Well it wasn't surprising at all because it's USB 1 and the memory card slot is especially designed for loading and saving, USB is designed for data transfer, it's a bit different from loadind/reading/saving. But no shame in not knowing because we learn new things everyday of our lives
Compatibility is the biggest filter when it comes to OPL, but keep in mind that sometimes versions of games from other regions will actually work, and if you're really lucky they'll support PAL60 output which means they'll work okay on a NTSC console. 2024 Update: I've since gone from this to a 1TB HDD with a SATA adapter on my phat PS2 and the difference is night and day. I tested out more recent builds of OPL with my MX4SIO card and sadly haven't seen much improvement in the realm of compatibility so I personally can't recommend it even if the cards are cheap, the money saved won't save much in terms of the time spent fiddling with different versions of games hoping they won't break after a certain point or fail to save.
At-least ESR still proves to be an effective alternative when OPL fails. Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex apparently won't budge on OPL but will work on an ESR-patched disc provided you convert it to DVD format.
@@terrata1 I think it uses some kind of software layer to circumvent PS2 copy-protection without a modchip, similar to ESR. Even with a hard drive compatibility issues in OPL are very prevalent, but right now it's the closest thing we have to an ODE solution.
This is great to replace USB game loader for PS2 since PS2 loads off USB too slow but with this it's perfect like running off disk! Edit: Carl's reply to this comment below apparently not for all PS2 models!
I still have my ps1 and ps2 that I soldered a Mod chip in when I was a kid. When blockbuster was a thing, they had an unlimited pass and you could rent 2 games at a time. I would go there multiple times a day and back home to burn backups. Seeing these usb and sd card options is pretty crazy how far things have come. Cheers
It’s a terribly unknown secret that PS2 slim systems with the Deckard I/O chip have surprisingly fast USB ports, plenty fast enough for loading PS2 games, great OPL compatibility too. Deckard I/O chip have been used since the SCPH-750XX model ( playstationdev.wiki/ps2devwiki/index.php?title=IOP/Deckard ) So... The PS2 slim SCPH-7500x, 7700x, 7900x and 9000x all have a Deckard chip in them which replaced the old MIPS R3000 chip of the 700xx and older models.
Honestly, I don't get why Sony hasn't done more to bring PS2 games into a HD space. Right now, the options I use are my launch model PS3(s) and emulation. I recognise that emulation renders the PS2 better. But the PS2 hasn't had anywhere near as much official support as the PS1 has... Even with it being the highest selling console. I still wish Sony would have done a PS2 mini console (Like with what they did on the PS1). I would have ripped their hand off for that... But because the PS1 mini flopped so badly, that ever being an option for the PS2 also drifted into a dreamspace. All I am saying is, the PS2 deserves some love also. I like the tech here but with the low quality resolution of the PS2 console on modern TV's I wouldn't really go for it. HD has kinda spoilt me, in the sense that I won't really go for anything else.
I’m looking forward to playing PlayStation 2 games on the go using Steam Deck and PCSX2. I may also hook it up to my tv. I have a PlayStation 2 fat with HDDOSD/Free MCboot and a jailbroken PS3 slim but I like playing them with a higher resolution as well.
I heard about this a few days ago. It’s great that people still find new things to do on the PlayStation 2 two decades later. I still have my PlayStation 2 fat with HDDOSD and Free Mcboot.
@Ahmed Anssaien Plays Well, thank you for writing a newspaper for my question. And the fact that your English suggests that your skin color is very red and you live in Sonora desert and I wish to be like you in English because I write this in Google translation😂😂😂😂😂 and I am from Saudi Arabia🇸🇦😅
Thanks fir the review. Was amazed to hear about this recently, modding a Phat with an HDD is cool but its actually quite a pain putting the games on. if this has the same or better OPL compatibility than using an HDD then it's the best method there is I think. And it works on the nice compact slim machines! Incidentally, if you have a Phat PS2 you never need a FMCBoot memory card, you can set up FreeHDBoot & OPL from scratch on an HDD, then play the games off this MC2ISO
@@MrMario2011 make a comparison video with a Slim with HDD (Micro SD). A guy from Greece makes them, his YT channel is called Gou Mods. Bought one from him via Etsy and I love it.
I read that once the game is loaded, you can remove the FMCB cardand reolace it with a normal memory card for saving games, and just to remember to switch the cards back before changing the game.
After the funtuna vid for ps2 slims, I purchased a 256mb card that was 2 128mb cards with a physical switch. I loaded the mod on one and my saves on the other and all I do is just flick the switch and It works just fine
I haven't had much luck getting the latest version to properly detect memory cards, but I did find a workaround. Allegedly only the BDM3 version of OPL supports saves currently.
Yep, it's true, that's how i save My Game progress. Once the OPL is loaded, You can switch the MC for another normal MC (in slot 1) , then load any Game from the MC with the MX4SIO (in slot 2) and there You go, once in the Game, You can save your progress normally in the MC in slot 1. Extra tip : Once You load for the first time the OPL, and do your adjustments and settings, it Will save the config file (of the OPL) in any media it detect, so is better to have only the FMCB MC plugged in, so it save config file there once it's done, then You can plug your MX4SIO and go.
in my opinion, MX2SIO is an alternative to play with LESS hassle compared to using USB, which is we all know it's 1.0, with slightly better performance in FMV playback. But in terms of performance, I'd say either internal HDD/SSD with NA or LAN server is still a better choice. And since it's known working with only specific release of OPL, we don't know if the compatibility for all known PS2 games is covering the game we want to play.
Internal HDD is by far the best. LAN storage is a huge pain to set up, unless you have a Windows server in which case your problem is now you have a Windows server.
It just occurred to me, wouldn't the saving game progress issue be solved by splitting the micro SD in two partitions? I have an external drive with two partitions and when you plug it in it shows two drives, if that was possible in PS2 one partition could be the memory card and the other the storage where you put the games.
Hey, given that you use OPL to launch and play roms from the MC2SIO, would it be possible to somehow launch and play other roms such as nes, snes, etc stored on the MC2SIO? Or is it strictly ps2 roms?
I was thinking this kind of method like ten years ago. But, I can't seem to get around with it. And now, things are happening. I feel excited and happy about this mod. Eyes got a bit teary.
Nice vid duder! I yoinked one of the aliexpress clones of these that I'm yet to test yet as these helder ones are super hard to get ahold of. I really want to see if I can get it working on a 90000 with a modbo installed using matrix to boot directly to OPL. Which entry points have you tried so far with this? You didn't notice any issues?
@@MrMario2011 great news! The documentation I’ve seen so far made it seem like it only worked with magicgate fmbcs. I figured that was unlikely but haven’t gotten around to trying it out. Big ups on the vid and info, wonderfully done! 🤘🏻
thank god i found this video, opl settings not saving and games not being able to read memory cards is a problem with the current official opl version but helder's site has a working version thankfully
Noticed those recently on Aliexpress. Thought I was really behind on the PS2 modding scene. Btw. are you aware of any other devices like the mClassic? I'm trying to setup my PS2 so i can output it to my monitor which only has HDMI in. And I'm looking for a lag free PS2 upscale solutions.
For more budget friendly options, I will recommend looking into the GBS-Control AIO or the Retrotink 2x multiformat. Both are around ~$130 before tax and shipping. Both have pros and cons. You can build the GBS-Control for far cheaper by buying the parts and assembling it yourself, but you'd need the soldering skills to do it. GBS-Control: ruclips.net/video/fmfR0XI5czI/видео.html Retrotink 2x multiformat: ruclips.net/video/9zdAA-Z9oWY/видео.html There are other more expensive options, like the OSSC (around $160 after the price is converted to USD) or the Retrotink 5x (~$300). Both of which are more flexible and offer more features with a far higher price tag.
Great little gadget and solution for the ps2 slim owners. A bit of a no go atm while there is no game saving, but once thats solved it will take off more. Im surprised no ODE has ever come out for ps2. Those ps2 phat drives are garbage im always replacing them when i get a faulty ps2 in the shop.
You actually can get saving to work with some workarounds, but you have to keep two different versions of OPL installed and it's a bit finicky to say the least.
i mean, this can be solved with a memory card on the first slot that serves as boot. then just jam opl into the sd that's going in the dongle on the m2 slot, if you have fmcb just config the shortcuts by going into the mc1 slot storage and there you go
Can I ask what brand and gb size of sd you were using to load your games? I got the bundle from Helder, I'm able to get into OPL, but none of my games show up on the list and the ones I'm testing are well below 4GB.
Same here. I'm waiting on one of the sd cards they had listed on their website, but none of the sd cards I've used in my home have worked. Pretty concerning...
Hey Mr Mario ,I have a question ,I got two memory cards ,one is a sony official that has FMCB and the other is a fake one .My question is ,if I manually solder an SD card adapter on that particular Fake memory card in order to load games from it ,do you have any idea if it would work or not ? or MX4SIO should be on a official memory card just like FMCB ? Thanks in advance
so can you save at all using this option? like... can i go to save my game, and save it to my FMB card instead of the sd card? or are you saying it locks you out of the game save sandbox in general?
Nice review. I have recieved mine from Helder today. I have some questions. 1. What Micro SD cards are recommended? Sandisk should be fine, right? I'm gonna buy one, so I just want to make sure it'll work... 2. If you put your PS1 games on a USB stick, shouldn't those be playable in OPL? 3. If you create save slots (memory card emulation) on your Micro SD card in OPL, that still doesn't work either? Right?
Thanks for the video. It helps reassure I setup mine correctly as well. Question: Did you get MVC 2 to work on your ps2 with the adapter? Don’t know which settings need to be on. Mine will not load it. I have a model 75001 ps2.
One thing you didn't touch on was the fact that the MC2SIO microSD card can be formatted as EXFAT eliminating splitting all the over 4GB PS2 games into pieces. Have you tried it and does it work?
As none else has commented on this. Exfat works fine and no obvious issues with saves either. Just put tomb raider anniversary on which was too big for fat32 / rebooted and saves still there on me card 1. Now just need to order another controller as this one has had it..
How's support for this currently if you don't mind me asking? I bought mine a bit ago and have kinda sat on it until compatibility got better. I have a fat PS2 with an internal HDD but looking to purchase a slim model at a later date.
Hi, i really liked this video. I bought an PS2 recently and i want to play many ps2 games but i want to do it on its original speed. Im thinking on buying one FMCB card to play ps2 rom games on my ps2. I didnt decide yet if im gonna use an external hard drive or an MX4SIO sd card to store and load that games. Please tell me if an external hard drive will have the same file transfer speed as an usb drive stick like you show so well on this video, and because of that the games will have the same slow downs as well?
I must correct you Mr.Mario, you can save games with this! 🙂 You must use specific OPL version (v.1.1.0-Beta-1629-e20f2ee-bdm3). I made my one mx4sio card from broken ps1 mmc and it work great. As you said, you have all schematics online to do it yourself, off course you need some soldering knowledge, but is not that hard.
can you please link? and i hope u don't mind telling me how to do it.. i got my hands on a used ps2 recently but have no idea how to play several games better.. blank cds cost more these days, and reviews keep saying usb sucks..
Hi and thank you for tutorials. I ended up using your videos to instal funtuna, cause every other video that I looked only tell how to install opl with already installed fmcb. You really help. So I have a question about the best way to play on ps2 slim 9008. What shoud I use: ethernet, usb or buy this adapter?
Is it possible to use the SD card exclusively to save games? I have plenty of PS2 memory cards. I don't feel comfortable with using those 3rd party memory cards. It would be nice to use it for that.
USB to PS2 memory card adapter and ps1? i no longer have ps2 or ps3 they got stolen but have my memory cards and need a device to transfer saves to PC from cards?
Hi MrMario have a question using the memory card method are you still able to use the ps2 optical drive to back games up onto the memory card like you would using the hard drive with the phat ps2
You were not the only one who put the micro sd card in and then had to get it out of the casing, thankfully I was able to get it to slide out enough that I could pull it out the rest of the way. The only issue I seem to be having with it is I can't get it to read the micro sd card which is a SanDisk (figures I only have those on hand) which according to Helder's website aren't 100% compatible with it.
I probably need to mess with mine a bit more, but I haven't been impressed with the functionality of mine so far. So far I had a much easier time booting and running games via the USB.
@@Jaxxon123 my experience is similar. I can get some games going, but not as easily or consistent as with USB. Also, I find that the version of OPL that is supposed to work on my Slims does not at all.
any info/updates on saving? both slots are occupied by the FMCB and the MX4SIO. I've been told not to allow the system to save on the FMCB card. Could use some help on this.
I watched a RUclips video that said you can swap out one of the cards with a regular memory card once the game has been loaded up and running on the PS2
Great video and great content as always from Mr Mario. 💯👍👍 I have a ps2 slim with FMCB, unfortunately the PS2 does not support my modern new Sony 4k TV. Can I just use my modded FAT first gen PS3 to play PS2 games on it? Is it safe? Thanks
Hey MrMario, great video as always ! I have just one question: I have a ps2 slim with the funtuna exploit since i have a newer slim. Is this sd card adapter compatible with the funtuna exploit ?
This is definitely awesome and hell probably is what ive been looking for since apparently my PSP action replay special edition ps2 save loader disc seems to not work,but honestly now the question is though is it better to just get a modded ps3 to do all the great ps2 things or this? Cause ya know i feel like ps3 emulates ps2 really well despite whatever model interestingly enough.
I can't get it to read the SD card. Thank you for showing me the right ELF file, the other tutorial with download didn't have the one I needed. Using a 79xxxx model. But, OPL boots, yet the games never come up. The red light on the adapter IS blinking, but I can't get it to read. And there's nothing in my USB ports. Help please?
@@tnaplastic2182 You keep saying this on every response, but I downloaded zip and it doesn't have the file for people with 75000+, where do we get that file?
A fat PS2 with an original network adaptor modified with the sata upgrade kit is definitely the ultimate solution, but the mc2sio is a very close second
do you know if there an easy way to get smaller games that would be a cd bin/cue to work with mc2sio? like the thing or ico? im seeing all the iso load up just fine but not smaller bin/cue files. i wonder if im just not putting them in the right file folders. system currently fmcb on ps2 70012 mc2sio using opl set up via mac. thanks so much for your videos and dedication to the community
I'm a little confused.... Can I use this on a fat PS2 console? Also.... Which would be better on a fat PS2? A hard drive or this memory card thing? Which is cheaper? Is there a major difference in the 2? Is there a benefit to having both a hard drive and this? Sorry about all the questions... It's just that I found 2 fat body ps2's in my basement that I picked up at a garage sale for dirt cheap about 17 years ago and am trying to resurrect the crap out of them.
I just cant figure out how to get large roms on this thing. I've seen tutorials but I feel like there missing a step.- EDIT your tutorial for USB loading was brilliant. ITS WORKING NOW !!!!
Gutted these came back in stock while I was at work, and sold out before I got home... Edit: They dropped more stock today, and I got one! Super excited to try this badboy out!
quick question...I've had the issue with USB loading where you can't load a game and use an accessory at the same time (eg. Singstar) using this, would that be solved?😅
Hello @MrMario2011 , I have the slim PS2 with matrix chip installed, can I just grab that and configure everything and just put the iso games and play? Or do I need the other method too? Thanks !
The specific OPL builds on Helder's site just give me a black screen...I've given up on trying to get this to work. Maybe I'll try again in the future. Thanks for the great video, though. Good job!
I see alot of potential for this espiecally in regards to running PS1 games since the PS2 won't need to use the MIPS R3000A chip for IO therefor it should be possible to run PS1 games off it instead but I guess that means we'll need a update from OPL to make that possible.
I load my games from mini router connected to ethernet port with an external 2.0 HDD but once the MX4SIO gets completely polished will be the future of ps2 loading games.
I have a doubt, pal. When the HDD goes idle, it still working? I've read that when goes that way, the router thinks that "it's off" and you need to unplug and plug again to keep playing. That happens to you?
Could you please let me know which Micro SD you have in your MC2SIO? All the cards I have at home are incompatitble, and I'd rather buy one that I know works for sure.
good day. I am a little bit confuse. I do already have a fmcb, do i have to delete all files in fmcb and install all your instruction?? Or i just have to copy paste the latest opl?? Thank you
@@rolandorevidizo1757 Huh? Improvements are, that MX4SIO works properly now, ExFAT is supported, games do not need to be defragmented anymore, compressed images are supported and so on.
There are some PS2 games that detect the official hard drive and let you save directly to it. If you had one of those installed could you then save in those few games? I know this is not a solution because most games do not detect the hard drive, but I am curious.
Interesting little device. Thankfully I still have a chipped PS2 fat with a 1tb 2.5 inch drive in the back. It's running Toxic OS as the dash. For people who want other options this one seems legit. 👍
So is this compatible with the 99000 series PS2 slims now?! I seen Macho Nacho talk about this and he said it wasn’t compatible with those models. I have a red Japanese PS2 slim that I would love to get this for instead of swapping out a older motherboard and drive from a older PS2 slim.
I recently got a Japanese PS2 fat model (SCPH-18000), and I was wondering if this will work with MX4SIO and the FMCB? Unfortunately the ps2 model I got had no HDD expansion bay so I had to resort to other alternatives. By the way your video tutorial is amazing! More Power to your channel! From the Philippines
on the Japanese fat PS2s there is a PCMCIA slot instead of an expansion bay, so the hard drive would be attached externally. They even made an official external hard drive for it. Try seeing if you can find one
but can it actually be used as a memory card? I just ran out of memory and couldn´t create a new savegame, so i started to create virtual mc for each individual game from OPL but ofc. that´s not ideal.
Is it possible to install free McBoot onto a USB drive but still have the games load from the sd card adapter? This is so I can use a memory card and not have to keep swapping out back and forth between the memory card and the free McBoot loader.
What about iLink port on 3000x series? OPL has (experimental) support for that port. I tried that with a hdd enclosure (which has Oxford 934 chipset on its board) with Firewire port but games don't show up. I'm trying to figuring this iLink/s400/ieee_1394_4pin/firewire stuff. You can still find fat ps2s with that port and some old hdd enclosures with firewire 400 port on the second hand market. It's theoretically 10 times faster than the usb port and FMV's are no issue. Game compatibility is also not too bad. This subject is also pretty fun to work on and I think it deserves its own videos on RUclips.
I got this from Amazon and I am getting black screen when I try to open any app. Also, free McBoot lunches only when I access the browse then exit. Any, idea what I can do to fix this issue?
@@tnaplastic2182 Oh I see but I honestly don’t know how to do any of that. 😅 The PS2 is my favorite console and i wanted to find ways to play my games but still preserve the discs in their case. Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has always been my favorite and looking at its price now makes me worry taking it out to play.
@@MrMario2011 All redundant, as of the newest OPL Betas. 😉 Fragmented games work now, as long as it is 64 fragments MAX. Games over 4GB don't need to be split, because we've got ExFAT as well as ZSO (which often compresses games below 4GB) and more.
I was really suprised to hear that the MC slot is faster than the USB haha
Same! Seeing is believing.
@MrMario2011 can you save game data yet if not could we be able to use a multitap along with the opl soft mod
@@joshpollard9098you can always use VMC in OPL for game saves if you want
Well it wasn't surprising at all because it's USB 1 and the memory card slot is especially designed for loading and saving, USB is designed for data transfer, it's a bit different from loadind/reading/saving. But no shame in not knowing because we learn new things everyday of our lives
If only ps2 had us. 2.0😂
The slim could have been a monster at backup loading
Love the shoutout to the online spreadsheet. I started it off to help the PS2 community 😊
Based on the sheets Anakin94 and I made! 😁
@@tnaplastic2182 Yes thanks for starting it off!
Compatibility is the biggest filter when it comes to OPL, but keep in mind that sometimes versions of games from other regions will actually work, and if you're really lucky they'll support PAL60 output which means they'll work okay on a NTSC console.
2024 Update: I've since gone from this to a 1TB HDD with a SATA adapter on my phat PS2 and the difference is night and day. I tested out more recent builds of OPL with my MX4SIO card and sadly haven't seen much improvement in the realm of compatibility so I personally can't recommend it even if the cards are cheap, the money saved won't save much in terms of the time spent fiddling with different versions of games hoping they won't break after a certain point or fail to save.
At-least ESR still proves to be an effective alternative when OPL fails. Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex apparently won't budge on OPL but will work on an ESR-patched disc provided you convert it to DVD format.
I don't understand compatibility issues with OPL..isn't it supposed to run original PS2 hardware from the actual console or is it an emulator?
@@terrata1 I think it uses some kind of software layer to circumvent PS2 copy-protection without a modchip, similar to ESR. Even with a hard drive compatibility issues in OPL are very prevalent, but right now it's the closest thing we have to an ODE solution.
@@chemergency Thanks for the reply
PAL PS2 also outputs NTSC instead of PAL60.
You do really good work on this platform, dude
This is great to replace USB game loader for PS2 since PS2 loads off USB too slow but with this it's perfect like running off disk!
Edit: Carl's reply to this comment below apparently not for all PS2 models!
Like running off a disc with a few scratches but still much better. ;)
I still have my ps1 and ps2 that I soldered a Mod chip in when I was a kid. When blockbuster was a thing, they had an unlimited pass and you could rent 2 games at a time. I would go there multiple times a day and back home to burn backups. Seeing these usb and sd card options is pretty crazy how far things have come. Cheers
It’s a terribly unknown secret that PS2 slim systems with the Deckard I/O chip have surprisingly fast USB ports, plenty fast enough for loading PS2 games, great OPL compatibility too.
Deckard I/O chip have been used since the SCPH-750XX model ( playstationdev.wiki/ps2devwiki/index.php?title=IOP/Deckard )
So... The PS2 slim SCPH-7500x, 7700x, 7900x and 9000x all have a Deckard chip in them which replaced the old MIPS R3000 chip of the 700xx and older models.
Or faster yet load via network port (smb share router + usb port)
Honestly, I don't get why Sony hasn't done more to bring PS2 games into a HD space. Right now, the options I use are my launch model PS3(s) and emulation. I recognise that emulation renders the PS2 better. But the PS2 hasn't had anywhere near as much official support as the PS1 has... Even with it being the highest selling console.
I still wish Sony would have done a PS2 mini console (Like with what they did on the PS1). I would have ripped their hand off for that... But because the PS1 mini flopped so badly, that ever being an option for the PS2 also drifted into a dreamspace.
All I am saying is, the PS2 deserves some love also. I like the tech here but with the low quality resolution of the PS2 console on modern TV's I wouldn't really go for it. HD has kinda spoilt me, in the sense that I won't really go for anything else.
For sure. If only PS2 classics on PS4 got more love.
I’m looking forward to playing PlayStation 2 games on the go using Steam Deck and PCSX2. I may also hook it up to my tv. I have a PlayStation 2 fat with HDDOSD/Free MCboot and a jailbroken PS3 slim but I like playing them with a higher resolution as well.
I heard about this a few days ago.
It’s great that people still find new things to do on the PlayStation 2 two decades later.
I still have my PlayStation 2 fat with HDDOSD and Free Mcboot.
@Ahmed Anssaien Plays
Are you arabic?
@Ahmed Anssaien Plays
You wrote a newspaper for a half line question okay I will read😂😂
@Ahmed Anssaien Plays
Well, thank you for writing a newspaper for my question. And the fact that your English suggests that your skin color is very red and you live in Sonora desert and I wish to be like you in English because I write this in Google translation😂😂😂😂😂 and I am from Saudi Arabia🇸🇦😅
@Ahmed Anssaien Plays
ماشاء الله 😳
I am 17 years old and I only know English (hello) (nice to meet you)😂😂
Thanks fir the review. Was amazed to hear about this recently, modding a Phat with an HDD is cool but its actually quite a pain putting the games on. if this has the same or better OPL compatibility than using an HDD then it's the best method there is I think. And it works on the nice compact slim machines! Incidentally, if you have a Phat PS2 you never need a FMCBoot memory card, you can set up FreeHDBoot & OPL from scratch on an HDD, then play the games off this MC2ISO
For sure! It's a slick solution.
The downside is game compatibility. Nothing beats the hard drive method for that. Hopefully they'll improve it over time.
@@MrMario2011 make a comparison video with a Slim with HDD (Micro SD). A guy from Greece makes them, his YT channel is called Gou Mods. Bought one from him via Etsy and I love it.
I read that once the game is loaded, you can remove the FMCB cardand reolace it with a normal memory card for saving games, and just to remember to switch the cards back before changing the game.
After the funtuna vid for ps2 slims, I purchased a 256mb card that was 2 128mb cards with a physical switch. I loaded the mod on one and my saves on the other and all I do is just flick the switch and It works just fine
I haven't had much luck getting the latest version to properly detect memory cards, but I did find a workaround. Allegedly only the BDM3 version of OPL supports saves currently.
You could save your games on the Magic gate freemcboot card itself no problem. That's how I save my progress
Yep, it's true, that's how i save My Game progress.
Once the OPL is loaded, You can switch the MC for another normal MC (in slot 1) , then load any Game from the MC with the MX4SIO (in slot 2) and there You go, once in the Game, You can save your progress normally in the MC in slot 1.
Extra tip : Once You load for the first time the OPL, and do your adjustments and settings, it Will save the config file (of the OPL) in any media it detect, so is better to have only the FMCB MC plugged in, so it save config file there once it's done, then You can plug your MX4SIO and go.
@@Trane434_mx I think I have the same memory card, are you saying that you mod one side of the switch then just switch it back for saving?
The USB method is not too bad, the CD based games run flawlessly, and I've found some DVD that also run great, like Summoner and Rumble Roses.
This is great man! Please keep us updated when this improves. Love and blessings from Ontario Canada!
For sure!
@@MrMario2011 Right on brother! Your channel is honestly the best man! Total respect!
in my opinion, MX2SIO is an alternative to play with LESS hassle compared to using USB, which is we all know it's 1.0, with slightly better performance in FMV playback. But in terms of performance, I'd say either internal HDD/SSD with NA or LAN server is still a better choice. And since it's known working with only specific release of OPL, we don't know if the compatibility for all known PS2 games is covering the game we want to play.
PS2 has USB 1.1, not 1.0 - I assume that was a typo.
@@ProjectR86 Thanks for the correction 🙏
Internal HDD is by far the best. LAN storage is a huge pain to set up, unless you have a Windows server in which case your problem is now you have a Windows server.
Last time I checked they were sold out, nice to see you got your hands on it.
This was sent to the channel for purposes of review.
Got mine coming in the mail! Can't wait to try it out!
How'd it go?
wow how in the world is memory card slot faster than USB? You guys in the modding community are just genius and im so grateful
It just occurred to me, wouldn't the saving game progress issue be solved by splitting the micro SD in two partitions? I have an external drive with two partitions and when you plug it in it shows two drives, if that was possible in PS2 one partition could be the memory card and the other the storage where you put the games.
I managed to get one and it's one of the best purchases I've made for ps2
Hey, given that you use OPL to launch and play roms from the MC2SIO, would it be possible to somehow launch and play other roms such as nes, snes, etc stored on the MC2SIO? Or is it strictly ps2 roms?
Literally in the middle of soft modding my kids ps2 and came across this. Hope you've been well.
Saving now works in-GUI as well as in-game on the newest OPL Betas!
OPL got ExFAT-, ZSO- and Fragment-support! :)
@@sucaNaitoraven951 I can't post links... RUclips automatically deletes the comment if I do...
sick shirt! good guide i didnt know about other entry methods
Appreciate it!
Oh man I lost this channel happy to have found it again
I was thinking this kind of method like ten years ago. But, I can't seem to get around with it. And now, things are happening. I feel excited and happy about this mod. Eyes got a bit teary.
Gotta love when the feels come out through mods 😊
Nice vid duder!
I yoinked one of the aliexpress clones of these that I'm yet to test yet as these helder ones are super hard to get ahold of. I really want to see if I can get it working on a 90000 with a modbo installed using matrix to boot directly to OPL. Which entry points have you tried so far with this? You didn't notice any issues?
Just FMCB and OpenTuna, as long as you can get a compatible build of OPL to run it should work.
@@MrMario2011 great news! The documentation I’ve seen so far made it seem like it only worked with magicgate fmbcs. I figured that was unlikely but haven’t gotten around to trying it out.
Big ups on the vid and info, wonderfully done! 🤘🏻
thank god i found this video, opl settings not saving and games not being able to read memory cards is a problem with the current official opl version but helder's site has a working version thankfully
Get the newest official OPL Beta! ;)
Noticed those recently on Aliexpress. Thought I was really behind on the PS2 modding scene. Btw. are you aware of any other devices like the mClassic? I'm trying to setup my PS2 so i can output it to my monitor which only has HDMI in. And I'm looking for a lag free PS2 upscale solutions.
For more budget friendly options, I will recommend looking into the GBS-Control AIO or the Retrotink 2x multiformat. Both are around ~$130 before tax and shipping. Both have pros and cons.
You can build the GBS-Control for far cheaper by buying the parts and assembling it yourself, but you'd need the soldering skills to do it.
GBS-Control: ruclips.net/video/fmfR0XI5czI/видео.html
Retrotink 2x multiformat: ruclips.net/video/9zdAA-Z9oWY/видео.html
There are other more expensive options, like the OSSC (around $160 after the price is converted to USD) or the Retrotink 5x (~$300). Both of which are more flexible and offer more features with a far higher price tag.
@unknown_ Nope. I use internal PS2 HDD for OPL, so I had no reason to get thrm.
@@_raydreamer Thanks, I really appreciate the info.
Great little gadget and solution for the ps2 slim owners. A bit of a no go atm while there is no game saving, but once thats solved it will take off more. Im surprised no ODE has ever come out for ps2. Those ps2 phat drives are garbage im always replacing them when i get a faulty ps2 in the shop.
You actually can get saving to work with some workarounds, but you have to keep two different versions of OPL installed and it's a bit finicky to say the least.
i mean, this can be solved with a memory card on the first slot that serves as boot. then just jam opl into the sd that's going in the dongle on the m2 slot, if you have fmcb just config the shortcuts by going into the mc1 slot storage and there you go
@@thegroi how can i do
shortcuts ?
I wanna see a speed test between this memory card flash reader vs game disc. Seems like they might be the same speed.
Building one myself soon, do you need 2 cards? One with mcboot and the other for games? Or can it all be done from one memory card?
Nvm haha I watched the whole vid, understand now. Can't wait to build one just because lol
Can I ask what brand and gb size of sd you were using to load your games? I got the bundle from Helder, I'm able to get into OPL, but none of my games show up on the list and the ones I'm testing are well below 4GB.
Same here. I'm waiting on one of the sd cards they had listed on their website, but none of the sd cards I've used in my home have worked. Pretty concerning...
@@Zooptopus27 So I ordered the TEAMGROUP GO Card 256GB Micro SDXC UHS-I U3 V30 from amazon and I can confirm it works.
aliexpress is already selling these, with FMCB and OPL combo.
link?
Yeah link?
Great video , still have to do my ps2 fat 👌👌👌, on the pre order list
Hey Mr Mario ,I have a question ,I got two memory cards ,one is a sony official that has FMCB and the other is a fake one .My question is ,if I manually solder an SD card adapter on that particular Fake memory card in order to load games from it ,do you have any idea if it would work or not ? or MX4SIO should be on a official memory card just like FMCB ? Thanks in advance
As long as it's built to MX4SIO specifications and built properly, it should work.
so can you save at all using this option? like... can i go to save my game, and save it to my FMB card instead of the sd card? or are you saying it locks you out of the game save sandbox in general?
You can save properly these days I believe.
Nice review. I have recieved mine from Helder today. I have some questions.
1. What Micro SD cards are recommended? Sandisk should be fine, right? I'm gonna buy one, so I just want to make sure it'll work...
2. If you put your PS1 games on a USB stick, shouldn't those be playable in OPL?
3. If you create save slots (memory card emulation) on your Micro SD card in OPL, that still doesn't work either? Right?
No Sandisk won’t
I just bought one of these for my FAT PS2. I know I can go HDD but this was an interesting choice.
I finally ordered mine it was so hard I had to wait forever cuz it was always out of stock but I finally got one so excited!!!!
Hope you enjoy it!
It's going to be a long time before this is in stock again now that bigger youtubers are covering it.
Here's to hoping up he ramps up production for it, I believe he's restocking them weekly.
Love the hat and love the vid dude. I like your happiness
Glad it shows 🤗
@@MrMario2011 it does dude.love the enthusiasm, makes me love being a nerd whos into this specific nerdy shit
Thanks for the video. It helps reassure I setup mine correctly as well. Question: Did you get MVC 2 to work on your ps2 with the adapter? Don’t know which settings need to be on. Mine will not load it. I have a model 75001 ps2.
I didn't try MvC2
One thing you didn't touch on was the fact that the MC2SIO microSD card can be formatted as EXFAT eliminating splitting all the over 4GB PS2 games into pieces. Have you tried it and does it work?
As none else has commented on this. Exfat works fine and no obvious issues with saves either. Just put tomb raider anniversary on which was too big for fat32 / rebooted and saves still there on me card 1. Now just need to order another controller as this one has had it..
How's support for this currently if you don't mind me asking? I bought mine a bit ago and have kinda sat on it until compatibility got better.
I have a fat PS2 with an internal HDD but looking to purchase a slim model at a later date.
Hi, i really liked this video.
I bought an PS2 recently and i want to play many ps2 games but i want to do it on its original speed.
Im thinking on buying one FMCB card to play ps2 rom games on my ps2.
I didnt decide yet if im gonna use an external hard drive or an MX4SIO sd card to store and load that games.
Please tell me if an external hard drive will have the same file transfer speed as an usb drive stick like you show so well on this video, and because of that the games will have the same slow downs as well?
I must correct you Mr.Mario, you can save games with this! 🙂
You must use specific OPL version (v.1.1.0-Beta-1629-e20f2ee-bdm3).
I made my one mx4sio card from broken ps1 mmc and it work great.
As you said, you have all schematics online to do it yourself, off course you need some soldering knowledge, but is not that hard.
I believe that's the specific build Helder provides, the main branch however did not save.
can you please link? and i hope u don't mind telling me how to do it.. i got my hands on a used ps2 recently but have no idea how to play several games better.. blank cds cost more these days, and reviews keep saying usb sucks..
I have no soldering knowledge and i really want to play some games that I loved back in my childhood a lot..without getting stuck.
Hi and thank you for tutorials. I ended up using your videos to instal funtuna, cause every other video that I looked only tell how to install opl with already installed fmcb. You really help.
So I have a question about the best way to play on ps2 slim 9008. What shoud I use: ethernet, usb or buy this adapter?
If best means fastest to you: Ethernet.
@@MrMario2011 thank you
Is it possible to use the SD card exclusively to save games? I have plenty of PS2 memory cards. I don't feel comfortable with using those 3rd party memory cards. It would be nice to use it for that.
Only if the game is on them and only as VMCs.
USB to PS2 memory card adapter and ps1? i no longer have ps2 or ps3 they got stolen but have my memory cards and need a device to transfer saves to PC from cards?
Losing micro SD cards in a case is common for many raspberry pi cases too. :-( I’m sure many know of what you speak.
Probably a FAQ, which device are you using to capture the PS2 footage? Looks pretty crisp!
RGB Scart upscaled to HDMI and an ElGato HD60+ for capture
Hi MrMario have a question using the memory card method are you still able to use the ps2 optical drive to back games up onto the memory card like you would using the hard drive with the phat ps2
I haven't tried that myself. I've personally never used the PS2 itself to rip games.
You were not the only one who put the micro sd card in and then had to get it out of the casing, thankfully I was able to get it to slide out enough that I could pull it out the rest of the way.
The only issue I seem to be having with it is I can't get it to read the micro sd card which is a SanDisk (figures I only have those on hand) which according to Helder's website aren't 100% compatible with it.
I probably need to mess with mine a bit more, but I haven't been impressed with the functionality of mine so far. So far I had a much easier time booting and running games via the USB.
I haven't been able to get it to work. USB was actually easier...SMH
@@Jaxxon123 my experience is similar. I can get some games going, but not as easily or consistent as with USB. Also, I find that the version of OPL that is supposed to work on my Slims does not at all.
@@raptorspy13 what about speed wise
Inside OPL Setup:
Go to settings.
Change BMD Start Mode to Auto.
Go to Block Devices.
Make sure USB and MX4SIO are turned ON.
Save Changes.
any info/updates on saving? both slots are occupied by the FMCB and the MX4SIO. I've been told not to allow the system to save on the FMCB card. Could use some help on this.
I watched a RUclips video that said you can swap out one of the cards with a regular memory card once the game has been loaded up and running on the PS2
Great video and great content as always from Mr Mario. 💯👍👍
I have a ps2 slim with FMCB, unfortunately the PS2 does not support my modern new Sony 4k TV.
Can I just use my modded FAT first gen PS3 to play PS2 games on it? Is it safe? Thanks
I'm surprised it took this long when we've been using the GameCube Memory Port for a decade.
Just gotta get the right people on board 😁
Hey MrMario, great video as always ! I have just one question: I have a ps2 slim with the funtuna exploit since i have a newer slim. Is this sd card adapter compatible with the funtuna exploit ?
Should be, as long as you can boot OPL!
Yes, it is compatible!
Alright, Thank You two for the Answers ! Happy modding everyone
@@nepoznat12 Also get the newest official OPL Beta build, because MX4SIO and the issues surrounding it were specifically worked on!
@@tnaplastic2182 Oh, thats nice to hear, thank you very much for the heads up !
any info on saving a game yet? I tried creating a VMC but the game freezes on the opening splash screen every time I try to launch.
Agreed, The MC2SIO is great! Somehow I just love my Modchip and especially listening to the lovely sound of the disc spinning. 🤩 Nostalgia.
Nice to have that nostalgia, I do try to keep the drive usage minimal, though!
You love using an unreliable data media with an unreliable mechanical drive that will die if it isn't already dying ? Lol
@@MarcosGarcia-kx4rb i sure do!
This is definitely awesome and hell probably is what ive been looking for since apparently my PSP action replay special edition ps2 save loader disc seems to not work,but honestly now the question is though is it better to just get a modded ps3 to do all the great ps2 things or this? Cause ya know i feel like ps3 emulates ps2 really well despite whatever model interestingly enough.
Now there's one more thing I wonder. How fast is the port really? Is it USB 2.0 level or an in between of 1.1 and 2.0
I can't get it to read the SD card. Thank you for showing me the right ELF file, the other tutorial with download didn't have the one I needed. Using a 79xxxx model.
But, OPL boots, yet the games never come up. The red light on the adapter IS blinking, but I can't get it to read. And there's nothing in my USB ports. Help please?
Try the newest official OPL Beta!
@@tnaplastic2182 You keep saying this on every response, but I downloaded zip and it doesn't have the file for people with 75000+, where do we get that file?
A fat PS2 with an original network adaptor modified with the sata upgrade kit is definitely the ultimate solution, but the mc2sio is a very close second
For sure. HDD loading is still a favorite.
@@MrMario2011 more so if using an SSD
do you know if there an easy way to get smaller games that would be a cd bin/cue to work with mc2sio? like the thing or ico? im seeing all the iso load up just fine but not smaller bin/cue files. i wonder if im just not putting them in the right file folders. system currently fmcb on ps2 70012 mc2sio using opl set up via mac. thanks so much for your videos and dedication to the community
They have to be ISO files, I covered it all in my OPL USB video.
@@MrMario2011 Not anymore! They can now be ZSOs (compressed ISOs)!
I'm a little confused.... Can I use this on a fat PS2 console? Also.... Which would be better on a fat PS2? A hard drive or this memory card thing? Which is cheaper? Is there a major difference in the 2? Is there a benefit to having both a hard drive and this?
Sorry about all the questions... It's just that I found 2 fat body ps2's in my basement that I picked up at a garage sale for dirt cheap about 17 years ago and am trying to resurrect the crap out of them.
If you have a fat ps2 i would buy one of these hdd sata adapters.
I just cant figure out how to get large roms on this thing. I've seen tutorials but I feel like there missing a step.- EDIT your tutorial for USB loading was brilliant. ITS WORKING NOW !!!!
Gutted these came back in stock while I was at work, and sold out before I got home...
Edit: They dropped more stock today, and I got one! Super excited to try this badboy out!
😢
I was curiouse about the mem card loader. Fantastic to see things are coming along. You should check your Facebook messages though.
quick question...I've had the issue with USB loading where you can't load a game and use an accessory at the same time (eg. Singstar)
using this, would that be solved?😅
Did you use a Multitap and see if having a 3rd memory card would work with saving?
Hello @MrMario2011 , I have the slim PS2 with matrix chip installed, can I just grab that and configure everything and just put the iso games and play? Or do I need the other method too? Thanks !
You just need a way to boot into OPL
The specific OPL builds on Helder's site just give me a black screen...I've given up on trying to get this to work. Maybe I'll try again in the future. Thanks for the great video, though. Good job!
Same here no luck completely irritated at this point usb it is for now good thing I have a lan play setup
Where are the specific OPL versions on Helder's site? I can't seem to find them at all.
So, the slow save time on games has everything to do with bad programming?
I see alot of potential for this espiecally in regards to running PS1 games since the PS2 won't need to use the MIPS R3000A chip for IO therefor it should be possible to run PS1 games off it instead but I guess that means we'll need a update from OPL to make that possible.
It still uses it for IO.
I load my games from mini router connected to ethernet port with an
external 2.0 HDD but once the MX4SIO gets completely polished will be the future of ps2 loading games.
I have a doubt, pal. When the HDD goes idle, it still working? I've read that when goes that way, the router thinks that "it's off" and you need to unplug and plug again to keep playing. That happens to you?
Could you please let me know which Micro SD you have in your MC2SIO?
All the cards I have at home are incompatitble, and I'd rather buy one that I know works for sure.
Just got a PNY 128gb from WalMart to work, but compatibility is so shit you won't be able to play most stuff anyway. This thing is not ready.
good day. I am a little bit confuse. I do already have a fmcb, do i have to delete all files in fmcb and install all your instruction?? Or i just have to copy paste the latest opl?? Thank you
NOW, you can just use the newest official OPL Beta! :)
@@tnaplastic2182 wow. Can you send the link sir? Thankss
@@rolandorevidizo1757 RUclips automatically deletes my comment, if it contains a link.
Yeah i found it. What do you think its improvement? Thanks
@@rolandorevidizo1757 Huh? Improvements are, that MX4SIO works properly now, ExFAT is supported, games do not need to be defragmented anymore, compressed images are supported and so on.
Will not boot opl at times . Shows black screen or freezes when it doesn't boot up. 🤔
There are some PS2 games that detect the official hard drive and let you save directly to it. If you had one of those installed could you then save in those few games? I know this is not a solution because most games do not detect the hard drive, but I am curious.
Interesting little device. Thankfully I still have a chipped PS2 fat with a 1tb 2.5 inch drive in the back. It's running Toxic OS as the dash. For people who want other options this one seems legit. 👍
Never messed with ToxicOS but I've heard good things about it!
So is this compatible with the 99000 series PS2 slims now?! I seen Macho Nacho talk about this and he said it wasn’t compatible with those models. I have a red Japanese PS2 slim that I would love to get this for instead of swapping out a older motherboard and drive from a older PS2 slim.
It is working on my 90001 console.
I recently got a Japanese PS2 fat model (SCPH-18000), and I was wondering if this will work with MX4SIO and the FMCB? Unfortunately the ps2 model I got had no HDD expansion bay so I had to resort to other alternatives. By the way your video tutorial is amazing! More Power to your channel! From the Philippines
As long as you can get it booting OPL, yes!
Yes, MX4SIO works on every model! :)
on the Japanese fat PS2s there is a PCMCIA slot instead of an expansion bay, so the hard drive would be attached externally. They even made an official external hard drive for it. Try seeing if you can find one
but can it actually be used as a memory card?
I just ran out of memory and couldn´t create a new savegame, so i started to create virtual mc for each individual game from OPL but ofc. that´s not ideal.
Great news for my old ps2
With the classic PS3 out there , is there any benefit buying the PS2 if you can play PS2 games on the PS3 🤔?
Not all games play nice with the ps3 apparently.
@@bustergundo516 Thanks for the info. I tho all ps2 games worked on the PS3
@@pokiblue5870 your welcome.
How do you know about how the SD card slips into the memory card shell?
The microSD Card wanted to go into hiding.
I have a PS2 slim, you said that the usb is laggy and FMV issues. Is that the same thing if I used a Hard drive?
Nope.
You can still use FMCB on 9000x models if they are earlier models not patched by Sony.
Yeah, BOOT-ROM 2.20.
What does it actually do? Just make your games load faster?
i actually have one question about MC2SIO
how does it handle dual discs like Xenosaga? & Shadow Hearts Covenant?
How does the loading time compare to using an HDD or loading games via a network?
Is it possible to install free McBoot onto a USB drive but still have the games load from the sd card adapter?
This is so I can use a memory card and not have to keep swapping out back and forth between the memory card and the free McBoot loader.
What about iLink port on 3000x series? OPL has (experimental) support for that port. I tried that with a hdd enclosure (which has Oxford 934 chipset on its board) with Firewire port but games don't show up. I'm trying to figuring this iLink/s400/ieee_1394_4pin/firewire stuff. You can still find fat ps2s with that port and some old hdd enclosures with firewire 400 port on the second hand market. It's theoretically 10 times faster than the usb port and FMV's are no issue. Game compatibility is also not too bad. This subject is also pretty fun to work on and I think it deserves its own videos on RUclips.
pls helpme my hhd was not visible on my ps2 slim even i format it fat32 what do you think the problem ?? but if i put usb it work
How do you know, Mr. Mario? 😁
So, if you can't save your game then how do you continue your progress?
Anyway, great video, Mr. Mario!
Thanks! And at least for now those special builds of OPL have saving 🤗
I got this from Amazon and I am getting black screen when I try to open any app. Also, free McBoot lunches only when I access the browse then exit. Any, idea what I can do to fix this issue?
Would game saves work if your regular memory card is in slot 1 and your microsd card is in slot 2 with FreeMcBoot installed on it?
Yes!
Thank you!!!
Edit: Wait you can’t save game progress or settings on any game??
That's currently broken on the official OPL Beta-builds and the "stable" 1.1.0 built. It can be fixed on the software side.
@@tnaplastic2182 Oh I see but I honestly don’t know how to do any of that. 😅 The PS2 is my favorite console and i wanted to find ways to play my games but still preserve the discs in their case. Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has always been my favorite and looking at its price now makes me worry taking it out to play.
@@CarbajalQZ Well... Then you have to wait for it being fixed, OR use the "BDM3"-Test-build. ;)
How should I load games in the SD? Should I just copy and paste or need some toolkit to load the ISOs?
All covered and shown in my OPL USB tutorial. Same steps.
@@MrMario2011 All redundant, as of the newest OPL Betas. 😉
Fragmented games work now, as long as it is 64 fragments MAX.
Games over 4GB don't need to be split, because we've got ExFAT as well as ZSO (which often compresses games below 4GB) and more.