A Few Questions about HD Advance

[Lone Wanderer]

So, I've decided I'll shell out for HD Advance instead of trying to DIY it with Open Ps2 Loader.
Where can I purchase HD Advance?
What else will I need to buy in order to install games the internal HDD route (already have one)?
Will I need FreeMcBoot or will HD Advance work without it?

Help very much appreciated and needed. Thanks

EDIT: right now the drive I'm going to use is the D drive in my computer. Will I need to format it in any special way before installing it in my PS2?

[Hobie-wan]

If you gt a FreeMCBoot memory card made, you don't need to buy an actual HD Loader disc. HD Loader will have the option to format the drive.

[Lone Wanderer]

So if I get FreeMCBoot I'll just need to download HD Loader? And burn it to a disc?
Thanks

[gtmtnbiker]

So if I get FreeMCBoot I'll just need to download HD Loader? And burn it to a disc?
Thanks

The default Free McBoot noobie package will put FreeMcBoot, ESR, SMS, HD Loader, uLaunch all on your PS2 memory card with room to spare (~5MB) for your game saves.

With FreeMcBoot, I'm able to play games off the hard drive of a fat PS2 with a dead laser. Something you can't do with a pressed copy of HD Advance.

[Lone Wanderer]

Awesome. Now unfortunately, my Ps2 won't read a total of 5 games I have out of 15.
They are:
War of the Monsters
Gran Turismo 4
Red Faction II
ATV Quad Power Racing
Black
None of them are very scratched up, so I'm assuming it's the ps2 and not the games. Will HD Loader still be able to rip these?
Also, what hardware do I need to hook up my HDD to the ps2?
thanks

[Hobie-wan]

If the PS2 wont' read them to play, it probably isn't going to read them to rip either unless the running game is less tolerant to multiple tries to reread sections of the disc. But you'd be able to use hdldump or winhiip on your PC to get the games on there.

[Lone Wanderer]

Alright I figured. So I assume I will need to reconnect the HDD to my pc after it is formatted by HD Loader, then rip those games to it?

[Hobie-wan]

Alright I figured. So I assume I will need to reconnect the HDD to my pc after it is formatted by HD Loader, then rip those games to it?

You can do that or you can FTP in to do it. But having it hooked directly to your PC will be faster. HDLdump and Winhiip might be able to format the drive for use too. Been a while since I did mine.

[Hatta]

I've never had to use FTP with my PS2. Hdl_dump is sort of FTP like, but it handles the extraction of files from the iso and putting them in the right place by itself. If you have FMCB you can launch the hdld_svr.elf from the hard disk, usb stick, or memory card with uLaunchELF.

Edit: BTW, it takes about 25 minutes to copy over DVD with HDLD on my network.

[CRTGAMER]

Gamecube SD Gecko and PS2 HDAdvance/HDloader Guide