PS2 SSD Upgrade in 2021 .. This is Awesome 😎

SSD getting cheaper and cheaper maybe a fun way to upgrade you Playstation 2 Retro Console with this combined with Free McBoot.
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----- Disclaimer ----
Product / Products I show in this video have been purchased by myself.
Nobody is paying me for promoting / showing this product.
#playstation2 #gameconsole #ps2

[@Lenmaer]

You won't get any speed improvement at all, since the PS2 uses an IDE ATA 33 bus. The SATA adapter just converts the SATA bus to IDE, and the speed remains the same as an IDE ATA 33 bus.

[@ChannelOfElveman]

Not during sequential operations, sure. It can still be beneficial during random access operations (although the games are probably structured to have as little of those as possible since PS2 is disc-based, and those have the same problem)

[@anno5936]

@@ChannelOfElveman you're right. And another +point is a SSD inside a slim 70k. After a fan-mod this thing is quiet+fast and still stays cool

[@idkanymore3382]

The main point behind this is because SSDs will remain healthy for a much... MUCH longer time and less failure.

[@vasopel]

@@idkanymore3382 ? but when a SSD dies it dies 100% :-( old school HDDs might loose 1 or 2 games in about 6 years,and the rest will work for 4-5 years more..

[@idkanymore3382]

@@vasopel >But bro what if it does Why do you arm chair redditors always do this claim. Listen, when you use a ps2 you are never writing files but only reading them. This means your ssd health is gonna be beyond well for a long time unless you get a defect drive.

[@imranchaudhry4321]

the styling of the PS2 has really aged well still looks modern

[@GLXY_1000]

I think it looks better than the ps5

[@franciscosoares2440]

@@GLXY_1000 when it has no memory card or controller, it looks very sleek

[@capri4682]

Bro the ps2 is literally two rectangles slapped together

[@marvstalgia69]

@@capri4682exactly, very modern lmao

[@phlhoran12396]

Eternally beautiful. ❤

[@xRiCoSuAv3x]

I never know what that slot behind the station was for until 19 years later 😅.

[@mharped1443]

100% you have no PS2 back in the day.

[@TapczanZaglady]

@@mharped1443 I had ps2 and didnt even knew that existed

[@mharped1443]

@@TapczanZaglady well your are noob

[@KA_SH96]

Hiding place for the stash

[@gtmartin69]

@@KA_SH96 worked great!

[@doitallYT]

FINALLY someone does this! I was considering adding an SSD to my original Xbox, but this is another level altogether 👍 keep up the good work!

[@IronKnee963]

Wdym finally? There are thousands of videos online. lol

[@madchat-games5906]

@TheVilified UDMA6 to day

[@tehFoxx0rz]

People are pointing out that you can install Free HD Boot, and that's true and certainly an option, but bear in mind that Free Memory Card Boot loads up faster, and can simply be removed for times you might want a system which functions as stock again. However, it's still a good idea to install FHDB at least to begin with if you're doing this, as it can allow you to make your own FMCB memory card, so you don't need to buy one! It's also a very good idea to stick with the official adapter with the (functional) ethernet port, so you can install games to the hard drive without having to remove it with HDLDumx, or play games directly from your PC (or a Raspberry Pi) with SMB server functionality. You can get SATA converters for the official adapter!

[@classicgmr]

I have been using SSD for a while now. It is true you won't get a speed boost from the PS2 BUT if you are interested in future proofing the system against spinning drives then this is the way to go. Also SSD drives are cheaper now more than ever even when purchased new (which is ideal in any situation). On top of all of that the SSD drives generate almost no heat.

[@Zontar82]

will a 1tb ssd work on ps2?

[@azogderschander6391]

@@Zontar82 1tb for a ps2 if over over overkill asf the games back then are really not that big, neither the OS

[@cybermad64]

Amazing content, upgrading our old system with newer tech is definitly the best way to keep retro gaming alive. (and to keep my disk collection safe) :) Thanks a lot for that knowledge.

[@zawarudo75]

Damn boi u were here for 15 years

[@games4saleMX]

Your disc will eventually disc root

[@XRelays]

not really, emulation will forever be the best way to keep retro alive

[@spontaneousdisintegration]

This is exactly the information I needed to mod & upgrade a PS2 for my PS2 library of games! -thank you.

[@RetroFan]

Nice video. Dreamcast came out in 99, PS2 in 2000. I remember getting a brochure from Funcoland about the upcoming PS2. Ah to go back.

[@emmanuelhill6648]

Bro I just wanna say I been a huge fan and now I'm a returning fan of you man I love your videos I know you do a lot of research on different systems and setting up and editing I fully just love you for that man pls dued never give up and keep up the good work I love you bro 👍✨

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Thanks buddy and your positive message 🤗

[@TravisFabel]

That SSD mount is begging for a 3D printed bracket to be properly supported

[@WickedGamerCollector]

haahahah indeed 😄

[@TheHotwhells]

@@WickedGamerCollector doing it rn haha

[@elipsorange]

Agreed man, mine slopps around until I upgraded

[@SlapNuts4Life]

No need to 3-D print one, you can get great ones off of Amazon for a few bucks

[@socommaster]

@@TheHotwhells did you make it?

[@stopsniffingglue]

This is incredibly helpful, I have a large library if PS2 games (all Guilty Gear on PS2 ect) ..yet my machine finally died after 11years. This video &your other related videos are Very informative. -I thank you!

[@nick56677]

Getting a 1tb hard drive and the hard drive adapter for my Phat PS2 was the best investment I made. Using a McBoot memory card I loaded the HD with thousands of classic NES, SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, PS1, PS2, N64, And even GameCube games. It felt so surreal playing GameCube games from a PS2

[@keatenbarbula280]

What harddrive did you get? Ive heard there is compatibility problems and really want to get one.

[@verifeli]

This is why PS2 is the best game console that ever exist.

[@tonyhawk1948]

Gamecube????

[@toddbeaudoin4187]

how did it run gamecube games ?

[@scality4309]

How gamecube?

[@santospoland]

I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to the video output, now I do understand the adapter that takes you to HDMI but it really should be 4:3 (at least the majority of games are in this format) so I would recommend checking the monitor's builtin controls and set the ratio to 4:3 otherwise everything looks stretched. It's a personal choice on my part but it does help maintain a proper aspect ratio. I also prefer CRTs and I recommend one for the PS2 as things look a little better, at least in my opinion it does. Thanks for the video and for the step by step..

[@zeroturn7091]

Interesting, I play over LAN on the original adapter. This makes me want to put a Tiger Lake NUC into my first PS2.

[@azispratama92]

Fat PS2 version ?

[@sesterno]

I remember many games being choppy over LAN, especially the cutscenes. It was many years ago though. I saw with the corner of an eye there was a couple of updates for OPL since then. Is it improved in any way? Thinking about wiping the dust from my good old ps2...

[@zeroturn7091]

@@azispratama92 yes the EE GPU fried when I hooked up a squid cable from Monoprice. All I get now is a checkerboard pattern on display. I’d like to gut it, and turn it into a mini PC.

[@zeroturn7091]

@@sesterno Yeah, I get that too. At first I was using a USB drive on my WRT600N, now I just redirected OPL to scrub my NAS.

[@chronos7554]

@Balakeh same here and i was actually convinced it read games faster than through a USB drive on my slim

[@wettuga2762]

I prefer an IDE to SD adapter, with an SD card extension and a small cut in the top of the Network Adapter so I can insert and remove the SD card whenever I want. No heat, no loss of speed, easier to add games with the SD card inserted in the PC instead of tediously adding games over LAN, no problem with the 255 games limit of WinHIIP, and I can have several SD cards with different collection of games! Need more space? Buy another SD card!

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Yo Wicked, 2TB SATA HDDs do work. I formatted mine using LaunchElf on the actual PS2, itself. If you upgrade your original network adapter, you preserve network functionality & can ftp transfer games from PC to PS2 internal HDD (via OPL), also. HDL Dump Helper GUI is what I use to load the HDD via PC or FTP. CD games have to be converted from bin+cue to iso. I use PS2 BIN 2 ISO, though some games have given me trouble to convert..... Dynasty Warriors 2 is one of them. Great topics & videos, bro 👍. I love the OG PS2 models with the Firewire port (pre-network adapter) for system link gaming on Armored Core 2 series games. AC: Another Age is my favorite entry in the entire series & Firewire is the only way you can play 2 players, networked. It was the last AC game to have Human+ & Overweight mechanics 👍.

[@fallenmedia1999]

did they ever fix that limitation on how many games you can put on there i think it was somewhere around 130 something? not sure of the exact number.

[@techhoarder3416]

@@fallenmedia1999 Use HDL BATCH.

[@televisionandcheese]

You do not need FMCB memory card, you can run FHDB instead , straight from the hard drive !

[@jbertrow1056]

can it be used as FUSBB?

[@alfofer8435]

@@jbertrow1056 yes and it’s free

[@plossalypse]

You don't need either anymore you can launch ULaunch from a regular burned dvd now lol

[@jbertrow1056]

@@plossalypse old time i've used cd not dvd without using swap disk..

[@plossalypse]

@@jbertrow1056 you don't need a swap disc it overloads the dvd buffer and injects unsigned code. All you gotta do is burn the dvd

[@t0p_snek407]

I honestly love my modded ps2, I converted the regular PS2 IDE to Sata and decided to go with the 2tb cause my library is so vast. Yes you will run into issues getting it to run right but there are ways and thankfully redit has some niche info to help those that want to to do it. That being said its snappy and super convinent to bring a ps2 to a party or convention/hotel stay to enjoy with friends without having to take stacks of games as well. :D long live the PS2!!!!! Some games still have DNS setup as well and can be played online through those settings which is nice if you do want to get some people together to play some time splitters or cult classic game that still has a following.

[@souljastation5463]

You converted the original Sony network adapter? How did you do that? Is it hard to do?

[@t0p_snek407]

@@souljastation5463 not hard, got the IDE to sata converter off ebay and then its just a bunch of screws and a ribbon cable.

[@souljastation5463]

@@t0p_snek407 cool, I might do it myself, my 130GB IDE drive is getting old and I have some old 1/2 TB SATA drives that I don't know what to do with.

[@MegaTerryNutkins]

For SSDs in retro laptops I use a 2.5" IDE to mSATA adapter with a cheap mSATA SSD in there, something like that might be a good option and the adapters are super cheap on eBay.

[@TheKaiser969]

Great video it is amazing that you can enjoy this system to the max so easily

[@RDelacroix]

I was thinking of getting an SSD mainly because of the "no moving parts" and "low heat" aspects. I might have to get a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter just to make sure it doesn't rattle or come loose accidentally. Anyway, Thanks for the video.

[@gjermundification]

If you can't fix this with gaffa you haven't used enough.

[@deagt3388]

I'm thrilled what you have done, still have PS2 slim version with McBoot 32MB card no chip.

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

I bought the attachment for the hdd last year but finding compatible hdd was hard. now looking at ssd thanks for sharing

[@SylpheedW]

What compability issued did you had? I run a off the shelf Western Digital

[@flogjam]

If you have an old SSD - go for it. You can actually get IDE SSD's too and CF adapters.. loads of options really. It's all good.

[@j4ck3t]

IDE speeds are too slow for a SSD. Most HDD's can max it out. You really need Sata to get the most out of a SSD. But that begs the question, can the old PS2 Cpu even handle the speeds of a Sata connection.

[@Gold171]

Those ide ssd’s are just m.2 in an ide case. You can build them yourself cheaper.

[@janjohansson2567]

You cannot connect SATA to the PS2. All the adapters you see including those in the video are IDE internally and convert IDE to SATA. There will ALWAYS be an IDE bottleneck regardless what you connect. That said - even with a mechanical IDE drive, load times will be SO much faster than running the game from disc.

[@flogjam]

@@janjohansson2567 Indeed. It's just SATA drives are more readily available, newer, more reliable etc. So, using a convertor is handy. I have an IDE and also a SATA backplane.... I've got an old Intel SSD (180GB) i'm going to use to replace the flaky old IDE (IBM deskstar) 120GB disk I use currently. Pure convenience.

[@janjohansson2567]

Hmm, I might have missunderstood the previous comments and replied to nothing :D Indeed, there's nothing wrong with using SATA, or using an SSD over SATA (I do that myself, lots of advantages beyond game load times). Was just trying to say, just putting something SATA in there doens't give one SATA speeds.

[@RetroTuna]

I put an ssd in mine about 2 years ago dont make much diffrence to the loading if any but its a ironic update to a old console lol.

[@SlapNuts4Life]

That’s because the PlayStation 2 isn’t equipped to take advantage of the solid states SATA speeds

[@deathstrike]

I took the SSD jump to improve overall reliability and future proofing them as a console collector. I've modded my PS2/PS3 (60GB model)/PS4/Wii and Wii U and XBOX360 E to between 500GB and 1TB (256GB for PS2) all with PNY and Western Digital SSD. People need to realize it isn't about the speed or the price. It's about a reliable and quickly rebuildable storage system. Look on most consoles you can go hybrid like say on my PS4 I have a 1TB SSD for favorite games, wallpaper, themes, and apps. For large games I use a 4TB WD HD with USB 3.0 transfer, not fast but not slow entirely. If I want a fast load on a game stored in the 4TB drive, just transfer to the SSD and volia! Fast game loading. Look, mechanical hd's are cheap. But they will be phased out as who wants more mechanical parts in their console? The more you have (mechanical HD/Blu Ray/DVD) the more problems will arise. Go hybrid, an internal SSD with an external conventional large drive (4TB and up) and you have an inexpensive place to store your large games and a faster SSD to run them. It does work well at least for me, your mileage may vary. And if an older mechanical drive is not for you, just use an internal/external SSD or just a single SSD. The reliability and slight speed gain will justify the cost.

[@deathstrike]

Edit: I was asked if I have an XBOX One, yes I do, but it's very difficult to shove an internal SSD and an external SSD while workable, won't give you the speed at USB 3.0 that the internal SATA interface offers. I tried a reverse hybrid (internal 1TB mechanical drive and a 1 TB external WD SSD w/USB 3.0. The result was disappointing due to communication problems with the external SSD. I would have to pull the USB cable several times to get it to recognize the drive. I think Microsoft either doesn't want you to use an SSD, or only "certain" SSD's work. I tried a WD and PNY SSD and the PNY seems to read when you turn the console on. The WD was erratic and I finally gave up with trying to use it. So the XOne is flaky and I finally just went to a 4TB USB 3.0 external. You might have better luck.

[@Chuckinator_85]

I have been eyeing up this upgrade for months now. I have jailbreaked every system I own and am currently putting money into ssd's and memory cards and batteries for my handhelds. Everything to carry them over to a new generation and turn them into emulation beasts. I saved my PS2 for last because it's the most expensive one to upgrade. I'm even getting controller adapters that I can use my Xbox controllers and other controllers wirelessly on my ps2. Go big or go home lol. I'd have this upgrade done sooner but all the tech stuff I buy I'm keeping Amazon going lmfao.

[@FatheredPuma81]

I was messing around with an emulator and saw "Install to Hard drive" in a game and I thought it was some mod the English patch I downloaded added lol. This explains so much.

[@JLMtime]

I also added a SSD but what's even better is a PHAT with working internet plus SATA so I don't have to take drive out to add games

[@TehShadowDeath]

I wonder if there is a way to do it like the old Xbox softmod. I used to use a ftp client and copied the games to my Xbox via the ftp client to the HDD.

[@THNF89]

Bro I've tried to set that up a hundred times I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong

[@Darknecros7]

This setup would be nice to put all of my PS2 games on and keep the discs safe.

[@makedaevilmage]

I bought the Game star a while back and just tested it. Been using HD advance 2.0 software for copying games to my HDD back in the day (never used FMB before tbh). The data speed seems to max out at 1333kb/ps. An SSD should support much faster speeds. Although, it still beats the loading times when running the games from a disc.

[@DannyWilliamH]

Your bottleneck is likely the transfer rate of the system itself from that IDE connection.

[@cerveraoliver]

Indeed. I think there is virtually 0 difference in loading times. It's just a waste of money.

[@moosekingdom]

@@cerveraoliver It’s just more long term lasting and most hdds back then kept going down and up on speed that will always stay max

[@meh78336]

depends on if you think overall responsiveness is worth it, as you may not have faster load times but you will have near zero seek times, making the overall experience in and out of games that bit more snappy. Besides a cheap 120gb would be fine in most cases unless you want a crap load of games on there all at once, plus given the transfer speed limitation, it can genuinely be a dirt cheap one as your main advantage of zero seek speed will still be there.

[@smbu]

@@meh78336 Exactly. Even in older systems the SSD can make a big difference in responsiveness. In my Retro PC (with 1999-2001 parts) I have an older 120GB SSD installed using an IDE->SATA adapter and it is super responsive. Sometimes even more responsive than the 2-3 year old i5 laptops at my workplace with slow HDDs.

[@hackwrench5583]

I'm going to have to give this another try. I tried it myself years ago after upgrading my PC's SSD. So I had a spare. My results were games crashing immediately with OPL, and HD Loader actually fared better, getting me into a few menus, before crashing. I wonder if there has been any updates to support SSD's in OPL since I tried?

[@phlhoran12396]

You'd hope so.

[@iamtheflu]

Honestly, black loaded much faster than it does off the disk. Very similar to how fast it loads when playing it on my Xbox series S. I figured it would still load pretty slowly.

[@patrickdastarfish7705]

I love that ps2 it was my older brothers hand me down when he got a thin ps2

[@GHOST5691.]

Man the good ol days where I use to chip and soft mod PS2👏 bring back so much memories. Has the compatibility list on OPL changed? I remember specific iso let's you experience sound and visual issues. That's where USBADANCED comes in to minimize that. Although OPL has a much better compatibility range that any other program on PS2 to run installed games from a drive or isos/bin One of the best parts of OPL was network play💪, no need for a drive, straight network cable correct IP address and you good to dance Overall brilliant video, I actually forgot about this kind of conversation entirely since I switched up to the slim

[@DrBIeed]

I love my soft modded PS2 but its still tragically limited to USB 1.1 no matter how fast the HDD/SSD is as far as moving data over without having to pull the drive every time.

[@11tmaste]

Not if you use the network port to do it.

[@MrAwol007]

Black still looks epic

[@andrewbaker234]

Thanks for all your great videos.

[@your_virtuoso]

great vid as always bro. I saw your USB vid on the slim the other day too. Pretty great time to be alive

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Yes, they are making some awesome hardware and new software for oldschool consoles 😄

[@MrMysterious420]

This is a good upgrade, one thing I noticed when playing Rogue Galaxy with the SDD is that you will get poor performance and you may not know why but there is an option you have to check before loading the game to get regular performance.

[@TaHaCHeurfaoui]

The ssd won't be faster than the hdd, in this case it would remain limited to the IDE interface (converted from the sata ssd) that is connected to the ps2

[@ArtisChronicles]

Yeah, the biggest reason to do this with an SSD would be to breathe new life into the console and to possibly get a longer living drive.

[@jaysgamingandbuildsc5533]

Wrong the sdd woukd still be faster then the hdd as the ssd is faster accessible then the reading disks

[@Gold171]

You are failing to realize there is zero seek time, and no buffering

[@spark198rus]

@@Gold171 so, whatever, still limited to ide speed

[@CC-se4ci]

yes it does limited because its in IDE mode but still the ssd is way faster than HDD even in IDE mode.

[@dmoehling]

Always have a spare FMCB card on hand. If you buy one, step 1 should be making yourself a backup copy. Good instructions exist for how to do that. The latest versions of OPL support 2tb drives max… don’t try to go over that. Most have issues with WinHIIP once you get past 1.5tb… the number of games on the drive cause winhiip to not function properly. Keep in mind… in the ps2 days… 1TB drives didn’t exist. The fact that this works at all is absolutely amazing. It’s really the only way to play PS2 titles. OPL also offers full cover flow support as well! It’s a great UI for selecting games. I love my modded phat PS2!

[@kanoamisawa9901]

That original ps2 console looks so damn cool. I too think ps2 was the best console of all time

[@NaTaS00000]

Just did mine PS2 Slim. Android box server with 8Tb hdd.

[@InDreamsYourMine]

You don't need too buy a Free-mcboot memory card as you can make the hard drive bootable. The advantage of a bootable hard drive is both memory card slots are free to use.

[@dcfuksurmom]

I was about to say the same thing, FreeHDBoot is a thing

[@martinez1701a]

Im using HDloader on my ps2, didn't know I could make the hard drive bootable the HDloader still uses the optical drive to load the menu.

[@InDreamsYourMine]

​@@martinez1701a You can, their is a hard drive image you can download, special tool used to copy it to the hard drive, that simple. FYI the hard drive image includes HDloader. I don't remember the download like or tool as I got the information from a youtube video.

[@martinez1701a]

@@InDreamsYourMine you think it would just be better to use freemcboot and just access it through the memory card, it uses hdloader anyway right?

[@InDreamsYourMine]

@@martinez1701a Don't know of Free-mcboot memory card uses HDLoader, but booting from hard drive gives the advantage of both memory card slots available for use.

[@richardheckmann1892]

I have the first hard dive that you showed and works fine but I like video.

[@chriswade7307]

Good work on it if you really want to check out the loading x try unreal Tournament are you used to get so frustrated on the loading times after you died

[@MThomasB]

My old friend Kevin did this years ago. Like 2007. He should have done a video back then. It was always crazy watching him with no boot time.

[@vesacksi]

Damn oh god this is PERFECT! thanks god i still have my ps2 fully functional after all these years, still the emulators suck for PS2, so playing games off SSD would be amazing, also you can fit basically the whole ps2 library in a big ssd.

[@S1L3NTG4M3R]

THANKS -- Happy New Year!

[@silverian]

Nice way to fix PS2, if CD drive laser dies! So it is always good to know other ways to repair...

[@synthesoul]

Was waiting for him to play Alien Hominid

[@VRestoration]

Wow! I had no idea that there were already adapters to use sata hard drives on ps2, god bless the Chinese and their inventions!

[@snoopdoggthecertifiedg6777]

They’ve probably been around for 15 years at this point lol what are you talking about

[@TheAndrewspunk]

And their sweatshops

[@thankyouverymochi]

@@snoopdoggthecertifiedg6777 some people like me are kids when ps2 is released. this is the first time I see the adapter. if you know it since years ago, it's pretty cool

[@snoopdoggthecertifiedg6777]

@@thankyouverymochi ahhhh I gotcha

[@m109094010]

I don’t think Chinese can do this work. That usually been created by European or Russian.

[@taurazpillay4601]

Dragan ball will be the best to test on loading times

[@raiyu1985]

"Run as administrator" ohshit!!! these little tips are invaluable.

[@pontustraas95]

It’s weird how you got your first ps2 in 1999 since it launched March 4th 2000 in Japan. October 26th in North America and November 24th in Europe.

[@anno5936]

Starting at around 40 you begin to interchange dates as old memory is getting loose... hell, i don't even remember how i came to wake up in my own bed this morning, why i have a headache and what happened to that bottle of Tequilla i bought yesterday...

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Yeah I just call it brain farts that's why I named my second channel ... Wicked Brain Fart 🤣🤣

[@SlapNuts4Life]

Using an SSD on a PS2 is cool and all but the PS2 isn’t equipped to take advantage of the SATA speeds

[@mr.electronx9036]

PS2 has pure IDE. So it's IDE SPEED. No Improvements at all. The SSD is lighter, runs maybe cooler and It's noisless...that's all. But if It's die, than DIES 100%

[@SlapNuts4Life]

@@mr.electronx9036 well there is a very marginal and in some cases debatable speed increase but nothing worth wasting an SSD on

[@GiSWiG]

I have several modded OG XBOX, PS2s and a PS3. I would avoid using SSDs as they get expensive (although 1TB are coming down in price) but they do wear out faster when not used in a supported PC or console. This is probably less of an issue than most say because once the data/games are copied to the SSD, there won't be much writing. I still stick with using ream memory cards for the PS2 vs. the virtual ones. My "main" OG XBOX and PS2 both have a 2TB HDD and the PS3 has a 1TB HDD. Because the PS3 does do more writing (DLC, patches, saves cause no memory cards) I'd avoid SSDs in a PS3 for sure. High-end HDD will last way more than you think and still cheaper that an SSD. Also, unlike a PC, a faster drive does not mean significantly faster loading times, in fact, might not see any. You are bound by the speed of the IDE BUS, CPU, GPU, RAM, etc. all of which are significantly slower that an SSD.

[@danielchapter70128]

Omg BLACK on PS2!! I LOVED that game! I remember being blown away by the grenade physics as well as glass breakage animation lol

[@WickedGamerCollector]

That game looks even better on Xbox Classic 😄

[@josephneale10215]

I would stick to hard drives because of the storage capacity to price

[@TogonzoMedia]

As a former OPL developer, I disagree. We have to shy away from rotational drives because the storage capacity to price is on borrowed time. Has been for years. Shoddy internals and Shingled Magnetic Record (SMR) is leading to higher failure rates, and when you factor in the costs in warranty shipping -- including downtime -- the storage capacity to price ratio starts to become illusive. With a 2TB capacity limit on the PS2 and PS3, any large capacity rotational 5400RPM laptop drive is more likely to die of failure before you even fill it, and that's provided that you can even find these 2TB drives going forward as 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB drives dominate the market. A small 500GB to 1TB SSD won't grant any speed increases (except in a PS4/PS4 Pro), but it will give you peace of mind knowing that it's not going to up and die on you, and that's especially true if the SDD supports TRIM natively in the firmware. Don't need an AHCI for that!

[@NDJInit]

Speed is limited by the IDE interface in the PS2. An SSD is unlikely to run faster than an older HDD, excluding spin up time OFC. And as someone else mentioned, the FMCB is not required with a HDD installed. You can put FHDB on the HDD and it will boot from it the same :)

[@RealStab]

FHDB will fail on modchipped consoles

[@gjermundification]

@@RealStab Why would anyone mod chip a console? There is FMCB, it's abusing a firmware upgrade routine IIRC - that was never used.

[@joemamr710]

Even at IDE speeds, an SSD is much, much, much faster than an HDD at random reads. Benchmarks clearly show this. Even the fastest modern HDD can’t saturate the bus with small files and random reads, whereas an SSD will keep the bus saturated 100% of the time. On a PS2, an HDD can only read small files around 0.2MB/s, whereas an SSD will read at the full 33MB/s, over 100 times faster. Obviously most console reads aren’t random, but there are still enough small file reads that you can clearly measure the difference. Not to mention less heat and less power usage/noise.

[@NDJInit]

All good points @@joemamr710 I can indeed see there would be benefits over a HDD. Thanks!

[@WolfTreasure]

I’ve got a couple questions about this method: Does this work for large file size games such as Xenosaga 1-3? Any stutter or frame issues when playing said games or in general anything from 4GB downwards? If this is the penultimate method for enjoying games without any hassle on PS2, then I may opt for it. I would appreciate any and all help on this question, thank you.

[@narutofanz4]

Another thing worth mentioning, if you have a home theater receiver even 10+ years old they have HD upscaling so you can save some cash with using the HDMI OUT from receiver to your TV or monitor. Hope this helps

[@NexXxus86]

Get an ORICO 2.5 SSD SATA to 3.5 adapter theyre perfect for this.

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Did see that one coming back maybe indeed great way to do that in the next video 🤗

[@Scooter30FTW]

Nice,I might pick one of those up.

[@A.TiasKurniawan]

Watching this video after playing PlayStation 2 😅

[@theimaginationify]

The same here. 🤣

[@MichoOussama]

Watching this video while playing PS2 fat with internal HDD 😂

[@curtispereira5212]

You can also use an extension adapter (a red cable) with the ssd to connect to the network adapter

[@Vin11381]

oh my god I can't believe you installed Alien Hominid 😂 used to play that game, ahhhh... miss my childhood

[@EverythingPS5Pro]

Imagine chipping your original microsoft xbox, and the installing an ssd to remove load-times 😂

[@zockeromi1970]

If i knew what happened afterwards i kept my ps2

[@anno5936]

Just jump back on... i pick up all sorts of systems for around €20 in Rhein-Main Area, mod & flip them... it's still going strong 💪

[@zockeromi1970]

@@anno5936 someone sent me a ps2 😉

[@anno5936]

@@zockeromi1970 a secret admirer ?

[@zockeromi1970]

@@anno5936 not secret - a huge and very nice supporter of my channel 😉

[@anno5936]

@@zockeromi1970 👍👍👍 glad to see you set up, waiting for a video to drop... if you need anything else, just ask your fine community 😉

[@vjun007]

PS. Sometimes, some chinese PS2 Sata hdd adapters don't work with regular fmcb/opl/hdloader versions here, or works badly. So you need to juggle for the right version combination, that work well for your specific unit here. Thanks god i have a original, NA hdd NAD here, with both the fast ethernet, and the dial-up ports here, only that i need to use a ide sata converter here, small enough, to fit in PS2's "Expansion bay" with both the ssd drive connected here. You can also disassemble your ssd here, since the actual board with flash chips, is far smaller than the drive here itself, like the half of the actual 2.5 drive height, as i seen on a wd green ssd drive here, tho.

[@ItsNummy6969]

Why does this video seem like it came from 2002 but its 2021 lol. The sound and quality feel old school. Kinda cool.

[@souljastation5463]

IDE disks are still faster than the DVD, in fact you don't need anything faster than a IDE drive in order to saturate the PS2 transfer BUS.

[@djsquare510]

How did you get a PS2 in 1999? I don't think they came out in that year boss

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Sorry forget to mention that happend in my dreams 🤣 I had a wild dream in 1999 ... 😂

[@angryretrogamer7313]

Hello thanks for all the information. PlayStation 2 is a great system and im excited to revisit it. Retro mini store has the compete ps2 library on a 4tb external hard drive have you seen it? I was wondering if its possible to connect that to my ps2 slim via usb and with the free mcboot memory card device? Thanks for all the good information about retro gaming.

[@BavarianM]

I currently have a Gamestsr adapter and a 320gb WD hard drive and it's pretty good.

[@Bozo2kPL]

Woah.... This is the video, that I've expected... I've considered to use SSD in PS2. EDIT: Another good job done by Wicked

[@M3XCLUSIVE]

honestly its the best to keep ur ps2 living longer LESS HEAT

[@Natei]

In my experience, SSD's die faster than mechanical drives.

[@9inchpp]

Get an ssd that doesn't suck

[@Natei]

@@9inchpp I only buy samsung, they still die faster than my mechanical drives, might not be everybody thats why I said in my experience.

[@jjmmjj9999]

@@Natei strange. Had my seagate 2tb and Samsung 850 evo bought at the same time, seagate clicking and beeping and no longer shows in bios/windows Evo still going fine. 130tbw on the Samsung ssd Got a 980 Pro now, and a western digital 3tb black, and a barracuda 4tb

[@sirlezard670]

I still have a terrible 300go HDD from 2008. It sucks but it still lives like in its younger days. It's been more than 13 years.

[@neatt3815]

Still got my ps2 with hdd loader and the modded memory card 😁 haven't used it in years though.

[@MrJpk741]

You can hope for a second off the load time but even if you get that on a game it's not worth the extra money you'll spend. One day though, ssd will replace mechanical drives all together so it's good to know one will work so well

[@pedromallol6498]

Better if you would had done a Before & After on the loading times

[@cako7139]

Makes no difference.

[@octavius9685]

Hey, you guys remember when new consoles actually had new games that actually looked better than the generation before....

[@katsumiskytower8714]

its all been done already... whats left?

[@brkbtjunkie]

The Sony branded network adapter is great because of the rj45 port - allows mounting games over SMB via LAN connection to server. Makes it so you don’t need a huge drive inside. Edit: in 2022 you can get good 1TB SSDs for $75 from Silicon Power. I’ve bought more than hundred for my clients over the years and nothing but good reports back.

[@DecibelAlex]

you would have to drill new holes in the 3,5" adapter. the contacts don't line up. sata extension cable and double sided tape might be easier :)

[@vasopel]

what? Edit: oh you mean an adapter for the size, I think he means that they are selling an adapter specifically for the PS2 HDD tray.

[@joandarc441]

Do $500 dollar Ps2 version with a lot of accessories and upgrades XD

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Pimp my PS2 .. that can be a fun idea 🤗

[@magicvampirelver1321]

That sounds awesome😎

[@meh78336]

I think seek speed is going to be the only advantage over a mechanical drive of any type given its all going to be limited by that ide interface, which could make it feel a bit more snappy in response time, but not in load speed as most sata drives will exceed the PS2's ide interface. I saw no difference between even a sata 3 hybrid drive (I like using them for retro gaming as they may not be SSD's but they are usually on average faster than mechanical drives without having to worry about the hardware supporting SSDs) and my old ATA-100 drive, or the ATA 100 drive and and and older 66 drive outside of seek times. That said, that responsiveness is a nice improvement on it's own as it makes menu in and out of a game near instant in a lot of cases where before there was a slight delay, which makes it all more like a proper console experience should be like when it was all rom carts. Even after all these years they haven't managed to get that instant plug and play back that was hands down the best feature that consoles had over computer.

[@Gigidag77]

One huge advantage people tend to forget: - NOISE also you can drop the ssd and the data will be fine.

[@armandbrouillard9090]

Watching now love the vids ps2 for the win

[@cuiff62]

Transferring games is a pain, the ide solution with the ethernet cable and hdldump seems to be the best way, it's a bit long but you never have to move your disk again, real network adapters are expensive but so useful.

[@skoden9770]

Yes yes yes yes cant wait till I start working again and order this,I have the fatps2 lol

[@octavinadinugroho1446]

The main benefit for it is less heat for your ps2 console. And it is a MUST

[@lifesoordinary]

0:00 Close your eyes and listen, Wicked Gamer & Collector is getting out his enormous member.

[@reminon]

For the record, you do not need a memory card if you flash the hdd with a pre-made freehddboot image.

[@ManOfAttitudeLP1998]

You need a CRT Monitor or TV with GSM and FMCBoot you can force real 480p and it looks gorgeous on VGA CRTs

[@patricklasko1360]

Should test out "FFVII" if the video intro still lag compared running the game from USB or "GoW" games while loading.

[@mrgwei]

ty for the intro noise sir

[@kardokdelikaya9570]

Is retroid pocket 2 worth to have? And how is it on cinematics? Like in GoW 1 and 2 it was so laggy i couldnt finish the games so had to download some cheat program to pass them.

[@sonneblendet1140]

Not even on ps4 or Xbox one an internal ssd is giving you really big performance boost. This is because of the slow internal connection. It nearly doesn't matter what you hook up to. Anyway it was a pleasure to watch you

[@bmcc4379]

I want to get a ps2, but not sure where to get one. I know they're cheap in thrift/ pawn shops, but I'd be concerned about the condition of the laser. Where should I look to get a reliable one?

[@Yogarine]

One thing to note about getting a Chinese adapter vs installing an upgrade kit: The Chinese adapter lacks an Ethernet port. So if you still want to be able to connect to the network you should use the upgrade kit. Why would you want network access on your PS2? Well there are actually tools to transfer or play games over the network so you don’t have to keep swapping your drive every time you want to add games.

[@k.a6555]

Good tutorial, SSD is support games over 4gb?