2x mystery TOOL hdds...but i cant access them :(

hi everyone, new member here, joined as this seems to be the place for ps2 development

ive had a PS2 TOOL for a few months, but recently got hold of 2 used external hdds. they came just hdd unit only, but i have a new boxed one so i have all the necessary cables and pcmcia card

unfortunately though my TOOL has no internal hdd, so i have no way of accessing the hdds, as they lie completely dormant until the drivers have loaded and i command to access them via linux (im assuming?)

so, does anyone have any drivers? or is a sdk disk accessible? or could anyone at least point me in a direction where i can get ths beauty setup and see whats on these hard drives please?

any help appreciated
thank you
SHLIM

 

You can use an usb adapter for dumping the data.

 

If your tools have no internal hdd you need one for the host board.

You could try a cloned image, I don't see why it wouldn't work unless there's some matching encrypted
hardware id on the system.

 

How can you be using Linux on the TOOL, if the TOOL has no HDD unit? Are you referring to the PS2 or PC side of the TOOL? Nobody is supposed to be using the PC side of the TOOL, at least not normally.

 

im not using limux...im just assuming the drivers need to be loaded from that? then the externals are accessed via command line?
could someone point me in the right direction for a main disc image? as my main goal is to setup this beast rather than just pull the info from the externals
thanks

 

Regardless of the condition of your TOOL (the PC-side HDD being missing or not), the external HDD units have nothing to do with the PC-side (and hence has nothing to do with Linux and its driver).
The only thing that can access the external HDD units are PS2 software. If you want to see what is on them, then you need software like uLaunchELF... which only works properly on a retail console, unless you do some hackery: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/help-with-running-elf-on-ps2-tool.29388/

The other way, would be to just plug them into a retail console (SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000 or SCPH-18000) and use uLaunchELF on them.

I can't really help you to get a the HDD image for the PC-side HDD unit, however. I think that there's a difference between the old Pentium 233 and Celeron 566 models. There's a thread with a link to a disk image for the Pentium 233 model: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/ps2-dtl-t10000-tool-help-needed-how-to-install-ps2-linux.48417/

 

excelent ty, im pretty sure mines the p233 model
ive got a hdd to plonk inside the pc side of it, just neeed to open it up again when i get chance

now with the external hdds im confused, they have a weird connection that doesnt fit anywhere in a retail console, and the network adapters have internal hdd connections so theres no way i could connect it to a retail machine, unless im missing something?

also if theyre only accessed via the ps2 side then how would i access them? as i thought the ps2 side had to be booted via command line? (ive found little info regarding using one for the first time so im going from the 3 videos youtube has to offer)

thanks for your help

 

Original Japanese PS2s have external harddrives. I believe that the harddrives in the case are identical and would work if you took it out of the case, although I know that is not ideal.

 

yes i think inside the cases are just standard ide hdd's, but as the sony seal is still intact id rather not open one or both unless as a last resort..
and yes i think ive seen the same looking hdds used along side ffx-2, i remember reading a thread saying its the only true way to play the game, using a hdd

 

These HDD units will only connect to the network adaptor (SCPH-10190) of the first PlayStation 2 consoles (SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000 and SCPH-18000).

They are regular SONY PS2 IDE disks inside (SCPH-20401).

Like I wrote earlier, you have to use uLaunchELF or some software that can access the HDD unit. But uLaunchELF will NOT work on a DTL-T10000, unless you either use some hackery (as mentioned in my earlier post) or use an older flash image (~v2.0).

The PS2 side is automatically started up when you switch on the TOOL. To execute programs, you load and run programs with dsedb (with the "run" command).

 

ok, im gonna mess with it later tonight, but im slightly confused....if the hdd isnt used by the pc side then whats its purpose? it connects via pcmcia slot which wont work in a standard pc from what ive read...so if its only use is for the ps2 side then i dont see what relevance it holds to the tool?

 

It's for developers to develop games that support the HDD unit. This is a similar HDD unit to the one used by the early retail sets (SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000 and SCPH-18000).
The retail versions are the SCPH-20400 and SCPH-10210.

The HDD unit and the network adaptor was never released throughout the world, but basically the PlayStation 2 had an optional HDD unit. Games can save to it and run themselves from the HDD unit.
The PS2 had the PSBBN, which was the predecessor to the PSN.

 

The Tool has 2 internal IDE harddrives, one of wich is used by the PC board to load a rather old version of Linux and the necessary drivers and software to control the PS2 side of the Tool, that control can be done remotely over ethernet or locally if you plug a keyboard and VGA monitor on the PC board.
The external hdds with PCMCIA interface are used with PS2 software only, for example: PS2 Linux, Final Fantasy XI, BBN, on a retail console (the old models sp193 mentioned) or on a TEST unit (dtl-h10000), or even on a Tool (for some of the software).

 

so theres not gonna be any source code on them then?

 

Not at all. Not even if you got your hands on the HDDs from within a TOOL, since development is done remotely on other PCs.

At most, you will find development versions of games on these disks.

 

thats a shame, but nevermind
ok...so in that case, what can i do with this tool? is it worth me getting it up and running? or should i just sell it off?
ideally i had imagined developing on it, but from research, and what you just said, i need a pc to develop with anyway.
its nice to own one...but i have an ever growing collection that could utilise the space better if all this is going to be is a oversised paperweight

 

From what I have read, you are not very interested to work with it and program on it.
You don't even have the official SDK installed on your computer which can link to the TOOL.
In that case, I think it is just a paper weight and selling it is a wise choice. A modified / MC loader is more meaning for you instead.

 

One doesn't need the SONY PS2SDK to develop stuff with the TOOL. I have been using it to develop homebrew software, with the homebrew PS2SDK.
I did, however, still copy over the SONY DSNET tools, as they are required for communication with the TOOL.

 

well if thats your assumption "the7thchild" then im gathering you didnt read any parts that ive written :/ ...id like you to explain what other reasons there is for buying a tool with no hdds installed? cuz if i didnt buy it for developing then maybe i got it cuz i thought id be cool? ....i dont think so! ...i dont have the sdk as i dont know where to get it from yet....now not tryin to be offensive but i dont see the point in negative comments that are based upon assumption, when theres others here trying to help me out!

sp193 is there any links you could forward me to in order to learn about this tool plz, i find very little info explaining what one can actually do for me. And its quite confuing trying to figure out the comparison between the tool, a pc, and the ps2test unit...as it seems if the tool isnt used for programming on then i dont see what is does different to the test unit? or maybe tool reads source and test reads retail?
ive got me a hdd to install the image of the tool on it, so hoping to do that this week

 

Not really, since that information wasn't given out to outsiders. SONY did have powerpoint presentations for their people, but rightfully we won't get to see them.

The TOOL is the development hardware. It offers debugging and testing functionality via the host device (network) and the CD/DVD drive.
Development is done on another PC, from which you can run your programs on the TOOL via the DSNET tools.
The PC-side is just the "communications processor", so you are supposed to just ignore it. Rightfully, the developers couldn't log into the TOOL's PC side.

A DebugStation (DEX) unit is just for testing games on retail-like hardware before they are sent for pressing. The TOOL can do the same thing, except that the DEX unit cannot normally be used for debugging.