PS2 Japan (NTSC-J) HDD Mod?

[01toubib]

Hey guys, I'm planning on buying a couple of Japanese PS2's (Fat models) to add to my collection (I love the colors they offered in Japan)

Thing is they are NTSC-J and I have hundreds of games that are NTSC-US. At first I was thinking to soft mod, but I haven't really enjoyed the ideas that swapmagic offered. I then thought hard mod, and realized I've never soldered anything in my life.

Then I stumbled upon the HD mod where you get the the PS2 HDD converter and a HD and then buy this thing. (HDloader)

http://www.ps2cover.com/products/HD-Loader.html

However, I'm not sure I connected the dots properly... I'm I understanding this right? That all I need is that disk and then I can play all my games straight from the Hard Drive, or am I missing something?

Also if you have any other advice on how to tackle this issue I'm all ears? I don't want to play backups or burned disks or anything. I have all the games I want, I just want to be able to play my NTSC-US games on a NTSC-J system.

[elmagicochrisg]

You will need HD Advance 3.0 the NTSC/J version, a hard disk up to 200GB, a PS2 hdd ethernet adapter...

There's other options too, like USB Extreme. Might be better. I think it supports bigger hard disks...

I think you can also softmod your PS2 with a Memory Card (Free McBoot).

Maybe someone else can fill you in on that...

[flojocabron]

My friend and I are HD loading/ free mic booting some fat ps2s.

You need a larger memory card and a ps2 modem. And a codebreaker disc to transfer important files to fool the ps2. Hence the bigger card. Get a 16 mb one.

You stick a game in the ps2 and the game is transfered to the hard drive.

If you remove the special memory card, it turns back into a normal PS2

But it takes a while to transfer all your games. Some games are multiple GBs big and only so much can fit on a hard drive.

Right now we're using a 120 GB hard drive and we first experimented with some 40 and 60Gb drives.

My friend found a special adapter and he is currently testing to see if the system can accept newer high capacity HDD. The smaller kind.

Since the tech is kinda old, you have to get older style hard drives. And you have to Check that it fits with the ps2 modem. You can remove the metal plating to make hdd's fit better though.

We don't have any JP games to see if they can be copied to the HDD. And we haven't tried hooking up the hard drive to a PC to copy isos to it. My friend is not sure if the PC will try to format the drive and erase all the games on it.

But the memory card does have a file that will make the ps2 accept burned games.

That's all I know so far. I don't have the console yet, all that I've said is what he's told me and what I've seen with him.

[theclaw]

PS2, like Dreamcast, must be hard modded to directly load original imports from the disc tray (meaning without any form of swap trick or otherwise).

So AFAIK attempting to install imports to hard drive will fail if using a 100% stock PS2.

The reason PC installation or PC network transfers aren't region locked, is because those methods don't involve PS2's optical drive.

[elmagicochrisg]

PS2, like Dreamcast, must be hard modded to directly load original imports from the disc tray (meaning without any form of swap trick or otherwise).

So AFAIK attempting to install imports to hard drive will fail if using a 100% stock PS2.

The reason PC installation or PC network transfers aren't region locked, is because those methods don't involve PS2's optical drive.

So what about this Free McBoot then?...

[Ziggy]

HD = High Definition

HDD = Hard Drive

[01toubib]

PS2, like Dreamcast, must be hard modded to directly load original imports from the disc tray (meaning without any form of swap trick or otherwise).

So AFAIK attempting to install imports to hard drive will fail if using a 100% stock PS2.

The reason PC installation or PC network transfers aren't region locked, is because those methods don't involve PS2's optical drive.

If I put all these games on my HDD by loading them from my computer it should work though correct?

I wasn't intending to burn the disks from the PS2 as I'm worried about burning out the laser.(I stumbled on some old threads from like 2005 about it)

I was thinking more along the lines I put my whole collection on my HDD using my comp, and then putting that HDD in my PS2 to play.

[Ziggy]

^ Yeah, you can do it that one. I use a PC to transfer games to the hard drive. It's easier and/or faster that way, and yes, you don't put wear and tear on the PS2's optical drive.

You want a Free MCboot memory card. The "newbie package" comes with the most useful software, including OPL (Open PS2 Loader) which is the latest and greatest HDD loading software for PS2. If you don't have the means to install FMCB yourself, there's plenty of people that'll do it for you for free (just pay shipping).

I suggest using an official Sony memory card only. Third party cards usually suck. You don't want your FMCB card to become corrupt especially when you have no way of installing it yourself.

[01toubib]

Ok cool, but what exactly does the Free McBoot allow me to do? I'm not sure I'm understanding this correctly.

If I get the Memory card with FMCB, do I still need a HD loader disk?

[theclaw]

FMCB lets you run HD loader as homebrew, from a memory card or USB stick.

It does not break region lock on legit game discs