Y'see, I got Swap Magic recently. I followed tutorials on how to burn games and have basically everything required. My PS2 is a PS2 Slim SCPH-70001 with a fliptop cover used to swap the discs. For my DVDs I use Verbatim DVD-Rs which work perfectly with my Wii backups and are excellent in terms of quality. For burning I use ImgBurn which is also a great tool to use. But despite all this I have two problems:
1. My backup games are loading extremely slowly despite burning them at 1x.
2. Sometimes they'll go back to the main menu to check if the disc is legit.
I do the basic setup to swapping discs. I put the Swap Magic Plus disc in, let it boot to the screen asking me to start a backup disc. When it loads I swap the discs and it loads up. It either does the top two things I mentioned.
The backups are of Monster Hunter and Okami, both DVD-based games.
^ That didn't help at all. I burned the same iso for Okami and it's still loading extremely slowly. Aside from that I can't even get past the Clover logo as it lags extremely bad or freezes on me.
Actually, just to add to that, the intro itself for Okami lags on me horribly. My DVD-R's aren't at fault here to my knowledge, they are very high quality DVD-R's able to story 4.7 GB worth of information. Although I do wonder since Okami's iso is around 3.9 that it might affect the game itself. Also I notice that I'm not getting any sound.
You have the V12 ps2. Thats not good. This is some info that i found, also try ajusting the pot laser, burn at 4x like said above. Hope this helps. Props to jmjohnson
Originally posted by jmjohnson: I actually recently modded two v12 PStwo's with Infinity v1.93 chips so definitely take my advise on this one. The v12 is (in my opinion) by far the worst PS2 for playing backup games on. Especially if you are set on installing a modchip. The reason is because even without a modchip the v12 suffers from a problem that inevitably causes damaged to the systems laser. Here is a quote from team matrix back in the day describing the problem in detail :)
"Further analysis on several V12 has shown that in certain situations the mechanics controller can fail while communicating with the dvd controller. You can notice when this happens since the reset button, which is connected to the mechanics controller, will stop responding and the only way to turn off the machine is to unplug the power jack.
When the mechanics controller crashes, the dvd controller keeps sending a pulse train to the tracking and focus drivers which results in a steady voltage increase on both the tracking and the focus coils.
With the proposed diode fix, this increase is initially limited but if the user leaves the crashed pstwo on for several seconds the output drivers will eventually reach saturation and, if the RS2004FS thermal protection doesn't kick in, the coils can burn from the increased current flowing."
The proposed diode fix was later incorporated into the NeoFix (modern version) which combined the diode fix, summOne fix, and Matrix's 12c508a code to shutdown the system. Unfortunately none of these solutions ever fully fixed the problem. Even with the latest NeoFix your v12 system still runs the risk of crashing and burning out the laser. As I said earlier, even without a modchip you will have these problems but installing a modchip GREATLY increases the likelihood that your laser will burn out. Some people say that different modchips are worse on the v12 than others. From what I have gathered the WORST chip (regarding only the laser issue) to install into a v12 is any modchip running Matrix Infinity firmware. Not that the Infinity is a bad chip, because it has actually gained the largest following over the years and is the only chip that continues to this day to be developed (not by Matrix but by other developers). Supposedly the BEST chip to install is the DMS4 Pro S.E. which is generally one of the most expensive modchips available for the PS2. There is only one reputable modchip seller that I am aware of that still sells them to U.S. customers which is Mod-chip.com. They are supposed to have more in stock at the end of the month (May 2009). Consolesource.com still has them too if you are outside of the U.S.
So, to the point. When I modded my two v12's I wasn't concerned much about the laser problem and I had two perfectly working systems for 6 months or so (no laser fix installed). I was seeing replacement lasers all over eBay for $7-$8 and the NeoFix that most places sell is like $20-$30 after shipping so I figured I would just replace the lasers when that time came. Eventually one burnt out and so I bought two replacement lasers (in anticipation of the other going out as well). I installed the replacement and it played originals perfectly but backups wouldn't play worth a shit. Eventually burnt games would become SO unbearably choppy. I tried the other laser and it did the same thing. The replacement lasers available today are cheap third party lasers and the companies don't intend for you to be playing burnt discs with them so they probably work fine for people that just want to play originals. So with the v12, once you (inevitably) do burn out your laser your pretty much screwed. Long story short, I eventually just decided to get rid of the v12's and find newer ones (the v15's and up have completely fixed all laser issues plus they use a higher quality laser. Even the third party ones available for these models perform very well).
If you don't want to go through all of that I would recommend not installing a modchip and if you want to play backups, just use Free MCBoot and ESR. Guide here: http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/FMCBv1.8_for_dummies.html. You can still play PSX backups as well using PSXLAUNCHER.elf
