Swap disk for me?

[MustangSVT]

I just got a used PS2 today (got a great deal from mate at school), and I'm looking into various methods of modding it.. So far, the swap disk method with the swap magic 3.6 and slide card looks like the most attractive one to me, just because it doesnt' require taking apart my PS2 and installing anything.

So how hard is it to use that slide tool and stuff? Can it cause any problems? I just have a bunch of general questions. Like are there many games that don't work with the swap disk method? Do burned PS1 games work? How would I go about to rip a game to DVD5 if I rent the original copy from local blockbuster. I found a swap method gamefixes site, and I was also wondering if there's some games that don't work at all.

I'm also wondering what's the benefits of having a chip instead of buying a swap magic 3.6 other than just not having to bother swapping the disc. I was looking at modchip.ca and cybergoshop.com and saw a Magic 4.1 chip for about $35 canadian or something like that. Other chips were more expensive, so that's why I'm looking at swap disk, plus my friend who modded my Xbox not too long ago said PS2 mods were hard to install.

Also, I don't really intend to play that many "backups". I have about 2 or 3 burned PS1 games I'd like to play on this PS2, and maybe about 10 PS2 games like Tekken 5, God of War, R&C Up Your Arsenal and just a few more etc. I also want to know how to figure out what PS2 version I have. I have the old style, not the new "PSTwo", and it's got dvd tray, doesn't have a flip cover like the new one I think.

Oh and before you yell at me or something, I looked through the first 3 pages here and the tutorial page wasn't working when I tried and I tried asking bunch of questions on IRC in #ps2 and didn't really find what I was looking.

Thanks for any help in advance.

[richierich09]

sup man,

Getting the swap magic disks and flip top is the easiest and cheapest solution. However if you use HD loader and a hardrive that is even easier but not so cheap. Using a slide card requires you to remove the face plate of the dvd tray. Then after it works. I never used them but it looks like you would be putting wear and tear on the dvd drive.

The one I recommend is Hardrive method. It can be expensive if you get a big hardrive. I have 120 gb HD and about 50+ games. You can easily use a HD from maybe an old computer or whatever. Then you need a network adapter for connecting the HD. You need HD loader which is on the net. To load it to your memory card, I find it easier to make a game save and load it via max drive or xport (these are both save devices that transfer from PC to ps2 vice versa). Then thats it. Compatibility is better than swap magic. Swap magic tends to have problem with new games. But the scene is always working on fixes for both swap magic and HD. Also when its all said and done, you don't even have to buy anything from the net. HD, network adapter you can get it at your local store. Max Drive as well if you choose to load the save that way.

Anyways hope this helps. I noticed your sig. My alias name is SVTcobra. lol.

[J_A_C_K]

A few facts:

99,9% of all Ps2 games are DVD5 so u dont need to rip em (there is only 10-15 thats DVD9).

U just make a 1 to 1 copy using your favorite copy software. Many people use Dvddecrypter (freeware from www.dvddecrypter.com) to do the copy. Use DAO/RAW in other software if possible.
With Ps2 CD games u do just the same.

Swap Magic dosnt boot Ps1 backups. I suggest u get the Breaker Pro v1.1 swapdisc it boots ps1 backups on a Ps2/PsTwo. If u have a Ps1 Gameshark or Ps1 Action Replay cd ... u might be able to use em to swap Ps1 backups too (soem works some dont). Id get the Breaker Pro anyways because it pretty much the one and only ps1 Higt Toc swap disc in existence.

So what version of Ps2 do u have? Look at the back of your ps2. There should be black sticky and at the top ull see something like "scph 50004" or another number. 50000 to 50004 is a v10 and it CANT do the memorycard exploit I know I got one. If the number is below 50000 it probably work with the exploit (lucky u). So what does your number means? Look it up on the net, hopefully someone knows

So what is the memorycard exploit? Well, somehow u install software on your memorycard (like swapmagic, cogswaploder, cd-loader ...). U then use a real ps1 games to trigger the software on the memorycard. So basic if u know someone (or know of a way to get stuff onto your memorycard) u dont even need a real Swap Magic set... its a bit technical tho... u need to make it work with the exact ps1 game u have.
U can look into it exploit-thing on this site or at http://www.exploitstation.com (theres some premade saves in the forum).
What u must remember is that even with the exploit, u still need to swap using slidekey/fliptop just like if u have swapmagic... so it isnt that much more easy, it just cheaper.

So what is that Toc-swap-thingy and why do I need a real Breaker Pro cd?
Well the ps2 has a protection that dosnt allow it to boot games larger than the swap disc. The Swap Magic DVD disc has a toc of 4.35GB, so if u try to boot a copy of Tekken5 (toc of 4.37GB) it wont boot ... or itll freeze loading/ingame. Or if u are trying to boot one of them 700MB dvd-rips (ps2 dvd downsized to cd-r) and your Swapmagic CD is only 632MB itll fail too.
So ull need 1 real big DVD game (4.37GB ) like Tekken5 or Devil May Cry 1,2,3 GTA3 or timesplitters 2. And ull need Breaker Pro because its the only Ps2 cd bigger than 632mb (its close to 1GB in size so u can even boot 800-900mb cd-r).

Then u do this:
1. Boot Swap Magic CD or DVD (dosnt matter if its cd or dvd)
2. Press eject (tray opens and screen say "insert large toc disc")
3. Insert your real large disc CD/DVD (use cd if u wanna play cd backup, dvd if dvd backup)
4. Press eject (tray closes and disc spins down)
5. Swap in your backup CD/DVD (using slidekey or fliptop)
6. Press x (and it should boot)

[MustangSVT]

Ok I found out I've got a V9 PS2, and I'm gonna look into ordering a Swap Magic 3.6 w/ slide tool. How does the top flip tray thing work? How would I have to go about to mod my PS2 physically to install something like that. Do most games work with swap magic? I'm really only interested in a few games like Tekken 5, God of War, R&C Up Your Arsenal, all of which I think are pretty big.

[thugplayer04]

God of War will not work with Swap Magic unless you actually rip it into a DVD5. There is a rip kit around that you can find on the net really easy. I myself bought the Swap Magic for my V12 PSTwo, but have installed the memory card exploit with HDLoader on my V4. I only have a 40GB drive right now and God of War is taking up 8GB of it. I would recommend HDLoader since I hate waiting for loading times and its more portable. If you are interested in playing online though I would go with Swap Magic or a modchip. It is more a personal preference I believe.

[MustangSVT]

Well, I'm getting God of War off the net so it's a DVD5 automatically.

[J_A_C_K]

How does the top flip tray thing work?

u install a new cover with af top that can flip open. Using swapmagic u then u fip the top open and replace the disc without the ps2 knowing.

How would I have to go about to mod my PS2 physically to install something like that.

Something like this and in the end u put a fliptopcover back on:
http://www.psx-scene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34766

Do most games work with swap magic? I'm really only interested in a few games like Tekken 5, God of War, R&C Up Your Arsenal, all of which I think are pretty big.

Most do work with swapmagic (and if they dont theres some type of patch or cdloader that makes it work). Tekken 5 needs a patch and so does God of War (donno about R&C).

[MustangSVT]

What's a good place to buy from? I was looking at modchip.ca and gocybershop.ca. The latter (gocybershop) has PayPal and includes the slide tool with swap magic, so I'm looking at that 1.

[BakaNeko]

I got my swap magic and slide card from modchip.ca but got annoyed VERY FAST of always using the slide card. Got a Fliptop cover instead. For the rare times I use my PS2, it's doing a good job. Didn't get any problem buying from modchip.ca, but they send the disc in paper case in an envelope (with air bubles) and nothing more. It could kinda have broke during the shipping. About the Flip top case, I think I got it from divineo.ca . They sent the package in a solid box, got it faster than they said (2 days instead of 5 o.O). Haven't had any problem with them.