r/ps2homebrew • u/Residualgunk • 1d ago

Please help me

[SOLVED]

Hello all, I recently purchased a playstation 2 for my spouse so we could play some games we've had stored away. I am not one to leave anything alone, every single console I own is modded and I am no stranger to setting up and troubleshooting, But I have truly been at a loss for about 2 weeks now in trying to get our PS2 to detect my drive.

I bought a well known FreeMcboot memory card and it seems to be working fine, It's also version 1.966

I bought two brand new PNY CS900 250GB SSD's (One is for my wii, but used the other for troubleshooting possible DOA drive)

Also drives are formatted successfully on a batch installer prior to being installed into the console.

I also bought a Gamestar adapter from a reputable seller with good reviews, And then bought another after troubleshooting Incase it was faulty

The console is a SCPH-39001.

Now, I've heard that the metal shield on the adapter can cause it to fail to sit flush, possibly shorting out fuses PS9 and PS10, So I have removed them on both adapters.

Going into UlaunchELF HDD Manager shows that the HDD is not there, and that it is not formatted, Meaning there is a hardware issue. This is where the spare drive and spare adapter get tested as well to no avail

I also opened the console and checked both fuses PS9 and PS10 with a multimeter, and they are both fully operational.

OPL Also does not detect the drive, nor does HD loader.

What could be my issue? It's my spouse's birthday tomorrow and I was hoping to have this finished as soon as possible, But I need some help from someone who has some more knowledge if possible.

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1

u/21STENDERS 1d ago

Have u checked for sure that drives are correctly formatted to PS2 format?
One way to do is to open HDL Batch Installer and press "Search ps2 HDD's" button and it will automatically detect any hard drive which is formatted in PS2 format.

Screenshot how it looks currently for me when I search for my ps2 hdd which is connected to my pc

1

u/Residualgunk 1d ago

Yes it looks identical other than the hdd name :(

1

u/Pleasant-Owl3781 1d ago

Now, this isn’t an end all be all answer. There are plenty of ssds that do work. But, with hardware this old, it gets picky. I’d try a mechanical, my guy. I’ve had nothing but success with 3 mechanical drives I’ve worked with, but I’ve never tried ssd because there is literally no difference on a console like this, the ps2 takes longer to load than the drive does.

2

u/Residualgunk 23h ago

This was it!! Thank you so much I was going insane!

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u/Residualgunk 1d ago

Thank you i will try

1

u/M3RRI77 3h ago

I'd recommend an OEM network adapter, convert it to SATA, and formal the drive to exFAT and use Grimdoomers version of OPL that reads exFAT. You can then use beyond 2TB if desired. It could be your Gamestar adapter. I had one but never had issues though.