexander1970]

Is it possible to have a pinned post for the modern tools/methods? Feels like there's a shortage of this and people end up running in circles once the old good links and such disappear (isozone, etc). Between this site and reddit and how they have pin and have wikis for everything, there's nothing pinned for ps2, like the way it is for og xbox or even ps3.

Hello.

Also the Tools changed and getting better.
In the last days I "learned" many on PlayStation 2 and Games from HDD/over Network.
I plugged in my 3-4 Years old "Softmodded" PlayStation 2 and I am surprised what all has changed the last Years.

I no longer use WinHIIP since I "stumbled" over this great Applications:

- HDL Dumper Helper GUI v2.3
- OPL Manager 21.5 (for Covers/Editing .cfg and many more)
- and also the latest Build of Open PS2 Loader "10th Anniversayr Edition" (I used an "ancient" one before.. )

The PlayStation 2 is definetly "present" today.

Thank you.

 

[WeAreVenom]

Thanks! This is the method that I use for my hdd

This was actually the method that fixed me up. Now I can update the software on my memory card again and try out that new stuff

 

[rs1n]

While WinHiip will certainly install games faster -- especially if you use a USB3 adapter -- I would avoid using it. It fails on certain games (i.e. it incorrectly detects the ISO and creates the wrong size partition), fragments your partitions so that one game might reside another game physically on your disk DESPITE having a "defragment" feature, will "merge" games whose titles to share the first so-many characters (I forget how many -- just think multi-disc games with long titles) so that OPL only sees the last ISO installed, and is just simply outdated. For example, if you install Gran Turismo 4, and another game happens to be placed physically between GT4's partitions, GT4 might either fail to load, play, or some of its FMVs will lock up your system. Another example is Eternal Poison. Or if you named your ISOs Xenosaga Episode III - Also Sprach Zarathustra (Disc 1) and similarly for disc 2, etc. then OPL only sees the last disc copied over because the title gets truncated and WinHiip uses the title to build partition names. These are just some that I happen to remember off the top of my head.

If you use HDLDUMP/HDLDUMB, don't delete games using these installers because they don't properly mark used partitions as "empty" for later use, so you end up losing that space.

HDLGameInstaller seems to be the best installer, but even it has limitations (once you go past ~500GB, it might time out too early if your HDD happens to take a little longer to set up the partitions needed for installs).

I ended up using HDLGI to install up to where it would time out, then swapped to HDLDUMP for the rest. For deleting, I use uLaunchELF's HDD file manager to delete partitions.

In the long run, I think switching over to SMB might be best. I am thinking of using an old router with a USB3 port for setting up a dedicated share for the PS2. I don't know if individual files within a partition could get fragmented on the HDD (I'm not too familiar with APA format), but if they do, then your save files would eventually stop working. None of this would be an issue over SMB.

 

[Alexander1970]

Thank you all for your Advices,Experiences and Opinions.

I started with WinHIIP and now staying on HDL Dump Helper GUI v2.3 over Network to get the Games directly into the OpenPlayStationLoader and complete it with OPL Manager for Covers,Infos and more,this is for me the best Solution.

Many thanks to all who gave Feedback here.