PS2 Slimline guide: external USB hard drive & game playing (NO CHIP REQ'D)

hey Aeryk
i dont have swap magic i use action replay max to boot usb advance elf file
yeah i followed master chus guide and i still couldnt get wwe smackdown vs raw 2007 to boot after i installed it i put the right IPRP file were the DNAS file was and i still get the black screen

as for bully i dont know how to fix it because its not a DNAS game
i just need help with these type of games

thank u in advance

ALaddin

 

Hi just became a member! I was just wondering.. what do i need in order to get myself a working ps2 slim di i need anything excpet the swap magic and the external usb!

Could you please redirect me to a site where they have cheap usb, i cant find any and ive tried googling,, im sorry to bother but im very new to the ps2 scene.

So i need a usb harddrive and swapmagic sets anything else?
Is usb elf a device or software which i have to download im sorry i need ps2 guide for DUMBies

 

Hey Aladdin,

For the DNAS game, try using an IOPR file from a different game. Some things I've read lead me to believe that the IOPR's are different in some way, so using another one may work. Someone suggested that you use the largest one (file size) that you have/can find. If that doesn't work, you might want to google "DNAS Patching." That is a different method that I know NOTHING about, but have heard about. Ace may be able to shed some light on the DNAS patching (as opposed to DNAS swapping) as I believe he tried that for his Colin McRae game. I have never needed to patch, though, so don't know much about it.

About your other game, I am not sure what to tell you. I have just started "PS2-ing" and only have four games, so I've yet to run into one that doesn't have DNAS, so haven't needed to work around that problem yet.

 

Bobba,

No problem - everybody starts somewhere, and I just started on the PSTwo scene about a month ago!

Sounds like you are on the right track. Go back to the very beginning of this thread, and read MasterChu's guide. He explains everything that you need, and I think even links to the downloads for all the software except Swap Magic, of course.

The only software you should need to BUY is Swap Magic (or that other program that Aladdin is using) - everything else can be downloaded. Just a word of advice - when you buy Swap Magic, you can usually get a pretty good deal on a combined software/fliptop deal, which I'd go ahead and do. I actually found Swap Magic and a fliptop cheaper than just the software at many places! I used some place up in Canada - cybershop, or something, maybe? Not sure if they have my whole-hearted recommendation. The price was right, but shipping was slow, and the fliptop arrived broken (serviceable, but broken none the less).

USBAdvance is an ELF program which allows your PS2 to boot and retrieve games off of your USB hard drive. It can be found on the internet. I think MasterChu (first post on this thread) had links to the download site.

In regards to a USB drive, I had better luck with a 2.5" (notebook) hard drive in a USB enclosure than with a 3.5" (normal) hard drive in a USB enclosure. Anybody else care to comment on that? I also found that of the THREE 2.5" USB drives I had, only ONE worked while connected/powered on at the same time as the PS2. The others (and all the 3.5" USB drives) I had to boot the PS2, then when the Playstation logo appears, connect the USB cable.

If you don't want to wait, I would look for USB drives at eBay and by searching using Google's Froogle.com. If you are not in a hurry, keep your eyes open for after-rebate deals from big-box stores, if you don't mind dealing with rebates.

Make sure you go back and read MasterChu's guide, though, if you haven't already, then post if you have any questions about specifics.

Good Luck!

 

Hey thanks so much for the reply Aeryk. I think im getting to start to get the hang of it, sorta, lol

1.But in reality what i really only need is swap magic/fliptop to play games!??? BUT the Harddisk is only for loading he games faster am i right about that, so instead of downloading the game and burning it to cd i use the usb.

2.Ive heard that swap magic doesnt work perfectly with all games, is that true? Do i have to change the discs everytime i want to play a game???

3.And most importantly i dont need to modify my cosole using Swap? Right?

thanks for all help

 

Hey Bobba,

Yeah, that is that way it was for me. Slowly everything seemed to fall into place. To answer your questions:

1a) Right - Swap Magic/Fliptop will allow you to play DVD/CD copies of your games, but not from a hard drive (unless you add additional free software).

1b) Right again - Though the USB HD doesn't seem to be much faster at all then the PS2's DVD drive. Some discussions I have read imply that it might even be slower. The advantage of the USB HD is that you can put all of your games on it, leave the Swap Magic DVD in your PS2, and have access to all/most of your games without swapping discs in and out of the PS2.

2a) That is what I understand. The Swap Magic website says the latest version has "better compatability" which implies that there are some games that don't work with it, though it worked with all of mine. It does say it allows you to play games from other regions. Never done that, so I have no opinion on it.

2b) Yes - you put in the Swap Magic DVD or CD into the PS2, then turn it on. Swap Magic boots, then tells you to load a backup copy of your game. You take out the Swap Magic disk (that is why the fliptop is necessary) and put in the backup copy of your game, then press X (I think), and the backup copy loads.

3) No soldering or any other internal modification is required, but you have to take the top of your console off, remove the original DVD top, and replace it with the fliptop (a simple process). I did have to cut through the warranty label on my PS2 (which was of no importance to me since it was already out of warranty) to get the top off, though.

Hope this helps!

 

Great help. thanks for all the info i got the swap magic part down now. Ok i have to look at the chip options as well thinking about either Matrix, green dot or DMS 4 pro se. seems like those 2 are winners http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/304534

Anyways for allt he help its been incredible, great with such persons on boards, frienldy and very helpful. Any ideas on what you think might be best way to go?

 

Hey Bobba,

Thanks for the props!

I gotta tell you I have NO CLUE when it comes to mod chips. I did a VERY little bit of research before deciding that I didn't want to spend the money or risk bricking my PS2. My VERY VAGUE impression was that I liked the MATRIX and DMS4 Pro in that order, but couldn't even give you reasons why.

Good luck finding the info you need!

 

Got another game problem here. I have just copied WRC Rally Evolved to my hard drive(with both a DNAS swap and a PAL to NTSC patch. When I played it, it started to boot, but at one point, the game black screened on me and it was rolling(makes me think the NTSC patch didn't work). The DNAS in there is a DNAS300.img, and there's also an IOPRP300.img, but I had taken the IOPRP300.img from Heroes of the Pacific instead of using the one in WRC Rally Evolved. Need a little help here.

 

Hey Ace,

Don't really have any advice, but I do have a question for you: Why did you choose to use an IOPR from a different game? Did you find something about there being an advantage to using a larger/different IOPR, or what?

If there wasn't a reason behind the original choice, maybe you should try making the ISO again with the IOPR from the original disc renamed to DNAS instead of the one from Heroes?

In spite of my last paragraph, I don't think you are having a DNAS problem though, really. With the rolling you are describing, it is probably something about the NTSC patch as you suspected. As far as I know the DNAS problem/replacement determines whether the game even boots at all, not anything about the video scanning.

Would you be willing to write up something about the NTSC/PAL patching process? I don't know anything about it - and don't have a need for it - but it would be good to at least have that information on the thread, too.

Thanks!

 

It still gives a rolling black screen even when using WRC Rally Evolved's IOPRP. The reality is that I downloaded the ISO because I can't make an ISO rip from the original DVD(I don't have a DVD drive on my computer, go figure). I used the IOPRP from the ISO, and it still doesn't work(I think I missed something or it cares if the IOPRP is there or not). I'll try using every disc I have that has an IOPRP300 file in it. I tried without using an NTSC patch, by the way.

EDIT: Well, this is very nice, I just found out WRC Rally Evolved doesn't work with the DNAS swap(take a look here: http://jaydium.servehttp.com/usbextreme/comments.php?gameselect=WRC Rally Evolved&itsregion=PAL )
Looks like I'm stuck. I'll try without it.

Confirmed. This game doesn't work at all.

 

Hello,
I am buying an external harddrive today, but what about Kindom Hearts 2?
Will it work after a patch? I checked the CD and it only has the IOPRP300.img. I have read on the Jaydium compatiblility list that Kingdom Hearts 2 (PAL, btw) is not compatible unless you do a DNAS300 change. Is it true, did someone try this?

 

Hey Guys! Happy New Year!

I figured I'd start this year off by modding my PS2. What I want to do is do a softmod to my chubby original PS2 (it's not a slim). I've been reading forum posts for weeks trying to understand how this all works. All I ever see is stuff about slim PS2 consoles.

Does anyone have a link to a tut or some advice on how I could softmod my chubby PS2? I'd like to be able to boot disc images off my external USB HDD if possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

Ok, I got my external drive. Am installing Kingdom Hearts 2 with an IOPRP change, hope it works.

 

do you have to use FAT32?

 

Yes, you have to. But I am not sure if NTFS is also possible, another member can answer this. BTW: Got my external HD working! Kingdom Hearts 2 running but without music.

 

PT,

I don't have a chubby to try it, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. As far as I have read, the chubby USB ports are less restricted than the slims. I don't think you would have any problems.

All you need is Swap Magic and an external USB Hard Drive. The chubby PS2 has USB ports, so I don't see why the process wouldn't be the same.

Go back to the first page of this thread, and I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to simply follow the same tutorial for your chubby; there is nothing specific to the slim about the tutorial.

Good luck, and don't forget to report back so anyone else looking to use a USB HD with a chubby will know if it works.

 

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/250563 this says to do it with ntfs and others I have read say fat32. I am going to try ntfs first.

 

For some of you having problems with black screen freeze or the PS2 not recognizing your hard drive, one of the problems I encountered was my drive was not formated to FAT32. (Even though the first step is to do so.)

BUT the problem is Windows XP doesn't like to format external hard drives larger than 32 gigs as FAT32. It will keep it as NTFS. But if you are using USB extreme, this is no problem. Here's the important part:

After formatting your entire drive as NTFS, (just one partition) open USB extreme. Then, before putting on games, click the format option, it will instantly switch your drive to FAT32 with hardly any wait. After that, put on games and use the SWAPMAGIC folder trick as noted. It should all work perfectly.

Hope this helps

 

This thread should be sticky'd, pretty handy for everyone who wants to play games off an USB-HDD. EDIT: Is there any good PS2 homebrew developer here? If so, we could enchance the program to buffer the FMV before playing, so we'll reduce the stuttering.