Tons of questions

[Pappa]

Hi there! My name is Jo Christian, and i'm new around here. Hi guys

I've never been into the PS2 mod scene before, but i have decided to buy a PStwo and chip it, and hopefully play around with it a bit.
The PStwo will be the pink one, and comes with two pads and an original PS2 memcard.

Now, i think i am skilled enough in soldering to install almost any chip.
My soldering iron is a Weller W61 with a pen tip. Think that will do? I have chipped a PSX before in the past, long ago. Installation was a breeze. I play guitar and i service my own electronics, build my own amplifiers and effects et cetera, and i have a background servicing basic digital circuits, so i think i should be able to install it myself.

I like to play around with application development, and things like that, and as i understood it basically there are two chips worth considering ("top of the line"), these two are CC and MI. I got the impression that MI is better suited than CC for insert disc and play-situations (OEM installations?), but CC wins hands down for playing around with development and customizing and stuff like that? Am i right?

So i am planning to purchase a CC 2.0 from somewhere. Money is not an object, really, but i don't like to pay too much for a product, i will buy it from the cheapest reputable place, if you know what i mean. Nobody sells CC's in my country (Norway), and if i buy from sweden the cheapest i can get is at around 80$ plus S&H. So i figured i'd buy from a US retailer since they're the cheapest, as long as US chips can be installed on PAL consoles (can they?). Does anyone know a good retailer, who would be willing to ship to Norway, and label the package with a value of 20$? (saves me 20$ in customs fee + 25% VAT). I was thinking foundmy.com but i don't know if they'd ship internationally and write a false value on the package.. Any suggestions?

That was my main concern. Now, more concerns:

I have a spare 40GB harddrive (IDE, ATA-100) which is used for absolutely nothing. Can i use this HD to store game saves for PS2 AND PSX (i like playing PSX games), and maybe also rip my games to an ISO file and store them on the HD and play? (Or play games from the HD in another manner). If anyone has a link of some sort i'd be happy to read it. I also have various USB drives, can these function as PSX / PS2 memcards? (would be neat).

In addition, my personal computer mostly functions as half a workstation, half a server, and runs Linux. Can i have the PS2 connect to my computer and download stuffe from there to the 40GB HD, and play? Can i mount them directly over ethernet? (smb, NFS etc).

Can i run Linux on the PS2? And if i can, can i launch PS2/PSX games from inside Linux? (That would kick so much ass it's almost insane).

What programming languages are available on PS2? I am highly skilled in Python, with some basic knowledge in C and assembly, know some Java and perl, know syntax for a lot of other languages but has never done anything practical in any of them. Is there a python for PS2? I think i saw a Lua implentation somewhere? I suck when it comes to managing memory, so a language with garbage collection and auto memory management would be nice. Lua looks nice.. I think i found a Python for PS2 on google but not too much info..


There will probably be more questions, but these are all i could think of ATM. I tried searching and reading forums and stuff but all the information i found just raised more questions in me, plus there's just so much i am unable to properly digest it, so please bear with me

And i tried to make myself understandable, but english is not my main language, so errors are unavoidble..

Thanks

[Yoc]

Ok, long post. I'll try to reply for what I know and to give you clues on what to look for to know more about what you want to do.

- If you only want a chip to put your games in the DVD tray and play, go for MI. But as I understand, you want more, and I'm sure you'll have a lot more fun with CC. The hardware and the software are continuously updated, and BootManager (it's a kind of OS for the PS2+CC) is open source. So it's up to you to make it even better or to make it fit your need.

- Solder a CC is doable if you have the right hardware to do it. You need very good wires (AWG30) and a very thin a not to powerfull iron. I did solders tons of PS 1 chips a decade before, but my first PS2 I tried to chip have been sold for pieces because my iron and my wires were too big. PS 2 motherboard is really thin.

- HDD is good. It allows you to play games from it (only PS2 games, not PS1), to backup your saves (transfer them from Memory Card to HDD), put DivX, mp3 to play them from PS2 but if you've bought a brand new PSTwo, as I far as know you won't be able to connect one because the missing IDE controller. On the former PSTwo, you could solder a HDD using HDCombo or HDConnect kits, and on the first PS2 (fat one) you just had to plug it... So later is not better...
You can still plug the HDD using a USB cable.The problem is that many games dont't work, and transfers speed is not better than DVD, sometime, worse.

- About USB flash drives, you can use them to store PS2 applications or mp3s.

- You can also link your PS2 to your PC using an Ethernet Cable (you should have an Ethernet connector on you PS2, or Sony has decided to put that away too :/) and launch applications by network, or play movies and music remotely from your PC hard drive using PS2 applications like SMS.

- Yes, you can run Linux on your PS2, but you will need an IDE HDD (perhaps you'll even need the official one...) and you won't be able to launch games from that. I have no skills on that subject, so that's all I'll tell you about. Same thing about programming. Main language is C, no Java. Have a look at ps2dev for more about that.

I hope htis will guide you a bit. Now, let's wait for people to complete some informations.

[Pappa]

Well, AWG30 is like 0.05mm2? Can i use the wires inside an ethernet cable? I think i have stranded AWG 30 too, but i'm not sure. Anyway my iron is temp. controlled and is supposed to be one of the best you can get for money, and the tip is thin, sharp and pointy.. Is the PS2 mobo REALLY super heat-sensitive?

Can i use my PC as a file server and launch games from it over ethernet? Or would it be too slow? =/

Ooops, the wires inside an ethernet cable are like twice the diameter of awg 30..

[Jones23]

Hi there! My name is Jo Christian, and i'm new around here. Hi guys

Hi Jo, nice to meet you. Welcome to the great world of PS2!

I've never been into the PS2 mod scene before, but i have decided to buy a PStwo and chip it, and hopefully play around with it a bit.
The PStwo will be the pink one, and comes with two pads and an original PS2 memcard.

Well, it's ugly but it works.

Now, i think i am skilled enough in soldering to install almost any chip.
My soldering iron is a Weller W61 with a pen tip. Think that will do? I have chipped a PSX before in the past, long ago. Installation was a breeze. I play guitar and i service my own electronics, build my own amplifiers and effects et cetera, and i have a background servicing basic digital circuits, so i think i should be able to install it myself.

I'm not skilled enough to mod a PS2, but one thing is for sure: You can't compare modding a PS1 to modding a PS2, that are two different worlds. Better take a look at some installation pics and install diagrams, before making a decision.
CC2.0 Installation Diagram
Installation Pics

I like to play around with application development, and things like that, and as i understood it basically there are two chips worth considering ("top of the line"), these two are CC and MI. I got the impression that MI is better suited than CC for insert disc and play-situations (OEM installations?), but CC wins hands down for playing around with development and customizing and stuff like that? Am i right?

Both chips are almost the same, look here for some differences: http://www.psx-scene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50657 (read my second post too, One difference I forgot: MI ships preflashed, CC has to be flashed with firmware before you can use it)
Insert disc and play works almost the same for both, just that MI uses original $ony browser and CC uses BM for disc booting.

So i am planning to purchase a CC 2.0 from somewhere. Money is not an object, really, but i don't like to pay too much for a product, i will buy it from the cheapest reputable place, if you know what i mean. Nobody sells CC's in my country (Norway), and if i buy from sweden the cheapest i can get is at around 80$ plus S&H. So i figured i'd buy from a US retailer since they're the cheapest, as long as US chips can be installed on PAL consoles (can they?). Does anyone know a good retailer, who would be willing to ship to Norway, and label the package with a value of 20$? (saves me 20$ in customs fee + 25% VAT). I was thinking foundmy.com but i don't know if they'd ship internationally and write a false value on the package.. Any suggestions?

Sorry, can't help you there, hopefully someone else can make a suggestion.

That was my main concern. Now, more concerns:

I have a spare 40GB harddrive (IDE, ATA-100) which is used for absolutely nothing. Can i use this HD to store game saves for PS2 AND PSX (i like playing PSX games), and maybe also rip my games to an ISO file and store them on the HD and play? (Or play games from the HD in another manner). If anyone has a link of some sort i'd be happy to read it. I also have various USB drives, can these function as PSX / PS2 memcards? (would be neat).

First off, there's no way to use an internal IDE HDD with the pink PS2. The first slimline PS2s (v12/13) can be modded with an IDE adapter, but $ony removed that possibility on the latest PS2 models (v14/15). You can only use USB to attach a HDD.

There are only two ways of playing PS2 games without a disc and no way for PS1 games:
HDLoader uses an internal IDE HDD, so that's not an option for you.
USB Advance uses an external USB HDD, but game compatibility is pretty low and you don't have the speed advantage like with an IDE HDD, cause USB1.1 is really slow. Some games will only play choppy. Besides that, USBA is not compatible with the CC, so you'd need to get a MI to use USBA.

No game can save to a USB drive and there's no way to emulate a memcard, but you can use the USB drives to backup your game saves, thanks to the awesome homebrew app LaunchELF. With some copy/paste work you can have unlimited space on your 8mb memcard.

In addition, my personal computer mostly functions as half a workstation, half a server, and runs Linux. Can i have the PS2 connect to my computer and download stuffe from there to the 40GB HD, and play? Can i mount them directly over ethernet? (smb, NFS etc).

You can connect PC and PS2 using the network. It's not possible to play games, but you can copy files and game saves with LaunchELF or an FTP client (game saves only with LaunchELF), stream video and audio files to watch them with SMS and start apps on the PS2 via network, which is extremely useful for development. You only need PS2Client on your PC to fully engage all network features.

Can i run Linux on the PS2? And if i can, can i launch PS2/PSX games from inside Linux? (That would kick so much ass it's almost insane).

Linux needs an internal IDE HDD, so its sadly not possible for you. And it's not possible to play PS2/1 games with Linux, so no ass kicking this time.

What programming languages are available on PS2? I am highly skilled in Python, with some basic knowledge in C and assembly, know some Java and perl, know syntax for a lot of other languages but has never done anything practical in any of them. Is there a python for PS2? I think i saw a Lua implentation somewhere? I suck when it comes to managing memory, so a language with garbage collection and auto memory management would be nice. Lua looks nice.. I think i found a Python for PS2 on google but not too much info..

I'm no programmer myself, but I know that most programing is done in C. The Lua implementation you mean is probably the PS2 Lua Player by evilo. That app can start games which are programed in Lua, but I don't know if it's written in Lua.
Here's the Lua Player forum: http://psx-scene.com/forums/official-ps2-luaplayer-forums/
And here's the official PS2DEV page: http://ps2dev.org/

There will probably be more questions, but these are all i could think of ATM. I tried searching and reading forums and stuff but all the information i found just raised more questions in me, plus there's just so much i am unable to properly digest it, so please bear with me

And i tried to make myself understandable, but english is not my main language, so errors are unavoidble..

Thanks

I read through the forums for half a year before making my first post, so I know that it's difficult and veeery time consuming to figure everything out by yourself.

best regards Jones23

EDIT: Damit, Yoc was faster, but I answered the fileserver and games over ethernet question.
Oh, and look at my signature for some useful links (uLE, SMS, CC Wiki)

[Pappa]

I have read that thread you're referring to :-)
Well, so no HDD for me :-(

Questions: So i need to play games from a disc (DVD / CD), can use USB mass storage device for saving memcard data ("backups", but not ingame access), and i need to buy a psx memory card if i want to save psx games. Right? Anyone want to sell me a chip?

[Yoc]

Besides that, USBA is not compatible with the CC, so you'd need to get a MI to use USBA.

Woaou.. didn't know that ! Read the short story here. That sucks ! But why sjeep did authorize MI and no CC ?

That's really a bad point for CC. Nobody have been able to crack that ? Where are the USBAdvance patched versions like HDLoader ?

[Jones23]

Hell yeah, modchip business is really strange. Maybe sjeep is more afraid of CC than of MI. Here's the post by G telling us about it: http://www.psx-scene.com/forums/show...sba#post350668
It's a pity that there is no crack and no patcher, but I guess most people don't even care about USBA. Would be nice though, esp. for v14/15 owners.

[Pappa]

Okay.. anyway, i have a problem finding thin enough wire (hehe). Anyone know vendors who ship with wiring? I saw mod-chip.com does but i dunno if they're reliable, plus it was a little expensive but whatever, it came with a laser fix and whatnot.