Heh ... Japanese external BB Kit ... Read it you want to laugh

**l_oliveira** · 03-03-2003,11:35 AM

Well ... I got this thing last week, hooket it up, installed and enjoyed it very much ... It was really good while it lasted ... Yesterday, I turned out my PS2 and got a black screen ... It took 5 seconds then the PS2 boot to the standard rom built-in browser. I said then WTF my HDD wasn't detected. After a inspection on the HDD power suply (It's external model) it was all fine ... 12v ok.

Then I disassembled the HDD case and put a external SCSI HDD case PSU to it and it ran ... But still nothing ... the PS2 could not detect it ...

I took the PCMCIA card apart (Yeah that was f*ck painful and a lot of time after I got it all disassembled ...
It got rotten solder on the PCMCIA socket connector .... That sucked !!! A week before I just hand 157 greens for it !

After some soldering I got it to work again ... The card looks like someone raped it (yeah it was me ... lol), but works just fine.

What I found inside :

A Sony custom controller (BGA, I think it's for PCMCIA I/F and IDE port)
A National Semiconductor LAN chip
and a serial i2C nvram (probably it has the serial number that ties it up with the HDD and the DNAS auth number)

I must be a very lucky guy as this is the second problem I got from this kit.
The first problem it's the MAC address, which WAS THE SAME AS MY PC NIC !!! O_o

**Da Brass** · 03-03-2003,12:45 PM

Originally posted by l_oliveira
Well ... I got this thing last week, hooket it up, installed and enjoyed it very much ... It was really good while it lasted ... Yesterday, I turned out my PS2 and got a black screen ... It took 5 seconds then the PS2 boot to the standard rom built-in browser. I said then WTF my HDD wasn't detected. After a inspection on the HDD power suply (It's external model) it was all fine ... 12v ok.

Then I disassembled the HDD case and put a external SCSI HDD case PSU to it and it ran ... But still nothing ... the PS2 could not detect it ...

I took the PCMCIA card apart (Yeah that was f*ck painful and a lot of time after I got it all disassembled ...
It got rotten solder on the PCMCIA socket connector .... That sucked !!! A week before I just hand 157 greens for it !
After some soldering I got it to work again ... The card looks like someone raped it (yeah it was me ... lol), but works just fine.

What I found inside :

A Sony custom controller (BGA, I think it's for PCMCIA I/F and IDE port)
A National Semiconductor LAN chip
and a serial i2C nvram (probably it has the serial number that ties it up with the HDD and the DNAS auth number)

I must be a very lucky guy as this is the second problem I got from this kit.
The first problem it's the MAC address, which WAS THE SAME AS MY PC NIC !!! O_o

Heh...that sounds pretty brutal. I hope you don't leave it plugged in all the time.

Can't say I've shared the same problems. Mine has been smooth sailing so far (crosses fingers).

**tempuser** · 03-03-2003,06:24 PM

What are the odds that your playstation 2 network adapter has the same MAC as your pc nic?

If only I had those odds while playing the lotto

**l_oliveira** · 03-03-2003,07:01 PM

Well ... the PC NIC is a el-cheapo chinese PCI NIC based on RTL8139A. I'm sure the wrong guy here was the PC NIC. Good the driver had a option to specify a MAC address.
All problems solved, life goes on ...

**bungiefan** · 03-07-2003,02:21 AM

I had a problem with my External HDD unit also. It worked for a week and I paid $285 for it, mainly because of UPS shipping. One of the wires in the cable that connects the HDD to the PS2 broke. Since it would cost more for a new HDD than a new PS2, I sold my model 10000 to someone who wanted to play imports without a modchip and used the money to get a model 30000 PS2. I then ripped the hard drive out of the external unit, plugged in the appropriate jumper caps, bought a broadband-only Network Adapter from a Linux Kit user, and ran my PlayStation BB Navigator disc on the new PS2. I have had no problems with the HDD since. So far, I am the only person I know of to convert the external HDD to an internal one. My next attempt will be to try to format a 7200 RPM 200 gigabyte Maxtor DiamondMax drive with my PS2 for use with games.

**l_oliveira** · 03-07-2003,11:58 AM

That, unfortunately, I am sure it won't work (the PS2 BB checks the HDD for being Sony OEM, I think. I of course tried to format a non Sony HDD in my kit. The BB install disc detected the HDD, tried to read the ID from it them refused to proceed. The message was telling to turn off the PS2 and call for assistance.
An idea might be you use your Sony HDD for the games and attempt a PC HDD disk for the Linux ...
I am looking for the Linux disc. Can you help me ?
Btw I could buy your PCMCIA card and external HDD case/PSU. Are you willing to sell it ?
For the PCMCIA card, I can pay the price it goes for the bay model adapter. For the casing (since the cable is broken) I pay 15 USD or trade it.

**Da Brass** · 03-07-2003,07:33 PM

Originally posted by bungiefan
I had a problem with my External HDD unit also. It worked for a week and I paid $285 for it, mainly because of UPS shipping. One of the wires in the cable that connects the HDD to the PS2 broke. Since it would cost more for a new HDD than a new PS2, I sold my model 10000 to someone who wanted to play imports without a modchip and used the money to get a model 30000 PS2. I then ripped the hard drive out of the external unit, plugged in the appropriate jumper caps, bought a broadband-only Network Adapter from a Linux Kit user, and ran my PlayStation BB Navigator disc on the new PS2. I have had no problems with the HDD since. So far, I am the only person I know of to convert the external HDD to an internal one. My next attempt will be to try to format a 7200 RPM 200 gigabyte Maxtor DiamondMax drive with my PS2 for use with games.

bungiefan...good show! That's what I like to hear. Hey...I could help out with some of the translations of your guide if you give me better screencaps.

As well, you plan on selling that extra HDD casing? PM me.

fooniman · 03-08-2003,04:00 AM

Originally posted by bungiefan
I had a problem with my External HDD unit also. It worked for a week and I paid $285 for it, mainly because of UPS shipping. One of the wires in the cable that connects the HDD to the PS2 broke. Since it would cost more for a new HDD than a new PS2, I sold my model 10000 to someone who wanted to play imports without a modchip and used the money to get a model 30000 PS2. I then ripped the hard drive out of the external unit, plugged in the appropriate jumper caps, bought a broadband-only Network Adapter from a Linux Kit user, and ran my PlayStation BB Navigator disc on the new PS2. I have had no problems with the HDD since. So far, I am the only person I know of to convert the external HDD to an internal one. My next attempt will be to try to format a 7200 RPM 200 gigabyte Maxtor DiamondMax drive with my PS2 for use with games.

DONT DO THAT, NEW hdds with the jumper sets wont fit into the network adaptor, my 30gb hdd and 6.4gb hdd didn't fit, so i'm stuck with my 1.6GB HDD. hahah.

**bungiefan** · 03-08-2003,06:32 AM

Sony's official HDD is a 40 gigabyte Maxtor DiamondMax and every DiamondMax I've ever seen fits on the NA. Also, everyone that's reported testing any Maxtor DiamondMax drive to me has had success with it. That's why I'm going for a DiamondMax to replace my official HDD. I'm also trying to find out if the PS2 has the 137 gigabyte per partition limit that most modern PCs do.

2 Tru CReW · 03-08-2003,06:33 AM

I can see this thread repeating everything said in the old HDD thread

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