GameShark or Action Replay & Slide Card

[toasty]

Will these things work to boot backups/imports worth a damn? I've got Swap Magic, but I have always had trouble with it loading.

I know most of you will likely reply, "stick a real mod chip in the thing, you friggin' pansy," but I'm a bit squeamish about tinkering around in there as I have, as a practical matter, zero soldering/wiring/electrical experience whatsoever. Perhaps at some point I'll have to break down and give it a whirl, but for the time being, I'm trying to do what I can without opening the box...

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[prisoner1138]

it wont be one bit better than using the shit magic discs.

[mike1978]

If you got a working AR or GS or CB then you dont need a modchip seriously.

You can take the top of the cd drive and when the AR or GS stops spinning replace it with the back up and start the game.

The PS and PS2 will boot a back up as long as it does not know the disk was replaced. Thats why you have to remove the cd drive top so the cd tray does not open.

[RAISTLIN]

You think you have trouble with it loading the SM now? Wait a few months. After repeatedly cramming a knife in there you may find it won't load original PS2's worth a damn as well.

Seriously, your better off with a chip. Even if it's the cheesy swap mod--it's still safer than cramming something in there and forcing the drive open. The guides on the tray are very thin and chip off very easily, not to mention the rubber dampers in the corners of the drive housing. Knock those puppies loose and you can pretty much hang up verticle installs or loading unbalanced discs.

As for the SM vs. GS/AR debate--they both have issues. Sometimes you will need to do Double (or in some cases triple) swaps to get DVD backups to boot. It really isn't worth the headache and risk to go without a chip of SOME sort. There are plenty of guys who will run the install for you pretty cheap. The chips cost virtually nothing now, so there really is little excuse to not get it chipped......just think of how much it may cost you to repair or replace your PS2 when it goes FUBAR on you.

Raist