I am farily new to the mod seen. I have been searching around here and other places on infomation on mod chips for the ps2. My biggest concer is getting a mod chip that can play ps2 games off an external hard drive. Iv read the other guides to the most popular 3 and couldnt find anything in there about play games off an external. If any one can give me some advice on which chip can do this for me i would be gratefull. I dont have a problem with soder chips. Also i dont have a network adaptor and dont plan on buying one.
If you don't plan on buying a network adaptor, the only choice you have is to use USBAdvance/USBeXtreme, which have really bad compatibility/speed, so if you want to run an HDD, I'd really suggest you getting a network adaptor. I have the slim PS2, and I'm going to modify it to take HDD via IDE (the same as using a network adaptor) instead of using an external USB HDD, because of the above reasons. Modchip wise, matrix infinity or DMS4, can't go wrong with those
Mod chips can be tricky. Ruined a ver. 7 with one. Fliptop or slidtool with swapmagic. No headache after you learn the swaping method. Search the PS2 dvd backup forum for harddrive info. Might try ps2info.com. EDIT>Thats the wrong link for ps2info. Google it.
Isn't a USB interface too slow to boot games off of (According to the HDLoader website, theres no way to use a USB HDD) You can get USBAdvance/USBExtreme but the compatability is supposedly horried and loads are slow.
I've only used USBAdvance for a short while, but yes the speed is slow, and the compatibility is really bad. If shadowzac get's a network adaptor, then he can use HDLoader, which apparently boots most of the games and faster than a CD/DVD.
I suggest getting a DMS4 Pro chip and an IDE internal hard drive. those will work great together. If you have an older model PS2 with a network adapter then it will be installed right in the PS2. You will not get as good a result with an external HDD and USB Extreme. If you have a slim PSTwo then you have 2 options. 1.Put it in a hard drive enclosure and get what you need to wire that up. http://www.norcalmods.com/store/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=15 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7444205&type=product&id=1124432781383 or just let it sit out of an encloser, or build one yourself which would be the cheapest way. 2. get one of these kites and make it just like the older models with the IDE hard drive internal. http://www.ps2hd.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4954 http://www.hdcombo.com/hdcombo_spec.htm http://eu.mod-chip.com/ps2_hd_combo.php
if i use an internal ide harddrive, can i use any brand or size i want, like say i have a 40 gig im not using ( toshiba or maxter ). And would there be a way to write stuff to the harddrive from my computer once its installed on the ps2? Also i have the older ps2.it has the big "exspansion bay" door with nothing in it. ( guess thats where i should put the hdd and network adaptor)
yes, that bay is where it goes and the network adapter too. that hard drive compatibility chart should show you plenty of hard drives that worked for others. But most IDE PC hard drives should work, they sell Maxtor hard drives as PS2 hard drives on many web sites. HD Loader is a program you will need to buy to load games to the hard drive and play them. That is why i suggested a DMS4 Pro chip as everything you need is right on the chip. You can format the drive, play games from the ToxicOS, install games from the ToxicOS by putting a game in the DVD drive and copying it strait from the disc. but if all your game are originals then just buy HD Loader as it will be the cheaper route. a little info on HD Loader http://forums.psxforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22747 http://www.hdloader.org/
