Burning and Playing PS2 Games Without a Modded Console (opens in new tab)

(btxx.org)

21 pointsbradley_taunt1y ago13 comments

13 comments

grecy1y ago

So it seems like the magic here is the "patcher".

I'm looking at the repo [1], but it doesn't give any technical details on the what/how of what it does.

Does anyone know more?

[1] https://git.sr.ht/~bt/fdvdb-esr

pipes1y ago

https://cturt.github.io/freedvdboot.html

I think this explains it.

I've been using free mcboot on a memory card with hard disc games for years. I never knew burnt dvds where possible without mod chip

ROFISH1y ago

https://cturt.github.io/freedvdboot.html

tldr; out of bounds payload on the dvd player

486sx331y ago

Years ago I soldered a physical mod chip into my original PS2, it had like 18 or 20 wires or something insane . Took me a solid week of a few hours after work each day, not to mention the pretty involved disassembly and reassembly Crazy !

486sx331y ago

Roughly like this I guess https://quade.co/ps2-modchip-guide/modbo/v12/

willcipriano1y ago

I used the hacked disk and did the cover mod that let's you open the drive without opening it.

Way simpler.

rimunroe1y ago

I did that at first but quickly grew annoyed with it. The modchip took me a few hours to install but it was a huge improvement to usability

asveikau1y ago

There's a memory card exploit that lets you load games from ISOs, either from a hard drive or the network card via SMB share. No patching or burning required. Does not work for PS1 titles however.

IronBacon1y ago

Also from USB, unfortunately it's only USB 1.1 so titles with FMV sequence tend to stutter, so for slim models the network SMB share it's preferred...

About PS1 titles, there is a Sony PS1 emulator for PS2 called POPS that you can use with OPL but from what I read it has not a wide compatibility and it's not officially distributed by Sony, the other option is to use mechapwn to boot PS1 CDs, but it doesn't work on the early PS2 models according to this: https://github.com/MechaResearch/MechaPwn?tab=readme-ov-file...

asveikau1y ago

I played around with POPS and PS2PSXe, compatibility and performance was pretty bad on both for differing reasons.

Mechapwn worked for me.

veeti1y ago

There's also the MX4SIO adapter for loading games from a microSD card. It doesn't work with all titles and may have some stutters but I've had pretty good luck with it.

hx81y ago

I'm very disappointed in the lack of details about the patcher. Not only does it not provide any insights into how the process works, it also doesn't even include all the relevant information on what the process works on. I assume it works on PS2 DVD games, but does it work on PS2 CD games, or PS1 games?

IronBacon1y ago

The details are explained on the Cturt blog mentioned in another post, the original researcher, this one seems a GUI to simplify the process of patching ISO.

About your questions, I would guess transforming PS2 CD title to PS2 DVD first could work.

For PS1 titles, with a different exploit (mechapwn) you could boot them, but read the fine prints as it basically convert a consumer PS2 to a devkit/testkit (DEX?)...

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

13 comments

grecy1y ago

So it seems like the magic here is the "patcher".

I'm looking at the repo [1], but it doesn't give any technical details on the what/how of what it does.

Does anyone know more?

[1] https://git.sr.ht/~bt/fdvdb-esr

pipes1y ago

https://cturt.github.io/freedvdboot.html

I think this explains it.

I've been using free mcboot on a memory card with hard disc games for years. I never knew burnt dvds where possible without mod chip

ROFISH1y ago

https://cturt.github.io/freedvdboot.html

tldr; out of bounds payload on the dvd player

486sx331y ago

Roughly like this I guess https://quade.co/ps2-modchip-guide/modbo/v12/

willcipriano1y ago

I used the hacked disk and did the cover mod that let's you open the drive without opening it.

Way simpler.

rimunroe1y ago

I did that at first but quickly grew annoyed with it. The modchip took me a few hours to install but it was a huge improvement to usability

asveikau1y ago

There's a memory card exploit that lets you load games from ISOs, either from a hard drive or the network card via SMB share. No patching or burning required. Does not work for PS1 titles however.

IronBacon1y ago

Also from USB, unfortunately it's only USB 1.1 so titles with FMV sequence tend to stutter, so for slim models the network SMB share it's preferred...

asveikau1y ago

I played around with POPS and PS2PSXe, compatibility and performance was pretty bad on both for differing reasons.

Mechapwn worked for me.

veeti1y ago

There's also the MX4SIO adapter for loading games from a microSD card. It doesn't work with all titles and may have some stutters but I've had pretty good luck with it.

hx81y ago

IronBacon1y ago

The details are explained on the Cturt blog mentioned in another post, the original researcher, this one seems a GUI to simplify the process of patching ISO.

About your questions, I would guess transforming PS2 CD title to PS2 DVD first could work.

For PS1 titles, with a different exploit (mechapwn) you could boot them, but read the fine prints as it basically convert a consumer PS2 to a devkit/testkit (DEX?)...

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse