PS2 HDD-OSD (A new Softmod method!)

[@TheRoranator]

Tutorial was perfect, couldn't get it to work properly until this method. Thank you so much for this.

[@Cain532.]

I'm so glad to hear!!! Very sorry for the late reply, but thank you all the same for your kind words!

[@justmaul6730]

SUCESS!! Did a repair on the drive and found some bad sectors followed you're vid 1 more time and its working this is why you make the vids and I watch them lol now just waiting for part 2, once again you da MAN!!

[@minilogoguy18]

One thing that isn't mentioned is that for the system to boot from the HDD using the updated browser that is installed on it is that you have to set the jumper on the HDD to master or cable select, if it's slave the PS2 will just boot as if the HDD isn't in there.

[@Cain532.]

Hopefully i'll have part 2 out this weekend. Been looking at a lot of different things and nothing is working.... I've only gotten one game to work, but I think I know what's wrong. Very glad my videos work well for you though! Much appreciated!!!

[@GUCFan]

You know what this reminds me of ? Its something similar to softmodding a Xbox, write the new OS on the hard drive and the PS2 can launch homebrews.

[@Cain532.]

That's exactly how this works essentially except it is not writing a new OS, rather it creates a initial boot phase that intercepts the boot sequence.

[@kvol1668]

So where do I get that image file to upload?

[@Cain532.]

@Christopher Mcaleb on smaller hard drives, it will stop at around 97% or around there. You can still plug it into your PS2 and it will work just fine. For whatever reason the percentage bar is kinda screwed up. But you should be just fine.

[@markb7595]

FoxHoundModding WinHiip can't use a hard drive that isn't PS2 formatted. PS2 can't see it. None of this works, man.

[@syhrhyashi785]

+Mark B Yu need to right click and run as administrator for it to work on windows 8 or higher

[@Cain532.]

Right, which means that there is something wrong either with Windows initializing the disk drive, or with the partition table on the HDD itself.

[@SOCOM12S]

I want to add the elf apps to my hdd but don't know how . Have you made a video on this yet I would like to see it .

[@retropolis.player.4]

After the reformat I can not see the drive anymore and the program freezes. If I reset the computer it will not boot unless I disconnect the ps2 hard drive. any ideas what to do?

[@justmaul6730]

I noticed when you hit select drive in winhiip it was showing your pc drives, it wont see my pc's drive I am using a laptop dont know if that makes a difference

[@johnadamson5176]

Dude! I want to have your children! This has been a life saver. After spending over a week trying all the various methods (cogswap, Xploder memory exploit, etc) I had just about given up but this works great. Really appreciated!

[@Cain532.]

There must have been a sector that wasn't flashed right. Before trying to write the image again, try to plug it into WinHIIP and repair it.

[@7ito1990]

Wish there was an quick easy SAVES MANAGER coz if I want to copy and clone its just too time wasting and slow to manage between too. And if I do on the pc, don't I always get the save codenames instead of viewing the saves themselves through other software? its too hard to organize. Any ideas?

[@lilkuz2005]

can you tell me if there is a limit in the size of the drive that can be used with this ? like is there a 120gb limit or could i use a 500gb hdd with this as well ?

[@Cain532.]

That's part 1, you still need another application that will create launchable icons for the HDD-OSD

[@recbleonscottkennedy]

I'm using the official sony 40gig model and when I get to 97% on the HDD Raw Copy Tool it stops and says "Write error occurred at offset..." & "HDD raw copy error". I'm not sure if it has to do with the capacity of my hardrive or what.

[@Cain532.]

Well, if you're having trouble using WinHIIP in Windows 7, why not run it in Windows XP? There could be a vast number of different reasons as to why it won't work on 7. Best guess would be to run as admin and change compatibility to Windows XP SP3 if you want to run it on Windows 7.

[@donaldn5798]

Great guide, very simple and easy to follow, still might have some dumb questions for you lol, subscribed

[@OFFICIALJB5]

is there any way to softmod ps2 slim this way or using ar max memory

[@Cain532.]

Yes, the same installation method for Free McBoot will work on PS2 Slim models. There is less compatibility though because you are only able to use a USB external drive, and the PS2 natively uses a USB version 1.1 which causes both compatibility and playability issues. However OpenPS2Loader has a method of using network servers to run PS2 games. I've not tried this yet though.

[@iliketoscreamLOUD]

when i do this, i have a bigger harddrive so people are telling me to use 48bit... but when i do 48bit the partitions are set to different numbers and not to 0 like yours... thoughts?

[@rainbow0dashX]

can i just use a hard drive with a caddy to do this?

[@NeoNyder]

Thanks, is there ANY way to just copy the iso's to the drive via the IDE cable to the pc without the corrupt icons thing happening or is it only via CD/DVD/Network install?

[@LTDanno360mods]

i suppose to bypass the size limit one could use Many many 128 gig partitions say for example on a 1tb hdd ?

[@Cain532.]

Not sure if that work work because the OSD will only boot and recognize one HDD at a time, but I'd be curious to know if it'd be possible to attach multiple HDD partitions. I'll keep my ear to the ground.

[@reygarufa11]

hi please help me i want know how i do to install more apps on the HD like hdloader

[@tjyoyo3]

just one question about item #3 in the description. What do you mean by it being compatible with PS2? Like if it will cooperate with it or if it will fit into the network adapter?

[@TheRealEvilSink]

Both.

[@jameslangridge8849]

Are the linked files still the most current ones?

[@MeNaCeNo1]

I have a fat ps2 that is missing a DVD drive (the whole DVD drive so I cant replace it) would this work to mod it and play backups off the HDD?

[@Gr33kChief]

nope all the software comes from the hdd once you copy the image to the ps2 hdd then simply install and then if all is well load the app free mcboot to turn your memory cards" into mod chips essentially. after mc boot mods the memory card you can then use that memory card to run apps on un modded ps2s. then simply install your isos into the hdd and play them

[@RecycleFinn]

Do you still have a link for this image?

[@Cain532.]

I think so??? Let me go and look and I'll get back to you tomorrow if that's ok

[@Cain532.]

Took a while but I did infact find it!!! Do you happen to have discord? Found out that I (technically) can't paste the link to it on KZbin anymore due to copyright problems with the image

[@MoonsideResident]

I'm trying to mod my PS2 now and I'm stuck. Does anyone know how to add the new version of OPL to the HDD? I really want to follow this guide because it's so easy to understand, but the new OPL seems to add a lot of improvements so I'd like to use it. How would I go about adding it to the browser window as well? I'm in desperate need of help, so if anyone can give me some info, I'd really appreciate it!

[@ronald73bok]

I followed your instruction to the letter. When I insert the HDD in the playstation its will start as you let us see in the video. Then it goes black and stays black. Can you please help me

[@Cain532.]

try pluggin the hdd into your computer and repairing it using WinHiiP

[@tomjamesone2325]

Do you know where I can get a patch for Japanese PS2 version of Outbreak1 and 2? I need the patch that bypasses the DNAS and translates to English??

[@Cain532.]

I do not know, you could search theisozone[.]com they often times have patches and other goodies for PS2 homebrew

[@Cain532.]

Try right clicking on My Computer and selecting Manage. Go to Disk Management, and find your PS2 HDD, if you can't find it, then you will need to to through uLaunch and format the drive again...

[@nickschindler]

I see, I'm mainly wanting to just install a hard drive (which I have waiting) and be able to transfer back up PS1 and PS2 games to it via FTP program and play. So with that said, is there any need to softmod with the memory card/USB stick method anymore?

[@Cain532.]

Not if you have a compatible HDD, the ONLY annoyance with the HDD OSD is the lack of app support. I did some reading, there are methods of getting your apps to it, but it involves a lot of hex editing and hard drive partitioning, I spent some time trying to get CodeBreaker set up on it, and after having it hooked up and ready to go I couldn't launch the game because it was searching for a mounted game that wasn't mounted at the time. I'll probably have to add HDLoader or OPL and tie the CBLaunch.elf to either of those and hope it works.

[@venchia3]

Hey hello, thanks a lot for this...I know it's around a 7 years old video and I might not get any reply, but any chance to re-upload the osd image file? I can't seem to find it anywhere :D

[@Cain532.]

I will try to find it :) thank you for your support!!

[@venchia3]

@@Cain532. much appreciated! And thanks for the valuable info in both part 1 and 2 of these videos :D

[@NeoNyder]

When are you going to make a video on how to install the games? If you use winhip on HDD-OSD the HDD is cluttered with corrupted icons...

[@FeelR4nge]

Amazing job! How do you get the ISOs onto the hard drive?

[@Cain532.]

There are a few different ways to do it. You can rip them automatically using HDLoader or OpenPS2Loader, or, you can use something like WinHIIP to do it over FTP (Very slow) or if you are able to plug the HDD direct to your PC, you can use WinHIIP over USB (Make sure to use USB 2.0 slot if you got it. typically the 'Black' colored USB ports on your PC are 2.0)

[@justmaul6730]

I hooked it up with my usb adapter to my older windows xp pc that I used to mod xboxs with and it working fine just started formating my 120 gig hdd

[@nickschindler]

When is part two of this going to be out? You mentioned another video tutorial on how to put apps on there. Also, so this way of softmodding the fat PS2 will eliminate the need for the memory card ( the old way like your other video ) to be in to run apps, etc...?

[@Cain532.]

I've been keeping my eyes open on multiple forums, and so far I haven't found a way to add any more apps to t he actual OSD apart from running them through uLaunch. And yes, essentially you will have the exploit on your HDD, not your memory card. so you can have apps and such on the HDD, however some apps that have a native directory path set to mc0 or mc1 might have some compatibility issues. So far that I've seen most apps work just fine.

[@Cain532.]

I've been keeping my ear to the ground and found a new program that lets you boot games directly from the OSD menu, however there is some issue with it because it keeps giving me a "insert disc" error, as soon as I figure it out, I'll release a video :D I've been working tirelessly to get it figured out, but I promise a video will be out soon!

[@Phoenix7786]

Do I need to mod my PS2 to be a flip-top or can I still do this with a regular unmodded fat PS2?

[@TheRealEvilSink]

regular fat playstation 2.

[@Drummaniac17]

Do you know if WinHIIP will run on Win98? The only computer in my house with an IDE slot is running Win98, and I don't want to pull that thing out just to waste my time. If you don't know, that's fine, I might just end up buying the USB adapter anyway for an easier way to transfer files in the future. This softmod is my only option since both cogswap and Agent Under Fire both didn't work for me, for some reason.

[@Drummaniac17]

I answered my own question. WinHIIP does work on Win98, but I had other complications that stopped me from doing this, so I guess I'm purchasing a USB adapter!

[@Drummaniac17]

Drummaniac17 New Developments! I've got the hard drive booting in Win98 and I formatted the hard drive using WinHIIP, but HDD Raw Copy doesn't support Win98. Is there any tool that can clone disk images in .imgc format that run on Win98? I am having trouble finding one.

[@boby4751]

Could you link part 2? , can't seem to find it

[@gisterkiller]

ok i can see it but it wont let me format it it says it dose not have a valid ps2 master boot record

[@Gr33kChief]

i had to use an old laptop running xp for it to see the harddrive. winhip would not work on my windows 7 pc hope that helps

[@jermarcusm.robinsonwaller1063]

I need help getting this to work on my PS2 and WINHIIP is saying that there are no PS2 Formatted drives on my system how can i get this to work 100% in order to make all this pay off... I have a 300 GB hard drive which is big enough to store a lot of games that i downloaded from the internet to the hard drive so please i need all the help i can get!

[@newgenoftroma]

hey, what's up? I have the same problem, apparently you need to run winhiip as an administrator

[@gisterkiller]

dose it need to be in exfat ????

[@jhj22]

Dear Cain532, I have a chinese replica from the network adapter (Gamestar manufactured) and I tried many HDD OSD hacks (vash 32, simple 1.10 U, AKash, etc.) But all of them causes the same thing. The hard drive spins up, then it stops after 3 seconds. After the system try to launch the HDD, but it stops again immediately. Is this problem happens due to the chinese aftermarket adapter, what I have? I used LLFT, and WinHIIP too. The result is always the same :(

[@HWandW]

You may have an incompatible HDD.

[@magrudergrinder23]

Do the games installed on the HDD need to be ESR patched to run on the the hdd loader?

[@Cain532.]

Yes

[@Cain532.]

There is a 128GB limit sadly :( You can place a larger drive into it however it will only utilize 128G of it.

[@bf0101]

Hi, i got a hardmodded PS2, i got the HDD installed with network adapter. And always had an issue in booting HDLoader or freemcboot from memory card so i found the single solution for me to boot games via HDD was burning HDloader on a CD, but it isn't recognising the CD from first , i gotta restart it like loads of time. Can you recommend me a way to play games via HDD with my hard modded ps2? I am a massive fan of PS2, it's my first console since i was a kid and i wanna keep it working. Let me know please. Regards, Flav'

[@robertmustbe4207]

hi,,just wondering will this work on a windows 7 pc,,i tried everthing you xplained,,but winhipp does not read none of my drives

[@nshid]

run winhipp as administrator and it will work

[@CabooseLoL]

Will this work with Japanese consoles as well? I have a Japanese Midnight Blue PS2.

[@Gr33kChief]

possibly, thing is all you're doing is modding the harddrive. nothing happens to the ps2. only ps2 memory card can be modded with free mc boot once you've installed the imagine on your harddrive. after you follow these steps you simply put the hdd in the ps2 and wethear it works or not the ps2 will be the same if you remove the hdd. doesnt hurt to try wirked for me on usa ps2. remember making a free mc memory card can beused on any ps2 without harddrive

[@TheMadisonHang]

i'm using an ssd, is that gonna matter in 2022?

[@Cain532.]

That shouldn't be a problem, but I'll be honest I've not tried it before! I have a SATA HDD adapter for PS2, but it was giving me issues, so I went back to the old school one. Sorry! I need to test more on that.

[@TheMadisonHang]

@@Cain532. it works few years ago they didn't have sata adapters available on ebay, now they do so i'm using a ssd. opl has a 2tb limit so that what people can look forward too, ide drives never really broke the 1tb barrier, they did but its at the extreme end of things

[@Cain532.]

@@TheMadisonHang that's awesome dude! Glad it's working for you :P

[@falcon17141]

So how do you add the isos to play off openps2

[@falcon17141]

nvm figured it out thank you so much for the tutorial wonderfull

[@adkmz4087]

Following these steps exactly, everything works until i get to the point of putting the drive into my ps2. the system boots normally with no change. It doesn't recognize the drive with the information. I also tried it with a second system and the same result. System browser are 1.40 & 1.10 help me

[@EvilWiffles]

Alex Mays Make sure your HDD jumper is set to master.

[@ImPrather]

Thank you soo much for this video I tried everything else and nothing worked. Mad respect👌👌

[@justmaul6730]

I keep getting "there no ps2 formated drives on your system" I have windows 7 home premium

[@drv30]

I have an unmodded PS2 with a dead laser! This is perfect! Does this completely bypass the need to create a bootable memory card? And does this work with hard drives larger than 127GB?

[@Cain532.]

Yes it does, and so far as I have seen it works with any size drive, it just partitions off 127GB on it, making the remaining space "dead" so to say.

[@falcon17141]

How did you get the ps1 game on there

[@Cain532.]

David Falkenstein are you talking about the Japanese game on there? It comes with the OSD, it's a port (meaning someone converted it to work on PS2) so not a traditional PS1 game.

[@expresandomusica]

Hi, I'm trying to look for part 2 but can't find it any quick links for it Thanks nice video👍

[@electriccomics]

I followed the instructions exact and everything went well on the computer side, but when I turned on my ps2, the HDD spun up during boot but shut off once the menu loaded, and my version was still the same, does anyone know the problem?

[@prgray77]

Bayly Buchanan check the hdd jumper settings. make sure it is set for "master/single"

[@electriccomics]

It is, I've tried all the jumper settings on the ps2, should I have used slave when writing to the drive?

[@Aransyf]

hey does this work with a memory stick too or only a hard drive

[@Gr33kChief]

Harddrive only I believe

[@Aransyf]

ok thx

[@theicebolt4361]

where is an imgc file ?

[@justmaul6730]

When in winhiip is when I get that message

[@Cain532.]

I have most of the footage I need shold release a crop of new videos this weekend.

[@xKynOx]

you only need to use toxic if the HDD is over 132 gig

[@bobdole1832]

Ok, wanted to share some info... on my macbook pro, winhiip could NOT format the hdd, and I tried maybe 3-4 hard drives, ranging from 4GB to 320GB... on a spare laptop, I got it to go the first time every time (lol) so... I dont know what the variable here that mattered was, but there must've been one. I used both one of those cheeeeap $5 usb adapters, along with a USB3.0 SATA adapter (I'll be trying to use a laptop hdd in it), and the only thing that seems to have made a difference is the laptop I use. Just wanted to bring that up ;) edit: looks like, after formatting on a 2nd pc, everything works on the mac... wierd

[@Cain532.]

Hmmm that's rather peculiar! Glad you got it working though. I'll check around to see if there are any issues running these things on Mac OS

[@Cain532.]

Can you explain a little more please?

[@raventhhshadowwarrior4351]

I do not have a HDD for my Playstation 2, so I will bookmark this video and save it for another time. Thanks though.

[@mundousb9280]

i follow the instruction and nothing happend the browser its always in 1.20 version i have 2 models look this post: [How To] Install and Use FHDB 1.93 Noobie Package for Fat PS2 Tutorial i have 2 models of fat spc 39001 and spc 59001 2 hard drives 2 hdd adaptor modem and nothing i cant make freemcboot beacouse the 2 ps2 laser are Dead !!!

[@Cain532.]

Check my video about the HDD OSD method, it should work for you. No CD required.

[@mundousb9280]

the link in onde drive is dead put in mediafire please

[@justmaul6730]

Also using an ide to usb adapter

[@XDM_Studios]

wheres the next part?

[@Cain532.]

Difficult to say. The people who I have been trying to talk with have stopped talking with me so I haven't been able to do much

[@sewickleycracker]

BootlegBoxes That really sucks as your videos are a perfect step by step

[@martintucker548]

hI Thxs good tutorial , worked for me first time, but when I reboot it went back to browser 1.20.

[@therandoms2014]

works great. thought i messed up when the app froze before it finished but everything is fine. now i'm unsure on how to install other applications to the harddrive so i can play games and emulators. does anyone else know?

[@Gr33kChief]

put the apps in a flash drive then use the programs in the harddrive that lets you browse files (ulaunch) then transfer the apps to a memory card.

[@ComputerAbusify]

How do you add PS2 games to OPL? I ripped my discs with winHIIP and installed them to the HDD through winHIIP, but out of 6 games only two appeared (and they worked perfectly). I've tried reformatting and reinstalling it but it doesn't seem to work. Any ideas what's gone wrong? Kudos for still doing this in 2013-14. Nice to know people won't let this machine die.

[@Cain532.]

ComputerAbusify Once the games are ripped to the HDD using WinHiiP, you will need to run some secondary software on your ps2 in order for it to be viewable from the hdd osd. Can you see the games in HDLoader? Try running HDLoader via launching it from uLaunch (You'll need to download it and have it either on a flash drive or the root of your hdd, flash drfive is easier)

[@ComputerAbusify]

FoxHoundModding I've got games appearing now, but that was only after I installed them through HDLoader. Ever since I used HDL instead of WinHIIP for games it has worked. It's great but not particularly preferable! It's odd, the games that are missing from being installed via WinHIIP do not have an icon in ToxicOS, and the remaining space count doesn't seem to account for them. It's like WinHIIP is pretending to write them. Thanks for your advice.

[@Cain532.]

There might be a slight compatibility error with WinHiip and HDD-OSD, I've not had any issues though :(

[@gisterkiller]

i cant see my harddrive in winhiip

[@estebanrivera1009]

run winhip as administrator

[@KevinTwiner]

Nice mod

[@krisb4997]

sweet that was easy now im looking for part2

[@YThates]

My hdd doesnt show up and I did everything!

[@SplitScreamOFFICIAL]

how do you get it to work if hdd doesnt work

[@farmhousemedia3000]

Hero!

[@justmaul6730]

Well crap I'm getting nothing but a black screen after it says "sony computer entertainment"

[@UbiquitousSlumber]

FreeMcboot is superior still, this is cool though. But I got a 750gb in mine and all of it shows up. Over 150+ games.

[@justmaul6730]

Its just winhiip that will not see the drive

[@Solsberry]

thanks bro ill tell you if this shit works been wanting to do this for a long time

[@justmaul6730]

Where is part 2? I ready to get my mod on!! Lol

[@tomgreen624]

niggah ToxicOS saves games where HDloader cant read them or OPL, what i did was use ToxicOS_0.41_test.elf to load the games.

[@justmaul6730]

My pc recognizes it as drive g

[@markb7595]

What good is soft modding a ps2 when it still has to be modchipped? Makes no sense. WinHiip won't accept a hard drive unless you've already used HDloader to format it to PS2. Otherwise, no one can use this method.

[@SmallEngineNut]

+Mark B Wut? You can use ulaunchELF to run ELF files. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to make or buy a memory card for $10.

[@mistamontiel00]

Toxic *N0HHH*

[@lain328]

Looks like the setup that vash32 made, but it does look like you updated some of it. Use can use HDLoader Game Installer to add games plus add icons for games. ichiba.geocities (dot) jp/ysai187/PS2/HDLGameInstaller (dot) htm Also you can get a 48bit var. of it but it does have errors, it goes slow if you add a lot of games/data.