The original PS2 design is my favourite of all consoles ever made. There is something about the color combination of the logo, the blue stand and the black plastic which makes it look awesome. Even in 2021. Timeless design!
Yes, the ps2 design looks modern even today! looks like a brutalist building xD, like a serious machine. I Like the slim version a lot more than the fat. But yeah, I think it's the best looking console ever made. And I don't think it's bias because my first console was the ps1, which I think is hideous.
Oh wow that brings back memories my brother had that plug-in hard drive on his PS2 I used to rent games from blockbuster and we’d rip them and play them
Good video! I’ve been using OPL with a 500GB drive, hooked up to my PS2 Slim for 5+ years now. I can confirm that the new updates to OPL smooth out plenty of gameplay issues. At this point, choppy cutscenes are the only real pain point I have.
Put the hard drive in a network enclosure and connect it to the PS2 through the ethernet port = no more stuttering cut scenes. ----in order to be extra cheap you could use a Raspberry Pi Zero as interface between the USB hard disk and the PS2 ethernet port---- Correction: the Pi Zero doesn't have ethernet.
@@Androchan If you have any spare old PC, laptop/netbook/raspberry pie, whatever, you can install either linux or windows on it and set an SMB (also called samba) share with your games in it, then point OPL to that share and you're set (some internet routers can even share files all by themselves: check if your router has a USB port).
@@Androchan you can also buy hard disk cases with nas capabilities on a famous Chinese site but my comment gets deleted if I mention that, so I'm putting it here on a separated comment.
I'd say both methods (laser n usb) are by the hand, the only good method i'd take is removing the entire laser mechanism and injecting the HDD directly into the mobo without usb PS2 has DVD capabilities, and it works faster than usb 1.0
@@TheCode-X Or save yourself the hassle and buy Ps2 phat and use an expansion card. Probably what im going to do as I want to watch the cut scenes. Gameplay thou is smooth and loading times are more or less the same as DVD.
Obvious difference: You grew up with the Playstation fat, i was growing fat with the Playstation... There was a solution for internal drives on the slim, but it reguirres serious soldering, done that once about ten years ago.
@@namtrof01 Depends on... to me, there's more "emotional connection" to a PS1 than to any PS2, and i'd rather get a PS2 slim 70k again than a fat at this point
@@anno5936 I think it's definitely a bias of what was your go to growing up and I just have that nostalgia of the back power switch and the overall reliability that I don't think is matched by today's consoles. That thing was a tank
@@namtrof01 Sure it is, though it's more like a "preference" than a "bias". From an engineering pov it's a whole lot different, and none the least, PS2 in all sizes has awesome modding potential, both in Software and Hardware, but in that regards, PS3 was an absolute beast if you catched one with near to perfect downwards compatibillity.
Actually, the speed of the 1.1 USB connection is slower than the internal DVD reader and you'll realise this when some cut scenes will stutter (USB speed= 1,5MB/s, DVD Rom speed = 5,3MB/s). The best (fastest) way to connect a hard disk to the PS2 slim is through the ethernet port. It's even faster than the internal DVD (although still not as fast as the internal HDD of a fat PS2).
@@TheSlackassCrew You need a way to put your game files on a local network (LAN). There are several ways you can do it, you could share the files through a NAS, a PC (even a laptop), or attach an external USB HDD with your PS2 games to your router (the router must have file sharing capabilities) or even to a raspberry Pi.
@@fffantasiii Yes. in OPL settings you have to set PS2 IP address. And your router ip address (as getaway) and other settings you can search PS2 SMB tutorial.
with the scph 70000x versions you could solder a 44pin ide cable to the board and connect a ide hard drive or ide to sata/sd adapter directly to the ps2 and have same performance as like with a hdd in a fat model [search ps2 slim ide mod]
This sounds fascinating thank you for sharing the information I'd love to see either written manual which is always more detailed of this or a tutorial for those who may need it!
The cmos battery of your PS2 is already drained. Changed it so the date of your save data will always be accurate. That's why the white balls on your main menu is not moving or swirling.
ssd would be a waste of money. the only benefit you'd get is better longevity if you move the console around more or leave it on. the interface of the console is too slow to take advantage of the speed of an ssd.
@Robert Ogórkiewicz both ps2 fat and slim have usb 1.1, they're both slow and Its worse in the slim model since you cant add an internal harddrive without modifying the console.
@Andrew Linggar yes you must purchase a Ps2 sata network adapter off of eBay are Amazon they range about 15-20$ once you have just attach hard drive to the adapter and insert on the back of the Ps2
@@jayssimplelife4554 hi Jay, I'm getting a PS2 slim and I'll have to use the external shown in this video...BUT can I download .iso games and just play them from the HDD? I'm having a hard time finding discs(CD/DVD) to purchase
Not a bad overview of the USB storage option, but with USB 1.1, you won't have the bandwidth for some FMV in games, and the compatibility is a bit rough. USB 1.1 is 1.5MB/sec max theoretical (meaning more like 1MB/sec or less in real performance), and I think the DVD-ROM drive was roughly 4MB/sec. The LAN option in OPL2 is pretty solid these days, and would likely be much easier too. You could just take that USB HDD, plug it in to your PC, share the drive on your home network, and serve the ISOs over the LAN. With 12.5MB/sec max theoretical on LAN, it easily has the bandwidth to match and outperform the DVD-ROM drive. So, assuming you have no issues on your LAN, you should get very smooth loading, and performance. In any case, fun little video to watch. Only thing I would have recommended you show, was examples of the FMV stuttering, as I'm sure you got some?
Resident evil 2 original is my favourite game. So am I right in thinking you upload all ps2 games onto your pc then install and set up local area network on the ps2 slim and play them via the pc?
I watched a vid recently comparing the load times between Disc, USB, and HDD (on fat) and surprisingly the usb load times were only slightly longer than disc on many games.
Most games don't take advantage of the full theoretical reading speed of the DVD Rom drive (5,3 MB/s against the 1,5MB/s of the USB). This is due to many factors, like having to use the CPU to decompress the loaded data, in this case the bottleneck is the CPU.
Transfer rates of USB 1.1 are significantly lower compared to what the PS2's optical drive would normally provide, meaning the load times will be much longer and there will be stuttering all over the place. With a slim PS2, use OPL through Ethernet port instead.
The better solution would probably be using a cheap Raspberry Pi Zero board that can power off right from the PS2's USB port to simulate a network and plug it's ethernet cable into the PS2 itself. Then have the Pi host the hard drive. Way better transfer speeds and flawless FMVs.
@@rastarwoozie4463 I believe the channel "Project Phoenix Media" has tutorials and How Tos for this kind of thing. Basically using SMB to share the games over network, could use your own computer to do it without a Pi
2:37 there is a way to it. But only with the first slim model, in the motherboard there is the solder points for the HDD hidden and not used, there is a mod to add a HDD.
The taste of old things does not give new things. The 90s and 2000s will always be the best times of my life. PS One and PS2 are also the best things of my childhood.
Zeker man me schoonmoeder had er eentje gevonden met 2 controllers en MC,s heb ik volledig omgebouwd en kan alle games spellen via de wifi / moet wel alleen je pc of laptop aan staan, maar werkt voor mij het beste
Alternative option is to use the ethernet port of the PS2 connect it to a PC and ftp your games with opl, meaning run your PS2 games of your pc, this is something I did back in the day even had the games compressed with windows NTFS compression. This way is faster than USB but still slower than internal hdd or disc as at the time there was some weirdness with the co procesor that handles ethernet on the PS2 bottlenecking it even though it is 100mbit Port.
Just installed an ssd in my fat ps2, so happy. I knew there isn’t much advantage in loading times versus an hdd but adding games from laptop was lightning fast and more importantly no noise from a disc or hdd while playing. I only hear the fan, which isn’t bad but silent fan is going to be the next upgrade.
AMIGO ADS When you launch discs through ESR it also skips the region code of the game so you can play backed up psx/ps2 discs and games from different regions
If I were to start playing a ps2 game from usb, and then later continued playing it from the actual disc, would i be able to continue my save from the usb over on the disc?
Someone gave me a PS2,after some.."accidents",the PS2 started to burn like hell when i use it,so i make a homemade usb fan to give some air and it works
Is it still too slow to play video from usb, like intro video's will stutter and take long to load etc Edit: yes still unplayable through usb unless you want wait for ridiculous load times
I few years back I found an adapter that allowed me to use an m.2 ssd in the fat PS2. I know it is overkill since the bandwidth the PS2 supports through the hard drive / network adapter is not very fast compared to modern standards, but it was more of a curiosity to see if it would work. I can also load the games to the ssd really fast, which was the biggest benefit really.
For the PS2 Slim, since you are using the USB slots for the SSD / Hard drive is it any better than simply using a USB flash drive or is it the same? I've been told that on the PS2 FAT, using a USB to play games works but the games can be lag but if you use the Network Sata Adapter as shown in the video it works perfectly. Sadly the PS2 Slim can't use the attachment because it doesn't have the Sata slot in the back, so is the Hard drive adapter any better than just using a USB stick?
My FreeMcboot installation is maybe 12 years old, is there an easy way to update it? I remember it was a b***h to install it on the card in the first place. I've got the fat PS2 with a network adapter and a dead laser and a 1st generation slim with an external power brick. Can't say I'm in a hurry since I only own maybe 5 PS2 games, but I would like to get a good internal drive for the Fat one day and set up the slim for occasional car trips. One of these days Ill go thrift shop diving to try and bolster my library.
You should invest in the Brook device. It allows you to play with PS3/PS4 controllers [wirelessly]. I always play PS2 games with my PS4 controller. I own a PS2 Slim SCPH-90001
Why raspberry pi? I used a netgear router that had USB and with OpenWRT I shared the HDD on the network; then I connected the console via Ethernet to it and worked. My guess is that any router that can share a USB HDD on the network can be used.Did the same with a Huawei router from Vodafone. Also connected directly a LaCie NAS directly to the play2 and through my main network. Why the Pi? It might be any difference?
Hey Wicked - can you do videos showing what everything is on the McBoot and how you use it? Also how does using mcboot affect game saves, loading saves from games on the hard drive? Can you use any external hd?
@@WickedGamerCollector I ask Bc I wouldn’t want to mess things up unknowingly. Have no idea how it affects game saves (or how do you even save using a hard drive) or load files etc. or if it’s even possible.
Dug into it yesterday, someone at reddit did some sort of standalone with an Odroid HC. It ties in with my idea about a dedicated network just for my arcade builds so i can serve & sync several machines with a single HDD, i still have a SBC router laying around somewhere. Admittetly i didn't have the intention to use a PS2 in such since i have 3 devices capable of perfect emulation, but it's an interesting idea for another mod project.
PS2 has usb 2.0? I'm using a usb3.0 to nvme adapter on my pi400 but that wouldn't help on a PS2. (Theoretical usb 2.0 48 Mbyte per sec... that's slower than UDMA and modern hdd's are faster than 50 Mbyte/sec.) Hmmm edit ... it is even worse USB 1.1 ... no wonder it's slow 1.2 Mbyte/sec @wicked game collector (wel 12 Mbit... but most times I divide it by 10 to get amount of bytes sent)
@@erikkarsies4851 Yeah, it's slow. But comparable to disc speeds. I'm not sure how fast the disc drive, maybe 130-150 MB/s for sequential but the random reads is what might drop below the USB 1.1 speeds.
There's a pretty huge ceveat with this method. Having a FAT PS2 is much much better. If you use only USB1.1, certain FMV's wouldn't even load correctly! I did both methods. Sometimes the USB1.1 doesn't even have enough throughput for smooth FMV playback.
Spending money on an actual HDD for a slim is just pointless since the USB 1.1 will only let about 12 Mbps through the connector. Any simple USB stick lying around will do the same speeds, and take up way less space.
Hey wicked thanks for this. I use hd loader to copy my discs over to internal had on my phat ps2, I don’t know if it can be used for usb though. Is the usb on the slim faster than on the fat? USB loading on my phat the cut scenes are laggy….?
I saw that bundle on Ali express like you have in this video but it says there is 400 games already loaded onto the external hard drive that comes with the free mcboot memory card. My question for you is do you think this is legit? Did yours come with the games pre installed? I love your videos and i bought a super console x after watching your review but as you know it does not have ps2 on super console x. I don't have access to a computer or know how to use one so the games pre installed with the free mcboot is very attractive to me please reply if you are able to with your opinion on this product thanks so much
Hope this isn't a dumb question but I've been recently buying old retro games on eBay -Smackdown vs Raw NFL Street SSX 3 Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi to name a few. I've seen some videos now on how to mod PlayStation 2's but I'm wondering what Mods are actually possible for my PlayStation 2 slim nowadays and what do I need to actually do it myself Another thing I wanted to know is can you play full games on a modded PS2 or are they just demo versions of the game or something like that not being the full version of the game . Please Let me know I'm looking to do something cool with my PlayStation 2 still
There's another solution that's way better: smb network. You can use a PC connected with your PS2 Slim or use a mini router (travel router) with USB port. Pendrive, external HDD or microsd card with USB adapter connected to mini router and mini router connected to PS2 Slim via ethernet cable. Because the USB port in the router is at least 2.0 the speed is better than the PS2's USB ports (1.1). Or Raspberry Pi method.
I'd use USB drive as the last resort. Better to use OPL via network - PS2 slims already have ethernet port built-in and it works flawlessly when compared to USB - there's no loading in fmvs and it loads somewhat faster ;)
@@WickedGamerCollector that would be a thing beauty, ps2 is well underated. Sony should release a sequel to the ps classic ps2 classic 👌. 1 of these days i might get round to building it myself. Cool video mate
If I plugged an empty usb stick in my ps2 slims usb port and it didn't show up on main browser does that mean my flash ports or bad ? I don't know much I just want to be able to mcboot to update older games
that screen is a monitor ? I tried to use ps2hdmi with hdmi to vga but my monitor doesn't support 480i, but my monitor is very similar that you use in video, did you have this problem?
solder an IDE connector directly to the PS2 slim. There used to be kits precisely for doing such a procedure, but it is so insanely difficult it went out of fashion quick.
Can you please do a show with a stick that comes with many ...arcade games only.. I want to get the Ultimate legends arcade. And I don't know how to load games.. I'm not computer savvy. Thanks 😊🙏
Hey, i bought one of these with bunch of games on it but i don’t like some of the games i wanna delete them so i can put the ones that i really like does that gonna make any problem? And is there a great way to delete games? Please, Answer
Hello! I have an exact same HDD that I wanted to use to load games from using OPL, but I don't know what I should put inside (also, how to format to FAT32? the disc is formatted in NTFS) I have a 32GB USB drive with games that do work with OPL, but I wanted to have more games in one singular space.
Hello. Thank you for the video. I have read many people say that booting games from a Hard Drive over USB with the Slim us simply not possible but you have shown it is. I have some questions. Firstly how much longer are the load times on average compared to a game on the DVD disc? Have you noticed any slow downs or stuttering during gameplay or cut scenes when accessing from USB? Can I load games from multiple regions? Or does it have to be from the region if the console? Eg, can I run a NTSC game on a PAL console? And finally dies it work well with a SATA2 drive? I have a spare SATA2 drive lying around, otherwise I'll need to buy a SATA3 drive. Thank you in advance.
I will make some more video's regarding this subject. Also incl. compare with USB and HDD Internal speed so you can see how fast internal disk is. Ow and Sata is cheap to buy when it comes to big disc so if you build an PS2 Phat with Sata Drive that is just super easy to do.
@@WickedGamerCollectorimo i can be a little biased here it was my first game console i got for my 13th birthday reflecting back it had the games which gave birth to most not all popular game series today the ones top of my head gta, prince of persia, metal gear solid, ace combat, rachet and clank, LOTR, Harry Potter, Starwars, probably few more but one game that stood out for me the most was *shadow of colossus*
i grew up wit ht he phat i want to get a slim witch thankfuly my friend is letting me get his for 100$ and it is like brand new still works he hardly uses it . and a handfull of games two of them i want dark cloud 1 and 2 .
thx for the video. Another lightweight solution is to fire up a samba server on any sbc (like raspberry, banana pi, orange pi...) and share your usb stick or hdd, and then you can access your isos through opl. This is much faster than usb 1.1 (12mbit vs 100mbit !) depending on your sbc and storage speed.
I remember for going to friends house for the first time since I knew them and then I go into his room and see a ps2 slim for the first time it was like seeing the holy grail since I grew up playing the fat ps2
There is a solder mod for the slim to put a harddrive. Your prob better off just getting a fat. USB capability is less. But the games that do work, should be alright and playable. I did the sata mod to the original network adapter. It's a better solution and you keep the network port for network. It's easy to do just unscrew and put the ribbon cable and put the sata connector in. Was using ide before. IDE harddrives are hard to come by. SATA is much better overall. IDK about ssd's, I herd it's not not reccemended. Atleast your worry free that it's not fragmented. I put a 1tb wd sata drive and filled it up. Im happy with the selection. 2tb looked like you needed a specail version of freemcboot. idk nowadays. I usually try the daily builds once in a wile. For psx i gotta try the tonyhax thing. U can make one via Freemcboot with a original psx memery card. But i don't think it works with ps2 slims and newer ps2 fats. It's basicly a hack that allows you to put a real game lets say tony hawk and it tells you to switch disks to a import or copyed game. It's really for ps1 consoles but i read on the main site that it works with older ps2 models as well. No pop starter emulator nonsence.
Lol how did you get all those games on your external hard drive im using a Dell 931 gb USB external harddrive and can't seem to get any games on it can you make a tutorial for this?...
Just rip the disc image (iso) with any copying program then put in a folder named "DVD" on any FAT32 formatted drive. I use 32gb usb drives with great success.
The original PS2 design is my favourite of all consoles ever made. There is something about the color combination of the logo, the blue stand and the black plastic which makes it look awesome. Even in 2021. Timeless design!
@John Michael Go my second favourite is the European SNES :)
Think it also comes down to "lived memory"... therefore my ranking would be PS1 before the SNES & PS2 (strictly in terms of design).
@@anno5936 sure, it's all just personal taste and emotions
Yes, the ps2 design looks modern even today! looks like a brutalist building xD, like a serious machine. I Like the slim version a lot more than the fat. But yeah, I think it's the best looking console ever made. And I don't think it's bias because my first console was the ps1, which I think is hideous.
Oh wow that brings back memories my brother had that plug-in hard drive on his PS2 I used to rent games from blockbuster and we’d rip them and play them
great move
I did the same but with, gamestop
Get that bitch,he’s the one who killed block buster
Good video! I’ve been using OPL with a 500GB drive, hooked up to my PS2 Slim for 5+ years now. I can confirm that the new updates to OPL smooth out plenty of gameplay issues. At this point, choppy cutscenes are the only real pain point I have.
Put the hard drive in a network enclosure and connect it to the PS2 through the ethernet port = no more stuttering cut scenes.
----in order to be extra cheap you could use a Raspberry Pi Zero as interface between the USB hard disk and the PS2 ethernet port---- Correction: the Pi Zero doesn't have ethernet.
i thought the USB1 plug can only read up to 32GB because it has to be formatted to FAT32? Please tell me i'm wrong
@@souljastation5463 OMG show me how!!!
@@Androchan If you have any spare old PC, laptop/netbook/raspberry pie, whatever, you can install either linux or windows on it and set an SMB (also called samba) share with your games in it, then point OPL to that share and you're set (some internet routers can even share files all by themselves: check if your router has a USB port).
@@Androchan you can also buy hard disk cases with nas capabilities on a famous Chinese site but my comment gets deleted if I mention that, so I'm putting it here on a separated comment.
USB loading is good, but don't forget we're talking about USB 1.0 and cinematics tend to lag when loading from USB
But what about loadings times? Is it faster than inserting the actual disc or usb solution is faster?
So even if I use a external Hard drive it'll still have that stutter?
I'd say both methods (laser n usb) are by the hand, the only good method i'd take is removing the entire laser mechanism and injecting the HDD directly into the mobo without usb
PS2 has DVD capabilities, and it works faster than usb 1.0
yes cinematics video/audio lag with usb 1
@@TheCode-X Or save yourself the hassle and buy Ps2 phat and use an expansion card. Probably what im going to do as I want to watch the cut scenes. Gameplay thou is smooth and loading times are more or less the same as DVD.
Obvious difference: You grew up with the Playstation fat, i was growing fat with the Playstation...
There was a solution for internal drives on the slim, but it reguirres serious soldering, done that once about ten years ago.
That beginning part of the comment 😅
But what if I was growing fat with a ps2 flat. I have a ps2 slim but idk doesn't have that same nostalgia
@@namtrof01 Depends on... to me, there's more "emotional connection" to a PS1 than to any PS2, and i'd rather get a PS2 slim 70k again than a fat at this point
@@anno5936 I think it's definitely a bias of what was your go to growing up and I just have that nostalgia of the back power switch and the overall reliability that I don't think is matched by today's consoles. That thing was a tank
@@namtrof01 Sure it is, though it's more like a "preference" than a "bias". From an engineering pov it's a whole lot different, and none the least, PS2 in all sizes has awesome modding potential, both in Software and Hardware, but in that regards, PS3 was an absolute beast if you catched one with near to perfect downwards compatibillity.
PS2 was the best system ever IMO.
Yes its right
Day by day, the PS2 lives on even long after its discontinuation.
Actually, the speed of the 1.1 USB connection is slower than the internal DVD reader and you'll realise this when some cut scenes will stutter (USB speed= 1,5MB/s, DVD Rom speed = 5,3MB/s).
The best (fastest) way to connect a hard disk to the PS2 slim is through the ethernet port. It's even faster than the internal DVD (although still not as fast as the internal HDD of a fat PS2).
How can you do that?
@@TheSlackassCrew You need a way to put your game files on a local network (LAN). There are several ways you can do it, you could share the files through a NAS, a PC (even a laptop), or attach an external USB HDD with your PS2 games to your router (the router must have file sharing capabilities) or even to a raspberry Pi.
@@souljastation5463 So you connect a HDD to your router, and connect the router to the ps2. Are there any other steps? Like on the ps2 itself
@@fffantasiii Yes. in OPL settings you have to set PS2 IP address. And your router ip address (as getaway) and other settings you can search PS2 SMB tutorial.
with the scph 70000x versions you could solder a 44pin ide cable to the board and connect a ide hard drive or ide to sata/sd adapter directly to the ps2 and have same performance as like with a hdd in a fat model [search ps2 slim ide mod]
This sounds fascinating thank you for sharing the information I'd love to see either written manual which is always more detailed of this or a tutorial for those who may need it!
The cmos battery of your PS2 is already drained. Changed it so the date of your save data will always be accurate. That's why the white balls on your main menu is not moving or swirling.
ssd would be a waste of money. the only benefit you'd get is better longevity if you move the console around more or leave it on. the interface of the console is too slow to take advantage of the speed of an ssd.
This bring back memories. Ps2 library is so good, best system imo.
Yes, please make tutorial how to put games using OPL. I have a free mcboot memory and a PHAT PS2. Thank you kindly!
@Robert Ogórkiewicz both ps2 fat and slim have usb 1.1, they're both slow and Its worse in the slim model since you cant add an internal harddrive without modifying the console.
I modded my fat Ps2 and added the hd in the back we’re the network adapter is placed loaded with games can’t get off of it lol
@Andrew Linggar yes you must purchase a Ps2 sata network adapter off of eBay are Amazon they range about 15-20$ once you have just attach hard drive to the adapter and insert on the back of the Ps2
@@jayssimplelife4554 hi Jay, I'm getting a PS2 slim and I'll have to use the external shown in this video...BUT can I download .iso games and just play them from the HDD? I'm having a hard time finding discs(CD/DVD) to purchase
@@alxcal-southside8762 yes just purchase a enclosure and plug to the usb and good to go
Not a bad overview of the USB storage option, but with USB 1.1, you won't have the bandwidth for some FMV in games, and the compatibility is a bit rough. USB 1.1 is 1.5MB/sec max theoretical (meaning more like 1MB/sec or less in real performance), and I think the DVD-ROM drive was roughly 4MB/sec.
The LAN option in OPL2 is pretty solid these days, and would likely be much easier too. You could just take that USB HDD, plug it in to your PC, share the drive on your home network, and serve the ISOs over the LAN.
With 12.5MB/sec max theoretical on LAN, it easily has the bandwidth to match and outperform the DVD-ROM drive. So, assuming you have no issues on your LAN, you should get very smooth loading, and performance.
In any case, fun little video to watch. Only thing I would have recommended you show, was examples of the FMV stuttering, as I'm sure you got some?
Resident evil 2 original is my favourite game. So am I right in thinking you upload all ps2 games onto your pc then install and set up local area network on the ps2 slim and play them via the pc?
with the Lan Option.....
Does SSD offer anythmore faster speed than HDD ?
Or the 150MB lan speed is limiting doesnt matter if u go SSD or HDD ?
With LAN you could only get ~2MB/s, that is the maximum speed the PS2 ethernet port is able to transmit
I watched a vid recently comparing the load times between Disc, USB, and HDD (on fat) and surprisingly the usb load times were only slightly longer than disc on many games.
Most games don't take advantage of the full theoretical reading speed of the DVD Rom drive (5,3 MB/s against the 1,5MB/s of the USB).
This is due to many factors, like having to use the CPU to decompress the loaded data, in this case the bottleneck is the CPU.
Transfer rates of USB 1.1 are significantly lower compared to what the PS2's optical drive would normally provide, meaning the load times will be much longer and there will be stuttering all over the place. With a slim PS2, use OPL through Ethernet port instead.
Watched a video on this and it is definitely the way to go if you want to play a large number of games with much better load times.
@@shinanimedubs1269 Absolutely. I think people are wasting their time trying to get USB to work and then realize it sucks.
The better solution would probably be using a cheap Raspberry Pi Zero board that can power off right from the PS2's USB port to simulate a network and plug it's ethernet cable into the PS2 itself. Then have the Pi host the hard drive. Way better transfer speeds and flawless FMVs.
is there a tutorial guide on that process?
@@rastarwoozie4463 I believe the channel "Project Phoenix Media" has tutorials and How Tos for this kind of thing. Basically using SMB to share the games over network, could use your own computer to do it without a Pi
@@vinetari are there links for using am android smartphone to run ps2 games from? Is it just like the Raspberry Pi4 or 8g model?
2:37 there is a way to it. But only with the first slim model, in the motherboard there is the solder points for the HDD hidden and not used, there is a mod to add a HDD.
U think it would be worth it to go and get the fist ps2 slim model just for that very mod?
@@certifiedbruhmomento5137 Yes.
@@ot4kon how do you distinguish the differences between all the slim models and find the one that can have a hdd installed?
@@certifiedbruhmomento5137 model number
@@ot4kon I also heard the first model runs Ps1 and Ps2 games pretty bad. This true?
The taste of old things does not give new things. The 90s and 2000s will always be the best times of my life.
PS One and PS2 are also the best things of my childhood.
Een mooie reden om mijn Ps2 slim weer is uit de kast te trekken, erg leuk dit ! bedankt :-)
Zeker man me schoonmoeder had er eentje gevonden met 2 controllers en MC,s heb ik volledig omgebouwd en kan alle games spellen via de wifi / moet wel alleen je pc of laptop aan staan, maar werkt voor mij het beste
Your kindness always informs the joys of playing video games. I appreciate how you craft your videos. Thank you for teaching me.
Alternative option is to use the ethernet port of the PS2 connect it to a PC and ftp your games with opl, meaning run your PS2 games of your pc, this is something I did back in the day even had the games compressed with windows NTFS compression.
This way is faster than USB but still slower than internal hdd or disc as at the time there was some weirdness with the co procesor that handles ethernet on the PS2 bottlenecking it even though it is 100mbit Port.
Just installed an ssd in my fat ps2, so happy. I knew there isn’t much advantage in loading times versus an hdd but adding games from laptop was lightning fast and more importantly no noise from a disc or hdd while playing. I only hear the fan, which isn’t bad but silent fan is going to be the next upgrade.
I kinda enjoy hearing the old 3.5 drive click up, pulls the retro asthetic together very nicely with the buzz of an old CRT haha.
Can you put a FMCB save card and play a game off a burned DVD
Yes, that’s what ESR is for in the menu
@@pontustraas95 thanks buddy
AMIGO ADS When you launch discs through ESR it also skips the region code of the game so you can play backed up psx/ps2 discs and games from different regions
If I were to start playing a ps2 game from usb, and then later continued playing it from the actual disc, would i be able to continue my save from the usb over on the disc?
Yes becasue the save data is stored on the memory card. Just make sure that both games are from the same region. eg. PAL.
Someone gave me a PS2,after some.."accidents",the PS2 started to burn like hell when i use it,so i make a homemade usb fan to give some air and it works
Is it still too slow to play video from usb, like intro video's will stutter and take long to load etc
Edit: yes still unplayable through usb unless you want wait for ridiculous load times
I few years back I found an adapter that allowed me to use an m.2 ssd in the fat PS2. I know it is overkill since the bandwidth the PS2 supports through the hard drive / network adapter is not very fast compared to modern standards, but it was more of a curiosity to see if it would work. I can also load the games to the ssd really fast, which was the biggest benefit really.
For the PS2 Slim, since you are using the USB slots for the SSD / Hard drive is it any better than simply using a USB flash drive or is it the same?
I've been told that on the PS2 FAT, using a USB to play games works but the games can be lag but if you use the Network Sata Adapter as shown in the video it works perfectly.
Sadly the PS2 Slim can't use the attachment because it doesn't have the Sata slot in the back, so is the Hard drive adapter any better than just using a USB stick?
My FreeMcboot installation is maybe 12 years old, is there an easy way to update it? I remember it was a b***h to install it on the card in the first place. I've got the fat PS2 with a network adapter and a dead laser and a 1st generation slim with an external power brick. Can't say I'm in a hurry since I only own maybe 5 PS2 games, but I would like to get a good internal drive for the Fat one day and set up the slim for occasional car trips. One of these days Ill go thrift shop diving to try and bolster my library.
Very handy video! Many thanks to wicked, exactly the info I need, as I have a very large PS2 'rare' games library on physical media
You should invest in the Brook device. It allows you to play with PS3/PS4 controllers [wirelessly]. I always play PS2 games with my PS4 controller. I own a PS2 Slim SCPH-90001
Well, i prefer ps2 slim + raspberry pi with samba. Much faster loading times.
How does every tech youtuber miss this option.
Why raspberry pi?
I used a netgear router that had USB and with OpenWRT I shared the HDD on the network; then I connected the console via Ethernet to it and worked. My guess is that any router that can share a USB HDD on the network can be used.Did the same with a Huawei router from Vodafone. Also connected directly a LaCie NAS directly to the play2 and through my main network.
Why the Pi? It might be any difference?
Hmm I cant, because my ps2 is far away from router. But, i will test it with ap client and my file server. :)
@@michalaskowski3387 So the Pi acts as a WiFi to Ethernet adapter only? Or it shares a storage (HDD USB, SDcard, etc) over the Ethernet with PS2?
@@sebastian19745 Pi + 2,5" Hdd witch samba over Ethernet. Much faster than USB. Probably faster than DVD :D
Hey Wicked - can you do videos showing what everything is on the McBoot and how you use it? Also how does using mcboot affect game saves, loading saves from games on the hard drive? Can you use any external hd?
I use by the way main memorycard slot one and leave mcfree on memorycard 2. 👌
With other question need to see how far we dive deep into this 👍
@@WickedGamerCollector I know you said mention if we wanted to see more with it, so I’m mentioning. :)
@@WickedGamerCollector be great if you could go over all you can do with it and what each of those sections are etc.
@@WickedGamerCollector I ask Bc I wouldn’t want to mess things up unknowingly. Have no idea how it affects game saves (or how do you even save using a hard drive) or load files etc. or if it’s even possible.
Just buy a travel router, and use the HDD from the ethernet port. Is the best way to use and hdd on your PS2
how do i do that ?
Is the best way to play on slim models. No mater if is a pendrive or a HDD, the travel router make it run at the best speed
So I can get a USB and plug n play with OPL without using usbextreme?
Thanks for the info sir. I have a question.. is usb and external hard drive same performance?
Are you using an av adapter cable because the picture looks good?
Hi, how does your video fit so perfectly?
On a second thought: shouldn't it be possible to use a NAS device, that would be way faster than an USB ?
It is
Since PS2 has USB 1.1 (12 mbit) and 100 mbit ethernet in the newer models... Yes should be faster! But maybe more complicated over Ethernet ?
Dug into it yesterday, someone at reddit did some sort of standalone with an Odroid HC. It ties in with my idea about a dedicated network just for my arcade builds so i can serve & sync several machines with a single HDD, i still have a SBC router laying around somewhere. Admittetly i didn't have the intention to use a PS2 in such since i have 3 devices capable of perfect emulation, but it's an interesting idea for another mod project.
Just search SMB share. You can use a Nas. And yes it can initially be a pain in the ass but it runs great and I don't have any skipping.
I know this video is old, but I can't find an answer. Where are the save games stored? Do you still need a memory card in the other slot? thanks
Awesome video. I luv your content
Thanks 👍👍👍
Thanks for the support 😎
I use a Kingston SSD and it is awesome. I recently set mine up to play games off a hard drive. I wish I would have done it years ago.
0:00 thats a lot of Coke.
You should try a usb 3.0 thumb drive. Max out the USB 1.0 speed for random writes. Should improve the experience somewhat.
PS2 has usb 2.0? I'm using a usb3.0 to nvme adapter on my pi400 but that wouldn't help on a PS2. (Theoretical usb 2.0 48 Mbyte per sec... that's slower than UDMA and modern hdd's are faster than 50 Mbyte/sec.)
Hmmm edit ... it is even worse USB 1.1 ... no wonder it's slow 1.2 Mbyte/sec @wicked game collector (wel 12 Mbit... but most times I divide it by 10 to get amount of bytes sent)
@@erikkarsies4851 Yeah, it's slow. But comparable to disc speeds. I'm not sure how fast the disc drive, maybe 130-150 MB/s for sequential but the random reads is what might drop below the USB 1.1 speeds.
Very interesting video 🤔🤔 time to get my ps2 out of the suitcase
Pretty cool. Fortunately, I have the old fattie.
You can use the usb for .... the fattie 😆
Next video ! 😆
And i love my fatty 😍
There's a pretty huge ceveat with this method. Having a FAT PS2 is much much better. If you use only USB1.1, certain FMV's wouldn't even load correctly! I did both methods. Sometimes the USB1.1 doesn't even have enough throughput for smooth FMV playback.
For slim it is better to make a lan with your pc and load games from there to ps2. They load much much faster that USB.
Does anyone else have an issue where the intro scenes and cut scenes are choppy with sound and video? other than that gameplay is fine.
Spending money on an actual HDD for a slim is just pointless since the USB 1.1 will only let about 12 Mbps through the connector. Any simple USB stick lying around will do the same speeds, and take up way less space.
is this much different from using a little USB thumb stick?
Hey wicked thanks for this. I use hd loader to copy my discs over to internal had on my phat ps2, I don’t know if it can be used for usb though. Is the usb on the slim faster than on the fat? USB loading on my phat the cut scenes are laggy….?
Thats a great question. I need to try that.
I currently have a phattie using internal sata drive. So, I keep you posted once I try it.
So its the same thing. He didn't mention it. I have a both FAT and Slim PS2, same FMV issue on USB.
Hi, I'm from Kazakhstan. usb 1.1 doesn't work perfectly. smb mod is better on Raspberry Pi.
SMB method still the best, no hdd size limit or filesize limit; just get a tiny pc or a outdated router that has USB sharing for Samba
Still have to store the games somewhere and the load times are not really any better
@@dirtyd3402 SMB only 2nd in terms of speed to the internal HDD method, which is still way faster then disc speed or this USB1.0 method
I saw that bundle on Ali express like you have in this video but it says there is 400 games already loaded onto the external hard drive that comes with the free mcboot memory card. My question for you is do you think this is legit? Did yours come with the games pre installed? I love your videos and i bought a super console x after watching your review but as you know it does not have ps2 on super console x.
I don't have access to a computer or know how to use one so the games pre installed with the free mcboot is very attractive to me please reply if you are able to with your opinion on this product thanks so much
Hope this isn't a dumb question but I've been recently buying old retro games on eBay -Smackdown vs Raw
NFL Street
SSX 3
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi to name a few. I've seen some videos now on how to mod PlayStation 2's but I'm wondering what Mods are actually possible for my PlayStation 2 slim nowadays and what do I need to actually do it myself
Another thing I wanted to know is can you play full games on a modded PS2 or are they just demo versions of the game or something like that not being the full version of the game . Please Let me know I'm looking to do something cool with my PlayStation 2 still
my ps2 got unpacked from new by the man installing the mod chip...lol
There's another solution that's way better: smb network. You can use a PC connected with your PS2 Slim or use a mini router (travel router) with USB port.
Pendrive, external HDD or microsd card with USB adapter connected to mini router and mini router connected to PS2 Slim via ethernet cable.
Because the USB port in the router is at least 2.0 the speed is better than the PS2's USB ports (1.1).
Or Raspberry Pi method.
I'd use USB drive as the last resort. Better to use OPL via network - PS2 slims already have ethernet port built-in and it works flawlessly when compared to USB - there's no loading in fmvs and it loads somewhat faster ;)
You should check rasila combo from India
Wonder if you removed the disk drive could it fit internally? Kind of like a ps2 slim all digital. Thats a mod i would definitely like to do.
That would be awesome.. maybe they come with an sd-drive like the saturn and ps1 ? 🤔
@@WickedGamerCollector that would be a thing beauty, ps2 is well underated. Sony should release a sequel to the ps classic ps2 classic 👌. 1 of these days i might get round to building it myself. Cool video mate
It's convenient but slower load times than optical discs. Since the USB ports are so slow on the ps2
I dont understand 1 thing:
Is the speed this way faster then through usb 1.1? Or should i get a phat ps2?
instead of USB you should use a SMB share over Ethernet
That is also a fun way to maybe make video about this PS2 subject 🤔
If I plugged an empty usb stick in my ps2 slims usb port and it didn't show up on main browser does that mean my flash ports or bad ? I don't know much I just want to be able to mcboot to update older games
The usb stick needs to be formatted in FAT32 format, hope that helps.
Back then I had a black, blue and silver PS2 XD
Dumb I sold them, they were chipped too :(
They are cheap to buy back so... 🙄
And you don't need naughty chip anymore 🤗
@@WickedGamerCollector it was around 2003 xD...
that screen is a monitor ? I tried to use ps2hdmi with hdmi to vga but my monitor doesn't support 480i, but my monitor is very similar that you use in video, did you have this problem?
I’ve tried playing killzone and black via usb, not very ideal. Super slow. Some games do run ok with usb
isnt there any other solution to make it faster, like replace usb 1.0 with 2.0 or lan to usb?
solder an IDE connector directly to the PS2 slim. There used to be kits precisely for doing such a procedure, but it is so insanely difficult it went out of fashion quick.
Awesome 💪🏻 I need to this with the phat system, is it OK to buy the aliexpress kit for that?
Can you please do a show with a stick that comes with many ...arcade games only..
I want to get the Ultimate legends arcade.
And I don't know how to load games.. I'm not computer savvy.
Thanks 😊🙏
Hey, i bought one of these with bunch of games on it but i don’t like some of the games i wanna delete them so i can put the ones that i really like does that gonna make any problem? And is there a great way to delete games?
Please, Answer
Hello! I have an exact same HDD that I wanted to use to load games from using OPL, but I don't know what I should put inside (also, how to format to FAT32? the disc is formatted in NTFS) I have a 32GB USB drive with games that do work with OPL, but I wanted to have more games in one singular space.
my external hdd samsung 500gb with enclosure wont read on my ps2 is already formatted to fat32
Thank you for this clip🙏👌🌹
Grew up with the slim and still have it.when my monitor arrives I'll play resi4 again
Why do you use free mcboot over free hdboot?
Lmfao 🤣 🤣 🤣 for a sec I thought it was a bag of cocaine🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣🤣
Hello.
Thank you for the video. I have read many people say that booting games from a Hard Drive over USB with the Slim us simply not possible but you have shown it is.
I have some questions. Firstly how much longer are the load times on average compared to a game on the DVD disc?
Have you noticed any slow downs or stuttering during gameplay or cut scenes when accessing from USB?
Can I load games from multiple regions? Or does it have to be from the region if the console? Eg, can I run a NTSC game on a PAL console?
And finally dies it work well with a SATA2 drive? I have a spare SATA2 drive lying around, otherwise I'll need to buy a SATA3 drive.
Thank you in advance.
I will make some more video's regarding this subject. Also incl. compare with USB and HDD Internal speed so you can see how fast internal disk is. Ow and Sata is cheap to buy when it comes to big disc so if you build an PS2 Phat with Sata Drive that is just super easy to do.
i know im late, but i have a question. does the hdd has to be formatted to fat32 like the usb or not?
My biggest problem with ps2 usb is fragmentation is there anyway to go around this problem ? Will an ssd be any better ?
ah the ps2 funfact it is by far the most successful game console ever with 159 million units sold
Yeah ... and thinking even in the days now more people play games ps2 .. was the best sold console 🤔
@@WickedGamerCollectorimo i can be a little biased here it was my first game console i got for my 13th birthday reflecting back it had the games which gave birth to most not all popular game series today the ones top of my head gta, prince of persia, metal gear solid, ace combat, rachet and clank, LOTR, Harry Potter, Starwars, probably few more but one game that stood out for me the most was *shadow of colossus*
How have a question. What website you use to download the games in the hard drive?
Vimm’s Lair is good for roms
So a regular USB thumb drive can't work?
USB is too slow!
What is the price of 1TB hard disk???
So to install games on this I just plug the USB drive into my PC and put my ISOs on it?
How about compatibility?
i grew up wit ht he phat i want to get a slim witch thankfuly my friend is letting me get his for 100$ and it is like brand new still works he hardly uses it . and a handfull of games two of them i want dark cloud 1 and 2 .
Ik kan niet wachten gisteren gelijk besteld wauw thanx 4 de tip
i still have the play station 2 slim model now in april 2021 and over 100 games to i lv it
thx for the video. Another lightweight solution is to fire up a samba server on any sbc (like raspberry, banana pi, orange pi...) and share your usb stick or hdd, and then you can access your isos through opl. This is much faster than usb 1.1 (12mbit vs 100mbit !) depending on your sbc and storage speed.
I remember for going to friends house for the first time since I knew them and then I go into his room and see a ps2 slim for the first time it was like seeing the holy grail since I grew up playing the fat ps2
Found out: On some consoles it starts only the menue if you browse the fmcb, do nothing and then exit it :)
There is a solder mod for the slim to put a harddrive. Your prob better off just getting a fat.
USB capability is less. But the games that do work, should be alright and playable.
I did the sata mod to the original network adapter. It's a better solution and you keep the network port for network. It's easy to do just unscrew and put the ribbon cable and put the sata connector in. Was using ide before. IDE harddrives are hard to come by. SATA is much better overall. IDK about ssd's, I herd it's not not reccemended. Atleast your worry free that it's not fragmented.
I put a 1tb wd sata drive and filled it up. Im happy with the selection. 2tb looked like you needed a specail version of freemcboot. idk nowadays.
I usually try the daily builds once in a wile.
For psx i gotta try the tonyhax thing. U can make one via Freemcboot with a original psx memery card. But i don't think it works with ps2 slims and newer ps2 fats. It's basicly a hack that allows you to put a real game lets say tony hawk and it tells you to switch disks to a import or copyed game. It's really for ps1 consoles but i read on the main site that it works with older ps2 models as well. No pop starter emulator nonsence.
Thanks for the commend and feedback 👍
Lol how did you get all those games on your external hard drive im using a Dell 931 gb USB external harddrive and can't seem to get any games on it can you make a tutorial for this?...
can you load disc games on the fat console when installed a hard drive or do you download them ?
Hi guy! Nice video. Could you put the link for the app to copy games to USB?
Just rip the disc image (iso) with any copying program then put in a folder named "DVD" on any FAT32 formatted drive. I use 32gb usb drives with great success.
@@JesusSaves86AB mmm but FAT32 has file's size limitations, how do you solve it?
How about a video using OPL and a cheap NAS drive. This should be faster than USB. Maybe even try a usb to ethernet adapter with a usb drive.
Yes please make one for the pd1 fat as well plus what are the best hardrive to get fit the pd1 fat
Hey wicked I have a Pandora dx but thinking of swapping it out for a games 3d one is it a straight one in one job or is more complicated than that