I found this auction while browsing the ebay site: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150308940043 The seller claims that you can play import games on a PlayStation 2 with the so called MEMOR32 PLUS adaptor. It should be compatible with all PlayStation2 models and there is no need for a modchip or any other modification. Have you ever heared of this adaptor? Does it really work? Ok, It's totally overpriced but it would be interesting if it works with the new slim PS2 model with the internal psu.
Not really, it can't directly load import games, you have to do a swap or make an .iso out of the game, then patch it and burn it... You can have better for free, look here: http://psx-scene.com/forums/freevast/ The Memor32 doesn't work on all models, only up to the SCPH-7900x. The FMCB project work on the PSTwo with internal PSU produced before March 2008: http://psx-scene.com/forums/freevast/59646-fmcb-and-the-scph-9000x.html
Retail machines do not recognize game discs from regions different than their own; more precisely, they won't read data from any disc, unless (1) its a game disc with the correct region info, (2) its an audio CD, or (3) its a DVD video (IIRC from any region; DVD region is checked by the player, not the drive). When inserting the wrong disc and trying to access it, the drive controller simply refuses access and may lock up :evil:. The SDK has this to say (PS2 EE Library Overview - Device Libraries, CD/DVD ROM Library, Notes): Therefore, there is no way for an unmodified console to directly boot a wrong disc; or, for that matter, any unofficial code (except neat tricks like buffer overflows ;-)). To boot wrong PS2 discs using a modchip, region information is injected into the communication of the drive's back end processor (CD/DVD DSP) and drive mechanism controller (mechacon). Therefore, the system recognizes the disc as an original from the correct region and will happily read it. Basically the same method is used for booting discs in PS1 mode, but the region information is injected into a different communication line (connecting CD/DVD DSP to the drive's front end processor, the RF amp). If you program a modchip correctly, you can easily make the console identify any disc as anything you want; e.g., it could even report the DVD containing the modchip software as a PS1 CD. So, after having said that, how do "soft mods" like MEMOR32/FMCB/"Plan B" work? Well, in two stages and by using some really ugly hacks :evil:: Get some external code (i.e., code not delivered on a pressed game disc from the correct region) to run on the console. Modchips do this by injecting their own code into the boot process; just look at the 10 lines going to the BIOS chip in recent modchip installation diagrams. Soft mods have to use a different method, though. I won't comment on the details; all I say is that all three soft mods mentioned above use the exactly same mechanism. Get the drive to read the disc. This can be pretty hard, as the mechacon actively sabotages any attempt to read a disc it doesn't recognize the format of; therefore, the solution is simply: give it a disc it recognizes! DVD video is perfectly fine :nod:. What if you want to boot a game instead of watch a video? Well, follow unclejun's advice and patch the disc image. The "patcher applications" (for MEMOR32/FMCB. SMS doesn't need any for obvious reasons) simply overwrite the file system of the disc with something looking like a DVD video intro :evil:. Therefore, the mechacon happily identifies the disc as DVD video and delivers any sector the software wants to read. To boot the somewhat cloaked game, some patches are then applied (remember: there is already some unofficial code running on the machine) to the DVD driver to access the original file system rather than the pseudo DVD-video one. Mission accomplished :evil::evil::evil:. I have omitted some technical details, though. For example, the mechacon won't respond to most commands after a system reset until you send some specific authorization bytes. In addition, some if not most (all?) games load replacement driver images from their discs (look for files named IOP?????.IMG), which contain the original DVD driver; therefore, the original boot loader must still be active and reapply the patches if necessary :evil:.
ok, that's too much work. I want to play import games on the new PStwo model without the need of burning and patching the discs. However I have no problems with a swap. Are there any boot cds available for the new PStwo?
I knew there were still leaks in the DVD software, but I still have to find technicals details about it. Any reason to don't have a full disclosure of the leak, now that the PS2 is almost dead? @mdmx : most boot disc won't work with recent PS2. Just buy a modchip, if memor32/Vast is too much work for you...
Yea a modchip is the best solution,I have a DMS3 and it boots my original japanese ps2 and ps1 games just fine.
Well, "almost dead" might already be enough of a reason, but the fine, nice, well-balanced [coughcough] copyright law in my country definitely is. Circumvention of working [:evil::banghead:OH:] copy prevention technology is forbidden here. Yes, you read that correctly. The obvious argument ("if its working, it cannot be circumvented; if it can be circumvented, its not working, so the point is mood") doesn't hold per definitionem. I think its similar in other (western) countries. I don't want to start a discussion on this, at least not in this thread; I'm not a lawyer, so I might interpret that cr*p wrong, but better safe than sorry. Having said that, I think I can give a hint: nothing of this is new. Its all being discussed at psx-scene. I thought that the sentence "all three soft mods mentioned above use the exactly same mechanism" from my original post was already sufficient, but here is another one that might get you started on the technical details: the source code of FMCB has been published :icon_bigg. If you push me enough, I might be tempted to post a small summary of how the part of booting from memory card works. But not now. Sorry.:shrug:
Note that swapping to boot games will require you to buy a disc like SwapMagic along with "Magic Keys" to fool the lid sensor into thinking the lid is closed when it is not. Also you should know that when a disc is first inserted the laser calibrates to read it. When you swap discs I've heard that it does no recalibration to read the new disc and so it may have to work harder to read the disc an could put additional wear on your system. The FreeMCBoot way doesn't have that issue. Burning and patching the discs is quite easy and not near the hassle you seem to think it is. But either option is good enough I suppose. I believe the SwapMagic will cost you around 30 to 40 bucks. With the latest SwapMagic discs you'll also be able to install Free MCBoot yourself later on should you want to try that out. Oh ya, under no circumstances should you buy Memor32 as it sucks and is hugely overpriced garbage.
if all you want to do is playing different region retail games just get the PS2TEST. Best investment I've done with PS2 me reckon~ Not that I'm promoting anything but when you are short of free time - when you have family with two very active kids you will know ^ ^ - it was just so much easier to get the thing then work on the retail machine myself~
I'll second that. I had a launch model PS2 that I installed an Origa chip in 2002 to play imports...the unit started having reliability issues. Then, I used cogswap to boot discs on another PS2, but it became inconvenient and cumbersome. And then I found a DTL-H10000S. If you can find one, definately scoop it up. It is SOOOO convenient for playing PS1 and PS2 imports.
+1 My first (pre)modded PS2 was a slimline (yeah, I know... :banghead and lasted around a year. I was just starting a PS1 game when it died (I assume some chip got loose due to overheating). The machine immediately hang up and wouldn't boot anymore. After waiting around 10min, it seemed to work again, but almost immediately hang up afterwards. Exchanged it for a fat one (3000x series, because of the 1394/"i.Link" port). When it came it wouldn't boot PS1 games at all; the screen stayed blank after the PS1 logo. As I got to know later, that is a laser calibration issue and can be solved by adjusting the pots on the rear of the optical pickup. Well, I didn't know that back then, and sent the machine in again :banghead:. Returned some weeks later, and seemed to work flawlessly, even with PS1 games. But guess what! It had Yet Another Issue(TM): the modchip's memory didn't work reliably, i.e. the PS1 bootstrap hook (PlayStation logo replacement) crashed regularly because some bits got flipped randomly h:. The error didn't show up when using the standard PSLOGO replacement delivered with the modchip, but when using my own (much larger) executable, it wouldn't work at all. I didn't want to send the machine in again, so the problem was worked around in software (small loader program running on the PS1 side which fetched the real executable from another resident program running on the PS2 processor). That was a big ugly hack, but it worked most of the time (boot success rate went from absolutely zero to something around 90% :dance:. Still not as good as the nearly 100% of the original PSLOGO replacement, but I had my own program running, so I didn't care). All problems solved? No, not at all. Around 10 months later, the drive mechanics died in the middle of playing (this time, a PS2 game). The game hang up, and after rebooting the console the drive gave the well-known clicking noise. So I opened the console and tried to adjust the laser arm, but I should have just sent the machine back in again. I don't know what exactly happened (and it didn't happen again with any other console I opened afterwards), but after opening this particular machine it wouldn't recognize its optical drive when the top cover was attached (I assume some broken trace somewhere on the mainboard). If the cover was attached, the machine started to give black and white color almost immediately after booting (but you could see color output before), and it wouldn't recognize its disc drive in this state at all :banghead:. If no cover was attached, a bit of pressure applied to the ground plate/heat sink beside the optical drive and the machine was booted in this state, it seemed to work again. Needless to say, once there was no more pressure applied to that particular place on the ground plate, the drive disconnected again, and on the next reboot the output would turn black-and-white again. Neat, huh?
I did everything with the swap trick in the past. I had a SCPH-10000 which can nearly boot everything. And with two swaps it even boots import games! Later I got a SCPH-30002 (v4 board). The swap worked fine for copies but not for import games anymore. Finally I got a TEST unit which solved the swapping hassle. Unfortunately the TEST unit is very noisy. Therefore I would like to buy one of these new slim models.
