How my PS2(fat/modded) can watch a DVD movies from hard drive?

[Kenchie_Minura]

i used PS2ClientLoader and it works. but when i'm trying to copy files from my pc to HDD it says it copied it to clipboard. i'm trying to look where are clipboard is but i can't see it? how can i copy it to my HDD using ulaunch? perhaps my HDD is the problem?

[Northbear]

it says it copied it to clipboard.

Where did you get this message ? within uLaunch ?

In case you got this message within uLaunch heres the complete way:

Access host:/ from Ulaunch.
Mark the files you want to copy.
Press R1 and select "Copy".
Go all the way back with triangle-button.
Enter the hdd:/ from within uLaunch and browse to your partition you created for the mp3 and avis.
When opened your partition press R1 and select "Paste"

Now uLaunch will copy the files to your partition.



Best regards
Northbear

[Kenchie_Minura]

tnx but i already did all of that. everytime i copy files from my PC through PS2ClientLoader this message always pop-up (copied to clipboard). and when i try to paste it to HDD there is something like this that you will read (paste failure). but i copy some files came from MMC then paste it to HDD and it was a good. where do you think is the problem? the ulaunch or the HDD?

[Northbear]

Do you use the latest versions of all the tools ?

Try to copy only one small (~300mb) video at a time or only a few mp3 ( let's say 5) at one time.

Try again and use the latest stable version of uLaunch ( this is 4.39 )

In addition with clientloader you can watch videos and hear mp3 over network with SMS.


Best regards
Northbear

[dlanor]

tnx but i already did all of that. everytime i copy files from my PC through PS2ClientLoader this message always pop-up (copied to clipboard). and when i try to paste it to HDD there is something like this that you will read (paste failure). but i copy some files came from MMC then paste it to HDD and it was a good. where do you think is the problem? the ulaunch or the HDD?

At this point it is still hard to say for sure exactly what is happening, but most likely this is some kind of user error rather than a real failure, caused simply by your unfamiliarity with some of the tools. So for that reason I will explain some aspects of them in some detail below.

You seem to be very well on your way to making this work, except for the final step of actually using 'Paste' on the HDD.

First let me explain that the 'Clipboard' usage in uLE is just an internal listing of the selected objects at the time that the 'Copy' command was given. At that time no real copying of the data occurs. That is all saved for later, when the 'Paste' command is used (or one of the other two Paste variant commands (for gamesaves only)).

When you do use a 'Paste' command, the uLE FileBrowser will attempt to transfer all the objects selected with the most recent 'Copy' command, into the now active directory. So this must then be a writable directory with sufficient free storage space.

In the "hdd0:/" root you are not allowed to write anything at all, since that is nothing but a list of the existing partitions (except for partitions which are incompatible to FileBrowser, like HDL games). So this is not a writable directory, and you need uLE's HddManager to add new partitions to this list, or modify the size of the partitions you already have.

You will need to browse into one of the listed partitions before using the 'Paste' command. And for good organisation of your HDD setup you should also use folders for different file groups and paste your files into such folders.

Now, even having browsed into some suitable folder of one of those listed partitions, and knowing well that you have lots of free room on the HDD as a whole, the pasting can still fail due to storage space problems, if that particular partition has too little space for the new file. For such a case you will need to use the uLE subprogram "MISC/HddManager" to either create a new partition of sufficient size or to expand the size of an existing partition.

Finally, since the FileBrowser program uses signed 32 bit numbers for many file offsets, there will be a problem with files that reach (or exceed) the size of 2 GB. A signed 32 bit number can never exceed the value (2G - 1), so larger files than that should be avoided or split.


Finally I want to emphasize what Northbear said about using SMS to play video or music files directly over network, without bothering to copy them to any PS2 storage device. After all, why make an unnecessary and time-consuming copy operation, when your media files are already well stored on your PC. And if you use the Samba interface of SMS then you won't even need to bother with ps2client and PS2ClientLoader at the PC end, as SMS can then take direct part in the Windows networking.

Like most PS2 homebrew users I prefer to reserve the PS2 HDD for other things than just media storage, and I especially want to avoid the tediously long transfers of massive movie files etc, as well as the spacewaste this causes on the PS2 HDD, which is much more of a limited resource than storage media of a PC, for which you can also easily burn movie AVI collections to DVD discs. The latter is a very good way to handle virtually unlimited video collections, using SMS to play the AVIs over network from the DVD-ROM disc currently inserted into your PC.

Best regards: dlanor

[DirtyN]

I am new here, and I have a few questions. I wouldnt consider myself a total noob, but close enough that I need to be talked to a little slower. I simply want my external USB HDD to be seen by the ps2 so it can be used as a memory card. If I could play AVI videos too that would be great, but I really just want my hdd to have a little space to be used as a Hard drive. Is that possible? Do I have to devote the entire hard drive to the ps2? Would getting a 12Gig thumb drive be a better idea?

Thanks in advance.

[amp2006]

do you mean by external USB HDD to be used for games ?

if yes then yes you can have ps2 games on usb hdd and also at the same music and movies ..

you can just make a folder on your usb hdd and have your music or movies on that folder and watching it via sms

usbadvance for running games off external hdd
sms for playing music and movies

[TehJawknee]

I simply want my external USB HDD to be seen by the ps2 so it can be used as a memory card.

Your PS2 will not read your HDD as a memory card unless you alter your game directly and that would involve deconstructing your ISO and re-compiling it so it reads the USB rather than MC0 or MC1 slots. Instead of doing this, you can simply save your game saves to usb and reload them later. This can be done by backing up your game saves via uLE.

If I could play AVI videos too that would be great, but I really just want my hdd to have a little space to be used as a Hard drive. Is that possible? Do I have to devote the entire hard drive to the ps2? Would getting a 12Gig thumb drive be a better idea?

You need to make up your mind. You can format a simple hdd to FAT32, which the PS2 will read. You can make a directory for your backed up game saves, one for your avi files and one for everything else. But you need to be specific about what you want to do. My external HDD is used for avi's and mp3's and my usb drive is used for ELF's and backed up game saves. My internal HDD is used for HDLoader.

[DirtyN]

The thing that is important is using another type of mass storage device like a USB thumb drive if possible to instead of the memory card. Let me just start there. What do I need to do to get the ps2 to save my game saves to something other(thumb drive)than the MC. Sorry if this is turning totally noob.

[dlanor]

I am new here, and I have a few questions. I wouldnt consider myself a total noob, but close enough that I need to be talked to a little slower.

Duly noted. So I won't take any in-depth homebrew knowledge for granted then.

I simply want my external USB HDD to be seen by the ps2 so it can be used as a memory card.

Sorry, but that is out of the question. While there does exist a VMC emulator which can allow some games to put gamesaves on a USB drive, it is not possible to do it for all games, and it is not possible to do it for homebrew programs at all. And you will need to use homebrew programs to run any alternate-device game loaders (like for USB), and also to maintain your setup.

So you will need a real memory card (aka: MC) for any serious use of a PS2.
This is not an option, but mandatory.

But from homebrews you can access USB drives with all the same convenience as you would access a normal MC, even though such drives can never replace the MC.

And for gamesave backup on other media you can always use the psuPaste method of uLaunchELF, the main file manager tool of PS2 homebrews. That method allows storing any existing gamesave folders from MC onto any writable PS2 medium, which includes both USB drives and a networked PC (using a special client program at that end). And such gamesaves can then be restored to MC in future as needed. This capability also includes copying such gamesaves which are officially 'copy-protected' and impossible to copy in working order using the normal Sony Browser of the PS2 firmware.

The psuPaste backup method differs from normal folder copying in that each backup is a single file, containing all the files from a gamesave and their containing folder, together with all PS2-specific filesystem flags and timestamps. It is this that allows the method to perfectly restore any save, so that the games can not see any difference between a restored gamesave and an original one. It also allows the storage of gamesaves that use filename characters that could not survive normal copying to a USB or other PC filesystem.

By proper use of psuPaste you can always make room for new saves on your MC, so that even a single small MC (like a normal 8MB unit) can suffice for an unlimited amount of games.

If I could play AVI videos too that would be great,

There is no problem with this. The SMS player can play AVIs from all PS2 compatible media, which even includes SMB network access to a Windows computer (assuming your PS2 has an ethernet interface). This is how I watch most TV shows and movies myself. I do have a commercial DVD player with AVI capability too, but it has no networking, and SMS does a better job of scaling the AVI screens anyway.

but I really just want my hdd to have a little space to be used as a Hard drive. Is that possible?

Possible, sure, but whether it is practical is another matter... That depends on what other use you had intended for that disc area.

Do I have to devote the entire hard drive to the ps2?

No, there are several ways of sharing space with other usage. The simplest way is to just partition the entire HDD into a single FAT32 area, where you just use some folders for the PS2 and other folders for other purposes (presumably PC-related use).

Another scheme is to use separate partitions for the PS2 and a PC, but the PS2 partition must then still be the 'first' and primary partition on the drive, and that must still be formatted to FAT32. What you do with the other partitions may or may not affect the PS2 applications though, since some of them (notably uLaunchELF) are capable of using multiple USB partitions. Most PS2 applications lack that ability (SMS can have multiple drives, but not multiple partitions), but the newer drivers still enumerate the extra partitions, so their mere presence could still affect some things.

Personally I prefer the simple single-partition method for a USB HDD, as the use of such a partition is most compatible between the PS2 and the PC. The only big difference is that the PC has those silly recycling folders (unless you disable their use) and that the PC ignores character casing in file/folder names (unlike the PS2 software).

Would getting a 12Gig thumb drive be a better idea?

Both yes and no. They are very convenient to carry around, so you can easily bring stuff over to the console of a friend etc, but once you start installing PS2 games to such a drive you'll find that 12GB really isn't all that much. I have 2 16GB drives myself, but since the best games are usually around 2-4 GB apiece, that still doesn't allow many to be installed.

But if you don't plan to store any games on it, nor any large media collection, then even much smaller USB sticks will do fine. My own smallest one is just 64MB, and this too has been useful to me for PS2 use on a few occasions, but normally I use 16GB units with my slim PS2 and a 320GB USB HDD with my fat PS2.

Best regards: dlanor