Help Please. Im a newbie to PS2, but not to xbox. Just need help to get started

[supersexy]

Hi there. I have modded 6 or 7 xboxes. I know how homebrew workes for xboxes and such. PS2's are completely different however I have come to find out. I need some help to get started modding a ps2 i was just given. its an older one.

1. which one will be the cheapest and fastest speed to mod and considered one of the best? should I purchase the hdavance cds or use an exploit? I would waht about usb external hard drives I have read about? are the speeds that much worse? Which exploits are considered the best? Memory card exploit?

2. What are some of the newest homebrew apps that is a must have? I found this link http://www.psx-scene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26772 but it is a bit outdated. is there something that is a good ps2 version of xbmc? (xboxmediacenter.de)

3. What is the biggest hard drive I can use? I have heard 120 and I have heard 200. Is there certain methods that only support certain sizes? thats what Im guessing.

Please just give me some names of programs that are considered the best of the Ps2 homebrew scene. I can go from there.

PS- sorry if i posted this in the wrong place. I couldn't find a newbie place. Send me a message or email me. Brandonbarlow@gmail.com

[gamecubesuxs]

Get it modded with a chip and run hdloader that has the toxic core running, its really good. If its a older model why would u want the slower usb hd running on it, just get a IDE hd and put in the expansion bay slot with a network adaptor, much faster plus i dont think u can run a usb hd with hdadvance u would need usb advance or usb extreme. Get myps2 1.0 it runs of the memcard (as far as i know) and Ps2 Media player(can play avi files). I think only certain hacked versions of hdloader support hd's that are more than 128GB

[kermit007]

1) I run with Ghost 2s and I think that's the best chip for your buck. Plus features are being added to it in the next month like on chip DNA$ and dual layer disk on the fly patching. There are slightly better featured chips like the DMS 4 S.E. Pro, but that mainly lies in the 1337ist locking down of ToxicOS by an indipendant group.

1B) Stay away from USB drives. The compatability is like 4% with games vs around 80% with the internal.

2) The PS2 really doesn't have a whole lot available in terms of "good homebrew." The PS2 Scene has had a few meltdowns over people's petty egos & money *shoots a glare at ps2ownz* but the closest thing to XBMC you'll find is Key Launcher and PS2OS.

3) The largest drive you can put in is the largest drive you can physically fit in the PS2. I've used up to 200gig drives in my PS2s throughout the years, but it is possible to put a 400gig in, but I'm not however sure how games & such are stored on the drive. If you ever put a 300 gig drive in an Xbox you know what I mean (you have to format with 64k clusters or games "disapear" near the 256gig mark). If each PS2 game actuallly is a new true partition you'd be fine with any size as long as you used a 48lba patched app.

Execftps - for ftping between your PS2's memory-cards and your PC

HDL_Dumb (HDL_Dump) - for transfering games to your PS2 from your PC from an ISO

HDLoader / HDAdvance - You need these to run & copy games with the HD (HDLoader 0.7c is the best atm)

DSM HDD Formatter - You'll need it when a game copy fails and it refuses to remove the game when you try to delete in HDLoader/HDAdvance

And thats all I can think of. Media players on the PS2 really are crap compared to the Xbox versions so it's not even worth bothering.

[supersexy]

if i have to get hdadvance, why on earth would i need a modchip? couldnt i just use the disks that i buy and then use the external network adaptor? also. i am not the best at soldering. Is there any good no solder modchips if i go that route? and why not use an exploit? are they looked down upon?

[kermit007]

Because not every game works with HDAdvance. Hell even if you went the swap magic route. Not all games would work (at least without janky patches and outright non-workers). Not to mention even IF you were to buy the HDAvance disks you could have paid for about the same price a fully functional chip and then just run HDLoader in Dev mode 1 (running apps off the memory card at PS2 boot). Plus the HDAvance disks are as updated as you'll get once you buy them. When you run from a memory card certain features can get added over time like some dual layer games like God of War working in the latest itteration.

As for nosolder modchips the ONLY one I can recommend is the DMS 4 EZI (Pro or Lite...the difference is $10/memory). It adds $20 to the price of the chip, but if that’s what you want you do it. However the EZI is not the same as an Xbox Solderless because the chip clips can come loose allot easier (best to do or pay for a real install which I do btw). Also the EZI only works for V5-V11s. The other solderless modchips out there are complete garbage and should be avoided like the plague (your better off throwing your PS2 in the trash now if you buy one of those). Plus if you were to go the EZI route you can use Toxic OS which does have better compatibility than HDL/HDA for the time being.

And just to address a little bit more of something you'll end up asking later possibly. A softmod/exploit is different on a PS2 from an Xbox. While you have full reign to do anything with an Xbox once the exploit is activated a PS2 does not allot that. An XBox has two stages of protection, all apps that run must be digitally signed within the program (which the homebrew community can not do) and a media check protection to make sure an XBox disk is authentic. The XBox exploit takes care of both of those. The PS2 on the other hand does not. Reason being that the PS2 does not have the digitally signed app requirement so we can run all the apps we want (Sony or homebrew) off the memory card and HD, but we absolutely can not circumvent the media check requirement with a simple exploit. Otherwise the modchip community on the PS2 what the modchip community for the Dreamcast was like.

[pickel182]

just out of curiosity how DO you circumvent the media check part??


im a complete noob by the way so flame on lol

[kermit007]

With gimp Swap Magic, HDLoader or a modchip. Period...no other ways possible. If you did Swap Magic + HDLoader you'd be able to boot "most" games, but quite a few games worth playing will not work with either or need gimp patching before burning to work with swap magic for your media check circumvention purposes. Save yourself the trouble and get a modchip that'll get you Dev1 at least (boot from memory card). If you want to play backed-up games online the chip will have to support DNA$ while enabled (Ghost 2 "should" be directly storing DNA$ in the next couple weeks, but there are a couple others that have similar DNA$ ability).