The Ultimate PS2 Combo

[urmele]

Hi there,

today i successfully finished my long term PS2 Moding Project.

I'm very tired right now, so i only post what it is about.
If there is some interest, i will make a little tut about it.

So..., i just inserted 2 SATA 2,5" HDD's into the HDD slot of an old V5 PS2.
--One HDD is ordinary used for HD-Loader.
--The other one contains USB-Advance and is also used for all my MP3
music, a lot of AVI movies and other PC stuff.
--To do so, i used 2xUSB to SATA Adapters, 1xIDE to SATA Adapter.

--The USB-Advanced HDD can be connected with a short link cable in front
to the USB port of the PS2.
First i was thinking to connect it directly internal, but that way there would
be only one USB slot left for other devices.
I also can connect it now directly from the PS2 to the PC.

--The reason why i used two USB to SATA-Adapters is (and that's the juicy
part), that i implemented a switch which is changing the HD-Loader HDD
from the Network Adapter to the second USB Adapter.
Which means, there is no need to demount the HDD for file
transfer (and of course no need to use the internal CD/DVD
drive any longer to do so).
I just press the button and can connect it to the PC with a USB cable.


Future updates might be:
--Insert a switch which connects the USB-Advance
HDD internally by disable one USB slot of the PS2 and the
out/input of one of the USB-SATA Adapters.

--Integrate another Power Supply (or maybe two, one for 5v only, to power
on two USB connected drives at the same time).
Both Power supplies with a wide range (100-240V).

--Integrate a third HDD (if there will be a PSX Emulator for HDD).
(Will it use the same drive structure as HDL or not?).
If yes, 2 drives might be enough.
The problem here is to find a small 12v Power Supply to make space
for the third drive and some additional switches (also the shielding).

Ok, that's it for now.

[Bootlegninja]

I like it. You got a parts list with brand and model numbers? I'd be interested in doing similiar on my v7 eventually. also you have a schematic on how it's hooked up?

[urmele]

I like it. You got a parts list with brand and model numbers? I'd be interested in doing similiar on my v7 eventually. also you have a schematic on how it's hooked up?

Jup, i can post a list.
Tomorrow i will open the PS2 ONE LAST TIME and make some pics.

But one thing in advance, it is a lot of soldering work to do and no mistakes
allowed (your PS2 won't accept it, not even once).

I think, the V7 is nearly the same regarding the housing, so it should work out.
Hmm, now that i think about it, since i only used the slot space right now,
it should work out for all the fat models.
But i am not quite sure about the power capability of the others, because
by now, i use the internal 5V to power on one drive which is connected to
to USB. I didn't try to power on both at the same time, because that takes
about 2A when the motors begin to spin.
I even wasn't sure if it will be ok for one drive, but it works flawlessly.
The problem there was, that you can't use the power connection from the
Network adapter for the drive on USB, it won't work, don't ask my why.
So i searched the net for some Mode-Chip Diagrams which are using 5V
instead of 3.3V.
I will post a link to it, right now i don't remember the name of that chip.

[Bootlegninja]

sounds good. And looking forward to pictures and a loose schematic of what is soldered where.

as for alternative power sources, that can easily be found with a multimeter and a 3 position rocker switch can take care of switching the power supply.

[djflexmaster79]

Hell yeah, this sounds pretty interesting........ I'm up for the challenge on this when the info is available. I might try it this winter when the grass is all dead and I'm bored....

[urmele]

Here comes a little update.

Sorry, if it might take some time until i will completely finish this here,
i have to split my free time.

Enclosed are some PICS, hope i didn't compress them to much.

Here are also some Links to the stuff i used (sorry, it's in German).

http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;LA...ee28e81082833a

http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;LA...ee28e81082833a

http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;LA...ee28e81082833a

I used another converter, but that one is not longer available, but the one above should work as well.

http://www.mercateo.com/p/139-110683...185406324.html

http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;LA...ee28e81082833a




I will work on the wire diagrams soon, please be patient.

[Bootlegninja]

thanks for the update! and take your time on the rest. I'd rather see it more complete than rushed through. and looks pretty good by the way.

[dlanor]

@urmele:
In some of the above you seemed worried about how using one of the USB ports of the PS2 internally for a USB drive would reduce the number of ports available, and it seems to me that you are overlooking the possibility of using USB hubs.

Of course, regardless of what connection method you use, programs that expect a single USB storage device, such as USBAdvance, will still only be able to recognize one drive at a time. So it still makes sense to make the 'primary' drive slot switchable like you planned to (if I got that right). But then you can use the secondary port for a multiport USB hub, like I do (a 7-port version).

Right now the USB devices connected to my PS2 are, 1 Keyboard, 1 Mouse, 1 USB HDD (primary port), 2 USB pendrives, with three more ports left unused. Of course the 2 extra storage drives can only be accessed from uLE and SMS, since other software drivers don't support more than one drive, but that suits my usage of them fine. And the Keyboard and mouse are always available for any game or application that supports them.

I've been thinking about connecting my Eye-Toy to this hub as well, but I know I'd use it so seldom that the lens would get all dusty, so it may as well stay in the storage bin for now.

Best regards: dlanor

[urmele]

@dlanor

hey, i really didn't thought about using a hub.
Hmm...maybe i also could integrate one into the PS2....
But anyways, i still need a connector which goes out to the PC.
So, if i connect it all internal, i have to disable this connector from the
one USB to SATA converter during that time (i mean as long as it is
connected internal, there is no way to connect it at the same time
to the PC).
Which means, i still need another switch which is at least switching the two
data wires. Therefore i need to cut both connections, on one of the USB
slots internal and on one of the USB converters.
That will create a lot of internal wires and somehow i also would like
to disable the power connections on the internal USB slot at the same time.

You said, that you have 5 slots used on your hub.
Did you take the power for the USB-HDD from the Hub (from the PS2 itself),
or do you have an external power supply to do so?

The normal specs for one USB slot are 500mA per slot.
I actually have no idea how far i can go with the internal 5v power source
from the PS2.
I also don't know if my PS2 will still work if i would use your hub with all your
devices at the same time together with my HDD.

Maybe somebody here in the forum knows the capacity of the internal
12V to 5V converters from the old fat PS2 models.
On one of my PS2 power supplies i saw some inscription which says that
the power supply can do 7A (which is much more, than i expected, since
the power consumption of the PS2 should be only 50W instead of 84W).
So, i think there is the possibility to power on two 5V HDD's at the same time.

Puhh...that's to confusing right now (stupid theoretical stuff hehehe).

I have one question for you regarding the PSX emulator.
Since i saw, that you are one of the beta testers, maybe you can tell me if
it uses the same drive structure as HDL or ULE.
If not, i really need a third HDD in my PS2 (hopefully it really will come some day ).

Enclosed is a pic how i use the internal HDD for HD-Advance right now.
I think it's ok that way.

[urmele]

By the way,

that's how it all started, maybe it also will be a useful info.

My internal IDE HDD was dieing because of the heat problem (i nearly cold
boil eggs on it).
Therefore i was searching for a way to use a 2,5" SATA HDD inside.
This is actually quite easy to do.
The only thing you need is an adapter for the adapter and the power connection cables.

Check out the pics.
I will post how to make this adapter soon.

On the pics, there ist still the 12V cable connected (i wasn't sure about it at the beginning, but it is actually not needed at all, so just cut it off).