I first must apologize if my question has already been answered however I have been surfing the internet for a definite answer to my question for 4 hours now and I feel it will not get answered unless I post it myself. I am going to be REAL specific here. I want to be able to use my standard IDE hard drive to play the 3 downloadable levels for Socom II online. Thats all! I don't want to back up my games or load games on to the HDD. Simply put, how can I go about doing it? I assume I need to format the HDD so PS2 will recognize it but all I read about is the programs that you need to purchase (like HDAdvance) and others which are apparently illegal. Again, I don't want to use it for anything else but to store these 3 dumb levels on it for SOCOM II (that why I refuse to pay $99. for it). Anyone who can help I would much appreciate it!
Thank you for your timely response turboboi. I sure hope thats not the case but I do appreciate your information. Does anyone else know for sure, or agree or disagree?
hey, i have the same question that i just stareted a new thread on. That is exactly what i would used it for. Socom 2 maps. But the only thing is that i would imagine that you would have to format it or something.
-Pat (redhatman)
Ok, to further my post EVEN more I now have a legit PS2 HDD I just bought from GameStop. I DO however want another one for my bro. I still have my empty 40gb Maxtor drive as well. I have all drived hooked to my PC right now, can I copy all the info from the PS2 HDD to the Standard Maxtor and have 2 PS2 HDD's?
No, you don't have to format or reformat your PS2 HDD to download maps. You should be able to go online and download it.
For the record, there is some firmware on the Sony HDD that is only on that HD. It allows your HDD to be seen by the browser ... and you can even download game saves off your memory cards. As far as copying games ... you should be able to copy them, but I believe Socom maps will only work on an official Sony HDD. Try it and see ...
HD Advance is not illegal. It's allowing you to make copies of games onto your HD. I was one of the unfortunate ones who bought the official Sony HDD and was left with a glorified 40gb memory card. I am thankful for HD Advance making my HD useful again ... I have upgraded and only hook my HDD up to download memory card saves ... and occassional SOCOM II maps ...
Well, I guess ultimately what I want is PS2 to be able to SEE my generic Maxtor Hard drive. Is there no way to do that? Again, I have a ORIGINAL PS2 hard drive side by side, is there no way to extract what I need off of it and make an image or something onto my Maxtor hard drive? I appoligize if I am being confusing.
I can feel your pain. I hate having to do that ... but you are in the right spot to find out if it's possible. I don't think you are being confusing ... just trying to get informed. I read several places on the Web before I bought this. I didn't wanna get some software that would land me in jail ... I didn't wanna do anything illegal. Just browse through the forums. I am sure someone asked that question before. I myself would love for the PS2 to 'see' my HDD. But think of it like this ... Sony always knew someone would create software like this ... so they have probably (and this is all my speculation) installed something into the BIOS of the PS2 (it's a 233 or 294mhz PC, after all) that looks fo the official Sony HDD to display. In the long run, you have to ask yourself ... is it all worth it? Holla if you have any more questions.
