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Retro console gaming?

I mean we may, if you have a specific topic to talk about.
 
I'm wanting to mod a PS2. I know I'm a touch late to the party :p

Since making this post though I've determined I need to get my hands on the hard drive kit(adapter and mounting rails). Its on my to-do list.
 
For what? To run Linux on it?
I want to mod my Switch but it's impossible. I should've googled before buying. Thought it will be ez job like with Wii.
 
A lot of my games are so scratched they don't work anymore. I can pull clean images off the disks so I figure, hey, why not just throw a hard disk into the PS2 and load the images? That way I'm at least still playing on hardware.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
I'm wanting to mod a PS2. I know I'm a touch late to the party :p

Since making this post though I've determined I need to get my hands on the hard drive kit(adapter and mounting rails). Its on my to-do list.
Click to expand...
You don't really need mounting rails unless you plan to move the ps2 around a lot.
And the party is still going on, people continue playing online nowadays.
Zare said:
For what? To run Linux on it?
Click to expand...
It runs NetBSD too!
 
@ajacocks thanks for the tip, but this is the elephant in the room

Homebrew can be run for free on your Switch through Custom Firmware as long as you have a "first-generation" system
Click to expand...

When I bought Switch I wasn't aware I shouldn't go out and buy it in the store, but get a 1st gen board one used instead.
 
lolo799 said:
You don't really need mounting rails unless you plan to move the ps2 around a lot.
And the party is still going on, people continue playing online nowadays.
Click to expand...
I may not need the metal rails but I DO need the adapter, and the kit comes with the rails.

Here's a real silly question since you're in the know: did anyone ever try extending the playstation 2 controller's range over cat5 cables? I have a few factory-made cable extenders somewhere, but I'm curious.
 
hunterjwizzard said:
I may not need the metal rails but I DO need the adapter, and the kit comes with the rails.

Here's a real silly question since you're in the know: did anyone ever try extending the playstation 2 controller's range over cat5 cables? I have a few factory-made cable extenders somewhere, but I'm curious.
Click to expand...
If you're looking for the original Sony branded hdd, you'll get the rails, but if you just buy the network adapter loose you can use almost any IDE hdd you want.

I don't think anyone made such extenders.
Some companies made regular ps/ps2 pad cable extender iirc, and Sony themselves sold pads with longer cables.
Now people use bluetooth adapters for convenience.
 
lolo799 said:
If you're looking for the original Sony branded hdd, you'll get the rails, but if you just buy the network adapter loose you can use almost any IDE hdd you want.
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I'm actually looked at the SATA adapter, but the ones I'm seeing for sale come with the rails. Not sure if its the original Sony model or a later after-market part. Don't care too much, just that I can still buy brand new SATA drives so it makes more sense to me(though I'll probably be using whatever random SATA drive I pull out of my garage).

lolo799 said:
I don't think anyone made such extenders.
Some companies made regular ps/ps2 pad cable extender iirc, and Sony themselves sold pads with longer cables.
Now people use bluetooth adapters for convenience.
Click to expand...
I figure I'll just go the other way and extend the video cables over cat5. I'm doing something weird with it, don't mind me.
 
Sata adapters are all 3rd party.
You can also find boards to modify original Sony network adapterd, thus retaining the network function.
 
3rd party adapters have a yellow sticker where the ethernet connector should be like on original Sony adapters, but they don't have a network at all.
Gamestar, Kaico, whichever the 3rd party, it's the same.
 
Ahhhh ok, thought that was just packaging. Darn, now I must make difficult decisions. Do I make due with PATA for the sake of a network adapter I probably will never use; or do I get the 3rd party SATA for about the same price?

Decisions, decisions.

(also I had probably better make sure I get the HDD rails since I do plan to move the console around a bit)
 
Get the sata upgrade kit and the original Sony adapter.
There are (or can be) some compatibility problems with 3rd party adapters for some reason.
 
You will hate trying to transfer anything to the HD over the network port. It's a terribly slow connection, not even close to even 100M wire speed.

The much faster way is to connect the HD to a PC with tools that can deal with the PS2 format. Only trouble is physically moving the drive.

There are now newer solutions that just use an SD card slot in a memory card which is far easier and faster (MX4SIO). Then, you don't even need the network adapter or the hard drive.
 
rittwage said:
Then, you don't even need the network adapter or the hard drive.
Click to expand...
I technically don't even need the Playstation II since there's a flawless emulator available for PC(I even already have it loaded... I think?)

I will still pursue the HDD route simply because that's what I ultimately want. I may try running Linux on it just for giggles. This is one of those situations where its more about doing things with the PS2 than actually playing games. If all I wanted was to play PS2 games I'd just use the emulator.

Tell me, has anyone experimented with using a CF card in place of the internal HDD?
 
hunterjwizzard said:
Tell me, has anyone experimented with using a CF card in place of the internal HDD?
Click to expand...
Someone must have but I can't remember when and where.
Seeing the prices of large capacity CF cards compared to sata ssd I doubt you would gain much by using the former and not the later if you're looking for a lighter and less noisy alternative than an IDE hdd.
 
lolo799 said:
Someone must have but I can't remember when and where.
Seeing the prices of large capacity CF cards compared to sata ssd I doubt you would gain much by using the former and not the later if you're looking for a lighter and less noisy alternative than an IDE hdd.
Click to expand...
Its more of that I already have a 32gb CF card which is probably plenty for the 10 or so games that I own.

Its a bit odd - an original Sony IDE and network adapter by itself is about $20. Adapter with rails and an old, slow, soon-to-be-dead hdd is $50. But I can't find a cheap price for either adapter + rails - hdd or rails by themselves.
 
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