HD-Combo Review

[spedmetal]

Review of the HDCombo from www.hdcombo.com

Reviewed by www.norcalmods.com

What is the HDCombo?

The HDCombo is a product that will allow you to connect a standard IDE HDD to your slim PSTwo. You may already know this but for those that don't the slim PSTwo?s do not come stock from Sony with the ability to utilize a HDD. However there are points on the slim V12 and V13 PSTwo?s that can be utilized to modify the motherboard to accept an IDE HDD. Note: this mod is only for the V12 and V13 PSTwo?s. The very new V14/15 does not have these points. These point where originally discovered by Automan and soon after a production mod to exploit these points was made by Team Extender which they call HD-Connect. The HDCombo takes this type of modification to the next level. Let it be known that the HDCombo is not part of Extender but its own new innovation.

Why would I want to install and HDD to my PSTwo?

Well there are many reasons from being able to use homebrew application, emulators, audio and video media, backing up your game saves and what not. But the main reason why people would like to be able to utilize an HDD on their PS2Two is for the convenience of being able to back-up their PS2 games directly to the HDD and then be able to play the game directly from the HDD. Playing games from the HDD is very convenient in that the games will load fasted and wont freeze up do to poor quality discs. Not to mention you will have one large menu of games to pick from and won?t have to swap out your game disc every time you want to play a new game. Playing games from the HDD will also preserver your lasers life as it wont be being used when playing your games. This can be done with the latest patched HD-Loader that has V12/13 support as well as the DMS4 Pro flashed with Toxic OS or the patched HD-Loader CD-R that comes with the HD-Combo kit. HD-Combo suggest booting HD-Loader from the memory card with a Dev1mod chip like the Matrix Infinity, Crystal Chip, DMS4 Lite or even the H2O. With the application booted from the memory card in Dev1 mod there will be absolutely no discs in your PSTwo at all. With a DMS4 Pro flashed with Toxic OS the HD-Loader type application is already on the chip so this is not needed. In this review we will be using a V13 PSTwo with a DMS4 Pro flashed with Toxic OS V0.03. So let?s get on with the review!

The initial inspection.

When the HD-Combo kit first showed up it was packaged very will in its own box and antistatic bags. The kit comes with a power supply (PSU) for the HDD, a ?Y? splitter so you only need on AC cord for two PSU?s. This ?Y? splitter is used for both the new HDD PSU and the original Sony PSTwo PSU. The kit also comes with a new lower half of the PSTwo case that is thick enough to house a 3.5 IDE HDD. The kit also comes with two solderable ribbon cables for attaching to the motherboard. Below are pictures of all this.

NOTE: All these pictures in this post are of lowered size and quality for the benefit of your viewing pleasure. Higher quality photos of these same pictures will be posted in the gallery on my site soon.















Starting the install.

The PS2wo must be disassembled down to the motherboard in order to solder the ribbon cables in place. Let it be known that this install is not for the average. The solder points are very small and if special care is not taken you could damage your PStwo or have a nonworking HD-Combo. On inspection of the ribbon cables I noticed they feel a little thinner then the HD-Connects ribbon cables and a little easier to maintain. They also come pre-made with 3M double sided tape so that you can stick the longer cables down nicely when done. I first installed the bottom ribbon cable to the motherboard and this is what it looked like.



I started with this cable first because the second cable on the top wraps around to the back and laps over the top of the ribbon cable on the bottom. In the above picture you can see the top ribbon cable already in place before I wrapped it around to the bottom. The next picture is of the top ribbon cable soldered in place.



The next picture is of the top ribbon cable solders on top of the bottom cable. The large ground solder points will insure that the ribbon cables stay in place and at the same time completes the ground that the HDD needs. The top ribbon cable actually solder one ground point on top of the bottom ribbon cable. This is the reason for the large ground solder point on the bottom ribbon cable. This is viewable below also. You can also see where the 3M tape holds the ribbon cable in place where it makes a 90 degree turn.

[spedmetal]

The kit came with a thick plastic sticker that I was'nt totally sure what to do with but it made sense to use it to cover the solder points on the lower ribbon cable as the metal shield of the PSTwo will come very close to these solder points and could possibly short. Below is what that looked like.




At this point I was then done with the ribbon cable install and could now turn off my soldering iron. Next comes the reassembly of the console.

Reassembly

After I reattached the PSTwo?s metal shields I then installed the HD-Combos large ground connection. This ground is a bundle of wires with an eyelet on one end and the plastic connector on the other. The eyelet goes under one of the lasers screws and when tightened down stays in place nicely. I then sat the motherboard into the HD-Combo?s lower plastic case housing which fit very nicely. I then plugged in the large ground plug and the ribbon cables into the HD-Combo. Below is what all this looked like.



I then set the original PSTwo?s top case housing in place and screws the case together.After that I screwed the removable plastic door that?s on the bottom of the HD-Combo to my HDD with the provided screws.



After this I attached the HD-Combo?s IDE cable and power plug to the HDD.



I then inserted the HDD and the removable door snapped right into place with its quick release lock holding it in place.



I then plugged everything into the PStwo.



I flipped on the power switch on the back and the HDD spun up and the LED on the front of the HD-Combo lit up bright blue.





I turned on the PSTwo and Toxic OS detected my HDD just fine. I proceeded by installing a few games with Toxic OS right on the HD-Combo. I then went to play them and through Toxic OS and they both played great! The LED also shows activity. When there is activity the LED will turn a bright pink. Here is a short Divx clip of that. Click here

Overview

Overall this is a very well put together modification and well thought out. Everything is now contained in one package and the HDD is now incased in the unit and very sturdy. The HD-Combo?s case is very high quality and fits very well. The added switch on the back of the HD-Combo makes turning off the HDD very easy and the HDD activity LED is a very nice feature. The two internal fans in the HD-Combo is also a wonderful feature to help keep the HDD cool. The air passages and grilles for the fans on the front and back were also well thought out. The quick release door on the bottom is also very easy to use if you ever need to get at the HDD for reasons such as installing your games with Winhiip on your PC if you like. The ?Y? adaptor clears up a little clutter in that now you only need one AC cable for two power supplies. For those that are concerned with the size of the slim now being bigger I have to say that they did a very good job and still maintaining a smaller profile for this mod.

Suggestions

This is where I would like to add my personal thought on what might take this product one step higher. Don't get me wrong this product is great but everything has room for improvement. What I would have liked to see would have been one power supply that would handle both the required voltages (actually three voltages, 2 for just the HDD). One power supply that would have a 8.5V output for the PSTwo its self and the other would be the 12V/5V for the HD-Combo. Now this could be done externally like it currently is or what would be very cool would be an internal power supply that did this that you could just run the AC cord to the HD-Combo. This however would eat up room in the HD-Combo as there is no room as it is and in turn needing a bigger case and a more complex PSU which in turn would jack the price up more. Another feature that would be kind of a luxury and my not be used by many but would be nice to see would be if the HD-Combo had its own USB port. His could be used to install games directly to your HDD over USB on our PC. Maybe the switch on the back could be a 3 position switch with one being HDD off, one being HDD on and the other being USB mode. When in USB mode a USB to IDE adaptor would be activated and turn off the power to the PSTwo all together. In this mode you could then install your back-ups to the HDD with a USB cable with your PC and Winhiip. Now wouldn?t that be cool! This would of course also drive the price of this product up more. Maybe we could have a lite and pro version Anyway these are just suggestions, take them as you will.

Credits

Thanks to ComBoman from www.hdcombo.com for providing the samples for this review. This product rocks man! I?m sure you will have success with it. Thank you Automan for your discovery of the HDD points for the V12. Thank you Zero-X and Crazyc (and the rest) for your hard work with the patches for HDL. Thank you Sony of not removing the HDD points on the V12 and V13, unlike you did on the V14/15 Thank you ps2-scene for a great site.

[sirjimjom]

wow! thanks for this! I was really wondering how exactly this product works and stuff. Very informative and honest. Can't thank you enough!!

[Try-it]

Hi mr.

I must say you do a good job and thanks for your review, that's very useful

[N£TM£ÇH]

good review.. to bad it doesnt work on new pstwos

[gameplaya376]

nice work on soldering the ribbons , toss the power brick inside that and you got yourself a v11 1/2 .

[SlinkyDink]

Only thing it needs to be 100% complete is a relay to automatically turn the hard drive on and off (so the hdd power switch would be obsolete)

[fj4]

LOL, I'm sure that's a stock Xbox HDD in the picture. You're not going to fit many games on 10GB...
Nice thorough review. It's great to have non-USB options for those with the v12/v13. Why bother with USB when PStwo has a network card built-in?
HDLoader pwns HDAdvance (is it legal to include it on disc with the case though?)

[spedmetal]

Originally Posted by fj4

LOL, I'm sure that's a stock Xbox HDD in the picture. You're not going to fit many games on 10GB...
Nice thorough review. It's great to have non-USB options for those with the v12/v13. Why bother with USB when PStwo has a network card built-in?
HDLoader pwns HDAdvance (is it legal to include it on disc with the case though?)

Yes its a Xbox HDD and yes it will only hold a few games. For testing and reviewing it was all that was needed. I do have a 160GB HDD that I also tested it with and it worked just the same. Also to reply to your comment about why I suggest the USB thing, as I'm assuming you are referring uploading your games to the HDD over a network. Have you ever tired this? Its extremely SLOW! USB would just be a cool feature... your right its not needed. I just wanted to add a few thoughts thats all.

[donnie1221]

Hi, I'm new to ps2 modding, all i've really done is stuff on my old style ps2 like a 250gb hd and using hdadvance with it. I would like to get this combo and a new slim ps2 as it would fit into a compartment in my truck much easier and would require less cutting up of my truck to fit. Is there anywhere i can get this premodified or something? I just don't trust myself to solder in the case and what not. Or is there anyone in the east TN area who could help me out? I just now found a website to buy the HD Combo off of and was wondering where I might be able to get it premodded though or if anyone could help me out? Thanks,
DoNNiE

[fj4]

spedmetal: no, you are right, USB would be great to have. For some reason I thought the HDD would then be connected via USB to the PStwo I stayed up too early in the morning...
donnie1221: If you're courageous you could get a SMT* soldering practice project with components, I'm sure they can be had for <$20. Yeah, that would suck to end up with a twisted stub of ribbon cable and/or malfunctioning PStwo. Practice, practice, if you're not comfortable soldering/desoldering SMT then a premodded would be right for you.

*edit: SMT is surface-mount technology, used in modern computer manufacturing; SMT components are tiny and soldered to the surface of the circuit board (as opposed to the much larger resistors, caps, diodes and such with long leads mounted through holes in the board and soldered on the opposite side.)

[donnie1221]

yea, so i am still new to modding lol, and SMT means what? guess i can give it a shot, it just looked pretty scary with all the spots on the diagram that have to be soldered and being my first time and with sooo many kinda freaks me out bout it

[Dr. Cain]

Originally Posted by donnie1221

yea, so i am still new to modding lol, and SMT means what? guess i can give it a shot, it just looked pretty scary with all the spots on the diagram that have to be soldered and being my first time and with sooo many kinda freaks me out bout it

If you can't solder extremly small points reliably, don't attempt this, you will wreck your ps2.
Practice on an old graphics card or something first.

[Bradleylicious]

Have they put a release date on this one? If so when...

[donnie1221]

just curious, but if i got a new v14/15 ps2 could the mobo or whatever be switched out to get a v12/13 with soldering points? I'd like to get my hands on this gear

[spedmetal]

Originally Posted by donnie1221

just curious, but if i got a new v14/15 ps2 could the mobo or whatever be switched out to get a v12/13 with soldering points? I'd like to get my hands on this gear

I think you could, but really..... why not just get a V12 to begin with?

[donnie1221]

hey sped, how's it goin?

[_zaphod_]

Umm because v12/13 arent' made anymore? Because of hd combo? (laugh)