I've always assumed it was a firmware flash that made these drives special, is it possible to flash it to a compatible HDD? Or maybe hack a similar drive's firmware to allow it to be recognizable by a PS2?
Yes, this is possible and has already been done. Wait for l_oliveira to chime in, he has some interesting stories to tell about this :nod: The summary goes like this: all that makes the "official" drives special is their firmware, which supports a certain non-standard ATA command. The PS2 does not use some of the regular ATA commands; instead, it "tunnels" them through this special one. If the drive does recognize this, it will answer as if the command had been received the normal way; otherwise, if it is a stock drive, it will fail the command, effectively telling the console that it is not approved by Sony, and the system will just ignore the HDD. There are at least two levels of drive "compatibility": the first one allows the drive to be recognized by the HDD-enabled OSD (that is installed as part of the HDD Utility Disc). All official drives support this, as do the development drives like the external official HDD for the DTL-H10000 debugging station. Another level of compatibility is required for DNAS-enabled games. There are two kinds of them: non-console-locked and console-locked. A non-console-locked game does not care; it will operate even from a foreign HDD, as long as it can read its data (i.e., "first-level" compatibility), and its bootloader (DNASLDNK) and main executable has not been tampered with. On the other hand, a console-locked game is installed to the drive using console- and HDD-specific data. The game does only operate if the executable runs from the specific HDD it has been installed onto, and only if this drive is installed in the console used for the original installation. Why did I write of two levels of compatibility? Because there are drives that are visible from the HOSDSYS, yet do not work with DNAS-HDD games. Querying the DNAS data just fails for them, suggesting the special ATA command is not implemented completely. However, I do not know whether this was intended by Sony or some hacker has just screwed up during firmware patching...
A DTL-H20400 formatted by the HDD utility disc would work exactly the same as the SCPH-10210, correct?
I have two DTL-H20400 drives and when I tested one of them with the retail console and Japanese PlayOnline/Final Fantasy XI software it worked properly so yes, the DTL-H drive does actually work like a retail drive, DNAS included. But then I happen to have this ugly duckling Seagate ST340823A branded SCPH-20401 which doesn't work with DNAS stuff. This one is a odd drive because it look like the drives that were sent out in 2003 for the Final Fantasy XI Beta test. But I think the ones that were actually sent were DNAS capable. :shrug: As per making the drives compatible with the OSD, that is possible if you know how HDDs firmwares work, how to operate software such as PC3000 and have access to such specific tools. :shrug: It's impossible (for me) to get DNAS to work without deep knowledge about the firmware and hardware for the specific HDD you're working with. When I made experiences with it I transplanted the firmware of my 4D040H2 SONY drive to a generic 4D040H2 drive and it started to detect on the OSD. Fun stuff :thumbsup: And honestly that would be enough for most people :lol:
Good to know, just have to get ahold of a SCPH-20401 first. And DNAS isn't nearly such a problem anymore seeing as Sony turned off the hardware to allow PS2 connectivity. Though I'd imagine Square went kicking and screaming over that one.
Blast! Got a FFXI bundle in the mail today ($20? SCORE!) but it came with the 9Y3001-054 Seagate drive. Can't seem to find an identical model on eBay but that won't stop me for the moment. Need to track down any tools Seagate might have to offer.
Don't you mean ST340015A ? Here: This is an fairly common drive from circa 2002/2003. Microsoft used the 20GB version of this drive on the late 2004 XBOX consoles... :shrug:
That'd be it, for some reason I didn't notice the longer model # to the side. I've taken plenty of them when I've taken them out of XBoxes. Unfortunately for me the ones I have around would require a bit of serial work to force an unlock.
You do not need serial work to unlock seagate xbox hdds - you just reflash the firmware. instructions here: http://www.seagateunlock.com/
Spiffy, you just saved me the time of building a new MAX232 circuit and ~5 HDDs. On X-S at one point they had instructions to use serial through what I want to say was the master/slave/CS pins.
Close. It's not the master/slave pins - it's the row of 4 pins next to that which most people don't even seem to notice exist
I simply use an "multi purpose" RS232C driver board I built with a MAX232 and a LM339. Since it uses a voltage comparator, it can read serial ports as low as .7v while still running from 5v. (It uses a VCC reference input from the target circuit to calibrate the voltage comparator) :thumbsup:
