I'm back.. but where do I begin?

Hi Everybody!

Its been a long time since was last on PS2 Scene.. I think I last logged on in Feb 05, or maybe late '04.. But its great to be back! (Been O/S without my PS2!!)

Anyways, yeah I'm back and I guess from my browsing that a lot has happened.
What I was curious about, was this;
I originally bought and installed HDL on my PS2, mem card exploit etc. It worked great. But, from what I have read (skimmed) there have been several updates to HDL. (Dual layer support etc)

Is it possible to tell what version of HDL i have, and upgrade to the current?
Could someone post a link to the thread that has the upgrade instructions?
Whats the best way to backup my HD? (What apps do I need?)

Sorry for being so vague. It has been so long since i got into PS2 modding.. I am very keen to get back into the scene, but am daunted by the volume of info I need to read to get myself up to date?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)

Thanks Guys! And its great to be back!

Cheers,
auditri

Anyone?

Well first the search button is you friend.

Second if you have the retail HD-Loader, you will have to find the unpacked hdloader ELF and apply the patch to it.
we cant supply the HD-loader unpacked to you here as its considered Warez, but a quick couple searches here and on google should solve that problem.

Thanks Tannah!

Did a search, but its been so long, I can't wade through 5000 pages to find a few tips.. But I will have a thorough search tonight.

I have an unpacked ELF, and applied Zero's first patch.. Back in Oct'04 I think..
It was one of his first..

So would I need to apply the latest patch 0.7c to a fresh ELF?

Will my games on the HD be safe?

Damn.. I guess I'm going to have to start from scratch and research.
It took me 3 months to figure out how to do the exploit and patch the first ELF.. (I'm not that ps2-technically inclined... ) :(

Thanks for the response..