Alright I have 2 dev hdds from Canada I think. No idea what is on these, could be nothing. I do have a test DTL-H10000s with the dev PCMCIA adapter and an scph-10000k with a retail pcmcia adapter. Would like to not crack these babies open but maybe I gotta break a few eggs?
There's currently no software to actually dump the disks... but if you want to just back up the content, the disks are browsable with uLaunchELF.
If the drives are in standard APA format, could hdl_dump's copy_hdd command be used to clone them, or does that only work with HDL partitions? Or, possibly the "salvage" version (often seen as "hdl_dump2")?
That's why I was asking whether or not it was limited to HDL partitions, was hoping you or someone else might know. If it can't copy PFS partitions, then it would be useless. A PS2-side tool similar to the hdld_svr, but with the ability to dump PFS partitions would be the best idea to prevent having to remove the drive from it's nice Sony housing. Even better would be a tool that would basically image the drive over the network - this would also cover preserving any space that previously held files, but where either the files or partitions were "soft-deleted". If HDLDump can copy PFS partitions, maybe it would suit that need. I don't currently have the capability to test it for that purpose.
I guess that the OP would prefer to not have to crack those cases open, otherwise there would be a lot of ways to copy the content of the disks. I think that a dump itself wouldn't be of much use. Its relevance would really depend on what the OP wants: 1. if he wants to backup the disk (1:1 copy), then a dump would help. 2. If he just wants to explore the content of a game, then copying the files out would probably be easier. 3. If he wants to view the content of the disk, then a dump might not be very helpful because no tool allows the browsing of a HDD dump (given that it is using the APA scheme). 4. If he wishes to copy the disk for use on another disk, then whether that works or not depends on the content - DNAS-protected content may not boot on a different PS2 and/or HDD unit. @LocalH, the tool doesn't need to actually understand PFS. Given that all partitions are actually within APA partitions, it only has to understand APA. My only concern here, would only be if it was made to deal with only HDLoader games and no other types of partitions.
I am thinking at this point cracking them open is the only option. I am more just curious is there is anything of use/unreleased content/etc on the discs and don't want to delete something like that just to get BB navi on the 10k etc.
If you want to just see whether there is anything on them, then you should really just use uLaunchELF. If the disk is unused, then it should have no other partitions, other than the ones for the system/osd (__system, __sysconf, __common, __mbr) or the PSBBN (Linux partitions). Anyway, if there is something on the disk, I am quite sure that the developers would have to first format the disk and have the HDD browser installed first, by the HDD Utility Disc on the DebugStation. AFAIK, no game was allowed to format the disk on its own. Therefore, the disk should have the browser installed on it. If your SCPH-10000 was already set-up to boot from a HDD (i.e. it has the system driver update installed or even FMCB), then it should boot the browser on the HDD if you connect the HDDs to your console. No need to actually erase anything. EDIT: uh, maybe not. If they were for US consoles, then your SCPH-10000 can't boot those disks (HDD browser is region-locked). Using uLaunchELF to check the disks should be the most reliable option.
Yeah my guess here is the 10k is the unit to use since the TEST won't boot FMCB. Just gotta get off my lazy butt and make a FMCB on my 37000.
launchelf claims they have nothing on them but also all my options are greyed out. Bit disappointing. Guess now just gotta figure out how to get BB navi on at least one of these. Not much I can do with the TEST ps2 and one so.... can't hook it to the DESR-7100 either.
Did you view the partitions with the HDD manager option (under MISC)? The HDD has a lot of partitions on them, not just one. The hdd0: option is for browsing PFS partitions that can be accessed, so anything else that cannot be accessed (or is simply unsupported) will not be listed. Also, make sure that the little switch under the HDD unit is set to DEVICE 0.
There is no accessible content on the HDDs then. Unless, they're actually locked. The use of this system isn't something that I can exactly confirm or deny... but the custom HDD firmware IS actually part of the SONY DRM, which seems to have been designed to prevent people from moving the HDD unit to another console. The i.Link ID of the console that it was used on, is used as the password for unlocking the device. If the HDD is moved, then the HDD would need to be erased. Due to how the homebrew libhdd is, it appears that the fact that uLaunchELF says "connected" but "not formatted" could also mean that the device is locked. Personally, I only have one semi-working (now dead) SCPH-20400 and one fully-functional unit. But both were not locked, so I don't know if SONY ever exercised this part of its DRM solution. If the HDDs can be formatted with uLaunchELF, then they're simply empty (as uLaunchELF doesn't deal with the DRM). They're probably empty though. I haven't heard of anyone here having one with interesting content.
Well a bit disappointing but good to know for sure. Ok HDD formatted now how to get BB Navi on it. I want stock not the modified. I have copies of .10, .20 (somewhere), and .30...