Playing Playstation 2 games off a hard drive

[Anonymous No.8531365]

Are there any drawbacks to this kind of set up on the Playstation 2? Seems awesome, you can even play Japan only games on your PS2. How do you get games on the internal hard drive, though? With this?

https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Cable-Adapter-Converter-Support/dp/B00MYU0EAU

[Anonymous No.8531368]

Certain games don't work 100% over HDD.

Nothing I've tried has had any noteworthy problems, though.

[Anonymous No.8531369]

Nope, it's actually better because shit loads faster. Love my fat ps2 with the network adapter.

[Anonymous No.8531374]

>>8531368
I should addendum this by saying compared to an Xbox it's inferior. The Xbox's loading is 100% compatible with the whole library, I think. The PS2 requires tweaking and workarounds by the community to exploit its ability to load games over the IDE bus.

[Anonymous No.8531386]

>>8531368
The nice thing about OPL is that basically every rare game works perfectly and the few games that are unplayable are just cheap to own physically anyway.

>>8531374
The reason is that the PS2 doesn't actually have dedicated chips for controlling the HDD, I think the PS1 CPU gets used for that but I don't remember. Games that don't actually use the HDD for anything are going to expect the PS1 CPU to be free for calls, and if it's not free when they need it because it's running OPL then there's gonna be problems.

[Anonymous No.8531395]

>>8531386
Well if you can load games off an HDD you've already exploited your system so you might as well just use ESR to cover the gaps (assuming you have a DVD writer).

You can't really load PS1 games off an HDD anyway (IIRC it IS possible but it's very hit-or-miss) so you'll probably find yourself using your disc drive for those.

[Anonymous No.8531414]

why do we have daily threads about softmodding one of the easiest consoles to mess with asking exactly the same thing

[Anonymous No.8531421]

Use HDL to load games. It's FTP-based so you'll need to have your PS2 wired into the network.

Sucks to be you if you have one of those knockoff Chinese things.

[Anonymous No.8531423]

Should I get a 1TB hard drive for my PS2, or is that over kill? I can only think of 30 to 50 must play PS2 games. What are some hidden gems for the system? Japan only games are fine too.

[Anonymous No.8531452]

>>8531423
looked at a random list for average ps2 games file size and no game goes beyond 5 gigs. with 1TB youd have worst case space for 200 games. but seeing how most games are well below 5 gigs youd probably get 500 games on there if not more. so yeah, 1 TB is massively overkill considering you could just delete games you dont plan on replaying. but then again, i dont think 250gb HDDs are that common anymore so youd have to settle for 500GB which is still fuck huge for ps2 games.

[Anonymous No.8531464]

can you just plug in a HDD to your pc motherboard and transfer files? obviously have to turn on/off pc before plugging in and taking out, but is it possible?

[Anonymous No.8531480]

>>8531423
they're cheap enough, don't you have an external HDD that you don't use anymore?

[Anonymous No.8531483]

>>8531464
It's far safer to just buy an external cord for it

[Anonymous No.8531484]

>>8531464
if you have hotswap I imagine it's fine

[Anonymous No.8531485]

>>8531483
finna try softmod my fat sometime, will probably just buy a cable aye
>>8531484
yep, don't think I do
>>8531480
pretty sure using external usb hdd is not great since it uses like usb 1 or whatever

[Anonymous No.8531490]

>>8531485
no I mean having an old exteranal HDD that you can harvest the actual HDD out of it

[Anonymous No.8531494]

>>8531490
ah my bad

[Anonymous No.8531519]

I wish OPL let you organize your games into subfolders.

[Anonymous No.8531575]

>>8531414
what do you propose we talk about instead

[Anonymous No.8531581]

>>8531423
You can go up to 2tb, but unless you're trying to fit the entire library on there you'll only use like 100gb for a bunch of games.

Can you even buy new HDD's smaller than 1tb anymore?

[Anonymous No.8531586]

How come Klonoa don't work right? I had sound glitches.

[Anonymous No.8531607]

>>8531586
Namco programming wizardry. Seems to break between OPL versions and you do need to set a few modes.

[Anonymous No.8531627]

>>8531365
Hope you don't want to play outrun 2 because.. Good luck.

[Anonymous No.8531718]

>>8531365
Fat PS2s are notoriously unreliable. Have fun only having your console for a few years. FPGA never ever because the PS2 is a nightmare architecture. Have fun with shit emulation on PC because PCSX2 is run by trannies.

[Anonymous No.8531731]

>>8531718
Slims are more unreliable than fats. Also if you're using a harddrive you dgaf about the laser so there goes like 90% of playstation problems right there.

[Anonymous No.8531753]

>>8531718
only the disc drives are unreliable
the fact that we are talking about OPL negates that

[Anonymous No.8532028]

>>8531365
It’s how I play my ps2 games. It’s very easy to setup, though I would recommend modding an OEM network adapter yourself for maximum compatibility.

[Anonymous No.8532034]

>>8532028
Does yours change the background depending what game you're over?

[Anonymous No.8532043]

>>8532034
Yes that’s just part of setting up cover art in OPL/manager

[Anonymous No.8532071]

>>8532034
>>8532028
Games look surprisingly good on modern TVs with component too. I do wish I could get an upscaler of some sort, though.

[Anonymous No.8532101]

>>8532034
>>8532028
I side of OEM network adapter, it’s as simple as removing a couple screws, a ribbon cable and a molex-style connector to modify the adapter for sata hard drives. This method gives you a much more stable device than the Chinese knockoffs. Those things do work alright from I’ve heard, however. They’re just kind of unstable.

[Anonymous No.8532206]

>>8532101
This is exactly what I did to my network adapter.
Using a cheapo 1TB WD Blue sata drive.
Working great.

[Anonymous No.8532591]

>>8532206
It’s a very cheap and fun project that still allows you to FTP into your ps2, unlike the cheaper Chinese clones. I only went with a 500gb hard drive since I only have 75 ps2 games.

[Anonymous No.8532623]

a bit off topic but where is the best place to buy controllers? dont care if non genuine and wireless/wired, are aliexpress ones decent?

[Anonymous No.8532858]

>>8531365
>HDD
The best way to play your backups and you get to keep netplay functionality
>Network
All around reliable method, but you lose netplay functionality.
>USB
What the fuck are you doing?

[Anonymous No.8532859]

>>8532028
That's cool and all but save states are better. Same with certain graphical upscales. And storing savegames on the cloud... Just in case.

Anyways, emulation for life.

[Anonymous No.8532879]

I use an ethernet cable and connect the ps2 to my laptop. Then I just download the game I want to play. The only game I ever had trouble doing this with was Sakura Wars

[Anonymous No.8533104]

How do I add games to my HDD? I bought one already modded. It came with most relevant ps2 games on it, but I want to add ps1 games

[Anonymous No.8533109]

>>8533104
ps1 games on hdd are emulated so you probably don't want that

[Anonymous No.8533113]

>>8532859
Why is what's good for you also what's good for me?

[Anonymous No.8533151]

>>8531464
Yeah, that's how I do it. You need a tool for it though

[Anonymous No.8533745]

>>8531718
Only the laser is unreliable, so for anyone using OPL this is a non-issue. Even then, tearing up and replacing parts is easy as shit on a FAT PS2. Did a fan mod for that shit and now it's fresh and silent.

[Anonymous No.8533756]

>>8533104
Don't bother with downloaded PS1 games on PS2 HDD. It sucks.

[Anonymous No.8534084]

>>8531718
Your dad is run by trannies.

[Anonymous No.8534092]

>>8531374
I have both and can confirm Xbox is much better

[Anonymous No.8534153]

>>8533745
I was thinking of purchasing one of those noctua fan mod kits that comes with the fan and 3D-printed adapter bracket. Is that what you did and how easy was it to do? I’m no stranger to hardware mods.

[Anonymous No.8534284]

>>8533109
>>8533756
Not the guy who asked but I was wondering the same thing :(
I don't wanna buy games. So looks like these are my options:
1) Solder XStation in a gray PSX, which is not a beginner soldering task so I'm gonna take a while to get to that level
2) Mod a PS1 to play burned discs
3) Emulate. Yuck.

[Anonymous No.8534331]

>>8534284
Every PS2 has an option for playing burned PS1 games without tampering with the hardware. You don't have to grab a PS1 if you don't want.

[Anonymous No.8534369]

>>8534331
I own a gray PS1, a slim PSone, and two PS2 slims. I think I will mod my second slim to play burned discs since I can use component video out, faster disc reading speed + texture smoothing. Gotta look more into this stuff.
Who am I kidding, once my gdemu clone comes in I'll be playing nothing but Dreamcast for the rest of 2022

[Anonymous No.8534389]

>>8531718
Had my fat PS2 for 20+ years with frequent usage

[Anonymous No.8534649]

>>8534369
Slim PS2s can use mechapwn to run burned discs. I'm not sure how well documented it is, so I'll just lay out some of the details here.
After using mechapwn to convert your console to a debug one, burned PS1 discs will simply work. Additionally, SCPH-75000 and later PS2s support region changing - converting to debug USA will make your PS2 completely region free. However, those PS2s have worse PS1 compatibility. Be sure to clear nvm.bin from your USB drive after using mechapwn, as a precaution. This is a console-specific file and leaving it on there may result in a brick as mechapwn uses the file without telling you..

[Anonymous No.8534712]

>>8531718
Nigger what? My fat PS2 still works, from 2001.

[Anonymous No.8534729]

>>8531421
You can also just physically plug the hard drive into your computer with an adapter and upload the games through HDL.

[Anonymous No.8534954]

>>8534331
>Every PS2 has an option for playing burned PS1 games without tampering with the hardware
Did something recent happen? This used to not be true.

[Anonymous No.8535067]

I had some issues with Ace Combat 4 freezing when running off the HDD, even though I set the right OPL modes.
In the end I had to export my save off the memory card and just emulate it in software mode. Worked great.
Like others in the thread have said, HDDs work fine for 98% of all games.

Is there also any reliable way to play region locked PS1 games on a softmodded PS2 though? I've read that playing backup discs requires a modchip and the POPs emulator is really hit or miss if you feed it bin/cues from a USB.

[Anonymous No.8535159]

>>8534954
tonyhax is an exploit designed for PS1s that also happens to work for a number of fat PS2s. It works perfectly on my SCPH-30001. You just stick some hacked saves onto a PS1 memory card, load the save in a certain game, then swap discs.

[Anonymous No.8535165]

>>8534954
MechaPWN
allows you to change your ps2 to region free and allow for all burned ps1 games to be read

[Anonymous No.8535173]

>>8534954

Use >>8535159 for old Fat PS2s
Use >>8535165 for new Slim PS2s.

[Anonymous No.8536486]

Just set up SD card loading after previously having been using Ethernet and this shit already seems way better. Even got rid of the cutscene stutter I was getting in Dragon Quest VIII. Thanks to the fellas who were recommending it in a thread a couple weeks ago.

[Anonymous No.8537187]

>>8535165
>>8534649
I must be doing something wrong, I keep getting disc read error when trying to use machapwn to read ps1 games. Is there some kind of disc patcher I'm supposed to use or what?

[Anonymous No.8537604]

>>8533113
Why is something objectively worse somehow better for you?

[Anonymous No.8537672]

>>8535173
Almost correct. Tonyhax doesn't work on SCPH-50000 fat PS2s, but mechapwn does.

[Anonymous No.8537676]

>>8537187
Can you PS2 read burned audio CDs? May just be a failing laser.

[Anonymous No.8538735]

>>8537187
make sure you choose the correct setting with mechapwn

[Anonymous No.8540115]

>>8538735
Pretty sure I did, I have 50003, and I've tried both of the developer versions of 50003 and 50001, and nothing disc read error

[Anonymous No.8540336]

>>8537187
>Is there some kind of disc patcher I'm supposed to use or what?
... yes.

[Anonymous No.8540808]

I'm going to say this every thread from now on.
PS2 with hard drive method
OFFICIAL network adapter, modified with IDE to SATA adapter (buttfunx is fine).
USE OPL.

SIMPLE. DO NOT ARGUE FOR ANYTHING ELSE YOU DONKEY.
>t. been modding ps2's this way for over ten years now

[Anonymous No.8540960]

Can you rip disc games to the HDD?
Does it need some extra programm or will do opl the job done?

[Anonymous No.8541039]

>>8540960
hdlgameinstaller

[Anonymous No.8541072]

>>8540960
Yes, but its a shitload faster to transfer the game from your PC while the drive is plugged into it, especially if its a disc image and not a physical disc.