How to Softmod ANY Fat PS2! | FreeMCBoot & FreeHDBoot Install Tutorial 

hehe no probs, not many youtube videos cover that part

Hey, I just tried that and it is still saying "there are no ps2 formatted drives on your system", any ideas?

never mind, i have to run as admininistrator, that fixed it

some hard drives might not work, you have to check the ps2 compatible hdd, just google it and they will have a list

my drive is compatable.... i beleve... it is a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200GB IDE drive

did you run into any issues finding your drive in winhiip? mine is showing up with negative space

run as administator

Learning the hard way was certainly more annoying than it needed to be for the PS2, hence why this tutorial was made!

Kenneth Arntsen The (homebrew-)scene deserves some thanks too... 😉

Oh, without a doubt!

Same here

My fat model decided it doesn't like paying disks anymore, so I ripped mine to my pc and used this to revive it. Idk if this dude knows how many childhood memories he's helped restore with this tutorial

It’s still fun to snag them when you come across them. The digital stuff is ok and the physical games take up a TON of space after a while though 😂

JCcreative The image in itself is, what makes it really easy (and is scene-stuff NOT made by Mr. Mario). There have been numerous easy tutorials out there for this kind of stuff since YEARS! But still thanks to Mr. Mario for the easy to follow video.

Atari Adam On eBay you will often find old versions of the adapter. I rather suggest Aliexpress... If you run into troubles, don't expect the Homebrew-community to 'fix' it for ya, if problems occur with your version of the adapter...

How big of an HDD did you use?

Glad to help!

5 dollars?

@@eathamgamer Yeah they went up :'(

Glad I could help! Stay safe!

@@MrMario2011 you too mate. Things are getting scary out there. No better time to dust off the ps2. Quick question... What's your top 3 PS2 games 🙏

How did you get it to work? 😊

@@Channel-ji3ly I find that OPL is a better experience for me because it is still being developed. It has way more options beyond just loading games, and I have not run into any issues with my games (have around 200+).

@@Channel-ji3ly Mine is 1.5 TB (1,500 GB) and it is SATA (I modified my adapter to use SATA instead of IDE).

@@Channel-ji3ly I have never had issues with it. I think I have about 200 or so games. What type of issues are you running into?

@@Channel-ji3ly Just make sure to format the drive using the disc manager in uLaunchELF.

Good to know

Yeah, his tutorial videos are great and well explained :)

Have fun!

Wish I saw this comment lmao, upgraded to a 250Gb to have the 48bit option

Glad to see this!

Turn off autoplay next time, Rob :P

@@MrMario2011 I think I really just needed a nap!

LMAO

Finally got around to doing it.

The retro rabbit holes are myriad

The best!

I used this method on my slim just today :3 Does one still need to follow this tutorial's HDD related steps to get HDD support or is this vid completely outdated now?

Did it work?

MrMario2011 32

thicc

MrMario2011 Brother, by far the easiest tutorial I have used. Had me up and running in 30 minutes. Suscribed.

MrMario2011 Can you read my other comment and answer?

MrMario2011 what size memory card don't use and can I be a generic one

🍻

What model do you have? And does the fan get louder with a hdd installed?

Thanks!

Are you not able to use a 2.5" drive, as, as far far as I know, they're powered by whichever device they're connected to and shouldn't require a separate power source. SATA connector heads should be the same size on both types of drive. Also, why does the Memory Card have to be a specific brand/version/type/kind?

Is this true?

Glad it helps!

Stay safe!

@@MrMario2011 You too man!

what did u do to softmod the xbox?

Thanks! I have a few donation methods set up, but I always recommend donating to devs as opposed to me. I don't plan to cover those consoles.

@@MrMario2011 I appreciate you MrMario !

Or you could just install HDLoader on your PS2 and rip the games using the PS2 by itself. The only issue is this won't work with copies.

HDLoader is ancient, Open PS2 Loader (OPL) it's way better: it has much more options (cover art in the game list, customizable functions and menu appearance, it loads games from HDD, DVD, LAN, USB, it runs homebrews, emulators etc...). You can still rip games with the PS2 itself by using HDLGameInstaller.

FMB is also ancient but nobody complains about that now. ;) Unlike OPL, HDLoader is an all in one solution. I have used both and I don't see any advantage to OPL. Box art... LOL. Maybe if you have nothing better to do then search, download, and crop images for every game you own.

madmatt2024 It does work with ESR-patched disc, if you start HDL through ESR mc or GUI - Version... Start esr-gui, start Ule from it, start HDL, install...

madmatt2024 Oops, I just saw the other reply. We probably wrote our replies at the same time. Yes, HDL has an option to install it from disc... However OPL has an HDL-Server implemented and HDL-GameInstaller is also able to do that stuff (it is just a separate app, instead of included into OPL)... Noone needs to use coverart if they don't want to and if they want to use it, they can simply auto-download it from a database if they want. Beside that, HDL doesn't have any optional support for these kind of things (Game-Art) at all! HDL's skin can only be patched (i.e. on a PC), but OPL directly supports Themes and changing those during runtime. -OPL supports internal HDD, just like HDLoader, but additionally it supports LAN/SMB/(even NFS on some builds) and USB. HDL only supports one device... -OPL has an implemented Cheat-System... -OPL has a vmode-force for games and the GUI -OPL supports the DualShock3-Controller (in GUI and in-game) and technically can be expanded to support other input-devices as well... OPL supports Virtual MemoryCards, which is quite a lot more worth even in bare money, than the missing install-function. The GUI of OPL supports multiple stuff changed during runtime, which most of it can't be changed in HDL in any way, not even by patching it... like Widescreenmode... enabling/disabling windows and the start-window... Font-color... Font... Theme with completely different view and handle, instead of a skin which merely replaces the background... and so much more... You also can't back out of a game back to your PS2-Menu, your game-list or poweroff your PS2 with HDL neither in the GUI, nor in the game... (InGameReset) OPL also supports in-game-screenshots being made with a button-combo. (All this in-game-support can be expanded by an in-game-menu of OPL, but that is not implemented yet...) That all being said... OPL definitely is a much more complete and also compatible solution to play games from other devices then discs, than HDLs is (in almost every aspect)... Nowadays nearly noone wants to use the drive at all, not even for installing leaving alone all those lasers, which are already busted... HDL also is a commercial app and long out of development (around 13-15years). All additional patches for example DualLayer-Support (also for the install-function) was implemented by Scene-members. OPL on the other hand is fully Open Source(d), which means that any missing feature at least can be implemented in a rather easy fashion, while it remains out of question for HDL for some features, even if you are a professional at MIPS(el)-Assembler... OPL is compatible to ALL PS2-Versions, while HDL is only compatible with certain FAT PS2s which have an 'Expansion Bay'. All this makes HDL obsolete compared to OPL, which is still in active development and just got DS3/BT- and DS3/USB-Support... All that makes HDL (almost) obsolete compared to OPL and makes OPL definitely a far more complete all-in-one-solution in regards to gaming, than HDL. How the heck does FMCB come into play here? You know an exploit, which is newer, more advanced, runs on almost any PS2 out there (except newer revisions of the SCPH-900XX or at best if it is better than FMCB, even on those), has all of its features + additional ones? So... There is something which replaced FMCB and is better? That's what makes up the definition of 'obsolete'... Don't get me wrong, but calling 'FMCB' obsolete is utter bullcrap/bullshit... The name btw. is 'Free MemoryCard Boot'... We had a discussion about it during development. The shorter Name 'Free McBoot' can be referred to in two ways... Either (spoken) 'Free am ce boot' or 'Free Mac Boot'... PS2dragon, which made the FMCB-logo (AFAIR) liked the 'mac' just like JNABK. However the abbreviation for a MemoryCard is 'MC' and thus FMCB's abbreviation ever includes the 'C' and is not 'FMB', but 'FMCB'! Best regards, TnA

Does the internal clock battery still work on it? I haven't ever tried setup. May be the system software corrupted or could be the drive?

Glad this helped!

Awesome! Glad to hear this random video you stumbled upon inspired you to potentially pick up a new hobby 😃

LUXARY GEAR I agree totally to MrMario2011's statement! Btw.: FMCB/FHDB also was intended to spread that kind of spirit! ...as you can see it is intended to start self-made programs on an embedded device... I could go into more detail, but I want to keep the reply short.

Literally none of this is programming lol

Neodiego89 Yes! But you can use GSM for games, to use other resolutions as well.

how do you do this with a 2tb drive (2)

Use HDL Dump Gui 2.3 instead of Winhiip instead for 2tb drives :)

Kyle Harrison Yeah! THX especially to the Homebrew-scene, who developed all that stuff... ;P

Pretty self explanatory.

AMAZING

BunkerStudio You forgot 'Scan&Repair via WinHIIP'... ...and you can also start it from the main-menu.

BunkerStudio I had this problem too, using a 64GB flash drive that couldnt format to FAT/FAT32. I used a program to force it to format in FAT32, but the flash drive still would not work. I instead had to use an older flash drive that could be formatted to FAT32. Im sure any older drive or lower capacity drive could work for this

tycholith It should not be the size which is the problem, but either the partion-type, or the file-system, or the device itself... (as long as it is 2TB max.! 1TB or smaller is preferable for a very high compatibility! FAT32-Filesystem and the first partition should be 'primary' (not logical) and 'active'!

I have the same issue, how did you solve it?

I stg I heard that faint vocal sample and thought I was insane. This man earns my sub

you are a champion! winhiip wouldn't format my drive - read your comment and realized I had to delete volume, create a new simple drive and leave it as unformatted- worked perfectly! cheers mate

thanks alot!

You?

@@MrMario2011 yep haha

Me as well ayeee! Also trying to jtag/flash a jasper xbox360. I haven't done either yet. Lmao

I'm more researching. Just picked up a fat ps2, disc reader works but is pretty slow. Soft modded a Wii about 2 weeks back and thought this be fun to do

Me

End result is the same, it's all up to the user as to what path they'll take! I'd rather use ImgNow to have more control over the export process and easily back up my games to my own PC.

Thelastairbenderhate WinHIIP produces faulty installs, if you try to directly install a DVD9, AFAIK.

everything but dvd9 works great if you dont have much space on your computer installing disc via winhip is the best way to go i wouldnt even think about trying dvd9 or a GOW2 via winhip disc install

Thelastairbenderhate AFAIK, some CD-Games can't be installed either directly via WinHIIP...

like?

Not showing anything except browser and system configuration. Only

I thought this would help... but it didn't. It just boots as if there was no drive what so ever.

Mine shows a white screen when I launch a game :(

You're welcome!

Not working just showing browser system configuration that it were all other options I followed as it everything

You buy the game

The convenience is there, but this is indeed the fun way to do it!

How well is that working for you?

Most people are going to want to play games from their hard drive, so they'll need a network adapter and hard drive either way.

Chappyomega Wait,what drugs?

Wait What Money?

Share some drugs with the rest of us.

Best storage spot for weed. I'm gonna use this once I can smoke again (need to pass a test to get a job atm)

metallitron9000 yesssir great spot to stash a couple gs especially cuz i got that medical dank shyt

Great!

Dude as far as I know ps2 is backwards compatible console just put the games on HDD and enjoy

@@taalozgaming6810 I was about to ask the same question. Your response makes perfect sense and I'm about to try this out myself for the first time. I'll let you guys know how my first attempt at softmodding my fatPS2 goes!

@@Rudy_Axx how did it go?

That worked for me, Thanks