questions after installing FMCB

[fulmwaloo]

I just successfully installed free mcboot on my v7 90001 PS2 (fat). Can anyone confirm some or all of these?

1. I can't play burned PS1 games because I don't have version 9. And it's definitely not possible to play PS1 games off of USB drive/hard drive, unless I want to emulate them (I don't). Is there some way to play PS1 games with my version?

2. I want to play backed up PS2 games. When a rip them to an ISO, I then patch it (with what? Memento?) and then I just burn to a DVD-R and it put it in and launch ESR and it should run, without having to swap anymore. Right? (certain write speed to use?)

3. I can also play PS2 backups by ripping the ISO and then attaching the hard drive to the PS2's usb port. I don't have to format the drive, and other data already on the drive has practically no chance of being corrupted. Am I right? Is it possible to just use a usb flash drive?

Thanks for any help! (I've tried searching and many explanations are only for newer versions or are a little vague)

[ShadeTail]

1) I've not yet even tried to use my soft-modded PS2 to play PS1 backups, so I can't help you here.

2) For ESR info, haunt the official ESR forum: http://psx-scene.com/forums/official-esr-forums/ In the topic called "ESR - public beta", you can download all the necessary files, including the patcher. The patcher, in case you're wondering, allows ESR to fool your PS2 into thinking that the burned back-up disc is actually a DVD movie. That is the exploit ESR uses to make the PS2 ignore its built-in copy protection regarding burned discs. And as for burn speeds, always use the *slowest* possible burn speed. Fast burn speeds increase the chance of burning errors that could lead to a bad burn. Slow speed burns are much safer.

3) Yes, you can simply play games with a USB drive, including a flash drive. In that case, you would want to use Open PS2 Loader (OPL for short) to read the drive and launch the games. However, it is not quite as simple as just dropping an ISO onto a flash drive and then plugging it into the USB port. You would need to format the drive properly, and then give the ISO the type of file name that OPL is capable of reading. The official OPL web site has very detailed tutorials on how to do this: http://openps2loader.info/8/ One word of warning, however. The PS2 uses USB version 1, which is extremely slow, which means playing games by USB can be full of pauses and stuttering. You would probably be better off using OPL to play ISOs off an internal hard drive rather than a USB drive. Conveniently, you say you have a fat PS2, which would have the expansion bay for an internal hard drive.

[fulmwaloo]

Thanks for that info. I guess a downside of using burned discs rather than USB is that the laser can be damaged, right?

Is the USB stuttering very common? I would rather not buy an expansion hard drive, so maybe it's worth risking damaging the laser and just burning discs...

[Yoko99]

Just my 2 cents:

If you have a fat PS2, you have GOT to get yourself a network adapter, dude.
They're still relatively easy to find and cheap. Get that and a few of them old IDE disks and you are set for life.
You would'nt believe the speed and compatability compared to booting your games from USB.

[ShadeTail]

I just recently picked up both a brand new network adapter and a brand new small (80gb) hard drive for less than $70 combined. And just this afternoon, I saw a used network adapter at a Gamestop for $7 or $8. So it needn't be very expensive, and installation is very easy. The only trick is making sure the hard drive has the correct number of pins on its IDE port to fit the PS2 network adapter.

Like Yoko99 immediately above, I would also really recommend going this route, because loading from the HDD is extremely fast, and it saves wear and tear on the rest of your PS2. If worse came to worst while using the HDD, you'd simply lose the hard drive and have to replace it, which is (definitely) easier and (probably) much cheaper than having to get the disc laser fixed.

As for the stuttering you'd likely see while playing off a USB drive, it depends on the game. The worst offenders are cut-scenes and FMVs, because they require constant loading and that's where super-slow USB v.1 shows its age. Basically, anything that requires loading would go super-slow compared to both disc loading and HDD loading.

[kadorna2]

The only trick is making sure the hard drive has the correct number of pins on its IDE port to fit the PS2 network adapter.

jesus christ man, IDE is a standard connection, it doesn't have MORE or LESS pins than the network adapter.

[ShadeTail]

jesus christ man, IDE is a standard connection, it doesn't have MORE or LESS pins than the network adapter.

Uh, sorry but wrong. Not every IDE port has the same number of pins. There are IDE drives that do not fit the network adaptor's plug-in port. There's an entire web site dedicated to listing hard drives that do or do not work with the PS2.

[SP193]

Uh, sorry but wrong. Not every IDE port has the same number of pins. There are IDE drives that do not fit the network adaptor's plug-in port. There's an entire web site dedicated to listing hard drives that do or do not work with the PS2.

They have the same number of pins. It's always 40 pins, regardless of the ATA standard. The only difference might be the presence of pin #19 (The pin that is usually missing to prevent the user from inserting the IDE cable upside down).

The reason why some disks cannot be connected to the Playstation 2 network adaptor is because the gap between the ATA interface connector and power connector is too large (Usually only Western Digital disks are affected).

Fortunately, the user can opt to modify the Network Adaptor to accommodate the disk, so the user has options.

I don't think that the layout and positioning of the interface connectors were ever standardized, so Sony probably only intended their disks to be used with the Playstation 2.

[LopoTRI]

Uh, sorry but wrong. Not every IDE port has the same number of pins.

Maybe you confuse the IDE-Port (40-Pin) with the SCSI-Port (50-Pin)...

[tyons]

hi, I've got just one question.
the laser "gets old" faster when using ripped games?
I never found anyone stating or denying this clearly.