what is the recommended USB HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE on ps2?

[mburnall]

i recently found a working 40GB WD IDE hard drive just lying around the house. i am willing to buy a USB HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE but not sure which types i should look for.

reading around the forum, i must conclude that i should find an enclosure that is compatible with old USB 1.1 not USB 2.0 and has its own power supply not relying on the ps2 slim usb power. correct me if im wrong and looking for any recommendations pls. thanks

[dlanor]

i recently found a working 40GB WD IDE hard drive just lying around the house. i am willing to buy a USB HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE but not sure which types i should look for.

reading around the forum, i must conclude that i should find an enclosure that is compatible with old USB 1.1 not USB 2.0

No, that is a misunderstanding. Most USB drives and enclosures made for USB 2.0 are also backwards compatible to USB 1.1, and it is valuable to have the USB 2.0 speed when you are using a PC to fill the HDD with stuff for the PS2. That could take an eternity (or two ) if you had to do it limited to the speed of USB 1.1.

So what you should be looking for is an enclosure that is compatible both with USB 2.0 and with USB 1.1.

and has its own power supply not relying on the ps2 slim usb power.

That is an advantage, but not always a requirement.

For any 3.5" HDD I would definitely recommend a PSU of its own, and also for any top-speed drives. Higher physical movement speed and higher mass always implies more energy consumption.

But the higher speeds are wasted on a PS2 anyway, as you will never see any difference in PS2 results between a drive with 7200RPM and one with 5400RPM or even lower. The PS2 isn't capable of even getting close to maxing out the tranfer speed of any HDD standard when accessed through the USB interface. And using an HDD with lower RPM normally lowers its power requirements.


For example:
I have a 320GB USB 2.0 HDD branded Verbatim, though in fact it contains a SAMSUNG HM320JI which is a 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA HDD.

This unit does not even have any connector for an external power supply, and it works fine sucking its power through the USB port of any one of my consoles (both slim and fat).


However, as you plan to use an old 40GB drive I'm afraid we must assume that it is a 'power hog', and then you will need a separate PSU to feed it. Either built into the enclosure or as an external supply connected to it. (I've seen both kinds.)

Best regards: dlanor

[mburnall]

another very helpful post from sir dlanor.

to sum it up, a recommended USB hard disk enclosure on

IDE for use on ps2:

-USB 1.1 (essential for ps2 usb drivers) / 2.0 compatible (faster transfer of games from PC)
-rpm wont matter on ps2 since its using USB 1.1 (low transfer rates, that makes ps2 game videos stutter)
-old drives needs its own power supply such as IDEs.

SATA for use on ps2:

-USB 1.1 (essential for ps2 usb drivers) / 2.0 compatible (faster transfer of games from PC)
-rpm wont matter on ps2 since its using USB 1.1 (low transfer rates, that makes ps2 game videos stutter)
-new drives don't need its own power supply such as SATAs.

hope this post will help new people in the forum. kudos and more power to the creators of ps2 home brew apps.

[dlanor]

There is one part in your summary that needs correction:

-new drives don't need its own power supply such as SATAs.

The details making a drive use low power are not just that it is new and has SATA interface (which in itself means little), but rather that it has small physical dimensions (so 2.5") and avoids using the top speeds (so max 5400 RPM).

Best regards: dlanor