Best way to list what is already on an external PS2 DTL-20400/SCPH-20400 HDD?

What's the best way to find what is already on an external PS2 DTL-20400/SCPH-20400 HDD?

Since the contents don't normally show up on the PS2 browser, I assume that the only way to do this is through the PSBBN (and possibly the earlier Utility discs) - is this correct? For PSBBN at least, it's my understanding that it's keyed to the PS2 it was installed from, so you wouldn't be able to use it it check what's on a drive without re-installing it.

Got myself a few of these drives to experiment with - they had been previously formatted (not suprising, as they were used), so I didn't need to do anything special to use them with some JP titles I have that support the HDD. Next, I was planning to install PSBBN, but I'd like to know what's already on the drive first, if possible (in case I end up clobbering something of interest).

 

Assuming you have a scph 10000, you only need to reinstall the psbbn to put the hdd drivers on the memory card (or browser 2.0) without reformatting the drive.
The scph 15000 and 18000 already have the hdd drivers in the bios, so they should boot whatever is installed on the hdd (psbbn or updaed browser), but won't run the installed stuff like playonline and the titles that use it.

 

Yeah, I'm using a scph-10000 unit - that explains why it was asking for a memory card, when I tried the option that I think will install PSBBN without doing a format. So, I got a spare memory card & went through the steps - it writes 2 files to the MC & then you see a few moments of HDD access before it comes up with a red window (attached image) - I think it's telling me that the Navi install failed, possibly due to incompatibility between whats on the HDD & the 0.20 version of the PSBBN software I have? (I'm guessing most of that as the couple of kanji characters in there are making it hard for me to translate.)

The files on the MC do make a difference - now, when the PS2 is rebooted, the HDD spins up for a few moments. However, the PSBBN software doesn't seem to come up - it goes to the usual PS2 menu screen.

 

It doesn't say why the install failed, only that it did. "Make sure the BB Unit is set up correctly and the disc is inserted."

 

Cez, thanks for confirming what that message actually was.

Hmm. Well, the disc was definately still inserted & the HDD itself is known to be working, as I've been able to install onto/load from it with the JP versions of Virtua Fighter 4 & Winning Eleven 6 Final evo.

What other reasons could be making it unhappy? - I'm guessing version compatibility is still a possibility here, but currently 0.20 is the only PSBBN version I have access to & I have no way to tell what the HDD was originally setup with.

 

You have a way to boot backup in your scph 10000?

 

Unfortunately, no - not for the 10000 units.

I swapped the external HDD unit for one of my others & that booted happily into the PS BBN with the MC I'd already done, so I'm guessing that it may well be a compatibility issue with whatever version the HDD was previously configured with.

Interestingly, I'm also summising that the BBN/MC file writes are not keyed to a particular system, since I've since been able to move it between 2 scph-10000 units without problems.

 

I bought a used external hdd not so long ago and I haven't had any problems accessing it, I will test it with different versions of the hdd driver (I have the hdd utility disc 1.00 and psbbn .10, .20 and .32).
The hdd driver are not keyed to a particular system but to the memory card they are installed.
You could connect the hdd to your pc if you don't have any other way to find out...