PS1/2 USB, Internal HDD or DVDR ?

[Ritsuki]

I'm in a PS2 mood these days, so I was thinking of modding my good ol' PS2 fat, but the laser is broken and I can't read discs anymore. So I was thinking of :

- Installing Free McBoot with another PS2 and use my USB HDD to play games
- Buying a network adaptator and play with an internal HDD or via network
- Replacing my dead laser and use blank DVDs

I would like to have some advices before, and if possible, some informations about where I can find a PS2 fat laser/network adaptator, the price, how to change the PS2 laser, if it's difficult,...


Thanks in advance.

 

[cobleman]

With openps2loader now days a lot more games can be played from usb HDD slim consoles its easy just use the link with a pc for network but for the fats save your money on getting an adapter for your fat and just use usb it may be a bit slower but the game play is just the same

 

[Gagarin]

get Network Adapter.
It's so nice to have hdd in your old fat.

 

[CrashmanX]

get Network Adapter.
It's so nice to have hdd in your old fat.

^-This

I dont suggest the USB loader on Fat PS2's simply because you can use HDD loader and its 10x faster.

 

[Ritsuki]

Is USB really that slow ? I mean, the game can't even play on 1x speed ?

 

[WildWon]

I have the same questions as OP. I just re-hooked up my PS2 (fat boy) yesterday, and the laser is almost dead. Sometimes a PS2 game loads, but not really. (ps1 & movies are dead)

Now, if i snag a network adapter and an HD... can i run games from the HD w/out a disk? (all i've seen are HD loader discs... and that's not really an option)

Or should i just snag a new PS2 and mod it? (i'd rather not, due to lacking of funds, but if theres nothing i can do with my Fat, i'll do it later)

 

[cobleman]

No disks are not needed to run internal or usb hdd's.
I use Freemcboot loaded with openps2loader instead of Hdloader compatability has improved heaps

 

[ChuckBartowski]

I have the same questions as OP. I just re-hooked up my PS2 (fat boy) yesterday, and the laser is almost dead. Sometimes a PS2 game loads, but not really. (ps1 & movies are dead)

Now, if i snag a network adapter and an HD... can i run games from the HD w/out a disk? (all i've seen are HD loader discs... and that's not really an option)

Or should i just snag a new PS2 and mod it? (i'd rather not, due to lacking of funds, but if theres nothing i can do with my Fat, i'll do it later)

Yes you can run games from hd without a disk. There are HD loader homebrews.

 

[Harsky]

I have the same questions as OP. I just re-hooked up my PS2 (fat boy) yesterday, and the laser is almost dead. Sometimes a PS2 game loads, but not really. (ps1 & movies are dead)

Now, if i snag a network adapter and an HD... can i run games from the HD w/out a disk? (all i've seen are HD loader discs... and that's not really an option)

Or should i just snag a new PS2 and mod it? (i'd rather not, due to lacking of funds, but if theres nothing i can do with my Fat, i'll do it later)

With a network adapter and an HD, you don't need a disk in the drive at all. I strongly recommend going for that option mainly because it actually does load the games faster than running from a console with a modchip. Besides, buying the network adapter and HDD and works out much cheaper than a slimline PS2 and a modchip.

Bear in mind that you do need a Free McBoot to get the HDloader to work but this guide should help:

http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/fmcb/index.php

Also to the OP, USB loading sucks. Don't use it unless it's a last resort.

 

[WiiPower]

Buying a new(used) ps2 with a working laser might be cheaper than getting a new one. Also if you get a new laser, you need how to put it in, and if it's really a new laser, you might even have to desolder something on it.

With a Free McBoot memory card, you can launch all loaders you want, ESR for discs, HDLoader for internal HDD, USBAdvance for usb HDDs, or Open PS2 Loader for LAN, usb and internal HDD.

All in all i strongly recommend against using discs, your laser will die again eventually. If you can get a cheap Free McBoot compatbile slim(laser can be 100% dead), you can use that for network loading. If not, i recommend investing in a network adapter and a compatible(look it up before buying) IDE HDD.

Is USB really that slow ? I mean, the game can't even play on 1x speed ?

It's usb 1.1, which is about 1MB/s read speed, while the dvd drive in the ps2 is a 4x drive => >4MB/s.

 

[Cyan]

Is there a special network adapter model needed, or are they working all the same for HDloader?
I see 3 different models, with 0 to 2 lan connectors on the external side.

I consider installing it for a friend, but I never used one. it doesn't seems hard to install the needed software.
Maybe for myself too, my laser is almost dead. HDloader works fine with a modchip, right? no conflict ?

 

[WiiPower]

Is there a special network adapter model needed, or are they working all the same for HDloader?
I see 3 different models, with 0 to 2 lan connectors on the external side.

I consider installing it for a friend, but I never used one. it doesn't seems hard to install the needed software.
Maybe for myself too, my laser is almost dead. HDloader works fine with a modchip, right? no conflict ?

???

Network adapters with 0 LAN ports? Pictures?

Make sure it's an actual HDD adapter not some usb crap. And i think the adapters with 2 ports are the oldest ones(which may only work on the oldest ps2s), and the 2nd port isn't LAN, it's for modems(you should be able to see that it is smaller).

PS: When using a HDD Loader, you may want to disable the chip or even take it out. Modchips on ps2s do crap to the ps2s internal memory, not like modchips on wii that mod the drive and only change anything when actually using the drive

 

[Cyan]

Sorry, I mistaken.
It's a sticker hiding the LAN. I thought it was a wifi version or something like that.

Thank you for the precisions about the adapters.


About my modchip, I didn't install it myself and I really don't know if I can temporarily deactivate it or if I need to un-soldered it. (I think it's a DMS3)
I'll keep it as long as DVD works then.

 

[Ritsuki]

OMG found an official one for 30$. It's on a local auction site, but the only problem is that the auction ends on the 26th, and I receive my money on the 28th... Should I put an offer on it and make the owner wait ? The thing is I've not been able to install Free McBoot for now...

EDIT : Also found the game 007 Agent under fire for 6$. So I should be able to install Free McBoot with this.

EDIT2 : Ok, I'm taking Agent under fire, but now I'm hesitating between two choices : Buying the LAN adaptor for my PS2 fat, or keeping my friend's PS2 slim for a moment and play with network solution (just need a crossed RJ45 wire). I know I won't play that much after holidays, so it's maybe a better solution. But I really like having all my consoles working if I want to play some old games (last time I dowloaded Jet Set Radio for my Dreamcast. That was awesome.)...