PS2 Help With PS2 Phat & Decisions

[khat17]

Hi all. Did the usual lurking, reading and attempting to get stuff done before deciding to post here and hopefully get some help.

THE LONG-WINDED STUFF
I have two PS2 phat models and one slim. Can't find the adapter for the slim. One of the phat ones was previously modded with a DMS4 and the other is stock. I've been able to deploy FMCB to my MC and also deploy FHDB using the link below.

/threads/fhdb-pre-conf-fhdb-pre-configured-with-art-and-emulators.27742/

I'm not allowed to post links, so just the last part of the URL is above. Obviously on this site.

Later FMCB works fine with my DMS4. FHDB not so much - have to disable the chip for it to load properly.

So here's what I'm aiming for. Not sure how well it can be done.

I got a SSD and a SATA adapter for the PS2 (no LAN). I've been able to load games I have to it quite fine and play. I love the OPL feature to use a VMC - funny that the official SONY card I have died and the aftermarket one is still working - but I don't see any options for using exFAT, which would make things easier.

I understand that some tools have a 255 limit, but I don't own that many games. I see no way to format the drive without HDL before moving to OPL - haven't seen an option in OPL for formatting.

I saw that newer OPL should support exFAT, but I've not gotten that to work either.

I can (usually) follow instructions well enough, so links to resources that I may have missed will work.

THE REQUEST DETAILS
Is it possible to have FHDB working off exFAT, using OPL with VMC and have some tool (Apollo or otherwise) that will read/save my physical memory card data? I mean - if I get it to work with exFAT then I can just copy my VMC as needed.

No issues moving the drive to my enclosure/PC as the adapter doesn't have LAN and direct transfer is MUCH faster.

I may have (most likely) missed some added links/resources. For the more seasoned persons, could you either assist with details or links to the required resources so I can get this done?

I guess summary of what's wanted would be:

• FHDB +OPL +exFAT.
• Physical and virtual memory card management.
• Name of some tools that will work - or maybe OPL Manager can do with exFAT?

Thanks in advance. Keep up the good work!

 

[khat17]

Well - aside from serving as a BUMP - I'm updating this somewhat.

https://www.psx-place.com/resources/playstation-2-basic-bootloader.1314/

That looks promising. Maybe it would be good to use that with whatever else is there. Summary again would be:

• Able to use exFAT.
• Able to run PS2 games from images (ISO or BIN/CUE) or using some other method on PC - or at the console.
• Able to use virtual memory cards for better management of saves.

If anyone has any ideas or can help - that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance once more.

 

[Berion]

I saw that newer OPL should support exFAT, but I've not gotten that to work either.

Not for internal drive. Only external devices (USB, i.link, MX4SIO) and only if exFAT partition lies on MBR.

Is it possible to have FHDB working off exFAT, using OPL with VMC and have some tool (Apollo or otherwise) that will read/save my physical memory card data? I mean - if I get it to work with exFAT then I can just copy my VMC as needed.

Each part of your question is not related to each other.

FHDB +OPL +exFAT.

APA-Jail but OPL will not read games anyway. OPL GD does.

Able to run PS2 games from images (...) BIN/CUE)

Not supported by anything.

 

[khat17]

Not for internal drive. Only external devices (USB, i.link, MX4SIO) and only if exFAT partition lies on MBR.

Firstly - many thanks for your reply. This clears up quite a lot. I've been fighting to get exFAT to work with OPL on the internal SSD. But I see that's not going to work. This means I'll have to go back to the original deployment.

Each part of your question is not related to each other.

Since I can't use exFAT on internal - that makes this clear.

APA-Jail but OPL will not read games anyway. OPL GD does.

I haven't tried this, so maybe I'll look into it or just revert to what I had working...

Not supported by anything.

You've just made some things much easier. Kudos.

So then. Two things.

• What to use for managing the saves properly?
• How to play PS1 games?

I'll have to just revert to using the FHDB image and deploy that to my SSD. Means rebuilding the drive once more, but this time I'll just leave it be.

I have backups of all my games in cloud storage, so I'm fine if the drive crashes. What I'm concerned about now would be saves. Should I use VMC? Should I just get some new physical memory card? How should I go about dealing with this part of things? Any suggestion/s welcome.

How now do I play my PS1 games from this? I'm yet to figure that part. Since I won't be attempting to get exFAT working on the internal drive anymore - I can now focus on testing this out. I doubt I'll be using a USB drive with anything as the speeds are WAY slower. I think it's USB 1.0 or 1.1 which seems slower than the optical drive - and definitely slower than the internal.

Thanks again to @Berion for the info and insight.

 

[Berion]

What to use for managing the saves properly

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/hdl-batch-installer-error-when-formatting-ssd.44645/#post-398153

How to play PS1 games?

By using emulators: POPStarter, PS2PSXe, DKWDRV

I'll have to just revert to using the FHDB image and deploy that to my SSD

Never use APA disk images.

 

[khat17]

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/hdl-batch-installer-error-when-formatting-ssd.44645/#post-398153

By using emulators: POPStarter, PS2PSXe, DKWDRV

Never use APA disk images.

Thanks for that. I'm on the road now so may need some time before I can do a proper check and answer.

If this was another time I'd run the experiments - for science! But currently I'm about what works.

By not using APA images - I'm not sure what those are. I'll send screenshots of what I do when I reach back in front of my main rig.

I did see POPStarter but never got to it as I was stuck on trying to get exFAT working with the internal drive.

For now I'll just use the FHDB unless or until something else comes up that I can deploy easier.

*EDIT*
@Berion - you can review this video. It is kinda long with me just shuffling around and not getting stuff working. So if you decide to watch - view on higher speed.

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZdykU0ZMjBb18UyPdYbQH7FkJI1aVcBHl97

I'll post what I do in a bit.

 

[jolek]

Firstly - many thanks for your reply. This clears up quite a lot. I've been fighting to get exFAT to work with OPL on the internal SSD. But I see that's not going to work. This means I'll have to go back to the original deployment.

You can try GrimDoomer OPL:
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/t...al-exfat-2tb-hdd-and-multi-bdm-devices.40018/.

 

[khat17]

You can try GrimDoomer OPL:
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/t...al-exfat-2tb-hdd-and-multi-bdm-devices.40018/.

Hi there. Thanks for your reply and suggestion. This doesn't work for me actually. I've tried with both GPT and MBR creating an exFAT partition and dropping in the games. It shows up fine in "OPL Manager" but never shows up in OPL.

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=kZCvVU0ZU1P9uWKiOl7uMDsVxXKE8f09ERO7

I'm going to use that shared link to drop any pictures or video of any process that I do until it's streamlined, corrected or finalized. But for all persons providing assistance - it will give an idea of what's done to get to where I'm at.

Using "diskpart" to clear the partitions I can recreate as GPT. This was done and then the contents of the local OPL Manager files copied to the SSD thereafter. The only thing that shows up in the list is the OPL 1.1.0 on the PS2. None of the games show up.

 

[jolek]

I am sure if you understand me?
I gave you a link to a fork of OPL.
This fork was made by GrimDoomer.
It is not a regular version e.g. 1.1.0. or 1.0.0. or even latest beta.

 

[khat17]

Hi @jolek - yes I'm using GrimDoomer's OPL.

Once I get a chance and can record the entire process from my desktop I'll show what is or isn't done. You'll get a full view of the entire process. Again - none of the games show up on the internal drive. The only thing that shows up (under apps) is OPL 1.1.0 and nothing else. I'm only using BR3 as the test case since it's one of my favorite games from back in the day. It's also small and fairly quick to deploy. Have you looked at the link I posted? If yes - I'll just update once the added videos are there.

*EDIT*
Video uploaded of the process done on my PC. Moving now to the PS2 and will record the process there. Apologies for the video quality from the PS2 because I have nothing that upscales the output at this time. Current video is "2024-09-09_18-34-33" for reference.

*EDIT*
Video uploading of process at PS2. It's going be called "2024-09-09 18-43-20". It's a bit longer and I messed up in the file copy at one point - so just the last few minutes. But it's the same thing. The internal SSD games aren't read by GD OPL. So after you review you can let me know what I'm doing wrong.

*EDIT*
If it comes down to it - I'll route the cables out of the trunking by the TV and take it to the desktop. I do the recording of the PS2 with my laptop so I don't need to take the cables out from the location. But I'd then do the recording and show the entire process with no breaks between.

Standing by.

*EDIT*
Depending on availability from work and such, I'll test on the USB ports of the PS2. If it works I'm still not likely to use it. I tested this before - more than 10 years ago - and the transfer speeds on USB 1.0/1.1 seemed slower than the optical drive speeds. Games would load but cutscenes were choppy. I'll test again and post results when I'm able.

 

[Berion]

By not using APA images - I'm not sure what those are.

I said: "APA disk images", not "APA images". Disk image is image made from disk.

you can review this video

I'm sorry but I cannot. It is waste of time for watching something for so long time which could be read by minute or so. ^^

yes I'm using GrimDoomer's OPL

You are not, based on version number you mentioned. :P

 

[khat17]

I said: "APA disk images", not "APA images". Disk image is image made from disk.

Alright. Got it.

I'm sorry but I cannot. It is waste of time for watching something for so long time which could be read by minute or so. ^^

Alright - will extract images from videos and post here.

You are not, based on version number you mentioned. :P

You'll see shortly.

So here's the stuff.

To do a restart of the process I wipe the drive.

This will end up bringing back the option for the partition type - MBR or GPT. Which I've tried both with the same results.

Formatted as exFAT and created a generic label.

Providing hashes/checksums so you can validate that I'm actually using the right file. MD5 is "14c69bd6f9319fd3c74fcb6d8db26062".

In another thread I posted a video for you to see some of the original discs I own which included BR3. So that's what I loaded. You'll see that there are two different OPL listings as apps.

Booting the PS2 shows nothing in the games list.

The only thing that shows up is OPL v1.1.0.

As for the exact OPL version running - it's v1.2.0-Beta-1996-b6/1/a - if I'm reading the screen right.

I don't have anything to upscale the video just yet. I've seen some things that were linked to and screenshots of others where the picture quality is rather clean. I only have the composite A/V cables and a cheap USB capture device so...apologies for the screenshot quality.

Once you review you can give me your thoughts on that.

I'm heading out and will be out for most of the day, but based on another post you made - I can check this later when I get back. Will have to pop out the drive and drop in the enclosure - doesn't take long - but I have to leave soon.

Turn off HDD, enable BDM and seek games on BDM category.

Besides that, be sure that your SSD using 512 bytes or so called 512e sector size, not 4096 (4K).

sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdx

However - in my case it's an internal drive. Which I think I've stated. I do plan to test from the enclosure, so I'll do that later on as well.

Depending on availability from work and such, I'll test on the USB ports of the PS2. If it works I'm still not likely to use it. I tested this before - more than 10 years ago - and the transfer speeds on USB 1.0/1.1 seemed slower than the optical drive speeds. Games would load but cutscenes were choppy. I'll test again and post results when I'm able.

*EDIT*
As a quick note before I drive out. I load OPL with the same drive connected via USB and it works quite fine. So....not what I want to accomplish - but it shows that the games are there and functional.

I seem to recall @Berion saying APA-Jail is the way to make it work so I can drag and drop ISOs created from my discs and play? Something of the sort? You can correct where I'm wrong.

From what I recall - another thread - it's not possible to get exFAT working from the internal drive without using APA-Jail. Via USB is fine (as evidenced here). I'll send screenshots of that later. Video of it is up in the same shared folder.

 

[khat17]

Alright everyone. Back again for a bit. I'd like to again say thanks to @Berion for all the info thus far.

@khat17 You heavily mixed up environments. APA allows you to boot PS2 from it and grants compatibility with all applications. But under cost of usage of dedicated apps (none PC OS understand it; pfsshell, pfsfuse, hdldump are needed), size wasting for rounding to 128MiB chunks. GPT is supported by all OSes, not 2TiB capacity limit, but you cannot boot console from it because PS2 firmware not understand it and to boot games, you need OPL GD, none other homebrew understand it. APA-Jail is hybrid drive but needs extra careful and it is rather for advanced users only (week ago I released RC2 of my toolkit which i.e allows formatting to that format; however it is for Linux only).

You can copy saves to whatever and where ever on whatever you want. Keep in mind that superior container format is PSU, not MAX. Keeping whole vmc as backup is pointless.

OPL not supporting 2352 sector size disc images, it must be 2048. So no *.bin/*.cue.

Never use disk images. This breaking APA on edit if image was made from different HDD size than yours is. You need format that drive now and start from scratch again, or prepare in future for major data loss.

About SSD in PS2:
You do not need TRIM on PS2 side at all, because drive will be very rarely written (only by VMC or configs). And if you choose GPT way (on which exFAT partition lie), then Windows or whatever you use, will take care of invoking it.

About SSD in PS3:
Tutorial sections on forum are for a reason. :P https://www.psx-place.com/threads/guide-ssd-for-playstation-3.42499/

That post was extremely helpful, but when I just started posting and had zero ideas of how stuff worked with this, it didn't mean as much to me. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. There is no knowledge that is not power. Pearls to a swine. All of those nice analogies.

While I had some knowledge of the fact that things could work, I didn't know how or why - two things I do like to know - but not necessary for the end result to be a working PS2 that I can play my backups on. In other words - just because I can drive a car doesn't mean I know how to fix it. Or even know how to change a tire. Or my brake fluid. Or spark plugs. Etc....

Well - I follow instructions pretty well enough - IMO - and learning as I went along I realize now that - that one post - answered most of what I needed in this thread.

I'll probably do a noobs guide from a noob for noobs on getting this done - since I see none pinned (or maybe I'm looking in wrong thread).

Again - thanks to @Berion and @jolek for all the help thus far.

My last things to do would be:

• Complete testing with USB vs internal drive.
• Make a decision on which to use after.
• Find a memory card manager that does what I need.
• Test PS2BBL as an alternative to FMCB/FHDB.

I may use the USB if the FMVs play OK with a few of the games I own. I assume most if not all CD games will be fine, it's the DVD and dual layer ones that may be an issue. Will test and see.

Correct me here if I'm using the wrong terminologies. If using internal I'll have to use APA and then manage stuff using the software on Windows/Linux. I don't think I'll want to use APA-Jail since there are risks involved and kids will probably be using my console as well so...don't want to take risks.

Regardless of which I decide on, I'll want a way to use and manage VMCs. If I'm using USB for the drive then it'll be exFAT and I can simply copy/paste the VMCs to/from my PC/laptop easily enough. If I'm using internal though, I'll need a way to browse the file system and copy or manage the VMCs.

Apollo looks nice, but I've not familiarized myself with it enough to use it well maybe. Are there any other tools that can do what I need here?

I may be testing/using PS2BBL more mainstream since it seems to work better on my modded console.

Thanks in advance once more.

 

[jolek]

I am not sure if that gonna help you but OPL does not support sector sizes larger than 512B.

https://youtu.be/nKoRvWKojz0?feature=shared&t=336

 

[khat17]

I am not sure if that gonna help you but OPL does not support sector sizes larger than 512B.

https://youtu.be/nKoRvWKojz0?feature=shared&t=336

Will check out. Testing so far with the USB connection seems to be fine with games I own and copied. Everything is loading with OPL via USB with no issues.

If I could get this with exFAT to work internally it'd be golden. The load times are longer with USB, but it is actually working. I guess stuff has advanced quite a bit in the 10+ years since I tried this. I have one dual layer DVD that I'm going to test with and see.

Part of the reason for this - getting dual layer discs in my country is difficult. Ordering online takes time. Since I can now just image and play from the HDD - that makes life FAR easier.

What I love about OPL thus far is it automatically creates VMCs based on the game ID (SLUS_xxxx). So regardless of what I name it in the list - the VMC will remain. So I just need to backup the VMC folder and I'm good.

Now to get my PS1 games working after this last test with FMVs...

 

[Berion]

I assume most if not all CD games will be fine, it's the DVD and dual layer ones that may be an issue.

CD and DVD read speed in PS2, exceeding capability of USB 1.1.

Correct me here if I'm using the wrong terminologies. If using internal I'll have to use APA and then manage stuff using the software on Windows/Linux.

Depend of needs. If you want autoboot from HDD (FHDB, PS2BBL, HDD OSD, PSBBN etc.) then you need APA.

I don't think I'll want to use APA-Jail since there are risks involved and kids will probably be using my console as well so...don't want to take risks.

APA-Jail is fine as long APA or GPT will not be edited (partitions added, renamed or removed). If you do that, then you break both at once but can be restored from recovery partition I making during creation process (filesystems remaining intact, so no data loss until you do something more than just breaking APA/GPT). Script is in WIP state so it is not ready for wildly usage anyway. Not yet. If you are fine of become guinea pig, you can join the club of QA (the more victims, the better ^^").

If I'm using USB for the drive then it'll be exFAT and I can simply copy/paste the VMCs to/from my PC/laptop easily enough. If I'm using internal though, I'll need a way to browse the file system and copy or manage the VMCs.

The same with internal drive with OPL GD.
If you will stick to APA, then you can access to PFS partitions on PC via pfsshell or pfsfuse. Again, you can become a tester of my toolkit if you want (APA-Jail creation is just one of many options ;]).

I may be testing/using PS2BBL more mainstream since it seems to work better on my modded console

You cannot use FHDB on majority of modchips so what will left for you is PS2BBL.

 

[khat17]

CD and DVD read speed in PS2, exceeding capability of USB 1.1.

Seeing that with some of the DVD games. So internal it is.

Depend of needs. If you want autoboot from HDD (FHDB, PS2BBL, HDD OSD, PSBBN etc.) then you need APA.

Yeah....it's looking like that.

APA-Jail is fine as long APA or GPT will not be edited (partitions added, renamed or removed). If you do that, then you break both at once but can be restored from recovery partition I making during creation process (filesystems remaining intact, so no data loss until you do something more than just breaking APA/GPT). Script is in WIP state so it is not ready for wildly usage anyway. Not yet. If you are fine of become guinea pig, you can join the club of QA (the more victims, the better ^^").

Here's an actual photo of me right now.

As long as it doesn't brick the console I'm good. So I'll look for the thread and we get started.

The same with internal drive with OPL GD.
If you will stick to APA, then you can access to PFS partitions on PC via pfsshell or pfsfuse. Again, you can become a tester of my toolkit if you want (APA-Jail creation is just one of many options ;]).

Let me get my Linux VM setup.

You cannot use FHDB on majority of modchips so what will left for you is PS2BBL.

Yeah. But that's why I had another console. I guess I'll work on sorting PS2BBL - I think I rather that option.

I'd like to wrap up this thread, but there are some questions I still have. Any suggestions on what to use for managing the memory cards? I'd like to be able to copy the VMCs or manage the contents of those from my desktop. At the very least - I want to backup my saves. Let me check on Apollo again, but it's not loading on my modded PS2. Let me try the stock one.

In the mean time - reading up from here. Let me know if there are any other links.

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/the-future-of-the-playstation-2-internal-hard-drive.40830/

and

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/apa-jail.34847/

Link me to where you' d like me to go - and I'm your guinea pig.

 

[Berion]

Here's an actual photo of me right now.

As long as it doesn't brick the console I'm good. So I'll look for the thread and we get started.

Bricking is not possible due to firmware lies on mask ROM, so it is not rewritable. The worst you can do is break ODD but for that you need failed MechaPwn installation or just to break NVM on PS2 itself.

Let me get my Linux VM setup.

VM must have access to physical drives. In VBox is tricky to do that. In VMware should be somewhere in options. In QEmu via passing args.

Any suggestions on what to use for managing the memory cards? I'd like to be able to copy the VMCs or manage the contents of those from my desktop.

Any file manager. :P Right after you expose OPL resource partition in pfsfuse (very annoying in Windows because of lack of built-in tools and rolling release type which often breaking Dokan). Linux is your friend here. :P

Link me to where you' d like me to go - and I'm your guinea pig.

Thank You.
I will send you stuff on PM. It is not public yet, besides PS2 Scene Discord channel due to nature of WIP stuff.

 

[khat17]

VM must have access to physical drives. In VBox is tricky to do that. In VMware should be somewhere in options. In QEmu via passing args.

I'm using VMWare Workstation. Haven't gotten into Proxmox yet. Latest VirtualBox should have some easier things for access to drives - not sure if it's direct though. Will check. Downloading VirtualBox now to test.

Any file manager. :P Right after you expose OPL resource partition in pfsfuse (very annoying in Windows because of lack of built-in tools and rolling release type which often breaking Dokan). Linux is your friend here. :P

No luck with that thus far. You may see some if it from screenshots (or videos). But I can redo and send screenshots if you want.

I will send you stuff on PM. It is not public yet, besides PS2 Scene Discord channel due to nature of WIP stuff.

Alright! Looking forward to it!

 

[Berion]

No luck with that thus far.

PS2HDH (my toolkit about which we talking) will do that for you.