EDIT: I just realized that my version is NOT compatible with a hard drive, as it is a 7500 and not a 70xx model. I still want this thread open while I hunt down a 70xx. I have been using my ps2 slim to play my backups over network using OPL for a long time now but recently I saw that my model actually has the hardware to support an IDE drive. I was thinking of doing this myself and using an IDE to SD adapter to run games off the SD card. http://silverfoxy.blogspot.ca/2008/07/ps2-slim-with-internal-hdd.html http://hackaday.com/2005/02/14/hack-your-pstwo-to-support-a-hard-disk/ I was thinking of using this adapter because it is so small! http://www.ebay.ca/itm/44-Pin-Male-...791827?hash=item27fa396c53:g:YjMAAOSwFAZTtgZe Also I have seen this post on here but all images are gone: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/ps2-slim-with-sata-sd-adapter.48051/ Found this (printed ribbons): http://www.maxdiypower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=80http://www.maxdiypower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=43 Does anyone know where I can get a ribbon cable printed so I don't have wires all over the place? Also if anyone has done this before I would love any advice you can give. While i have done a fair amount of soldering I am far from being an expert. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated, mkmk4
Why not just buy one from maxdiypower? I can't say that I've heard 100% positive things about that kit, but he's the only one selling such a kit (that I know of). If you don't want to struggle with soldering, then you should get a PlayStation 2 model that was actually designed to support the HDD unit (SCPH-55000 series and earlier) and a network adaptor. FYI, even if you do add such a kit onto a SCPH-70000 series console, it will not support FHDB because its boot ROM doesn't support the HDD unit. That's because USB is far slower than ATA.
I actually added that link after I made the thread, so i would actually be using that kit most likely. The main reason I want to do this is because I love the slim model way more than the fat model and its more about doing the mod rather than using it (as I think many modders will understand) . I simply think it would be badass to have a slim ps2 with a SD card slot on the side. I wouldn't be using FHDB I would just use FreeMcBoot on the memory card and have all my apps on the SD card. Do you happen to know any other limitations when doing this kind of setup?
It'll work quite well, given that the ATA interface is provided with the genuine SONY chips. This is totally unlike the HDPro crap that modders use with the SCPH-75000 and later, which are actually jury-rigged ATA interfaces that don't support DMA.
I actually wanna do a same sort of mod too the 70xxx serie. Got a modchip installed at the moment. but also wanna try too get the hd support soldered on it. anyone has a suggestion too place the hdd? I dont wanna give up the ps1 disc support now that the chip is working perfect xD
You will have to mount it externally, or come up with some sort of case mod like those replacement bases that some of these slimline HDD kits come with. It is never a good idea to remove any part of the CD/DVD drive of the PlayStation 2, as that may cause the drive to be eternally stuck in a never-ready state. That will in turn cause some software (likely only homebrew, given that you would likely be using OPL to play games) to become incompatible.
Please tell me more about this HDPro! If I can do it on the slim I have now (7500) maybe it would be worth it. You say it is "crap", could you please explain this? Thank you! EDIT: http://psx-scene.com/forums/f150/open-ps2-loader-hdpro-kit-73972/ seems that the interface is slower for some reason. This was back in 2011, I am curious what developments have happened between then and now. I have actually seen a video on Youtube where the person had one of these case mod where the HDD was in the bottom of the slim console. I have never seen one of these for sale though...
Its still the same speed. Its communicating through the modchip(or thats what I thoughed). Arent the speeds from the smb good enough on the 7500 series? Maby I am thinking bullshit now, but could it be possible too join the network adapter too a local hhd(the one you have next or in your ps2), so that the ps2 sees the hdd as a network hdd. that way you could have the hdd internal, and still have some good speed on loading etc.
The HDD is connected through the modchip, but it is definitely NOT equal in performance and reliability to the original SONY ATA interface! Other than the potential problems that a modchip would give, this ATA interface has no support for DMA. The IOP will be used for PIO, which will result in slow speeds and might result in threading issues (lag) in some games. Due to the nature of SMB, it'll never be as fast at the CD/DVD drive. So if he can get a HDD unit, that would be the best way to play games without the CD/DVD drive. That's only possible for the SCPH-70000 slimline, which is what the OP is wanting to do. Starting from the SCPH-75000, SONY redesigned the IOP, merging the SSBUS Interface controller (CXD2955R) and SPEED (CXD9731GP) into the IOP. The pins for the ATA interface have hence ceased to exist externally - for as far as we know, for now. wisi created a clone of it, and explained how it works: http://psx-scene.com/forums/f98/hdpro-clone-132869/ It's crap because it's connected to the PS2 through a Modbo 4 modchip. Modchips aren't exactly healthy for the console because they will manipulate the signal levels of whatever they are connected to - it's essentially bus contention. But the issue that I was bringing up, was that it doesn't support DMA; its driver uses the IOP to copy data with PIO, so it's very slow and may result in threading issues (due to CPU time taken away for the copying process). Not to mention that the software must explicitly support the HDPro. Normal software that support the HDD unit will not support the HDPro HDD unit.
you could also use a ide to sata board (if they work in the slim), flatten it out inside the console and wire the sata connection to a m.2 connector and have a M.2 sata SSD.. Fancy
I would just like to start by saying thank you sp193 very much for all this input! Thank you for that link, that was an excellent read. I agree that installing a modchip can shorten the lifetime of a console (I have heard of a few fried consoles). I was hoping there would be considerable improvements over all this time but there are still many hardware limitations. I wonder if it would be possible to wire an HDD/SD controller to the DVD drive wiring (sort of like running a virtual drive, kinda like GDemu). Then again this means an entirely new software and hardware layer, No FMCB and no OPL. But for arguments sake it is possible... I think... Seems like it's time to hunt down a 70xx console. As far as HDPro not being supported I did read that the newest revisions of OPL has support for it. That is definitely an option! I Kinda like SD cards because I can have the slot on the side (which is cool as hell i think) and they are relatively cheap per GB. Also they are easily to swap in and out. (if I do a casemod and have a slot somewhere for the card. Also there is the space issue... IDE to SATA boards are much larger. TBH I haven't looked inside the slim yet so I have no idea how much space I have but I am under the impression it is pretty limited.
It's hard because this console has a lot of proprietary chips. Actually, most PS2 mainboards have an unpopulated expansion connector on them. This connector was only used in one model, which was the SCPH-18000 with the old GH-003 mainboard, to give it the new BOOT+DVD ROM. It seems to be actually the PIO interface, with an extra DMA channel that isn't used for anything on CEX consoles. It should be possible to actually make a board that supports DMA with those connections. wisi confirmed that the connections there correspond to the EXTR device's DMA channel and interrupt number. However, the pinout for that connector seems to vary across mainboard models. As for emulating the CD/DVD drive, he wrote that the expansion bay might have been meant for that. There is a mechanism to allow the MECHACON (DEV5) to be overridden by an external controller, but that was never used in any way in CEX consoles. The MECHACON is also a black box, so making a replacement shouldn't be an easy thing. Anyway, OPL is doing something similar, except that it intercepts commands going to the real CD/DVD drive in software, by replacing the driver with its own. Alas, these discoveries came a bit too late. And using OPL with any of its existing functionalities seems to be a far cheaper alternative anyway... The homebrew world is far bigger than just OPL. OPL has support for it, but it's likely the only piece of homebrew software with support for it because the homebrew support for the HDPro kit started with OPL. But yeah, if you're solely interested in only OPL, then you have all bases covered. There is no extra space in slimline consoles.
