Ok - I've been doing a bit of research into why some DTL-H3000x consoles do work with the HDD and others don't. I have owned two "DTL-H30001 E" consoles. They were designed for release in Europe and as such run on 220-240v, but apart from that it is essentially the same as a regular DTL-H30001. The TEST station that DID play the utility discs would only work if the disc was copied, patched and reburned. The serial number with this started 329xxx, but the console that did NOT boot (even the patched disc) started 328xxx. I assume that the console with the lowest serial number is the older of the two. In fact the older console has no voltage warning sticker on the base or have it moulded into the plastic. The newer TEST console had it moulded into the base. A DTL-H30002 console I had had a serial number starting 331xxx! Unfortunately I did not know how to use the patch at the time I had that particular console (moons ago!). ANYWAY - forget the disc booting thing...at the end of the day the newer DTL-H30001 could use the HDD and network adapter. The OLDER one canot use these two items! No matter what! If I put in an authentic UK network startup disc (v2) the game will not get past the PlayStation 2 logo. BUT if I do NOT have the network adapter plugged in the disc boots just fine. After loading up you get a message saying netowrk adapter not recognised. So I plugged in the network adapter as soon as the disc go past the bit where it used to hang and quickly plugged it in. The disc still said adapter not recognised. I then put in the USA network disc (v3) and the game loads fine but says - cannot find adater and it is blatantly plugged in! As for Linux - I cannot install it - the machine crashes. Conclusion - Maybe the older consoles physically cannot use the expansion bus connector? I know mine is not damaged as when I plug it in on the network it lights up and I know it is not the adapter as it work on my other TEST consoles. I have no idea if this info is of use to anyone but I thought I'd share my findings. For info I used network adapter SCPH-10350E (European non modem version). It makes no difference if I use the USA modem version SCPH-10281 though.
unfortunately I don't know the serial of my DTL-H30002U because the seller removed it completely. Can I find it elsewhere?
Older 30001 series machines can use the hard drive if the unit is sent into Sony to have its firmware updated. I thought this was common knowledge. -hl718
I would have to say that hl718 is probably right, seeing as my DTL-H30002 S with serial number starting with 335 will not boot a utility disc. I just realised that, every time I tried a utility disc I had my network adaptor on so that could explain why I never got a utility disc to boot at all. It seems though, that the expansion port is fully functioning, because I can launch elfs over the network. As well as this, the unit can run HD Advance without any trouble using a regular hard drive. That suggests that the PS2 is able to use the HDD just not for official purposes. Assuming that the ones which do work did have their firmware upgraded how do you think they would have done that? Would they have run something from a disk, ran it through the iLink port or actually opened up the unit and somehow updated the firmware another way? If it was done by either of the first two methods then maybe if we got the update we could do it ourselves. It seems unlikely: 1. that we would be able to get the update 2. that it would be on a disc.
A bit off-topic, but please don't use HD Advance. It's a rip-off of the original FREE HD Loader. The latest HD Advance 3.0, is just HD Loader 0.7c with a different skin. I know i'm being silly, but i hate seeing a stolen product having more sucess on it's wrong version than the original one. Plus if want something great to boot your homebrew ELFs, use uLaunchELF and then you can use the FTP, launch ELF files from mc0:, mc1:, hdd0:, mass:, host0:, and even backup MC saves. PS: Basicly HD Loader is a CD/DVD emulator that runs from the HDD. So i don't see why it would not run in TEST systems. The network adaptor use in this case is just to connect the HDD to the PS2. Differently from the Utility Discs or Startup Discs which probably checks firmwares, bios, ...
I understand what you are saying, I did actually have a HD Loader also but it doesn't matter anymore seeing as I don't use either of them now. I didn't see it as much of a benefit and the hard drive made it even more heavy, so I just got rid of it. Oh, one other thing, I tried my original copy of the DVD driver update in my DTL-H30002 S without the network adapter on and it still didn't get past the playstation screen.
Unfortunately my girlfriend (now ex) just smashed my DTL-H30002 that could run the update discs... I can't be of much help...
The smashing caused the ex... i'll put up a picture when i get a chance... The thing was smashed pretty damn well...
Rather than the other way round? Damn man, you take your entertainment devices seriously. GF: "Um, honey, I'm afraid I've had an accident with one of your game thingies" PA: "Huh? What? What game thingie, show me" GF: "I was trying to clean it..." PA: "OMFG!!111 Wha.. how... !?" GF: "I'm so sorry..." PA: "... Just get your things and go. Except that engagement ring. I'll need it to pay for a replacement."
More along the lines of she broke in to my house through a window while i was at work and beat one of my devkits to death with a bicycle tire... but i'll make a new thread about it when i take a few pictures. I'd rather leave this one on topic...
I know! If I remember right It was written on the network adaptater eurpean notice that some series of V3 (for public release) didn't work with the adaptator and you had to call sony... which answered =>buy another ps2 =>pay to upgrade the firmware (I don't know if they did this everywhere) so the debugging stations may have the same problem.
