Playing PS2 Backups on a Slimline PStwo with Action Replay MAX and a USB Pendrive By HomesickAlien
About this tutorial: This tutorial explains in great detail, the process required to play your PS2 DVD backups on the newer slimline ?PStwo? models. For this tutorial I used a v13 (SCPH-70001) model.
I wrote this tutorial because I?ve scoured most PS2 forums and read every no mod tutorial out there. While most were very helpful in finally figuring out what worked for me, I found them to be a bit unclear and didn?t offer any troubleshooting information if something didn?t work right. While this tutorial may be rather long-winded, I wanted to fill in the gaps where the others left me scratching my head or guessing.
Unfortunately, this method may require an extra swap, but it?s the only way I?ve successfully loaded a backup with AR MAX on my slim.
Good luck and happy gaming.
Who is this tutorial for?: Really, it?s for anyone with a PStwo slimline model that wants to play backups of their own games.
This is particularly written for those who?ve tried to run COGSWAP.ELF from AR Max Media Player with no success. Also, for those who couldn?t launch COGSWAP.ELF using CDLOADER or those stuck on that ?Galaxy Screen with the pink border? ;)
What you will need: Unmodded PStwo Slimline model
Action Replay Max
A USB Pendrive
CDLOADER.ELF ? Get it HERE: http://console.iscentral.net/index.php?go=downloads&cat=6 COGSWAP.ELF ? Get it HERE: http://console.iscentral.net/index.php?go=downloads&cat=6 An Original PS2 Game with a High TOC (e.g. Devil May Cry)
A Phillips screwdriver
A blank CD-R
A Backup of a PS2 DVD game (duh)
Some Tissue & Tape
LaunchElf CD - Get it HERE. http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=EXPERIMENT_P... **Note** The uLaunchElf CD ISO file that I?ve linked to may not be hosted at that location forever. If the link dies, you can make yourself your own LaunchElf CD by downloading the files from here http://www.ps2-scene.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37242 then burning them to a disc manually. You won?t need to burn the source files included, they?re for developers only. The ISO is compressed using WinRAR and has a bunch of great apps pre-installed like SNES station and HDD Loader. Thanks to EXPERIMENT1106 for this awesome compilation.
Step One: Disable the Sensors In order to swap your discs without the PStwo knowing, you?ll have to disable the sensors. By doing so, you will have to open your PS2 up and void your warranty. If you don?t want to void your warranty you can buy magic keys here: http://www.modchip.com/ps2/magickeysorder.php
**Important Notes** DO NOT tape down the tissue over sensor "A" (the one above the power button) just push the tissue into the hole and it should stay there on its own. You will be required to remove it every time you run COGSWAP or it WILL NOT WORK.
You won't need to disable the disc brake ("B"), so don't worry about it.
Step Two: Prepare your software/tools
1. Using your PC, copy the CDLOADER.ELF and COGSWAP.ELF files to your USB Pendrive.
2. Now you need to make a LaunchELF CD. Burn the ?EXPERIMENT-PACK.iso? to a CD-R using Nero or your burning software of choice.
**Note** Burn the disc at your burner?s LOWEST speed. My PS2 was a bit finicky with one of my early burns of this ISO because I burned it at a high speed. Using good media is always helpful as well.
Step Three: Using Action Replay Max
1. Insert your Action Replay Max disc into your PStwo. After it boots up to the title screen, insert your USB Pendrive into the first USB slot.
**Tip**If your USB drive has an activity LED, be sure that after you insert it, it flashes to let you know that the PS2 acknowledged it?s presence. I have a generic USB pendrive that occasionally isn?t recognized by the PS2. I sometimes need to remove and re-insert it once or twice before the light flashes to let me know the drive is recognized.
2. Open up ?Media Player? from the title screen and when it loads it should find the .ELF files that you saved to the drive. Select ?CDLOADER.ELF? and push the play button to load it.
**Tip** If the media player informs you that ?No USB device present.? Then you MUST return to the AR Max main menu to re-insert your drive. Pay particular attention to the LED light on your pendrive when you?re loading the Media Player. It should flash for a few seconds while the intro movie plays. I usually skip the intro by pressing the start button and choosing ?Cancel? about 5 secs into the movie (it won?t let you press start until about after it says ?AR MAX Media Player?. People that use the AR Max pendrive shouldn?t have this problem.
**Note** Some people have been able to load COGSWAP.ELF and/or LAUNCHELF.ELF from AR MAX Media Player, but most people will not be able to run them. If you are able to load either of these programs from the Media Player, skip to the section of the tutorial that pertains to you.
Step Four: Using CDLOADER.ELF The CDLOADER.ELF program should load and on this screen you should take note of the bottom left corner of the screen. It should say ?PS2 CD? indicating that a PS2 CD is in the drive (the AR Max Disc). This is the point where most people seem to be having a lot of issues with.
1. Press the Triangle button once. This will reset the drive lens and make the PS2 think no disc has been inserted. When the ?PS2 CD? text disappears, press the Triangle button again. The drive will become active and it will once again display the ?PS2 CD? text in the bottom right. The disc will stop spinning as well.
**Note** This step is non-essential, but I found occasionally that the CDLOADER program would freeze or not read the LaunchELF disc properly. This step eliminated the problem entirely, so I?ve made it regular practice. You may or may not encounter the same problem.
2. Open the drive and insert your LaunchELF CD-R you burned earlier. Close the lid and press ?X?. The screen will just show the galaxy background and the border will flash a number of different colours before it quickly boots up LaunchELF.
Step Five: Using LaunchELF
1. From the LaunchELF main menu ? press ?O? to use the ?File Browser.?
2. It will show you a list of your available drives. Navigate to the ?MASS:? drive and press ?O? to select the USB pendrive.
3. This screen should show the contents of your USB pendrive. Navigate to your COGSWAP.ELF file and launch it with the ?O? button.
There are some great applications on the ISO provided. Be sure to browse through them and try them out later.
Step Six: Using Cogswap You?re almost there! You should now be seeing the Cogswap screen that says ?PS2 CD?.
1. Open the lid of your PS2 and remove your LaunchELF CD-R. Insert your ORIGINAL PS2 Game with the large TOC (table of contents). I normally use ?Devil May Cry? as I haven?t found a game yet that won?t load with it.
**IMPORTANT** Before you close the lid, you have to let the PStwo know that you?ve inserted a real PS2 game. Do this by removing the tissue in sensor ?A? above the power button. The screen will clear to indicate that no disc is inserted. Rest the tissue piece back on the sensor, but DO NOT push it into the hole. Let the lid push the tissue piece in place for you when you close it. If you just push the tissue in yourself without closing the lid, the PStwo will think the lid is closed and the disc will start to spin against the brake wearing out the drive motor. It might not read the disc properly either.
2. Cogswap should now show ?PS2 DVD? with a yellow disc icon on screen. Press ?X? on your controller once to tell Cogswap to read the disc. The drive will become active and the screen will then say ?Use Cogswap.?
3. This is the time where it?s most important that the PS2 doesn?t recognize that you?ve opened the drive lid. Eject the lid and remove your original PS2 game. The tissue should now be pressed into the sensor ?A? hole disabling it. If the screen clears when you opened the drive, the tissue came out of it?s position and you?ll have to go back to ?Step 1? of this section. If it still says ?Use Cogswap? on screen, then insert your PS2 Backup, Close the lid, then press ?X? to launch the game!
The game should now load. If it doesn?t, then the Original PS2 game you used to load it may not have a large enough TOC size. The DVD backup may also be a bad burn. Try a different game or re-read the instructions here to see where you may have gone wrong. Always use good media for PS2 backups and burn them at a slow speed (I always burn mine at 2x). You will save the life of your PS2 laser.
Quick Procedure Summary:
1. Load Action Replay Max, at the main menu, insert your usb pendrive that contains the CDLoader.ELF and Cogswap.ELF files.
2. Select and load the AR Max Media Player.
3. Load CDLoader.ELF from Media Player.
4. When CDLoader is loaded, press ?triangle? to clear the screen, then press ?triangle? to refresh.
5. Put the ?LaunchELF? CD into the drive and press ?X? to load.
6. From ?LaunchELF? main menu, press ?O? for the file browser.
7. Choose ?MASS:? with the ?O? button then load COGSWAP.ELF with ?O?
8. When ?Cogswap? loads remove the LaunchELF disc.
9. Insert your original PS2 game and remove the tissue from sensor ?A? to reset the drive.
10. Place the tissue back over the sensor lightly and close the lid pinning the tissue back into the sensor hole.
11. After the drive reads and displays ?PS2 DVD? on screen, press the ?X? button.
12. When the screen shows ?Use Cogswap? open the drive lid and put your PS2 backup into the drive. Be sure that the tissue stays in place. If it comes out, go back to step 9
13. Close the lid and press ?X? to load the game
