a few tips if you will...

[snypercore]

ok so first ill say im very new to PS2 hacks/mods/homebrew etc.. BUT
im not a noob,noobie,nub,n00b what ever the kids are calling it these days, as i have common sence.
well i have a few questions regarding my PS2 first ill tell you about my ps2 and what i know.

its a fat ps2 not a slimline.
i have researched alot so im know what independance mod is
i will be buying swap magic soon
in the near future i will also be buying a HDD + net adapter
i know that the PS2 will not run backup or custom CD's DVD's without a swap mod or hard mod or even a memory card mod.
also i own a USB pendrive/flashdrive/penstick...

ok so now for my questions.
is there anyway of loading the independance mod without swap magic or a modchip?

when the independance mod is installed on the MC .. then what? how do i add elfs?

is burning PS2 backups as easy as burning an ISO to a DVD-R?

are there any special steps or apps needed to create backup ISO's?

what is cogswap?

when i know how and have installed a retro emulator on my MC cani load roms from a disk? if so then how?

where can i get or make ELFS?

i appreciate this is alot but any answers are very much appreciated.

[Chilly Willy]

its a fat ps2 not a slimline.
i have researched alot so im know what independance mod is
i will be buying swap magic soon
in the near future i will also be buying a HDD + net adapter
i know that the PS2 will not run backup or custom CD's DVD's without a swap mod or hard mod or even a memory card mod.
also i own a USB pendrive/flashdrive/penstick...

ok so now for my questions.
is there anyway of loading the independance mod without swap magic or a modchip?

You'd need one of those thingys that allows you to write a PS2 memcard with a PC via an adapter.

when the independance mod is installed on the MC .. then what? how do i add elfs?

I have the ID exploit set to run uLaunchELF. ULE is the best utility for copying and running homebrew on the PS2. It's NOT for making or running backups (like HDAdvance).

is burning PS2 backups as easy as burning an ISO to a DVD-R?

It depends on the mod-chip... some games may need to be patched before they'll work on older, less advanced mod-chips. Research the mod-chips for more details. Ditto for swap discs. Just google for Swap Magic and read their web page on what the latest version can do.

are there any special steps or apps needed to create backup ISO's?

Just something like CloneCD or CloneDVD.

what is cogswap?

It's a tool to make it easier to do the "knife swap" method of swapping discs... this method uses something to literally pry the PS2 drive tray open to swap discs. It's cheap... that's all you can say about it. This method requires you to have special swap discs, like Swap Magic.

when i know how and have installed a retro emulator on my MC cani load roms from a disk? if so then how?

Depends on the emulation... some will load roms from a disc, some will load roms from the memstick, some from the harddrive, some from a usb stick, and some from all of those. You need to look at the readme for the particular emulation.

where can i get or make ELFS?

To "make" ELFs, you need a PS2 toolchain (compiler and includes). The most popular is the one from ps2dev.

http://ps2dev.org/ps2/Tools

Don't bother unless you're a GOOD programmer. You can get pre-made programs for the PS2 at many places. Just google using the terms "PS2" and whatever you're looking for, like "Genesis emulator".

You can find more info on ULE, PS2 mod-chips, swap discs, and other related topics over at psx-scene (http://psx-scene.com/forums/playstation2-forums/).

[snypercore]

thanks for your time youve helped greatly the link you provided is great since then ive also found a webby called SKS apps which is pretty good, soon as my swap magic disks arrive ill prob come back with a question or two but you have pretty much answered them all.
however i have a pretty old game "red faction 2" which even with its age me and my friends love to play but the disk is in pretty bad condition so i want to make a backup (i really do want to make a legal backup lol) when dumping the game to ISO will any software do? or will DVDdecrypter only work?
also is it true that burning ISO's at a lower speed 2x-4x is better? if so why?

also regarding burning it does have to be a mode2 disk right? just want to get all the options in nero right as i seen a vid on youtube where the disk was burnt in a rush and it "lagged" i dont want this at all, also i thought only DVD-R would ork but on torrent sites they talk of using DVD+R? is this true?

many thanks

[Chilly Willy]

however i have a pretty old game "red faction 2" which even with its age me and my friends love to play but the disk is in pretty bad condition so i want to make a backup (i really do want to make a legal backup lol) when dumping the game to ISO will any software do? or will DVDdecrypter only work?
also is it true that burning ISO's at a lower speed 2x-4x is better? if so why?

also regarding burning it does have to be a mode2 disk right? just want to get all the options in nero right as i seen a vid on youtube where the disk was burnt in a rush and it "lagged" i dont want this at all, also i thought only DVD-R would ork but on torrent sites they talk of using DVD+R? is this true?

many thanks

DVDDecrypter is for DVD movies. ;)

A PS2 DVD can be dumped as an ISO, but not a CD. CD's need to be dumped as raw mode 2 data. So you need something that can read/write raw mode 2 CDs for CDs. Alcohol or CloneCD are the popular ones there.

DVD-Rs are more compatible than DVD+R when written in DAO mode. You should always use DAO mode when writing backup CDs or DVDs. DVD+R discs are meant for multisession and packet written DVD contents, which doesn't include backup discs.

The slower you write a disc, the stronger the recorded signal. That's important when making backups. If the signal read from the disc is too weak, you get read errors.

[snypercore]

well thanks for the help guys but i need a bit more info on the burning procces as i want to get it perfect ive even ordered good quality disks (TDK scratchproof 16x DVD-R) but im still gonna try a DVD+R to see how my ps2 deals with the +'s, any answers are greatly apreciated as the disks arnt cheap and i can only find these disks in spindles of 10 so i dont want to waste any :D.
so my questions are:

once i make an ISO from my disk in this case it will be red faction 2 DVD does any kind off patch need to be applied or can it be burned straight away?

(for the sake of this thread i will use NERO 6 and clone DVD)

in nero are there any other options i need to select or settings to change? i now know to burn the disk at the slowest speed.
options such as these

multisession?
mode is locked to mode 1 on a DVD ISO so i presume 1 is to be used?
ISO 9660+Joilet or one of the other 2 options?
also i read on tutorials to use 2-4x speeds but my drive can burn at 1x should i use 1x instead of 2x?

CD's i pretty much get ive read already to use mode 2 etc..

thanks

[Chilly Willy]

well thanks for the help guys but i need a bit more info on the burning procces as i want to get it perfect ive even ordered good quality disks (TDK scratchproof 16x DVD-R) but im still gonna try a DVD+R to see how my ps2 deals with the +'s, any answers are greatly apreciated as the disks arnt cheap and i can only find these disks in spindles of 10 so i dont want to waste any :D.
so my questions are:

once i make an ISO from my disk in this case it will be red faction 2 DVD does any kind off patch need to be applied or can it be burned straight away?

(for the sake of this thread i will use NERO 6 and clone DVD)

in nero are there any other options i need to select or settings to change? i now know to burn the disk at the slowest speed.
options such as these

multisession?
mode is locked to mode 1 on a DVD ISO so i presume 1 is to be used?
ISO 9660+Joilet or one of the other 2 options?
also i read on tutorials to use 2-4x speeds but my drive can burn at 1x should i use 1x instead of 2x?

CD's i pretty much get ive read already to use mode 2 etc..

thanks

If your mod-chip is good, a plain copy of the disk is fine. If not, it may need to be patched before burning. Consult the mod-chip maker's web page for details.

No multi-session.
DVDs only have one mode, so that's what you use.
ISO/Joliet/UDF doesn't apply to burning a disk image.
If you don't mind a few coasters, try different speeds. See what works for your PS2 given the media you buy.

[snypercore]

thanks for all the help, lol i really do overthink things but hey i hate imperfections. my swap disks finally came and ill soon be making a memorycard exploit. but, my ps2 is UK PAL version and so are my swap disks, when i run kingdom hearts NTSC using swap magic it runs in colour but part of the screen "the bottom" is not being used its just a black bar? any way to fix this.

i see ppl talk about NTSC-PAL converters and that you must rebuild the ISO. could someone link me to the software as ive tried googling thanks

EDIT* found the tool NTSC-PAL fix and works great