If you have a PS2, Action Replay Max, and a flash drive; you can transfer things off of your PS2 memory card onto the flash drive for editing in your computer, uploading, etc...
So, if you download Mememto's PS2 Hack firmware, load it on a flash drive, and then transfer that data to your PS2 memory card... that should allow you to mod your PS2 without actually taking it apart, right?
I know it's a little confusing, but if anyone knows, let me know...
Seeing as you have AR MAX, why don't you create the independance exploit? This way you can create your own exploit on the computer, put it onto your USB flash drive and transfer it to your memory card using AR MAX. This is what I did, however I used Codebreaker to transfer the configuration file to my PS2 memory card.