Hi, I just bought a new slim PS2 and I want put a HDD but I don't know what kind of HDD. Should I buy a portable external HDD like for the laptop HDD?
Three options, ranging from least to most difficult: 1. USB Extreme. External USB hard drive, combined with boot disc. Many incompatible games, most all games need to be patched. Easy, just plug in a USB hard drive. Search 'USB Extreme' on Google for links to sites that sell. 2. HDConnect Kit. Modification which adds an IDE port to the back of your ps2. Difficult. Requires opening PS2 and some fine solder work. Search 'XCM HDConnect' on Google. 3. HDConnect Kit mounted internally. Same as #2, except the hard drive fits inside the ps2. Extremely difficult. You remove the optical block of the pstwo and put a 2.5" hard drive in there. Obviously you will no longer be able to read DVDs. http://www.ps2hd.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2631 If you go with option 1 I highly recommend you search for the few large threads on this forum about the pros and cons (mostly cons) of USB Extreme.
Is it possible in any way to do this with a chubby ps2? i'm just wondering cuz i have the original PS2 Sony HDD and a network adaptor and it don't always see the HDD as being connected right away and it is very frustrating to have to unscrew and rescrew in the network adapter. Maybe is there a way so that you can open a network adapter and only have the parts that connect to the hdd and the ps2? just a thought, cuz i saw it on one site (the connections from the inside of a chubby, but there isn't a way to contact the guy on the site to ask him how he did it.
@ikari: What do you mean? If you mean option #1, then yes you can do that too. However, the best reason to own a chubby PS2 is so you DON'T have to use USB loader. What do you mean that the PS2 won't recognize the HDD immediately? If you are using a pressed HD Loader or HD Advance disc, you should know that some of the older PS2s cannot power up the hard drive right away when you press the reset button. The solution is to press reset once, then wait a second or two and press reset again.
No, i have FFXI and the original hdd from Sony! I want to know if there is a way to connect the hdd through the back (a.k.a. IDE) without the network adapter. My ps2 doesn't always recongize that i have the hdd attached so i need to reconnect it by taking off the network adapter then reattaching it, and it's a pain. I want to just add the IDE cable from the expansion bay or something. I wanted to know if that is possible
@ikari: Not the HDConnect cable. If you look at it, its a very specifically crafted piece that solders onto some vias and surface mount parts on the pstwo (v12). It won't work in any chubby ps2s because the contacts would be in totally different places. Besides, the cost of a new network adapter would be the same as a HDConnect anyways.
i know i can't you that HDconnect thing, i'm asking if there is a way to solder a IDE cable to the inside of the ps2 that i could connect the hdd right to my ps2 without the network adapter, because most the time i don't even use the network adapter anyways. I've been working with ps2 hacks for quite sometime now, just to let you know... i'm not an uber n00b
