possible to boot hdloader on v9 w/duo2 SE?

[Lobster]

I have a v9 with a duo2 SE installed, network adapter and 20Gb hdd, which I know is working ok because it boots hdloader off cd-rom a couple of times, but that´s the problem, the optical drive has some problem: I exchanged it for 3 working lenses and all show the same symptoms: bad reading. I tried adjusting the angle on the lens and white cog but the boot rate is better but still not acceptable and I have people offering to buy the machine, so I put in a hard drive but want to boot off mem card I think its a good solution, but will I have to switch the modchip? is there any onter solution? what do you advise? thanx

[dlanor]

I have a v9 with a duo2 SE installed, network adapter and 20Gb hdd, which I know is working ok because it boots hdloader off cd-rom a couple of times, but that´s the problem, the optical drive has some problem: I exchanged it for 3 working lenses and all show the same symptoms: bad reading. I tried adjusting the angle on the lens and white cog but the boot rate is better but still not acceptable and I have people offering to buy the machine, so I put in a hard drive but want to boot off mem card I think its a good solution, but will I have to switch the modchip? is there any onter solution? what do you advise? thanx

To my knowledge your chip has no support for Dev1 booting (booting ELF directly from MC without needing any disc). So if the laser dies entirely, there is NO way to do anything with that PS2 anymore. I strongly suggest that you invest in a new mod-chip, and that you go for a proper one, not just a cheap clone. They're a bit more expensive, but worth every penny...

Once you have a proper chip, so you can boot LaunchELF and HDLoader from MC, remember to configure them to NOT check CD discs, as doing so will cause a lockup if/when your laser has died. (Such lockup is specific to PS2 models v9 and later, so it does apply to yours.)

For HDLoader this means that you need to hdl_patch it WITH the options /N and /C, but WITHOUT the option /S.

For LaunchELF (v3.41t or newer) just make sure your LAUNCHELF.CNF has a line like this in it:
Init_CDVD_Check = 0
That setting is default anyway, so even without a proper CNF it will still work.

Best regards: dlanor