Hacking PS2 FreeMcBoot Formatting Hard Drive Help

[supernintendo128]

I just got FreeMcBoot working on my PS2 and I had an old Fujitsu IDE hard drive lying around (it looks like this). I arranged the jumpers on the drive to "Master" and tried formatting in wLaunchElf but when I say "OK", it immediately fails. The drive spins and there's a green light that flashes so I don't know what's wrong. Is my drive bad?

 

[notimp]

Google two seconds.

Hope it helps.

 

[supernintendo128]

Google two seconds.

Hope it helps.

Unfortunately it didn't work. I still get an error immediately.

 

[notimp]

Then try formating it with HD Loader or WinHiip next. Or try to preformat it to some filesystem (not sure why it would make it work), or buy a Gamestar adapter (without a network port, or an IDE/sata adapter for your network adapter, and try it that way.

Presuming its not the HDD that failed. In which case, buy different IDE HDD..

 

[esmith13]

Just for the sake of argument, have you tried any of these ideas?

• Format the drive with OPL (simply try to access it in OPL and it will auto-format it if it's not formatted) - then re-format it in wLaunchELF
• Try setting jumpers to Cable Select
• Try removing all jumpers

The first one actually worked for me with a drive that wouldn't recognize at all in wLaunchELF HDD Manager.
the 2nd & 3rd options we things i've had to do to get finnicky HDDs to work in a PC that wouldn't detect properly. May not help at all on PS2 but won't hurt to try if OPL doesn't fix it for you.

Honestly if you don't mind spending some money I would get the SATA conversion PCB for your network adapter and then you can use up to a 2TB SATA HDD or SSD in 3.5" or 2.5". I realize that's not the solution you asked for but who doesn't want 2TB of games in their PS2?

 

[tech3475]

I would try it in a PC if you can.

Honestly if you don't mind spending some money I would get the SATA conversion PCB for your network adapter and then you can use up to a 2TB SATA HDD or SSD in 3.5" or 2.5". I realize that's not the solution you asked for but who doesn't want 2TB of games in their PS2?

Be careful with these kits, I suspect mine shorted and blew a literal fuse which is soldered to the PS2's motherboard.

I was lucky that I only blew the 12V rail, so I can still use 2.5" disks.

Honestly if you don't care for network capabilities, I would just look at buying a SATA HDD adapter.

 

[esmith13]

I would try it in a PC if you can.



Be careful with these kits, I suspect mine shorted and blew a literal fuse which is soldered to the PS2's motherboard.

I was lucky that I only blew the 12V rail, so I can still use 2.5" disks.

Honestly if you don't care for network capabilities, I would just look at buying a SATA HDD adapter.

Interesting. I've installed a few for friends and never had an issue... That said, out of the many options I have always purchased the purple colored PCB version. Not sure if that's a better quality piece, there's the chance of alignment issues with the fpc cable shorting 12v, or just random dumb luck...

 

[tech3475]

Interesting. I've installed a few for friends and never had an issue... That said, out of the many options I have always purchased the purple colored PCB version. Not sure if that's a better quality piece, there's the chance of alignment issues with the fpc cable shorting 12v, or just random dumb luck...

There may be different reasons, such as the board moving just enough to allow it to short. I know EU HDD adapters are slightly different internally due to the lack of a modem but I've never looked to deep into it.

Either way, I'd recommend covering the board with electrical tape or an equivalent (where it makes sense of course) to reduce risks.

 

[supernintendo128]

Just for the sake of argument, have you tried any of these ideas?

• Format the drive with OPL (simply try to access it in OPL and it will auto-format it if it's not formatted) - then re-format it in wLaunchELF
• Try setting jumpers to Cable Select
• Try removing all jumpers

The first one actually worked for me with a drive that wouldn't recognize at all in wLaunchELF HDD Manager.
the 2nd & 3rd options we things i've had to do to get finnicky HDDs to work in a PC that wouldn't detect properly. May not help at all on PS2 but won't hurt to try if OPL doesn't fix it for you.

Honestly if you don't mind spending some money I would get the SATA conversion PCB for your network adapter and then you can use up to a 2TB SATA HDD or SSD in 3.5" or 2.5". I realize that's not the solution you asked for but who doesn't want 2TB of games in their PS2?

I tried all of those, nothing. I think the HDD is busted. We'll try another one when we get the chance.

 

[esmith13]

I tried all of those, nothing. I think the HDD is busted. We'll try another one when we get the chance.

sounds like it then, tbh...

 

[CoolMe]

An IDE drive should be now at least 15~16yo if not more. Even if it did work now you shouldn't expect it to last long then suddenly all your efforts/loaded games/saves could go in an instant. Just get an 2.5 or 3.5 HDD of any capacity (as they're much cheaper these days), not only will it hold more games, but also be reliable in the long run.

 

[Snomannen_kalle]

I tried all of those, nothing. I think the HDD is busted. We'll try another one when we get the chance.

Did you verify with the PS2 HDD compatibility list that it's compatible with the PS2?