SMS Player using USB HDD on a 79003 ps2

[coolplay]

Hi,

I've been scouting round the internet the last few days trying to figure stuff out. I bought a new PS2 last weekend just so I can run SMS player. It's model number is 79003. However, I've heard a few reports that versions above 75000 have issues with their usb and that USBAdvance can't be used with them. I'm not too concerned that USBAdvance won't work, what I really want to know is if this affects SMS Players ability to read Movie files like XVid and DivX from a usb HDD, in particular a 160gb digital passport. I must add that I don't have my PS2 modified yet and I don't have the hdd at hand to test either so any experience from other people would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[dlanor]

Originally Posted by coolplay

Hi,

I've been scouting round the internet the last few days trying to figure stuff out. I bought a new PS2 last weekend just so I can run SMS player. It's model number is 79003. However, I've heard a few reports that versions above 75000 have issues with their usb and that USBAdvance can't be used with them. I'm not too concerned that USBAdvance won't work, what I really want to know is if this affects SMS Players ability to read Movie files like XVid and DivX from a usb HDD, in particular a 160gb digital passport. I must add that I don't have my PS2 modified yet and I don't have the hdd at hand to test either so any experience from other people would be greatly appreciated.

As far as I'm aware it is only the CodeBreaker cheat engine which has problems with PStwo models v14 and higher (SCPH-75000 and higher). Other applications, including lots of homebrew ones, have no such problems.

I have an SCPH-77004 myself (thus v15) which works fine with most applications using USB, except for CodeBreaker which won't even boot correctly if any USB device is connected. But if I remove all USB devices, then even CodeBreaker works fine.

I've never had any problems with SMS on this console, but I normally prefer to play media files over LAN, using music and video files stored on my PCs, since LAN transfer is much faster than USB 1.1, which would often cause lags and stutters in movies. If you too experience such, this is not due to any PStwo model-specific issues, but merely due to the slow USB 1.1 speed that all PS2/PStwo models have in common.

Best regards: dlanor

[solidus27]

But the PC needs to on when you want to play a movie over LAN, right?

[coolplay]

Originally Posted by dlanor

As far as I'm aware it is only the CodeBreaker cheat engine which has problems with PStwo models v14 and higher (SCPH-75000 and higher). Other applications, including lots of homebrew ones, have no such problems.

I have an SCPH-77004 myself (thus v15) which works fine with most applications using USB, except for CodeBreaker which won't even boot correctly if any USB device is connected. But if I remove all USB devices, then even CodeBreaker works fine.

I've never had any problems with SMS on this console, but I normally prefer to play media files over LAN, using music and video files stored on my PCs, since LAN transfer is much faster than USB 1.1, which would often cause lags and stutters in movies. If you too experience such, this is not due to any PStwo model-specific issues, but merely due to the slow USB 1.1 speed that all PS2/PStwo models have in common.

Best regards: dlanor

Great, thats just the answer I was looking for. Strange about the lagging as 1.1 still has a speed of 1.5mb per second (while not quiet throughput). That should be more than enough imo to watch a movie.

[dlanor]

Originally Posted by solidus27

But the PC needs to on when you want to play a movie over LAN, right?

Well, it obviously won't work if the PC is turned off.
Did you really expect a miraculous ability to communicate with a PC lacking electricity... ?
But as long as the PC is running, and properly configured, it should work fine.

I even have Windows 2000 server PC constantly running, though I never log into it, and don't even have any monitor connected most of the time. And yet this is my main movie server.

All maintenance can be done remotely by network WTS sessions from other PCs in the LAN (I have 3, all of which store some media files for use by SMS.)

Best regards: dlanor

[dlanor]

Originally Posted by coolplay

Great, thats just the answer I was looking for. Strange about the lagging as 1.1 still has a speed of 1.5mb per second (while not quiet throughput). That should be more than enough imo to watch a movie.

It should be, if that was the speed we really get, which it isn't.

I've always considered the PS2 implementation of USB 1.1 to be substandard, and unable to reach even the limited speeds normal for that interface when used on a PC.

For example:
I have a LaCie Porsche 320 GB USB HDD connected to my main PS2, and this is capable of quite good speeds when connected to a PC (esp. if using USB 2.0). But when connected to the PS2, and using it to copy media files to its (much faster) IDE HDD, then uLE measures transfer rates just a bit over 500 KByte/sec, maybe 510-520 but certainly no higher.

Of course there is a small speed loss due to the writing at the IDE HDD end, but this is so much faster that it doesn't affect the measurement much. (Similar copying between two partitions on the IDE HDD gives average rates in excess of 7000 KByte/sec.)

But in similar copying from host: over LAN to the same IDE HDD partition, I normally get speeds between 1450 and 1500 KByte/sec.

And while I don't have precise transfer rates for SMS playing, the results above do match the experiences I get with SMS for these media too. Trying to play movies from USB often gives lag-induced errors that never happen when playing the same files over network.

Best regards: dlanor

[solidus27]

Originally Posted by dlanor

Well, it obviously won't work if the PC is turned off.
Did you really expect a miraculous ability to communicate with a PC lacking electricity... ?
But as long as the PC is running, and properly configured, it should work fine.

I even have Windows 2000 server PC constantly running, though I never log into it, and don't even have any monitor connected most of the time. And yet this is my main movie server.

All maintenance can be done remotely by network WTS sessions from other PCs in the LAN (I have 3, all of which store some media files for use by SMS.)

Best regards: dlanor

Wait a sec! So you have a PC that is running every single hour of the day, and is connected to your PS2? Isn't it loud? And doesn't consume alot of electricity?

[dlanor]

Originally Posted by solidus27

Wait a sec! So you have a PC that is running every single hour of the day,

Yes.

and is connected to your PS2?

Not directly. It is connected to a router, just like my other PCs and the PS2/PStwo consoles. The effect of that is virtually the same as if all units had a direct connection to each other, except that they have to share the available bandwidth when packets for two different 'connections' pass through the same cable.

Isn't it loud?

Not much. The fat PS2 with internal HDD is in fact louder.
(But that PS2 is not running 24/7)

And doesn't consume alot of electricity?

Well it does consume some of course, but it's an old model so the CPU isn't the same kind of hotplate that newer ones are. And the graphics card is a very simple one, so it too is less wasteful than newer cards for high-res 3d graphics, especially since that computer spends most of its time in screensaver mode.

Best regards: dlanor

[peterdcrees]

You don't have to use a PC to get an 'always on' hard drive media storage connected to the LAN on the PS2.

There are external hard drive cases with have a LAN (and USB) connection.
See here for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817387006

These devices are known as NAS (Network Attached Storage) and will work just fine in SMS using the windows network sharing (SMB) protocol.

[kevstah2004]

I knew about USB caddies but LAN , 100BASE-T? does it work if the fan is removed? it's not like HDD's get that hot anyway i'd rather not have a noisy fan rattling away.

[peterdcrees]

Well, as its on a LAN you can have it up to 100m away from your PS2 so just stick it out of the way so you don't hear it.

There are other options.
Personally I use an Asus wireless router to get internet on my home network see: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320030

This router has 2 x USB 2.0 ports which you can attach your external USB drive to make it availble on the network.
With a firmware upgrade you can even get the router to do downloads from limewire/emule/torrents and save them on the external drive, so you don't even need to leave your computer running!