Will there EVER be a way to install freemcboot on a bios 2.30+ ps2?

**personuser** · 08-17-2010,03:58 PM

Well, obviously, freemcboot was killed off for new models by the 2.30 bios.

Is/Will there EVER be another way to have it boot each time ps2 is started on the new models?

I honestly don't feel there is, but enlighten me if i'm wrong.

**kevstah2004** · 08-17-2010,07:00 PM

No but can could run a unencrypted fmcb kelf from somebody elses installation and run it via swap magic or ar max edition with the media player via usb.

**JNABK** · 08-17-2010,10:20 PM

Originally Posted by kevstah2004

No but can could run a unencrypted fmcb kelf from somebody elses installation and run it via swap magic or ar max edition with the media player via usb.

That kinda defeats the purpose FMCB was intended for, doesnt it? FMCB was designed to self-boot without any such disc-booting methods to run other homebrew apps......might as well just boot uLaunchELF instead and save all the headache of trying to use FMCB that way.

**kevstah2004** · 08-17-2010,10:28 PM

I suppose but some people "including me" find it quicker just to load elf's off the osd screen or button launch rather than waiting for uLE to load and navigate it's menu, it's looks better too.

**personuser** · 08-17-2010,11:06 PM

The reason I'm asking here is because swap discs scratch reeeeal easy, and everyone knows re-buying is FUUUN!...

So, yeah, any real chance anything'll ever be implemented or is the two scene not stong enough?

**SP193** · 08-17-2010,11:37 PM

It'll never happen. Not now, not in the future, but never.

It's because the part of the PS2's firmware which FMCB depends on to boot FMCB isn't working in BIOS v230.

Sony had disabled the firmware update checking, so FMCB will never be searched for an run by the PS2 v230 firmware.
The PS2's firmware is stored on a ROM chip, so reprogramming it is impossible.

Think of this as one of Sony's "anti-piracy" moves again....

**TnA** · 08-18-2010,10:06 AM

Maybe there is another form of exploitation possible on these consoles, but it isn't the same method then, which is used now.

Maybe Sony has some kind of new revision of the JIG.

**dlanor** · 08-20-2010,05:35 PM

Originally Posted by personuser

Well, obviously, freemcboot was killed off for new models by the 2.30 bios.

This new bios simply does not look for bootable upgrade files, as used for FMCB.

Is/Will there EVER be another way to have it boot each time ps2 is started on the new models?

No.

Everything else is intact, so it is possible to use a console with bios v2.30 to install FMCB, and using uLaunchELF (aka: uLE) of the latest beta version v4.42a you can even start that FMCB OSDSYS without using the FMCB installer again.

But it is a rather pointless exercise since the console bios still won't look for such upgrade files at power-on or reset. I like being able to test the FMCB menu on this console too, but it will never boot there.

I honestly don't feel there is, but enlighten me if i'm wrong.

The only useful enlightenment here comes in two doses, one bitter and one quite sweet.

1: The bitter dose.
This is just that you have to accept as final truth that NO ability to boot FMCB exists in that new bios, so that is a doomed cause. This may taste bitter, but is an important insight, as it stops you from wasting time on something impossible, instead allowing you to focus on other means to achieve what you want to do.

2: The sweet dose.
There are almost no other handicaps in the newest model compared to the older ones, except for the removed upgrade booting and the inability of the patched CodeBreaker elfs to run at all. So once you have some way, any way at all, to boot some basic homebrew like uLaunchELF (aka: uLE), you can use ALL other homebrews just as if you had booted an older console through FMCB.

For my own SCPH-90004 console with bios v2.30 I am using 'SwapMagic Coder v3.8' (aka: SM3coder) to boot uLE from MC as my main 'desktop' homebrew, from which I launch all others. I can also use the "MISC/PS2Disc" command of uLE to launch all game discs, both originals and ESR backups (with ESR.ELF in my BOOT folder on MC), and can even use the new uLE command "MISC/OSDSYS" to open an FMCB menu on this console, using exactly the same methods as on a fully FMCB-compatible console. (Because all v2.30 stuff is the same as v2.20 except for the boot search.)

The most irritating effect of booting through SM3coder this way is that I must always have an SM3coder disc in the tray of the console at power-on or reset, so as to boot uLE again. But that is no longer any real problem, now that I run most games over LAN from storage on a PC, using the SMB core of OPL ("Open PS2 Loader") as launched by uLE.

A typical gaming session with this setup would proceed as follows:

1: Power-on
2: SM3coder boots up
3: On checking MC for "mc0:/SWAPMAGIC/SWAPMAGIC.ELF" SM3coder launches that elf, which is an instance of uLE
4: This first instance of uLE reads a local LAUNCHELF.CNF, and finds that I have requested immediate autolaunch of "mc:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF" which is another instance of uLE, but stored according to the standard for all modchip DEV1 methods as well as for FMCB.
5: The second instance of uLE then stops at its main menu, with every known aspect of the system exactly as it would be after an FMCB boot to uLE.
6: From this point on everything I do is just as on an FMCB-booted console, and normally what I do is to start OPL, for running games over network.

This has worked fine for me and should work well for you as well, and since I almost never use the PS2 laser other than for SM3coder booting (uLE's 'Disc control: ON' option sees to that), the laser should survive far longer than I am likely to be using the PS2 anyway (several decades I expect).

Best regards: dlanor

**personuser** · 08-21-2010,09:31 PM

Originally Posted by dlanor

This new bios simply does not look for bootable upgrade files, as used for FMCB.

No.

Everything else is intact, so it is possible to use a console with bios v2.30 to install FMCB, and using uLaunchELF (aka: uLE) of the latest beta version v4.42a you can even start that FMCB OSDSYS without using the FMCB installer again.

But it is a rather pointless exercise since the console bios still won't look for such upgrade files at power-on or reset. I like being able to test the FMCB menu on this console too, but it will never boot there.

The only useful enlightenment here comes in two doses, one bitter and one quite sweet.

1: The bitter dose.
This is just that you have to accept as final truth that NO ability to boot FMCB exists in that new bios, so that is a doomed cause. This may taste bitter, but is an important insight, as it stops you from wasting time on something impossible, instead allowing you to focus on other means to achieve what you want to do.

2: The sweet dose.
There are almost no other handicaps in the newest model compared to the older ones, except for the removed upgrade booting and the inability of the patched CodeBreaker elfs to run at all. So once you have some way, any way at all, to boot some basic homebrew like uLaunchELF (aka: uLE), you can use ALL other homebrews just as if you had booted an older console through FMCB.

For my own SCPH-90004 console with bios v2.30 I am using 'SwapMagic Coder v3.8' (aka: SM3coder) to boot uLE from MC as my main 'desktop' homebrew, from which I launch all others. I can also use the "MISC/PS2Disc" command of uLE to launch all game discs, both originals and ESR backups (with ESR.ELF in my BOOT folder on MC), and can even use the new uLE command "MISC/OSDSYS" to open an FMCB menu on this console, using exactly the same methods as on a fully FMCB-compatible console. (Because all v2.30 stuff is the same as v2.20 except for the boot search.)

The most irritating effect of booting through SM3coder this way is that I must always have an SM3coder disc in the tray of the console at power-on or reset, so as to boot uLE again. But that is no longer any real problem, now that I run most games over LAN from storage on a PC, using the SMB core of OPL ("Open PS2 Loader") as launched by uLE.

A typical gaming session with this setup would proceed as follows:

1: Power-on
2: SM3coder boots up
3: On checking MC for "mc0:/SWAPMAGIC/SWAPMAGIC.ELF" SM3coder launches that elf, which is an instance of uLE
4: This first instance of uLE reads a local LAUNCHELF.CNF, and finds that I have requested immediate autolaunch of "mc:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF" which is another instance of uLE, but stored according to the standard for all modchip DEV1 methods as well as for FMCB.
5: The second instance of uLE then stops at its main menu, with every known aspect of the system exactly as it would be after an FMCB boot to uLE.
6: From this point on everything I do is just as on an FMCB-booted console, and normally what I do is to start OPL, for running games over network.

This has worked fine for me and should work well for you as well, and since I almost never use the PS2 laser other than for SM3coder booting (uLE's 'Disc control: ON' option sees to that), the laser should survive far longer than I am likely to be using the PS2 anyway (several decades I expect).

Best regards: dlanor

Well, thanks for the info, but how's compatibility with OPL? Can it run pretty much anything under 4.36 GB Like SM 3.6 can? I already have Backups burned to disc of My walmart crash bandicoot bundle, god of war 2 (as a dvd5) and jak 3 (and thank god for that one, My disc crashes early on.) anyway, so will all of those run perfect in OPL?

**dlanor** · 08-21-2010,10:14 PM

Originally Posted by personuser

Well, thanks for the info, but how's compatibility with OPL?

Compatibility with OPL of this console is excellent, just as for all my other PS2s.

Can it run pretty much anything under 4.36 GB Like SM 3.6 can?

DVD5 restrictions do not apply to OPL methods.
Properly installed DVD9 games work fine too.
And very, very few games of either kind are incompatible to OPL.

I'm not even sure if I have any that remain incompatible with the latest OPL beta revisions.

I already have Backups burned to disc

OPL does not run burned discs of any kind. For that you'd need to use ESR.
And for that you'd need to have patched the ISOs before burning.

of My walmart crash bandicoot bundle, god of war 2 (as a dvd5)

DVD5 backups of DVD9 games are always suspect. Either your game is missing some quality material (possibly downsized FMVs), or else you simply 'lost' the second layer, in which case the game will eventually crash, as you reach the intended layer break.

and jak 3 (and thank god for that one, My disc crashes early on.) anyway, so will all of those run perfect in OPL?

For OPL you must install the games to either internal or external HDD, or to a PC HDD in which case you access the game as an SMB fileshare over LAN. The precise compatibility of some games can vary depending on the storage media, as they require different runtime resources. But at present the vast majority of all games work fine.

As for the particular games you mention, I don't play them myself so I wouldn't know the details, but if they do not work well with current OPL revisions that is just a matter of time.

OPL is constantly being improved, with special attention naturally given to those few games still reported as failing or otherwise problematic.

Best regards: dlanor

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