[How To] Boot Games Off USB With PS2
Foreword: After a year and a half later, I have decided to re-write this guide, because honestly, it was not my own and it was presented very poorly. Remember, I do no support piracy. Use the USB method to play your games on the hard drive to help your PS2 laser last longer. The performance will vary, but that is up to you if you want to stick with it. Good luck! (6-13-09) ~Versatile
Revisions:
[Update: 1/15/08] I have gotten Viewtiful Joe 2 to copy to my hard drive, and I was able to boot off the hard drive and play it on the PS2. Now my laser will live longer! All help will be given in the comments as usual.
[Update 2/13/08] Added link to SKS Apps. Without that site, this tutorial is nothing. 
[Update 7/13/08] Added 2 new youtube videos of my own!
[Update 11/25/08] I am so frickin sick of people asking why their game doesn’t work and all they see is a black screen. Is it because your game isn’t compatible? Check out this list below and stop whining, or use swap magic and ditch the whole USB hard drive all together. The USB 1.1 performance IS NOT WORTH IT in my eyes.
http://www.elotrolado.net/hilo_Listado-de-compatibilidad-en-USBExtreme_744276?pagenumber=1
[Update 6-8-09] Re-wrote the whole tutorial. Will expand upon the USB Extreme GUI interface software at a later date.
[Update 6-12-09] Re-wrote major sections of the tutorial again to make it more clear.
[Update 6-13-09] Added new Youtube Video tutorial on the USB Extreme Windows Installer!
[Update 6-28-09] Added new Youtube Video tutorial on list of selectable games!
Introduction
The PS2 is a great console. After 9+ years, it is still going strong. With the new $99 price point, more and more people are getting the PS2 to play old school PS2 games. What better way to preserve your games and your PS2 laser than playing off the USB interface? This guide is based off of Swap Magic implementation.
Wait, you can play games off the USB interface?
Yes, you can but it requires some work. Here are the PROs and Cons:
Pros
- Uses USB 1.1 interface (slow but better than nothing).
- Saves strain on PS2 laser because using USB interface for game playing.
- Can have a list of selectable games in the USBExtreme interface.
- Works on both fat and slim PS2.
- Novelty factor is awesome!
Cons
- Game compatibility is low.
- Requires USB hard drive. Highly recommend USB drives that have their own power adapter.
- Flash drives can work , but the performance is so horrible its not worth doing it.
- Need to have third party tool to launch the “boot CD”. This can be done with modchip, swap magic, or exploited memory card.
- DVD9 games (like God of War 2) are larger than 4.4 GB and will not work with USBExtreme.
What tools do I need to make this work?
Hardware/Software tool: You need to have at least one of the items below before we continue:
- Modchip
- Swap Magic
- Exploited memory card (such as Free McBoot)
IMPORTANT: For this guide, I will be using Swap Magic 3.6 CD to boot the USBExtreme disc!
Blank Media:
- 1 CD-R (700MB is fine)
Note: I highly suggest swap magic if you are unwilling to mess with the other options. You can learn more about swap magic at this guide:
http://versatile1.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/how-to-find-swap-magic-for-ps2/
Download the Software below (more detailed instructions to follow):
Usb Xtreme: Link [Optional. Get this if you want to use the graphical user interface for easier format/game installing.]
Usb Advance: Link [This is required.]
What should I use for the USB mass storage device?
This is what I recommend:
- USB 2.0 hard drive that uses its own power supply (for example, it requires power from the outlet).
- A USB hard drive that is at least 10 gigs or larger is highly recommended. The average PS2 game size will vary from as low as 282 MB up to as high as 4483 MB or 4.483 GB.
- Do not use laptop external hard drives which gets its power from the PS2 USB 1.1 port. It is not enough power.
- You could use pen or usb flash drives, but performance will be horrible. The game will chug, and you will have ridiculously long load times, that is, if your game can load!
Note: I understand when going through this tutorial, you may see that your PS2 may not see your USB hard drive enclosure. If that is the case, please try a different USB hard drive. I have people verifying this may fix the issue.
Tutorial Begins here *drools*:
- Extract the USB Advance zip file that you downloaded earlier into its own folder. You will see contents like the screenshot below:
- Now double-click the USBAdvance-PC-Software. You will see two programs inside it: ul_format.exe and ul_install.exe. Extract these to your C:\. This will make more sense later.
- Notice there is a .bin and a .cue file. The .cue file is 1KB, and the .bin file is 34 MB.
- You need to burn the image file. Use Nero, PowerIso, Alcohol120%, ImgBurn, or any other type of CD burning software and burn this image file to your blank CD-R disc. Once the CD-R is burnt, label it and set that disc aside.
- Now extract the other zip file called “USBExtreme_wininst” to its own folder. You will now have a program called USBExtreme.exe. A dedicated section to this program will be covered later in this tutorial.
Now go to preparing the USB hard drive step.
Preparing the USB hard drive:
- Insert USB hard drive to your PC.
- It is important that the USB hard drive is FAT32. If it is not, go to My Computer, right click the USB drive, and go to quick format for FAT32.
- If your hard drive is FAT32, great. No need to format it again.
- You can also launch the USBExtreme Software, go to the format tab, and tell it to format your USB drive as well as shown below:
- Here the I: drive is my USB drive.
Note: If you want, but not required, you can use the ul_format.exe command to format your USB hard drive. This is how to use it:
- Go to Start -> Run.
- Go to your C:\ root.
- The command to use the program is “ul_format X format” where X is your USB hard drive.
- Example: My USB hard drive is E:. I would type “ul_format E format”.
We are almost done. Let’s enable fast transfer speeds on your USB drive before we start copying games.
Enabling fast USB hard drive transfer speeds:
- Go to My Computer->Properties->Hardware->Device Manager->Disk Drives->(external one here)->Properties->Policies->Optimize for performance. Speed varies from from 1MBps to about 10-15MBps, which is pretty fast! Also, do not forget to unplug the device the proper way (that is Unplug or eject hardware) when you remove the USB drive!
Installing games onto your USB hard drive:
This is pretty easy. We have two methods. Method one uses the “ul_install.exe” command, and method 2 uses the USBExtreme.exe windows software. Both programs do the same job, and the second program is easier to use for those who are novices.
Method 1: Using the command line
- Insert your PS2 game into your computer’s DVD drive.
- Go to Start -> Run.
- Navigate to your C:\> drive.
- The command to use here is “ul_install SourceDrive TargetDrive GameName CD/DVD”.
Example:
- I insert Viewtiful Joe PS2 game into my computer. To verify if your game is CD or DVD format, right click on the disc and go to properties. If the file size is less 700MB or less, then it is CD format. Anything else and it is DVD.
- My DVD drive has letter H:\>. My USB drive is I:\>.
- At the command prompt on my C:\> drive, I type “ul_install H I ViewtifulJoe DVD”. Press enter and it will start copying the game. See picture below:
- Here it will copy the game from my DVD drive to my USB drive and prepare it in the special USB game playing format.
Method 2: Using the USBExtreme Windows Software
Launch the software. Insert your game. Configure the “Gamer Installer” window for your game and click start. It will start ripping the game.
Example:
My DVD drive is letter H. My USB drive is I. The name of my game is The Bouncer. The type of disc I am ripping from is DVD.
After you click Start, it will prompt you:
Click Yes, and then it will start ripping the game from DVD drive to the USB hard drive:
When the rip is done, you will see a screen like the one below:
Repeat the process over and over for additional games and you will get a list as shown below. When you load the USB drive from the PS2, this list will be selectable.
Too much reading? Fine, watch my youtube video instead!
Finally you are done. Let’s play on the PS2!
- Turn on PS2. Load your Swap Magic CD disc.
- At the main Swap Magic screen, load your USB Advance CD-R that you burnt earlier.
- Now you will be at the USBExtreme screen.
- Connect USB hard drive to PS2. Turn it on, within a few seconds, you will see your game(s) show up on the screen. Highlight your desired game, press “X”, and within 7 seconds your game will load! Enjoy!
Troubleshooting
1) Make sure to make your USB hard drive partition a primary. I am not sure if it needs to be logical drive, but I made my drive a primary partition.
Visit SKS Apps here.
Watch Video Tutorials for better understanding:
Part 1 Tutorial Video:
Part 2 Tutorial Video:
List of Selectable Games:
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i have a ps2 slim that plays pirated dvds can it also read usb advance disk? it is modified cause nearlly all my games are pirated.
seeing that ps2 can play usb games i have a 2 gig with its own power supply cause of the light it emits..
i also read the whole tutorial tell me plss what i nid to do or what should i use plss reply and thanks..
Yep, u can use u can use it, but u don’t need swap magic
Does the game being installed to the USB drive have to be an actual disc in the drive or can it be a downloaded ISO, mounted to a virtual drive in Alcohol 120 or Daemon tools? Reason I ask is Ive installed several games this way, all supposedly compatible with USB Advance, and none of them work. The screen is just black. I installed them to a Western Digital 500 GB hard drive. I even formatted the drive with USB Advance first. I have Windows Vista. Any ideas on what Im doing wrong?
No not at all. If you can mount the game, you should be able to rip it to the hard drive. I hear that external hard drives can make a difference.
One time a user used a Lacie external, and it did not work. Tried a different external and it did.
can i used external hard disk instead of using flash drive to play ps2 game?
Yes, make sure it has its own power supply please.
i have external usb hard drive with its own power supply,but the swapmagic disc started only once then it said disc could not be read,should i insert sawpmagic disc when it shows load game and video game i open the disc tray without closing and insert usb_ adavance then click load game or what pls. i have confusine in this part pls. reply now
If fat PS2, you need to use slide tool.
Watch my ps2 tutorials.
hi, i did every thing you said and i burnt the cd… make hd as fat.. intalled games but when i insert the cd i burnt in my ps2 it says insert playstation or playstation 2 format… what im doing wrong?
help me pls
You have a modchip PS2?
i have memor32 its an exploit memory card can i boot it with that as an elf file?
Yes you can!
can i use 8 gig?
Yes but the performance is going to suck.
Hi mate
I have a slim silver PS2 and SwapMagic 3.8 PAL. This works perfectly, only problem is I want to use a 8Gb stick with just SwapMagic.
I tried SwapMagic Folder and SWAPMAGIC.ELF with ISO and it doesn’t work.
I know you said it will run very slow, but any help appreciated.
Thanks!
Honestly no idea. Use the usb extreme windows program to format your 8GB stick and put the games on there.
Something stuck on my mind, What Speed u Use to burn Usb Advance and Swap magic to Cd? my ps2 can play ps1 game, its thats mean my ps2 using modchip? do i need swap magic disc? i hope u can reply my question.
PS2 can play PS1 games by default. Are your PS1 games backed up copies or no? You need to burn the CD at 24X.
finaly i can use usb advance disc without swap disc and the problem is my flashdrive/ pendrive didn detected in USB advance??? whats the problem then.. i already format my 8gig pendrive in FAT32.. but im not using usb extreem to format it. and i already insert game with usbutil bcoz all my game in iso format… but its didnt detected in usb advance.. can u help me with my problem… or anyone have the problem like me??? i hope u can solve my problem..
Pendrives is not the best, use a usb hard drive with its own power supply instead.
Prior to finding this tutorial I have set everything up (and exactly as it states in this tut)
I have added my PS2 games (the disks work fine) using the USB Extreme gui and they appear on the USB Advance Games list fine but when I click on a game to start the
“Start Game
Please …
… Loading title”
stays on forever also the read light on my USB HDD is not displaying any activity.
Has anyone any ideas to get the games loading?
Granted I have only tried adding the games using the GUI, and will give the cmd line a go tonight.
I am using both a 20.4gb Maxtor DiamondMax and a 20gb Seagate U series harddrives in my generic USB HDD Enclosure. I formatted my hardrives using both USB Extremes interface and using the Disk Manager in XP.
Also, I have read a help file I found kicking about that USB advance only supports 40gb+, anyone confirm they had this working on less that 40gb?
Thanks
I have never tried less than 40GB before. Also, it is possible that the hard drive enclosure plays a factor. Did you know that NOT all games work with USB advance? It is just the nature of the game. Some games work, and some flat out don’t work at all.
If you see a black screen and it never changes, you can’t play that game. You are better off using the laser and playing off the disc.
Thanks Versatile, however, I am not getting a black screen just the perpetual “Starting Game” message and comments on this page do also point to using Flash memory (8gb in one specific comment) which is currently not economically viable in creater than 40gb media.
The games I have tried are:
All DVD4
God of War
God of War 2 (US Version 4.2gb)
Kingdom Hearts
Jax and Daxter
Max Mayne
Primal
If anyone can confirm success with any of these games previously I will get hold of a larger drive and see if that works and post my results.
I have owned a Playstation (1 and 2) since 97 love to replay old classics and hate to sell games I have a large amount of games and wish to reduce storage, also my 6 year old son is getting into the PS2 so my collection space is getting quiet rediculous at present.
If this is not a viable solution are there any other methods (iso loaders for example) you are aware of that may help?
Thanks
1) I have Kingdom Hearts. I can try to test it and verify the results.
2) Please check the post as I Have a link to a list of compatible games for USB loading.
3) If you have fat ps2 and the internal hard drive kit, you may want to look into HDALoader, which has better compatibility than USB Advance.
Yeh, I’m thinking of getting a network card but HDLR seems to be a bit difficult to get hold of, also SKSAPPS is down at the mo.
Gonna call it a day anyway.
Thanks
Actually, I have a copy of HDALoader that I suppose I can upload. :0
yep was using a 10 gb
You have done really a nice job. Its very helpful. Thanks. I am going to do the same with my PS2 slim tonight. Before that i would like to as you two things.
1. I have a downloaded ISO of swap magic 3.8, Am i supposed to burn it using power iso or similar program or need to do something else? and what would be the title of DVD?
2. i have ps2 slim Fliptop Shell, so how would i load USBadvance Cd?
Thanx again. looking forward to have a positive responce.
Regards
1) Downloading swap magic, and then burning it can be burnt with any program. The problem I have with this is the PS2 is not going to read your downloaded disc by default, unless you have a mod chip or exploited memory card.
After all, a downloaded disc is a downloaded disc. PS2 does not read downloaded discs by default unless you have a third party program to fool it like a real copy of swap magic or a mod chip.
2) You need to block the 3 sensors in your PS2 slim.
Thx. My PS2 has modchip and can play copied DVDs. Now i think i m supposed to do the same as mentioned in this SM official video?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7yfw7DVLew
Regards
That is correct.
Sorry for bothering you again and again. well i wanted to share what i experienced.
(1) I prepared SM DVD and USB Advance CD-R as advised. i inserted SM DVD in my PS2 and it asked me to Insert a PS or PS2 format Disk.
(2) Then i ran PCSX2 0.96 on my laptop and inserted the same SM DVD and it worked. i again put it in PS2 and no message appeared this time and only Memory card icon was shown on the screen.
(3) i changed the BIOS of PCSX2 from USA to Japan and then loaded it, the same PS2 format disk message appeared. after that even USA bios was not able to run SM again. Now i am not sure what went wrong. Either i need a japan bios compatible SM? (as my PS2 version is 1.11 J) or else.
Please advise and help
Regards
1) As expected. You need a real copy of swap magic bought, not downloaded.
2) Same answer as above.
3) Forget it. What you need is a real copy of swap magic. http://www.estarland.com
Search for swap magic and buy it.
I have a modchip PS2 (slim). I have gone thru the tutorial.
I have my hdd ready and installed games on it.
Do i really need a swap magic disk to start using hdd.
No. The swapdisk is only needed to boot the USBAdvance disk. If you have a mochip USBA will start straight off the CD.
I have CD burnt with stuff provided on this blog (.bin and .ceu)
when i start ps2 with this cd it shows browser screen and says
no data on cd.
Now what to do to run games from hdd
What you want to do is load the USB Advance disc. The problem is how do you run it? The PS2 by default cannot run it. You need a third party program like mod chip, swap magic, or even an exploited memory card to run it.
i rewrote the cd using the image file
now status has changed. Screen shows matrx ver 1.3… something and then goes blank.
I tried rewrtiting cd 3 times result is the same.
Where am i going wrong.
(I have mod chip placed on my ps2)
What type of disc are you using, and is it a quality disc?
Rewritable CD.
Do not use CD-RW. PS2 does not read them.
Pl suggeset what CD should I use
CD-R for the ulaunchelf. Make sure to have a modchip or swap magic to boot it though.
Nope, you do not.
Can i simply place .iso format game file in the usb and let USB Advance load it ? (Can USB Advance load .iso game files?)
No, usb advance uses its own special format. Use the Winextreme software to burn it, it has a gui.
Suppose i don’t have any dvd, is there any software that can transform .iso into other formats that is readable by USB Advance ?
Mount the .ISO, and then use the program to rip it.
I am very pleased to tell you that finally i have been able to run swap magic dvd. i believe that i was not giving appropriate title to the disk. i gave it SCH-50003 and burned it with nero 7 and it worked.
but i am unable to load usb advance. i burnt it on dvd-R. is it mendatory to burn it on a CD-R or not?. i made a simple data dvd with two files provided by you. Now what i am doing wrong. please advise.
thanks for bearing with me during all this time.
regards
Well. I have finally done it. Everything is in order now. Thank you so much for your support.
Regards
Sorry to bother you once again. but now i am stuck in a very depressing kind of a situation. I renamed the swapmagic.elf file & copied to the swapmagic directory on the HDD Here is the strange thing. When i start up my ps2 with the swapmagic cd loaded, usb advance starts up but then usb advance tells me there is no HDD connected. How can this be running off the HDD and be telling me that there is not one connected?
Where as it loads the list from my pen drive but loading title message continuesly shown which i understand that usbAdvance might not be compatible with the game.
I have tried Openusbload which atleast shows the list but unable to load. what do you think what is wrong with usbadvance whicke running from my hdd.
Regards
This is getting very long. Are you using the FAT PS2 hard drive, or are you using a slim PS2 with USB hard drive with this own power adapter?
Basically how it should work is that you use swap magic CD to boot the usb advance disc. From the USB advance disc, you can see the list of games on your hard drive. Not all games work, only a certain few.
my usbadvance does not play some game like God of war, snipper elite, latest winning eleven e t c. pls what should i do
As expected. Not all games work.
pls help!!!!!!!!!
i own a fat ps2 which is modded with magic mod……
it seems that my lens would be dead soon…
so i want a help on usb adavnce.i read somewhere that we can copy files from cd of usbadvance image to memory card and run games from memory stick later using only the exploited memory card…
pls instruct me on how to burn usbadvance disc and what are all the further steps.is there any othe software also.i dont own swap magic.
many many thanks to everyone that answers.
You need to watch my free mcboot guide. See here.
what to write on CD.(.bin & .cue) just tow file on root of CD.
to make (usb advance cd) disk just write two files (.cue)&(.bin) on root of CD.please clear my mind,slim one
can i download Exploited memory card (such as Free McBoot) on internet?and i will like somebody to send me the link to download it because i am using big ps2 ntsc please
first of all … whole credit to versatileninja for advertising such a concept … lol i just read this whole tutorial and i have just finished reading the 772 comments .. yo
i actually had this concept to work in my slim ps2 a month ago (thx to versatileninja)..
i had a matrix infinity v1.5 and a 260 gigs western digital external hardrive ..
what i did ?? … i used my modded ps2 slim to boot the uLaunchELF CD and then i booted the USBadvance.ELF through the HDD itself (via Ulaunchelf) … and then i played games off the HDD … anyways …
There are some things which i think would help u ppl ..
1) if u are using the matrix infinity mod chip ~~> there are possibilities of the ps2 , not recognising the usbadvance CD . in such cases , u need to switch off ur ps2 … hold the triangle and the circle buttons and then boot the PS2… after holding the combo (triangle+circle) for maybe 8 or 12 seconds , a matrix infinity setting screen pops up .. And frm that screen u need to turn off ‘macrovision’ .. and press start and ur settings are automatically saved and the USB advance CD will boot as it should …
2) Using the PS2 as a DIVx player ~~ > LOL .. there are a lot of ppl asking bout this feature .. Well it is possible and the process is actually easy too …First of u need to get the UlaunchELF.iso (http://sksapps.com/launchers/uLaunchELF_v4.16_CD.rar) .. then u need the SMS media player ( http://sksapps.com/media/SMS_Version_2.9.rar ) ..And after u get those tools , u need to burn the ulaunch.iso and then u need to copy the SMSversion2.9.elf to the USB media (flash or hard drive) .. And then u have to boot the UlaucnELF CD via modchip or swap magic .. And then u have to launch the SMSversion2.9.elf (I.E through the interface of ulaunchelf ) … For further info bout ‘UlaunchELF’ , theres a wonderful tutorial made by our very own versatile ninja
sry for not commenting till the end .. i dont find much time ..
PS: TY versatile1.wordpress.com and the underground …..,,,, welcome to the underground << sounds really cool : )
Wow, I give you props because not only did you read the whole article, you read all the comments?! Jesus Christ.
Will you be willing to join me and help bring closure to the PS2 modding scene? It is clear you know exactly what you are talking about.
WOW … That was a quick comment from your part !! … LOL
Sure , why not ..
It would be an honor to be a part of the underground !! .. : )
And yes , i could help you with what i know .. and we people, who are interested in the PS2 modding scene , definitely needs a closure on this topic cos its getting too long !! fa realz !!
PS: where do i start ?? : )
Nice, that is good to hear. Add me on IM so we can chat, if you got it. I guess the best thing for you to do right now is two choices: stick around and check out ps2 threads as necessary helping people out, or if you want to write up a master article about modchips and how they work (I know absolutely nothing about them, I own swap magic) that would be great.
I use yahoo messenger a lot .. lol
ok , i added you
my Id is ray.icecold@yahoo.com , if u wanted to know
Sure , ill stick around and help people with what i know .. : )
And about the master article for the PS2 modchips … i think i have a certain .pdf file which u might be interested in…. : )
You are a Nut for sure. If I have a Mod Chip then I dont need any tutorial i can play it off Ripped DVDs or HDDs.
@Yo …
This tutorial by versatile, in short is about ….
1) Burning the USBadvance CD
2) Installing games, using the the USBextreme GUI or by using the command prompt, onto a USB Hard drive (which uses its own power adapter)
3) Booting the USBadvance CD on your PS2 using Mod chip or Swap Magic
4) connecting the USB hard Drive to your PS2’s USB 2.0 port
5) Playing the games installed on the USB Hard Drive on your PS2 through the USBadvance menu
I think u didn’t get the concepts of this tutorial right .. : )
And no , i don’t think that u could Start games from the HDDs without a USBadvace CD or .elf ….. But if it did work for you … pls spread the knowledge ..
Oh , i almost forgot …. Happy Thanksgiving !! @ Everyone… : )