Newbies Guide

[charlie_ps2]

I'll assume you have an original game to protect. You'll need a modchip for your PS2, copying software & the right PC hardware for the burning job: - e.g:

CD - Yamaha 3200 CD-RW for optimum read/write compatibility with the recommended CD copying software. An EIDE connected burner, should be placed on the secondary IDE channel else the device will slow down the hard disk & buffer under-runs would occur on non-burn-proof devices. Best software is CloneCD (see para 2 below).

DVD - Pioneer A03/A04/A05 or Sony DRU500A, connected as Primary device on the secondary IDE channel. Best software is PrimoDVD, RecordNowMax or Nero 5.5.6.4 on.

http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk, http://www.fileforums.com & http://www.ps2newz.net provide detailed advice/downloads.

Basics are:

1 MOD CHIP
The PS2 should be chipped for backups to play. There are many available modchips; choose what's right for you. You can buy modchips from various sites - advice on best suppliers is given in forums. Get installation of solder mods done professionally if you're not a soldering whizzo.

1.1 No Solder Mod chips Charlie's rating: 3/10
These are classed "No Solder" but are sometimes called the "R-Mod" because they originally came out for the "R" series PS2 (v5.x). The mod chips are internally fitted & sit in line with cables between the processor & disk drive. Those cables have to be removed, inserted onto the mod chip & cables taken from the mod chip to the disk drive. The task is not trivial but not unduly difficult so long as you take care not to damage cables.

The mod chip works by interrupting the boot process (of a specific boot disk) after certain read commands & then causing the disk tray to eject. You then have 4 secs to swap in your backup CD-R game whereafter the disk tray closes automatically. The boot disk would be Action Replay 2 (PAL) or Gameshark 2 (NTSC U/C). See para 6 below. No game can be booted that is > than the AR2/GS2 Table of Contents (TOC) - a limit of around 640MB or 71 minutes.

DVD-R backup games must be booted by a special process involving an original DVD game with a higher TOC than the backup you are booting. As many games exceed 4.3GB, this becomes the fine art of decimal places!

Import originals do not boot with this mod.

1.2 8 wire/5wire Mod chips Charlie's rating: 6/10
The two principal brands are NEO2.2 & NEO2.5/2.6. These are outdated now. NEO2.2 will play DVD-Rs on v1 through v4 but not v5 because the control pins are not available. The NEO2.5/2.6 will play DVD-Rs on v5 but with a very convoluted double swap method known as the "Dave Mirra" method. CD-R games are booted with AR2/GS2 or DVD Region X using a single swap. DVD-R games have a double swap mechanism & need a higher TOC DVD original game at the second swap stage.

The NEO2.2 is known to degrade the laser diodes due to the way it pulses its "fooled you" signal to the PS2, causing the laser to come on. If a capacitor is not installed on that signal line (pin 2), deterioration can occur at any time; with a capacitor in place, it will happen, but rather later. This is particularly true of NEO2.2s that take a 5v power supply, fed onto a 3.3v circuit.

NEO2.x is out-dated now because of the mod-chips that don't require the higher TOC DVD swap.

Import originals do not boot with this mod.

1.3 NEO4.x Charlie's rating: 4/10
NEO4 was announced in July 2001 & delivered in December 2001. It has 44 wires! CD-R backups (other than EA games) require no swap - they boot directly. There are special swap procedures for EA CD-R & DVD-R games. Import originals do not boot with this mod.

All in all, for 44 wires of install heartache, this is a disappointing mod.

1.4 Magic 3.x, Apple, Accessor Charlie's rating: 8/10
These modchips have 23 wires & is boot nearly everything - no swap. The Magic 3 and Accessor have problems with some DVD rips on CD. Difficult to install especially on pre-v5 PS2s so should be done professionally. Cost range £15/$25 - £36/$60 depending on source & variant. Again, the forums will point to suppliers.

1.5 DMS3 No Swap Charlie's rating: 9½/10
This modchip has 23 wires & has extra features that some might find useful (www.dms3.com). Boots everything - no swap. As difficult to install as the Magic 3. Cost c. £40/$65.

1.6 Messiah 2 No Swap Charlie's rating: 9½/10
This modchip has 24 wires & boots everything no swap. As difficult to install as DMS3. Cost range £25/$40 - £35/$55 depending on source & variant. www.messiah2.com. Could probably do with a new feature.


2 COPYING/PATCHING SOFTWARE

2.1 CD-R Copying
Two programs are required: CloneCD & CDRWin. CloneCD makes 1:1 copies (tutorial at http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk). If the game is same type as your PS/PS2 (e.g. PAL), CloneCD is perfect. CloneCD is downloaded from www.elby.de & the site also has a table of supported readers/burners which must be DAO-RAW+96 compatible to make 1:1 copies.

If your reader/burner is not 100% CloneCD compatible, you should use CDRWin (www.goldenhawk.com). You will also need patch copy protected games (http:/www.megagames.com lists games for which there are patches & the type of patch required). CDRWin stages the CD copy to your PC's hard disk so that you can patch the game as necessary (per PPF-O-MATIC.EXE downloaded from www.megagames.com together with the patches); then you burn the game back to the CD with CDRWin. EA Sports games can be a challenge; if possible use CloneCD to avoid complex patching & booting methods. CDRWin requires an ASPI layer to be present & this can be downloaded from http://www.goldenhawk.com


2.2 DVD-R Copying
The most popular & well understood DVD-R burners are the Pioneer A04/A05. These are also available in OEM editions known as the 103 or 104. Burning software is PrimoDVD & Nero 5.5.6.4 onwards. Please go to www.psxcopyworld.co.uk for downloads & tutorials (or www.nero.com for Nero download). Most people use cheap DVD-R media such as Princo or Infiniti burned at 1x speed. They work well in v5s & some later v4s & indeed in any PS2 where the DVD Laser Diode is in good condition.

Note that reflectivity of a cheap DVD-R (the key factor in working with the DVD laser) is about 50% that of a pressed DVD. Weak lasers thus have difficulty reading cheaper DVD-Rs. Ritek & Traxdata DVD-Rs usually work if DVDs work.

The DVD-R burners are not good always CD-R burners for PS2 purposes as may do not support RAW+96; hence CloneCD will not produce 1:1 copies.

DVD games on PS2 are not copy protected.

DVD+R: DVD-R is what can be read on PS2s v1-v5. DVD+R is a competing standard supported by the likes of Sony, Philips. HP & can only be read on PS2 with tip-top condition lasers. So if you have a DVD+R burner (which burns 20% faster than DVD-R), be aware that the disks might noy play on PS2 models earlier than v5.


3 CD-RW/DVD-RW

CD-RW have a dye layer sensitive to heat at around 300 degC & scrambles to a burnable state when erased in a CD-RW burner. However when burned, its optical characteristics lie just outside the band set for the PS2 & thus cannot be read (except in the v5 onwards where it's at the margin). The laser can be re-calibrated for CD-RW in which case CD & CD-R would then not work.

DVD-RW works in a v5 PS2 which has a different laser & firmware from its predecessors. The Pioneer A03/A04/A05 burns DVD-RW.


4 NTSC/PAL
If you copy games from one TV standard (like NTSC) to play on another (like PAL) then the game might not play in colour. There are patches to change this (don't always work); or you could buy a convertor that sits between your TV & the PS/PS2. For UK users, www.maplin.co.uk offer a very effective NTSC to PAL convertor at both AV & RF level.

The problem is easier to solve for PAL TVs than for NTSC. Modern PAL TVs play NTSC through one of the AV ports & certain multi-system NTSC TVs (http://www.dvdoverseas.com/store/ind...talog55_0.html) recognise PAL.


5 DVD RIPPING
Ripping is when you downsize a DVD game to CD-R via a very complex hit/miss process. This is the DVD Rip method & a search on the forum with this key will reveal all. The main problem is squeezing a 4.5GB game onto 640MB of CD-R. DVD games are packed with movies critical to the plot that can't all be taken across to a CD-R. Avoid doing this if you can.


6 BOOT PROGRAMS
To boot backup games on PS2, you must load them behind special boot programs called Action Replay 2, Gameshark 2 or DVD Region X (tutorial on http://www.psxcopyworld.co.uk ).

These programs are designed to pause the PS2 while you either select some codes or swap in a DVD Movie from a different region. If you happen to have a modchip installed, you can also swap in another game and continue the boot process with the swapped game.

With the No-Swap chip, AR2/GS2/DVD Region X are not needed for booting games.


7 WHY ALL THIS?
Why is this all necessary? Sony have tried to stop you using copied games by going through some clever pre-boot stuff that identifies from data & deviations pressed into the pre-groove section of the CD/DVD whether or not the media is original. So we must fool the PS2 into thinking that a valid game has been booted..


Good luck & keep us posted.

[TylerDurden]

Just wanted to add to Chuck's number 4 NTSC/PAL section:

Patching works, just that its not an exact science and may not get every conversion right.

If you dont wanna buy an expensive converter just to play your PAL games then the free patches at this site are for you:

http://ps2chimps.ps2newz.net/

Most game patches are there but not all. If you cant find your game there, then try to find another place yourself.

NOTE: TRANSLATION PATCHES HAVE MAINLY ONLY BEEN DONE FOR WINNING ELEVEN GAMES!

Tyler!

[lufcfan]

You can also see my site @:
www.mjpaul.freeserve.co.uk
-or-
www.ps2place.tk