Am I mistaken?

[Kamikaze]

After much trial and error, I've decided it's time to ask for help.
I know there are many FAQ's out there, but I'm not sure which operations apply to my situation.
My goal is simply to play a PS2 backup/.iso on my PS2, from my External USB Drive.

I would like to know if this is possible, and if I actually have the components needed.

I have:

- PS2 + Memory Card w/FMCB, Ulaunch, and HDLoader
- External USB Drive (400+GB)
- USB Pen Drive

My understanding was that I could:
- Format my external drive to PS2 format w/ Winhiip, and install an iso. to play.
- Plug HD into Ps2 via USB and access the .iso with HDLoader.

Result: HDloader will not detect my external HD, after multiple varied attempts.

I've given up on this method, and considered it not working for me.
Now, I've discovered USB Advance, and I have a few questions:

How do I install it to my memory card?
(I have FMCB, uLaunch, and a 1G USB Drive to work with.)
I managed to run the ELF with uLaunch, but I couldn't figure out how to install it.

How should the HD be formatted?
(The USB drive I plan to use for games, has been formatted for use with the ps2, and prepared for use with HDLoader using Winhiip. Should I revert it back to NTFS?)

How should I prepare a game for playing off of HD with USB Advance?

I would be pleased to know if I am absolutely full of it, or if this is possible.

Thanks!

[SP193]

My understanding was that I could:
- Format my external drive to PS2 format w/ Winhiip, and install an iso. to play.
- Plug HD into Ps2 via USB and access the .iso with HDLoader.

1st point: You can, but only on HDDs which you are intending to insert into a FAT PS2's internal HDD bay. Only HDL uses that format.

2nd point: Impossible. HDL will never look for games any where else, but from the internal HDD (Only FAT PS2s have it).

I've given up on this method, and considered it not working for me.
Now, I've discovered USB Advance, and I have a few questions:

OK, before I answer any of your questions below - USBExtreme/USBAdvance is "obsolete" ever since OPL was released.

USBExtreme/USBAdvance has an inferior compatibility rate than OPL... so use OPL (Or PS2ESDL when I release it).

The answers to your questions are not only for USBExtreme/USBAdvance, but for OPL and all compatible loaders

How do I install it to my memory card?
(I have FMCB, uLaunch, and a 1G USB Drive to work with.)
I managed to run the ELF with uLaunch, but I couldn't figure out how to install it.

You copy the ELF to somewhere accessible (USB device, or Memory Card), and launch it with any possible method. I use FMCB, or uLE (Already launched by some other method) to launch the ELF.

How should the HD be formatted?
(The USB drive I plan to use for games, has been formatted for use with the ps2, and prepared for use with HDLoader using Winhiip. Should I revert it back to NTFS?)

FAT32 only. The games should be defragmented (There must be no fragmentation when you use OPL!! Not even 1% of fragmentation!!).

USBExtreme/USBAdvance dooes not require you to defragment your disk, but doing so may improve performance (Which is already very poor).

How should I prepare a game for playing off of HD with USB Advance?

If you use USBExtreme's ul_install.exe or the windows installer (Can't remember the filename), you need a original disc (Or use a disc emulator like daemon tools).

If you use some other tools, then you may only need a disc image.

If you didn't know: USBAdvance is the "pirated" copy of USBExtreme

If you need the USBExtreme tools, you should look for them on Google. The last time I'd checked, they were still relatively to obtain.

[JNABK]

How should the HD be formatted?
(The USB drive I plan to use for games, has been formatted for use with the ps2, and prepared for use with HDLoader using Winhiip. Should I revert it back to NTFS?)

Yes, that would be best to ensure you get the maximum space by formatting it to NTFS in Windows Management, then format it to FAT32 using the ul_format.exe , which is USB Extreme's format tool. You can find it at sksapps.com in the PS2Apps > HDD page.

How should I prepare a game for playing off of HD with USB Advance?

The best method is to use IMGBurn or DVD Decrypter to rip a fresh ISO from the disc. Then you can use USBUtil 2.0 or any USB Extreme installing app.

You can install directly from disc to HDD, but it is a better method to use either of those ripping app to ensure a good rip is made.

You can also find basic info on all the device loaders and the apps to use from the OPL User Guides, link is at the top of this forum in the Navbar.

[Kamikaze]

Alright! Exactly what I needed.
Thanks to both of you.