Modded PS2/ HD loader questions

[miked]

So I have been on the search for a PS2 but I refuse to spend more than $50 for something that millions upon millions exist. Out of no where my brother tells me that he has a fat PS2 I can have, but it only reads games about 25% of the time. I will probably attempt to adjust the laser, but thats not my question.

Can I take the HD out of the PS2, put it into my computer and drag and drop ISO's onto it, or will I need a specific program to do so? Do the image files need to be in any specific format so HD Loader can read them? I plan on ripping my own games because my internet is pretty shitty and has a bandwidth limit of 10 GB a month so downloading is pretty much out of the question.

[alexis524]

easiest way is to get yourself an external HD to make swapping between PS2 and pc easier and faster. What i use is a program called winhiip which first formats the HD for you, then is a program that allows xfer of iso to HD. It's very easy and straightforward. When you are done loading iso's on HD, all you need to do is detach cables from external HD and plug in into the network adapter. Of course you will need an exploit such as HD loader on your memory card and a psx trigger disk to be able to run iso's off of your HD. Or, since the laser is not the best, you may want to look into free mcboot. I've never used it yet, but from what i hear, the exploit is ran off of the mem card then right to the HD. No trigger disk, no laser needed.

[miked]

Very cool. Thanks.

Do the ISO's need to be in .iso format, or does HDL read just about any format? Or worse some oddball HDL only format......

EDIT: Yes I plan on using freemcboot. Either getting someone on the forums to load it on one of my cards, or I might just buy a preloaded one from wclem's BST thread.

[zerexerez]

Very cool. Thanks.

Do the ISO's need to be in .iso format, or does HDL read just about any format? Or worse some oddball HDL only format......

EDIT: Yes I plan on using freemcboot. Either getting someone on the forums to load it on one of my cards, or I might just buy a preloaded one from wclem's BST thread.

If you are using Winhiip to transfer, list of supported images

[miked]

Nice. Thanks guys.

Just about every image format I know.

[executioner]

Just so you know you can also transfer the games via ftp but it takes forever. Stick with an external enclosure or ide-usb cable to transfer your ISOs.

Freemcboot+Hdloader FTW.