Wii Key - Gamecube SD Gecko - PS2 HDAdvance/HDloader Guide

[CRTGAMER]

1. Can Open PS2 Loader can be downloaded as a "game" ISO?

2. I could not find it, but is OPL compatible with a HDAdvance created hard drive?

I didn't even know it was feesable to put HDloader on as an iso. I mean I know it's possible to convert it TO a PS2 iso. But I had always heard that there could be conflicting drivers and what not.

Otherwise, the Hard Drive structure is the same. HDA and HDL are 2 slightly modified versions of the same program and I alternate between HDloader and OPL for a few games all the time (OPL is my main use). I originally formatted the drive with Winhiip.

Thanks, good to know OPL is compatible with the HDAdvance hard drive setup. Now to find OPL as a "PS2 Game" ISO to install as I did with HDLoader.

My PS2 consoles boot HDAdvance off the pressed disc (no mod chip needed) which includes HDLoader in the game menu for the low ratio of games that need it. Selecting the HDLoader "game" then rescans the hard drive under the newer HDLoader menu. I have around ten games in the Hard drive which includes HDLoad in the game name of the listing as a reminder. Ideally I could do the same for OPL if there is a game ISO version of it.

[Ziggy]

Thanks, good to know OPL is compatible with the HDAdvance hard drive setup. Now to find OPL as a "PS2 Game" ISO to install as I did with HDLoader.

My PS2 consoles boot HDAdvance off the pressed disc (no mod chip needed) which includes HDLoader in the game menu for the low ratio of games that need it. Selecting the HDLoader "game" then rescans the hard drive under the newer HDLoader menu. I have around ten games in the Hard drive which includes HDLoad in the game name of the listing as a reminder. Ideally I could do the same for OPL if there is a game ISO version of it.

Dude, you're going about it all wrong. You install OPL on a memory card. You can run OPL without the need of a disc.

Do this: Get FMCB on a memory card if you don't already have it. If you don't, there's an ISO you can get, you can use HDL to boot the ISO and install FMCB. Use the "noobie package" which includes OPL (you might want to upgrade to the latest version though). Start using OPL.

[nightrnr]

Ziggy is right of course, putting FMCBOOT on a memory card is the best way to go.

You can even put both HDloader and OPL on the main menu. It is 2 separate programs, but it's not really a big deal.

Besides, once you get used to OPL, I doubt you'll go back for very many games. You can soft reset right back to OPL (if you save to path in the options) and has Virtual Memory cards (works for most games), and is more compatible, in my experience (although both programs have games that run better than the other). You can even customize backrounds, etc., and put pics of game covers for each game if you want.

Also, what are you going to do when your laser goes out and can't run anything including your boot disc?

The real question is how to get FMCBOOT (and UlaunchELF, since they basically work in tandem) on your card using your HDAdvance disc.
See this for more info:
http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/fmcb/hdloader.php

If you need any clarification on anything, just ask

[Ziggy]

I use to use HDA before I got OPL. I used my HDA disc to install FMCB.

CRT, I know that you use the PS2's disc drive to rip games to the HDD. You'll need some way to get the FMCB install ISO on your HDD. Obviously you can't just install the ISO to the HDD like you normally do, but it's actually really easy.

The easier (to set up) way is to remove the PS2 HDD from the console and connect it to a computer. You can either connect it internally as a slave drive, or by USB via an external HDD enclosure. Then you use a program on the PC to dump images to the HDD. The guide that nightrnr linked tells you to use Winhiiip. I always used HDL Dump. You'll get the same results with either.

So in short: Remove the HDD from the PS2 and connect it to a PC. Use Winhiip or HDL Dump to install the ISO on the HDD. Reinstall the HDD in the PS2.

The other way you can transfer ISOs to the HDD is not as easy to set up, but in the end it's the easier way to do it.

You can connect to the PS2 over a network using HDA or OPL. Connect your PS2 directly to a PC with a crossover cable, or connect the PS2 to a router/switch using a standard patch cable. Put HDA/OPL into server mode. Load HDL Dump and connect it to your PS2's HDD. Transfer the ISO to the HDD. Done.

Doing it this way means you don't have to move the HDD around. It might take a bit to get it working, but it's worth it. Once you get it set up, you can use your PC to install games to the HDD. That means you don't have to use the PS2 to rip games anymore. You would use your PC to rip discs to an ISO, then transfer the ISO to the PS2 HDD via the network. It keeps even more wear and tear off the PS2 optical drive, and once it's set up it's real easy to do.

Anyway, once you get the ISO installed on the HDD, just use HDA to boot it. You'll put the noobie package (contains install files and a few apps including OPL) on a USB stick. Press a few buttons and FMCB will be installed on a memory card.

Tips:

Note that you have to format the memory card when you do this, so don't use one with saves on it. I recommend using only an official Sony memory card. Once FMCB is installed you can still use the memory card for saves, so you don't have to worry about it tying up a card.

You'll see when you launch the installer that there's two types of installs you can do. There's many different revisions to the PS2 console, and there's install files that are different depending on what revision you have. You can do a universal install, which will make FMCB work on any revision console, but it takes up more room on the card. Or, you can do a compact install that'll make FMCB work on THAT console only. It takes up less room on the card though. So if you only plan to use FMCB on that one console, do the compact install so there's more room on the card for apps and saves.

FYI, if someone was installing FMCB for you, they would use the universal install. Once you get the FMCB memory card on your PS2, you could change it to a compact install so it takes up less room. Or, leave it as a universal install if you wanted to share it between multiple PS2s.

The noobie package has OPL in it, but probably not the latest version. If it isn't the latest version, just download the current version of OPL and replace those files in the noobie package.

And, as already mentioned, all the games you already have installed on the HDD should work perfectly fine with OPL.

[CRTGAMER]

CRT, I know that you use the PS2's disc drive to rip games to the HDD. You'll need some way to get the FMCB install ISO on your HDD. Obviously you can't just install the ISO to the HDD like you normally do, but it's actually really easy.

The easier (to set up) way is to remove the PS2 HDD from the console and connect it to a computer. You can either connect it internally as a slave drive, or by USB via an external HDD enclosure.

You can connect to the PS2 over a network using HDA or OPL. Connect your PS2 directly to a PC with a crossover cable, or connect the PS2 to a router/switch using a standard patch cable. Put HDA/OPL into server mode. Load HDL Dump and connect it to your PS2's HDD. Transfer the ISO to the HDD. Done.

You would use your PC to rip discs to an ISO, then transfer the ISO to the PS2 HDD via the network. It keeps even more wear and tear off the PS2 optical drive, and once it's set up it's real easy to do.

And, as already mentioned, all the games you already have installed on the HDD should work perfectly fine with OPL.

Already covered what you are suggesting in the Guide on the first page
No need for me to move the PS2 hard drive to a PC hard drive bay or go the USB route, I already have a lot of games already installed. The PS2 hard drive mount in the PC for me would only be handy for dumping a lot of games in one session. Since my installs and deletes are only one or two games at a time, I prefer going the direct disc install route. Yes I am running the disc reader, but certainly so much less run time versus a continual game play session.

See the Guide (2nd Reply 1st page) for the Ethernet Crossover Cable Method
If I do have to install dual layer games over 4gb, only then will I take the time to burn an ISO to the PC and transfer via the crossover Ethernet cable. I have done this for both God Of War games as well as certain CD games that defeat the HDAdvance direct install.

Does Open PS2 Loader support dual layer (over 4gb) games as well as CD based games?
I'll eventually try out OPL if there is a disc based "game iso" version since I really like the convenience of simply turning on the PS2 to automatically boot up the hard drive menu. Maybe I might tackle the memory card layout, just do not like the extra steps of opening the memory card and running a program for every single game from a reset. For now I am content with the HDAdvance/HDLoader combo which also includes support for ALL the dual layer games such as God Of War.

[Ziggy]

Does Open PS2 Loader support dual layer (over 4gb) games as well as CD based games?
I'll eventually try out OPL if there is a disc based "game iso" version since I really like the convenience of simply turning on the PS2 to automatically boot up the hard drive menu. Maybe I might tackle the memory card layout, just do not like the extra steps of opening the memory card and running a program for every single game from a reset. For now I am content with the HDAdvance/HDLoader combo which also includes support for ALL the dual layer games such as God Of War.

You made a few wrong assumptions of what it does and how it works.

Yes, OPL supports dual layer "DVD9" games. OPL has better compatibility than HDL and HDA. Period.

You do NOT open the memory card to launch apps!

Apps can be stored on a memory card for convenience. Otherwise, you'd have to store an app on a USB device and deal with the annoyance of having a USB stick plugged into the console. But, chances are you already have a PS2 memory card plugged in at all times. So, for convenience sake, you can install commonly used apps onto a memory card.

You do not browse into the memory card to launch apps. If you have FMCB installed on a memory card, and that card is inserted into either slot, when you turn the console on it'll add shortcuts to launch apps installed on the memory card.



So with a stock FMCB install you'd turn the console on, select OPL from the menu, and OPL would launch.

Additionally, there's a number of ways you can customize it. You can set it so that when you press the reset button it'll go back to the OPL menu. You can set it up so that if you hold down a button on the controller while powering on the console it'll auto launch OPL. You can even configure it to boot straight into OPL whenever you turn the console on, without having to hold down any buttons. So if ease of using it is a reason you don't want to try OPL... You'll have to come up with something else!

I was using HDA for a while, and like you, I was content with it. I had no desire to install FMBC and did not care about OPL. Then someone asked me if I could install FMCB on a memory card for them, so I decided to do it for myself as well. Long story short, I sold my HDA discs.

Please just try this: Install the noobie package on a memory card. Give OPL a whirl. If you REALLY don't like it, delete FMCB and the apps off the memory card and it'll be like it never happened. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. There's really no reason NOT to try it!

And if you didn't already know, FYI: FMCB does not modify the console in any way. It makes use of an exploit that can load content from a memory card. If you ever want to NOT use FMCB, you can simply just remove that memory card. And, like I said, if you ever wanted to permanently get rid of FMCB, just delete all the files from that memory card and it'll be like you never had it. Another thing, uLaunchELF is one of the apps you'll get in the noobie package. In a nutshell, it's a file browser. But it allows you to do a lot of things that would otherwise be impossible to do. You can use it to launch apps from a USB stick (without having to install them on a memory card). You can copy/paste, which allows you to move saves from a memory card to a USB stick and vice versa (back up saves for safe keeping).

[nightrnr]

Was going to respond but Ziggy beat me and did it better.

But here's my comments anyways:

Does Open PS2 Loader support dual layer (over 4gb) games as well as CD based games?
I'll eventually try out OPL if there is a disc based "game iso" version since I really like the convenience of simply turning on the PS2 to automatically boot up the hard drive menu. Maybe I might tackle the memory card layout, just do not like the extra steps of opening the memory card and running a program for every single game from a reset. For now I am content with the HDAdvance/HDLoader combo which also includes support for ALL the dual layer games such as God Of War.

OPL has no problems with Dual Layer games.

I did mention that OPL's in-game-reset (IGR) can be saved straight to the path of OPL or any other ELF file right? (meaning switching games is super fast, no menus to dive through... works for most games anyways).

ALSO,
You can set up shortcuts for the PS2 Browser menu to run ELF files. Beyond the initial setup, you'd never have to enter the ulaunch memory card browser again (until you want to install other shortcuts anyways, like to run emulators).

Really, the perks can't be beat.
I don't mean to complicate matters for you and if what you have works well enough for you, that's cool. But you should give the other options a try some day.

Have no idea if there is an OPL disc image out there.
If so you'd still need a way for the HDAdvance to recognize an unofficial disc. I'm no help there because I circumvent the need through PC/Winhiip install.

[CRTGAMER]

You can set up shortcuts for the PS2 Browser menu to run ELF files. Beyond the initial setup, you'd never have to enter the ulaunch memory card browser again (until you want to install other shortcuts anyways, like to run emulators).

Have no idea if there is an OPL disc image out there.
If so you'd still need a way for the HDAdvance to recognize an unofficial disc. I'm no help there because I circumvent the need through PC/Winhiip install.

Yes, OPL supports dual layer "DVD9" games. OPL has better compatibility than HDL and HDA. Period.

Additionally, there's a number of ways you can customize it. You can set it so that when you press the reset button it'll go back to the OPL menu. You can set it up so that if you hold down a button on the controller while powering on the console it'll auto launch OPL. You can even configure it to boot straight into OPL whenever you turn the console on, without having to hold down any buttons. So if ease of using it is a reason you don't want to try OPL... You'll have to come up with something else!

@ nightrnr and Ziggy - Sweet! Thanks for the info, I'll definitely have to give it a go.

Best of both worlds with the compatibility on the existing game installs. HDAdvance to install games so I don't have to pull the PS2 Hard drive or deal with game ISOs on the PC with crossover Ethernet and a direct memory card autoload of OPL. I really like the option of using all the hard drive programs. Thanks!

[Ziggy]

I'm glad to hear you're gonna give FMCB and OPL a try!

I just checked the noobie package from the link nightrnr posted. Looks like it hasn't been updated since 2009. I downloaded it and checked the apps that are included, it has HDL but not OPL.

Just download OPL separately: http://psx-scene.com/forums/f150/open-p ... 2-a-62141/

I'd say delete HDL from the noobie package, but since you like to sometimes use it, maybe leave it in there. You'll be able to get to it quicker if it's installed on the memory card (rather then having to boot HDA and then load HDL). Anyway, download OPL and put the files in the noobie package so it'll be installed as well.

And also, delete any apps from the noobie package if you don't want them. You'll save room on the memory card that way, if that matters to you. Delete HDL if you don't want it, or SMS (Simple Media System) which might not be useful to you. ESR is also in the noobie package, it'll allow you to load burns (provided they've been patched). I know you don't like to use burns in console, so delete that one too if you don't want it. Any of these apps can be installed later if you wish. Or install them with everything else, they can be deleted if you decided you don't want them. Or, you can run any of them from a USB stick, if that doesn't bother you.

If you need any help with the install, just ask! I know, at least for me, it's one of those things that seems complicated at first. But once you understand it, you realize how simple it actually is.

[nightrnr]

For me, the noobie package is just to get you started. It was instrumental in helping me learn how it works and where everything was saved and configured (exploring via ulaunch).

Like Ziggy mentioned you could do, I also ended up deleting a couple things and/or renaming and putting other programs in place (again, using ulaunch, not the noobie package). I have one that links to an NES emulator, for example.