ps2 flip top lid

[jeex]

well, there was some heated debate about this.. i took a couple of hours and read up all i could about it.. all the information i found looks promising.. so i ordered myself the 8s version of the fliptop lid (black) and the swap magic discs..

the only real concern that i've heard about using this device is the fact that you cant play games larger than 650mb/74min..

i believe this was all rooted to the fact that people were using gameshark/action replay discs to swap with.. and you cannot boot a game larger than the disc you booted off of.. so if your boot disc is 650mb/74min, and you play a game that is 675mb, it will not work

but after researching a bit more the swap magic, i believe they have a large TOC that will allow you to boot up anygame.. i'm going to try "devil may cry", which i've heard does not work with swapping.. if it does work, i'll be very happy..

there are 2 swap magic discs included, 1 for PS2 CD games & 1 for PS2 DVD Games..

the installation looks very easy (especially for the v7 PS2's).. and swapping looks like it will be very easy to do..

there are a few reasons i would rather go with a modified case than a chip..

1) there was anti-mod detection built in to some PSX games (Spyro, Gameday Football), the only way to get around them was either purchase a new stealthier modchip or to boot up a gameshark/action replay disc and enter anti-mod codes.. which was a huge hassle

2) if you go to play games on-line, sony may be able to detect that you have a modchip installed, and then ban your PS2 from playing online.

3) i'm still a little worried about soldering a mod chip on to my motherboard and screwing it up.. altho i realise even opening your PS2 voids the warranty, i'm running alot less risk by just installing this case mod.

this swap method looks like it will be alot easier than the "knife method" or other previous methods of swapping by pulling off the little disc cover on the front of the PS2.

i ordered my stuff from chipzone.com .. i looked through quite a few retailers, and some of them looked very very shady.. i tried digging up dirt on chipzone, but couldnt find any..

if performing this swap is as easy as it is made out to be, i see no reason to even stick a modchip in my PS2..

i should have my kit in by friday, and i'll let you guys know how it goes..


[p.s.- i dont believe you can play copied PS1 games with this swap method, although i'm not sure, i will find out though]

[AND1]

Nicely said. I also bought one from Chipzone too. I have one quetsion, can I just copy a game and just swap or do I need to apply a patch for it in order to work?

[jeex]

from what i've heard, all you need to do is just make copies.. cd-rom through cdrwin & dvd-rom through recordnowmax.

[AND1]

hey jeex, I got my cover today. I will install it and tell you how it is. When you get yours you can go to chipzone.com/install for intructions to install.

Also I had another question. I didnt buy Swap Magic, I thougt I can find it at a local retailer but no. Can I use GameShark or anything or do I need Swap Magic. If so I have to wait another 3 days for it to come. Let me know.

[jeex]

AND1,

i got my ps2 flip top cover (and swap magic discs) in today aswell.. i got the puppy installed.. the install was prety simple.. took me like 10 minutes, but i was being REALLY careful..

a few install notes, be really careful when you pull the original lid off as not tear the cable going to the reset/eject triggers.. and when you insert a game through the fliptop, make sure you get it under that little "lip" on the left side of the tray.. i put in an original game and when it said "no data" i almost had a heart attack.. then i rechecked it, and it worked fine.. also, dont open the fliptop unless you're swapping the game because if a game is spinning that mofo will fly out and get damaged.

anyhow.. i did a copy of "the thing", booted up off the swap magic, and it worked PERFECTLY.

i'll be trying DVD games this weekend when i get over to my friends house and his dvd burner..
as far as the game shark goes..

if you are planning on using the GS without a chip then you will need an original DVD with a higher TOC than the game you are booting. you will also have to do a double swap. also the GS won't work for booting backups if you have a V7 PS2.

i would really suggest getting the swap magic discs, it'll save you a buttload of headache's..

anyhow, i'm gonna go play some backups. hehe. this rox

[AND1]

Yeah my install went fine too except I had a little hard time putting the reset wire on the side without damaging it becuase it was so long. Anyway I started it up...

i put in an original game and when it said "no data" i almost had a heart attack...

hahaha same exact thing happen to me... I thought I screwed it up. But anyway it works with real games but since I dont have the Swap Magic dics I guess I have to order them and wait till they come. If you backup any other DVD games let me know how they turn out. Try a EA game too like madden 2003.

[jeex]

yeah, i had a little bit of problems with the reset/eject wire too, but i was able to tuck & tape it so that it wouldnt be a problem..

what a coincidence, the dvd game i will be backing up this weekend IS madden 2003.. if you've got a network adapter, maybe we should play a game sometime

[AND1]

haha that's what I wanted to ask you next. After you backup madden tell me if it works ok online.

[hockey2112]

the only real concern that i've heard about using this device is the fact that you cant play games larger than 650mb/74min..

i believe this was all rooted to the fact that people were using gameshark/action replay discs to swap with.. and you cannot boot a game larger than the disc you booted off of.. so if your boot disc is 650mb/74min, and you play a game that is 675mb, it will not work

but after researching a bit more the swap magic, i believe they have a large TOC that will allow you to boot up anygame.. i'm going to try "devil may cry", which i've heard does not work with swapping.. if it does work, i'll be very happy..

.....

i should have my kit in by friday, and i'll let you guys know how it goes..

I share his concern with the game-size issue. Does anyone know whether or not the Swap Discs will allow you to play a non-DVD game larger than 650 MB on an 80-minute CD?

Secondly, can I burn a non-DVD PS2 game that is in bin/cue format, and play that with the swap disc?. All I have found online so far is how you can play 1:1 copies of games.

Please reply soon, I am itching to order a flip-top.

[jeex]

hockey2112,

yes, you can play non-DVD PS2 games that are larger than 650mb/74min on an 80min cd-r, if it is a 1:1 copy.. the TOC for the swap magic 2.0 CD is 700mb, so it will support every non-DVD PS2 game out there.

you can play rips that you find on the internet, but you have to do so many complicated modifications for them to work.. its a pain in the ass.. doing a 1:1 copy is much simpler & faster.

just make sure you order the swap magic discs, the GS/AR discs are okay for swapping (as long as you dont have a v7), but the swap magic discs will save you alot of hassle... especially if a game is larger than 650mb/74min.

[1:1 PS2 DVD copy results coming tomorrow].. AND1, what version PS2 do you have?

[AND1]

I have a version 7

I ordered my swap magic discs and they should be arriving middle of next week.

I did a little research and found out that only a limited amount of games cannot be played with the swap magic but they are all old games that I haven't heard of so thats cool. But there is one game, hitman 2, that cannot be played. Some people said they made a successful burn but others are having problems. But don't worry as soon as the swap magic 3 discs come out you will be able to play these games and more in the future so thats pretty good.

So far the only question I have was if you can play and online game of a backup. So far no one has tried it that I have talked to. Jeex if you have the online adapter and you try this out and let me know if everything turns out ok. If it does this flip top cover is actually better than having a mod chip becuase I heard numerous problems people are having not only with the installations but many people are experiencing freezing and whatsoever. With this flip top there are no modifications to the ps2.

Anyway for those intrested the best place to buy one is www.chipzone.com. I've order one from there and got it in 3 days after the processed my order which took about 1 day. They are reliable compared to all the other sites I saw selling the same thing. Jeex ordered one from there to so he can tell you the same exact thing.

[AND1]

Here is a list of PS2 CD and DVD games which DON'T work with the Swap Magic v2.0 discs... but please do NOT list DVDRiPs here because we already know 95% of them won't work with it unless you do modifications.

Here are games which are reported as NOT working with Swap Magic v2.0:

Pro Evolution Soccer 2
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Suikoden III
Twin Caliber
Summer Jampack 2002
Island Extreme Stunts
Britney's Dance Beat
Popolocrois
Baulders Gate - Dark Alliance
Shox
Q-Cast Tuner (software)

Spongebob-Flying Dutchman (works for some)
Hitman 2 (works for some) (depends on media and burn)
Final Fantasy X (works for some) (depends on media and burn)

Here are games which do NOT working on a PS2 v7 due to the "double" protection check:

Rune
Max Payne
Sega Sports NCAA Basketball 2003
Kindom Hearts (PAL)
Deus Ex.

Those concerned should be able to put their mind at ease as an updated version of the Swap Magic discs will be available in the near future that FIXES this problem we are told. Also, an updated GS2 is in the works for the PS2 v7 as these games WILL work on older PS2 consoles with the GS2

[jeex]

AND1,

i havent tried playing a backup of madden 2003 online yet.. but i have been able to boot up off my swap magic 2.0 DVD and then insert the madden 2003 original dvd in and play online.. i will know within the next 2 days if the backup works for sure online.. i'm also going to try making copies of Hitman2 & FFX to see if they work..

i'll be using a Pioneer DVD-RW A05 to burn my DVD-R's with.. i'm still not exactly sure what DVD-R's i should be using.. but i'm going to try to get ahold of some verbatim's.. and i will use an APPLE DVD-R for madden 2003, since i constantly play this game..

i've got a v7 PS2 & an official Sony PS2 Network Adapter.. (**** that usb bullshit)

AND1, have you tried booting up the PS2 reality divx player on your ps2 yet?

[jeex]

AND1, by the way. i've been to that same forum that you got the games list from.. i registered & subscribed, but i cant post messages.. is it the same with you?

[AND1]

Jeex,

Yeah, I can't post up anything either it says that my account is awaiting activation or something.

Verbatim's and Apple dvd-r are pretty good media and you should also try ritek, some people have had much success with these. If you backup Hitman 2 make sure its on good media.

I also have the official PS2 network adapter, no usb. I wasnt really sure about the PS2 reality divx player, I never heard of it. I don't really watch any movies on my ps2 since I have a dvd player which and pretty much handle most types of video formats.


Can you post up the results with madden becuase I play that game all the time too. I would love if a backup worked perfeclty and be able to play online. Let me know. Thanks.

[jeex]

i was playing around with my xbox a little bit more last night.. and i got the ps2 reality player to work.. i've gotten it to play divx & xvid so far.. i'm not exactly sure what it supports.. its pretty neato though..

the only thing that kinda sucks about it though is the fact that you have to burn the files on the disc with the media player.. you cant just pop in a disc with a divx movie on it.. also, it burns your divx/xvid movies in mode2.. i think that may be the reason it cant play from another disc.. because it requires mode2 cd's.. but its still pretty shweet.. i got 5 southpark episodes in xvid (really awesome quality) on 1 disc with it, and the quality was really good..

some good features to add to the ps2 reality player would be;

vcd/svcd support
dvd-r support
multi-region dvd playback
a nice little control menu you could bring up during the movie, for pausing, FF, REW, stop..
a playlist function
& support for the ps2 remote (heh)

i'm kinda worried about messing with my ps2 while i'm really sleepy, i'm afraid to leave it on too long and have it crap out on me while i sleep 10 hours..

but anyhoo.. i'll have results for madden 2003 dvd-r backup & online play later today or sometime tomorrow.

[jeex]

one more thing.. maybe vcdhelp should add divx playback capability in their database of dvd players for the playstation 2 ; )


p.s.- **** the suXBOX.

[hockey2112]

hockey2112,

yes, you can play non-DVD PS2 games that are larger than 650mb/74min on an 80min cd-r, if it is a 1:1 copy.. the TOC for the swap magic 2.0 CD is 700mb, so it will support every non-DVD PS2 game out there.

you can play rips that you find on the internet, but you have to do so many complicated modifications for them to work.. its a pain in the ass.. doing a 1:1 copy is much simpler & faster....

Jeex,

So I cannot play rips larger than 650 MB?

Do you know anything about the modifications that must be done to the rips in order to be playable, or do you know of a website that has more information about this? Thanks.

[jeex]

hockey1212,

you can play rips that are larger than 650mb, you just have to "Fix" them so that they work with the swap magic.. i'm not even sure how to "fix them"..

[AND1]

Hey Jeex,

When you go to make a back-up with recordnow max do you save as a .gi or iso file? You get the option of which to save as. I want to know if it makes a diffrence if you save it as .gi or iso and burn it back on a dvd-r.

[jeex]

alright.. here is my final report..

i copied madden 2003 DVD to an image file with prassi primo dvd (w/ update) using my DVD-ROM on my computer.

i copied it to a .gi file. i then copied the file to my 30gb harddrive (along with THPS4 & some other dvd images)

i took it over to my friends house, installed his sony dru500xa & my 30gb harddrive, installed the copy of recordnowmax that came with it, and located the .gi file on my 30gb harddrive, burned the disc.. i hooked up my ps2 to his entertainment system, booted up off my swap magic 2.0 dvd disc, flipped up the lid and popped in my madden 2003 backup, booted perfectly, played an entire game against the computer.. no problems at all.. i then took time doing some other shit he wanted for his dvd burner..

got home, hoooked up my ps2, booted up SM, popped in my madden 2k3 backup, and played a game online.. no problems at all.

people have complained of slower load times using dvd-r, i didnt any difference..

DRIVE USED: Sony DRU500XA
MEDIA USED: Memorex DVD-R Version 2.0 (2x speed)
PS2 VERSION: v7
RIPPED WITH: Prassi Primo DVD (w/ update)
BURNED WITH: RecordNow Max
Result: PERFECT!

to conclude this all, backups with swap magic discs, a fliptop lid, & dvd burned games work great (cd-r too).. time to go rent some games from blockbuster, and build up my ps2 collection. this flip top lid & swap magic discs was a very wise investment.. thankfully my friend has a dvd burner to make it all worth it.

----
AND1, i think if you burn it to an ISO it will be 1 large file, so if the game is bigger than 4gb, you had better make sure the drives you rip it to are NTFS, not FAT32(or fat16).. ripping it to a .gi splits it up in to 2gb portions (or one 2gb file and the other being the remainder, if under 4gb) & one smaller "cue" or "index" file.. i believe you can use ISO's, but unless you plan on sharing the actual image file with a friend, i'd stick with .gi files...

[AND1]

Hi I recieved my swap discs yesterday.

1. I used Recordnow max 4.5 and made a .gi (global image) to my HD.

2. Then opened up recordnow again and clicked on burn image.

3. I also used memorex DVD-R version 2.

4. I successfully backed up 007 Nightfire.

I also tried a PS2 CD game, Midnight Club Street Racing, and it also worked perfectly with the same process I used above. I did not use cdrwin. I made an image with recordnow and burned it.


Also one last piece of advise. Forget blockbuster. Go to www.gamefly.com

If you ever used Netflix its exactly the same thing, you pay 21.95 a month and rent 2 games at a time. After you're done playing them you send the in (free- they pay for postage) and they send you the next 2 games on your list. Check it out.

[jeex]

well for PS2 DVD games i'm going to use recordnowmax/prassi, for cd games i'll rip them with cdrwin, mount them through daemon tools & do an on the fly disc-to-disc copy through nero.. (cdrwin doesnt support my burner for burning)..

glad to hear you're having as good of success as i am..

gamefly sounds pretty losh.. some usual 'netflix' questions.. do you have to wait a long time for new releases to be available, are some releases so popular that you have to wait for them to be returned before you can get them (like, waiting weeks/months).. how about their distrobution centers? how many locations? cos if it takes a while to recieve & send back games, then, that limits the amount you can rent per month..

thanks for the link.. i'll definetly check it out.

[AND1]

As far as gamefly.com goes...

I currently have 46 games on my list and only 3 are on short wait. Short wait isn't usually that long. By the time I recieve and backup, I mean play, the games those will probably ready.

I don't know about locations or how many centers they have but it's really quick. You send the games in and they recieve them 2-3 days and they send out the other 2 games on your list and they get to you in 2-3 days. They are fast, it is the post office that takes 2-3 days to send them.

Look at it this way, you would only be able to rent 3 games from blockbuster or hollywood video at $7 a game, right? That $21. You'll rent over 10-12 games in a month from GameFly if you back them up and send the right out again.

[jeex]

sounds good. i'm almost convinced.. i emailed them this question though, maybe you can shed some light on it;

------
if i dont rent games, dont have any games in my Q, dont have games waiting to arrive to gamefly, dont have games waiting to arrive from gamefly, or have a rented game from gamefly, will i be charged $21.95 (plus applicable taxes) during that monthly billing cycle?

basically, once i sign up and get past my free trial, am i going to be charged $21.95 (plus applicable taxes) every month no matter what my rental habbits are like, until i cancel my membership?
------

[AND1]

yes you will

[hockey2112]

I also tried a PS2 CD game, Midnight Club Street Racing, and it also worked perfectly with the same process I used above. I did not use cdrwin. I made an image with recordnow and burned it.

AND1: You say you made an image of the CD game, and burned that image? Would this be the same as burning a downloaded bin/cue game? Jeex said above that you would need to patch the game if you downloaded it in bin/cue format. How is downloading a bin/cue game any different from copying the game image from the original game onto your hard drive, as you did?

If I downloaded a bin/cue game, and then changed the bin file to a nero image file or other type of image file, would that make any difference? Or would I still need to fix it?

[AND1]

There are several problems. If you download it you don't know what you're getting by this I mean you don't know how the other person made it. There is 2 ways.

First way is the way I did it. I took the original game and made an image file on my HD with Recordnow Max. If the download copy you got was made this way, yes, all you need to do is burn it and it'll work.

BUT

There are other people who rip the game meaning they strip the game (ie. audio, video scenes, etc) from the game to make it smaller to fit onto a CD-R. These ripped copies need a special patch in order to work and vary from one ps2 to another depending on mod chip and what kind of version you have. "Most" of the games that people download are usually "ripped" copies and therefore there is a slim chance if you burn it onto a CD-R it will not work.

As for mine I took the orginal game

1. Opened up recordnow

2. Clicked on build image

3. Created an image (.gi with recordnow)

4. Then clicked on burn image and burned it to a CD-R

I then put my Swap Magic ver. 2 CD in waited for the "Insert Disc" screen, inseted my backup and it worked with no problem at all.

[hockey2112]

Thanks or the info, AND1.

One question: If you are making copies of "real" games, why go through the trouble of making the image file first? Why not just make a 1:1 copy? Just curious. I just now orderd mine, and should have it by this weekend, so I want to see what the best method is.

Thanks again.

[hockey2112]

I found this on some website. Can't remember which one, though, it's been a busy day at work . Jeex / AND1, could this be a way to patch the downloaded PS2 image?

Q: How is the exact procedure to patch ?
A: 1) Insert your original in your CD-ROM.
2) Open CDRWin (or any other image extractor) to make an iso image of the game
on your harddisc. Click on 'Extract Disc/Tracks/Sectors'
3) Here are the settings which work for me (!):
Disc Image/Cuesheet
File-Format: Automatic
Reading-Options:
RAW,CD+G,CD-TEXT and MCN/USRC all UNchecked
Error Recovery: Ignore
Jitter Correction: Auto
Subcode Analyses: Fixed
Data-Speed: MAX
Read Retry Count: 10
Audio Speed: MAX
Subcode Threshold: 900
There are a lot of reports, that Raw reading also works, but I had problems with it
enabled.
4) Click on 'Start'
5) Once the image is done, close CDRWin.
6) Open the 2SP/Napalm Patcher.
7) Click on 'Browse'.
8) Select the image you've just created.
9) make sure that you click on '2352 Sector Size (RAW)', when you had raw-reading enabled.
10) If you did not use raw reading, leave '2336 sector size' selected.
11) Click on 'PatchIt'
12) After a few seconds, you should see a message like this:
'System.cnf found at offset xxxxx, size 57, starting at LBA 26'
'BOOT2=/cdromxxxxxxx\slusxxxxx'
'Ver = x.xxx'
'Vmode = xxxxxxx'
'Succesfully Patched'

If you don't see the 'succesfully Patched' message, don't even bother to continue.
Something went wrong with the patching and the backup won't work !
13) Now go back to CDRWin and click on 'Record Disc'.
14) Click on 'Load Cluesheet' and load the image you've just patched.
14) Click on Start Recording to burn your image.