PS2 Disk Drive Replacement

[Lollipop]

Well I just finished a Gamecube portable (will post when I find time to fix up the clear coat) and I was considering starting a PS2 portable. However, I don't have the spare money anymore so I will share my idea and hopefully the rest of you guys can take it and run with it.

So from what I know in the past, PS2 trimming and portablizing has been held back by the disk drive. It just doesn't makes sense to make your motherboard smaller than the disk drive. FreeMCboot is an option but the PS2's USB 1.1 ports are really slow and cause compatibility issues.

Well recently I was researching a bit and I found out that FreeMCboot works with Windows SMB protocol and because Ethernet is significantly faster than USB 1.1, it increases performance on the PS2.

That being said we could simply set up a Samba server on a small Linux device and link it to the PS2 directly via crossover cable. This removes the disk drive limiting factor for the PS2. You could then load your games from USB 2.0 or SD card from the Linux device.

Now what devices could we use? At first I was considering the raspberry pi since it is easy to use and set up Samba. However, after the discontinuing of the Raspberry Pi Model B, the price of the RPi has gone up significantly. I found however, that there is a much cheaper alternative: Pogoplug (I have seen these for as low as 8 dollars). These are backup servers used for home use and are not directly compatible with Samba, but hackers have long since taken care of the problem for us and there are plenty of tutorials online for installing Samba on a PogoPlug.

Well that's all I have to share. I hope it becomes useful for the portablizing scene and maybe creates some incentive to find more ways to trim the PS2. And eventually if it works and you guys have a spare SCPH 79001 maybe you can send one my way

EDIT: I'm sorry I forgot to mention that Ethernet loading is achieved through OpenPS2Loader

EDIT2: Apparently I'm not as original as I thought. Here's a video of someone who has already done something similar. (It should be noted that he has routed the rpi through his home router and so it's not entirely the same as the set up as I mentioned so it should not be seen as a definitive proof of concept).

 

[DarkWing]

That's quite funny because I reach the same conclusion a few weeks ago too.

For the last 6 month I have been experimenting with different options to avoid using a DVD drive on a ps2 portable. The main reason for this is using a DVD reader generate quite a bit of noise and something which really bother me was that if I move my previous portable, the dvd jump/skip which make it really hard to play on the go.

I have tried Automan mod, which worked well but isn't really portable friendly because it can only work with a scph7000x model which are larger that scph7900x.
I have also try this IDE/ SATA connector kit but it is based on Automan mod anyway so it has the same cons as above.

I endup settling down for HD PRO 70000 which is ok but still had some laggy FMV on some games.

Then a few weeks ago came across this link on psx-scene website which is basically using a Pi setup with SAMBA to share file with the PS2.

I bought a rasp pi B+ last week which should arrive this week, if i get some time I should be able to experiment during the weekend and post some feedback on that setup.

Would be good to also see someone playing with a PogoPlug to see if there is any difference in terms of performance and board size.

 

[Lollipop]

Awesome to know that you're already working on it
Sorry if I ruined your surprise though I waited quite a while to tell you guys mostly because I wanted to be the first but I simply don't have the funds and couldn't wait to share

Here's a good site with tutorials on how to install Samba on various versions of the Pogoplug:
http://blog.qnology.com/2013/11/how-to- ... ba-on.html

I've tried to find info on the Pogoplug voltages but most people don't really have a need to tear it down and mod it. As for dimensions I can only compare the rest of the board to components that have pretty standard size such as the ethernet port.

Best of luck with your tests man!

 

[DarkWing]

No problem at all.
At the end the more people work on finding a solution the better it is for the community.

 

[C4RB0]

I'm very interested in the solution you come up with. I have been holding back with building a PS2 portable until there was something better availble than FreeMcBoot.

 

[Lollipop]

Hi, Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your comment but the method I posted still requires FreeMCBoot. So in that sense it is not more "available".

 

[C4RB0]

Sorry. I wanted to write something different initially. What I meant is that I'm waiting for something that doesn't suffer from the usb speed limitations. I know that your solution still requires FreeMCBoot.

 

[Lightning]

the only thing I can think of (admittedly on the nuttier side of the spectrum), would be using the GPIO on the Raspberry Pi to simulate the function and data transmission of the disc drive while reading a DVD. obviously this would require great proficiency in programming and coding (which I certainly lack), but in theory it is possible

*EDIT*

all that being said, I would still be willing to collaborate with any programmers who would like to take this idea on, I wield a soldering iron like a robot surgeon

 

[Lollipop]

Hey Lightning,

First off great work on the your sanding. It's very well done! Second thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately using GPIO pins may be incredibly difficult to achieve. The Raspberry Pi gpio pins have a max speed for read and write which may not be fast enough to mimic the disc drive signal. Secondly, writing up what is effectively a disc drive emulator would be likewise difficult, especially if the signal is not a standard protocol. Bit banging really isn't the greatest in this scenario. It is not entirely impossible and I don't have the hardware to test viability but at the moment I am a little skeptical. Anyway, thanks for your contribution the ps2 scene is a bit quiet but we really do appreciate it.

Thanks,

Lollipop

 

[dark_samus]

Hey Lightning,

First off great work on the your sanding. It's very well done! Second thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately using GPIO pins may be incredibly difficult to achieve. The Raspberry Pi gpio pins have a max speed for read and write which may not be fast enough to mimic the disc drive signal. Secondly, writing up what is effectively a disc drive emulator would be likewise difficult, especially if the signal is not a standard protocol. Bit banging really isn't the greatest in this scenario. It is not entirely impossible and I don't have the hardware to test viability but at the moment I am a little skeptical. Anyway, thanks for your contribution the ps2 scene is a bit quiet but we really do appreciate it.

Thanks,

Lollipop

Well I'm not too up to date on anything PS2 but you guys have all of these fancy modchips and not one of them is a DVD drive emulator?? If you guys are really serious and have some/can get some good coders on your side then you could use an FPGA to emulate the drive and load everything off of USB or SD cards, compile up a special freeMCboot that's compatible and, BAM really nice drive replacement, its been done with the GameCube/Wii and can load full 8.4 GB dual layer disks from an SD card and is actually faster than the DVD drive, so I see no problems there, seriously take a look at the wiikey fusion and the WODE, these have long since made GC portablizing really small, keep up the good work guys

 

[Lightning]

Well I'm not too up to date on anything PS2 but you guys have all of these fancy modchips and not one of them is a DVD drive emulator?? If you guys are really serious and have some/can get some good coders on your side then you could use an FPGA to emulate the drive and load everything off of USB or SD cards, compile up a special freeMCboot that's compatible and, BAM really nice drive replacement, its been done with the GameCube/Wii and can load full 8.4 GB dual layer disks from an SD card and is actually faster than the DVD drive, so I see no problems there, seriously take a look at the wiikey fusion and the WODE, these have long since made GC portablizing really small, keep up the good work guys

I'm pretty sure I know what needs to be done for this to work. the PS2 loads all of its game data into the CPU using the same tracks as the BIOS, all of which have alt points

(sorry for the large images)

there's even a footprint for one of these:
http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en ... ND/4142640

I don't know who I need to talk to about this, so if anyone knows people who do FPGAs and the programming there of, send them this way!!

 

[dark_samus]

Very cool! I do know someone who might be able to do it but
A. Idk if he'd be interested in doing it
B. Not sure exactly how I'd get ahold of him as he's been away from the forums for months now

 

[Lightning]

Even if this guy would let me know where to start, I'm designing a theoretical PCB layout for the device, I just need to know how to make it do what it needs to do