Installing HDLoader to your memory card

Huh? Wtf?

This tutorial shows you how you can play _almost_ any PS2 game from a HDD on your (non-slimline) PS2. No modchips required!

Basically, it works like this:

You install games onto your HDD. Whether you've borrowed/stolen/rented or own these games, it does not matter.
Using the provided HDLoader program, choose a game to play from the HDD; the original disc is not needed.

The trick behind this is the PS2 Memory Card exploit. As you know, the PS2 can also play PSX games. When you insert a PSX disc into the PS2, the PS2 goes into a "PSX-emulation" mode. Now, Sony added a special way for them to include special settings for the emulator to work, so that any PSX games that do not work normally can be "fixed" via a small update on your memory card. When you load a PSX game, before the PS2 boots it, it checks the memory card for any "updates" for that particular game, then uses these to play the game. Turns out, a smart hacker found a way to use this to allow ANY program he wanted to run instead, by installing it to the memory card, disguised as an update.

This is the method we will use to boot the HDLoader program, enabling you to install and play games directly on your HDD.

A Quick Note:

You will enevitably hear and see two different HD programs for the PS2; HDLoader and HDAdvance. These are both the same! One company sold HDLoader before Sony caught upto them, then another company ripped it off and sold it under a different name (although some people say it's the same company with a new name). They both do the exact same thing, just with different colors.

What you will need:

a blank cd-r
a cd burner
an original psx game (doesn't matter which game, can be a cover disc)
an original playstation 2, not the new slim PStwo. The PStwo's don't have a HD bay or interface.
an official network adaptor
a harddrive at least 40gb in size (i've heard drives smaller than 40gb will work; the original Sony HDD is 40gb, and is what the network adaptor is expecting.)
nero burning rom [or a cd burning program that will burn in mode2/xa & iso9660 level 2]
a PS2 memory card (with at least 600kb of free space)
the filepack <== click that to download
a brain
some patience and perseverance.

For help installing the network adaptor & hard drive click here

Step 1

The first thing you need to do extract the filepack. Extract the zip to it's own directory someplace. I've made a new directory called MC in the C: drive.
This tutorial assumes you've put the files in C:\MC
Make sure that you have unzipped the file with "Use Folder Names" ticked.

Step 2

1) Put the PSX game you will be using in to your computers drive
2) open notepad (click "start", click "run" & type in "notepad", then click "OK")
3) Click on the File menu, and select Open
4) once the "open dialogue" comes up, you need to set the "look in" location to the drive your psx cd is in (mine is D:, yours may be different)
you will need to make sure you're viewing files of "all types" (1), then you need to click/highlight "system" file (2), then you need to click "OK" (3).

5) in the first line you need to write this down, its your game PSX ID. i've highlited and put in a red box the part you need to right down.
[yours may say SLES (or something different, or have a dash (-) instead of an underscore ( _ )]
you only need what comes after "BOOT = cdrom:\" and before ;1, in my case it's SCUS_942.35

5) now we need to open the command prompt. click the "start" button, click "run", type in "cmd" & then click "OK"

6) now we need to enter a few DOS commands
it will come up with a black screen and & start you in your documents folder. just type in; "cd \mc" & press enter

7) now we're in the MC folder, you're going to need to modify the title.db file to reflect that of your psx game.
you'll need to type in "titleman -a SCUS_942.35" & then press enter (your psx ID will be different, unless you're using NHL Faceoff '99)

8) it will then modify the file

modification of the title.db file is complete, now you need to burn.

Step 3
i will be using nero 5.x in my demonstration. nero 6 or other cd burning programs should work as long as they will burn in mode2/xa & iso9660 level 2.

1) first, open nero.
it might start up with the wizard, close the wizard

2) you need to create a "CD-ROM (ISO) [1], make sure its not multisession [2], and then you need to click the "ISO"[3] tab.

3) once you've clicked the "ISO" tab it will bring up this window.
make sure its "ISO Level 2" (1), make sure it set to "Mode 2/ XA"(2), make sure the character set is "ISO 9660"(3) & then click "New"
also make sure the "Relax ISO Restrictions" setting at the bottom are the same as the picture.

4) in the file browser go to "my computer" the "C:" drive, and the "MC" folder, highlight all the files except "titleman.exe" and drag them to the other side
(as indicated in the picture), then click the burn icon (in the little red box.. or just click file\write cd)

5) it will now bring up the "Write CD" window in nero, make sure you're on the "Burn" tab, and then all your settings reflect mine.
your cd burner may burn faster or slower than 16x (as indicated in my picture). once all your settings reflect the picture below, click "Write".
make sure you have a blank cd-r in your cd burner

you have now completed burning your installation cd-r.

Installing the HDL/memory card exploit

now we need to install the HDL/memory card exploit.
you need a way to boot the cd-r you just created. I've got a modchip in my PS2, and it worked just fine. If you can't boot a CDR, take your CDR and your mem card to a friend who does have a PS2 with a modchip.

insert the memory card with at least 600k free space in to memory card port 1 (remove anything in memory card port 2)
just insert the CDR in to your PS2 and boot it up, and it will begin the installation.
which should look like this;

(it will then proceed to copy files to your memory card)

and if all went well, you should see this screen:

if the installation failed, either your memory card is bad or you dont have enough room on the memory card. try a different memory card.
or you're using a 3rd party memory card (non-sony). always use official sony hardware (except HDD), the rest of the shit sucks.

Now remember you only need to do this once. With this done, read on to find out how to get everything working!

Booting HDLoader

now comes the fun part.. all your hardwork has finally paid off and you get to enjoy HD Loader in all its glory.

You'll need to make sure:

the memory card you installed your exploit on is in port 1
You have the PSX cd you got the id from in the PS2 cd/dvd drive
Your HD is hooked upto the network adaptor, and the network adaptor is installed in the PS2.

With all this done, boot up your PSX game. You will see HDLoader load up. You will need to do this every time you want to play games from your HDD.

If this is the first time you've used HDLoader on the HDD, it will ask you if you want to format it. Say YES.
Remember that you can't use this HD for anything else but PS2 games, unless you format it again in your computer.
BE SURE THERE'S NOTHING YOU WANT/NEED ON THE HDD. IT WILL BE LOST.

Once it is formatted (you only need to do that once), you will see a screen like this one:

(As you can see I've got a few games installed)

Click on Convert in the menu, insert a PS2 game, follow the prompts and it'll get installed to the HDD. Once the game is installed, select it in the list, and press X to load/play it!

For more info on using HDLoader, including compatibility modes, visit www.ps2hd.com.