[How To] Boot Games Off Network (SMB) With Playstation 2 (PS2) Using OpenPS2Loader
Revisions:
2-6-10: Draft release because I could not wait. It’s currently 1:40AM at time of this posting.
4-22-15: Link fixed.
I will add more details to this post later in the day after I have some more rest. I still think the title of this article is “clunky” so if you can help me think of a better title, please post it in the comments.
In the meantime, please watch the Youtube Video and you will understand what I did here. This is a great breakthrough for all PS2 enthusiasts across the world.
Video Tutorial
Posted on February 6, 2010, in playstation 2 and tagged Crossover Cable, Ethernet, Exploited Memory Card, FMCB, Free McBoot, Modchip, Network, OpenPS2Loader, playstation 2, ps2, Router, SMB, sony, Swap Magic. Bookmark the permalink. 81 Comments.
Welcome to the Underground. 
You have a ‘[How To] Boot Games Off USB With PS2’ Post..
Why not have a sister tittle for this one ?
Like ‘[How To] Boot Games Off Network (SMB) With Ps2 using Ps2loader’..
I tried it today and was successful .. YAY..
Heaven it is !! .. amazing !
Games with ridiculous high resolution videos, play with no fault, what so ever..
I tested Pes 2010, GT4 (dual layer), splinter cell Pandora tomorrow and NFS pro-street.
In the case of PES 2010.. the loading speeds were so fast it out-matched the DVD speeds.
And in GT4, the starting trailer.. You wont believe it.. but it ran with no complaints what so ever and i ran the whole game in HD mode and played it.. lmao.
Oh yeah sadly.. i couldn’t get this to work on my laptop (vista OS).. Instead i connected it to my PC, which uses win 7, via a crossover cable..
And yeah.. your video made it simple when it came to win 7.. Got it to work in first try! 🙂
Configuring Vista felt lame.. and Vista doesn’t show the public network setting unless you have a LAN started…But in win7 they show that..
Needs to figure out a way to make it work with vista.
Put the PS2SMB folder in the “Public” folder. Configure everything else the same.
Thanks a LOT guy my setup did not worked ’til i did what you said. Thanks thanks and more thanks.
Btw nice blog : D
By “Public”, you mean C:\Users\Public ?
1. Oh yeah, I need you to tell me what are the color combination of your crossover lan cable? Please tell me both of them, from 1 to 8. Are both jack’s colors are the same combination, or different? I’m afraid my problem is the lan cable I’m using.
2. Umm, I’m gonna make sure of this: Can I really use a PC to PC lan cable??
PC to PC lan cable is called a crossover cable. Look at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_cable
how many ps2 console can use 1 smb connection?
No, you got it all wrong. We are not creating a multi-PS2 LAN network.
The tutorial is about playing network stored ps2 games on your ps2, using the SMB feature.
It’s like this..
1) You install games on your PC.
2) Set up a network between your ps2 and your PC.
3) Use openps2loader to boot the games which are stored on your PC.
Watch the open ps2 loader video, which is posted on this thread, for better understanding.
I think he’s asking about how many PS2 Consoles can connect to the PC to leech off the installed games. (Assuming he’s using a router/switch)
Hi, thanks for all the cool vids and tutorials on your blog!
I never imagined to ever be able to use the PS2 to this extent lol
Just got a few (nooby; sorry) questions to throw at ya:
1) When booting a game via this network connection, will it use up the internet quota you pay your ISP for? (i.e your cap) – if so, will it use up a lot? How much data usage should I expect for an hours worth of game playing? (just approximately)
2) Also, can you play video/audio files in your public folder using SMSplayer, OpenPS2Loader on the PS2 or something?
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the nooby questions!!!
(P.S: lol at the BroodWar CD lol)
1) No, You are just setting up a network between your ps2 and your PC. It doesn’t matter even if you didn’t have an internet connection.
2) Yes, SMS can run movies through network. I’m not sure how, but i think it works just like openps2loader.
In regards to number 2: SMSPlayer plays your movies. Maybe MP3 files.
I am running windows 7 and followed everything in your torturial but am still haveing trouble. I have a Simple Tech USB 120g hdd and have formated it with ul_format. I installed games using usbExtream win32 installer. I can see the games via usb but when I launch the network it counts down to 1 and then nothing. I’ve used open ps2 launcher 0.6 and 0.7 with the same results.
Look at my Windows 7 screenshots. It does work. Are you using crossover cable or router?
it didn’t work for me
The PC does not recognize my ps2 it says “cable is unplugged”
when start network in OPL 0.7, it freezes
This is what I did so far:
– I have already shared my games folder in the PC.
– The shared folder name is set to PS2SMB.
– The PC IP and the ps2’s IP are set as mentioned in OPL config and the video.
– my exploited memory card with OPL 0.7 is ready and works great with USB-installed games.
– Games are installed using USButil 2
Is there anything to be done?
thanks
Please ensure you are able to ping the PS2 during countdown. If not, check your settings. Also, the shared folder must be on a FAT32 partition.
I tried to ping it during countdown. It just jumps from 5 to 2 and freezes as usual.
I’m using a 16-GB USB flash desk formatted with FAT32 and a crossover cable.
My network adapter is Realteck-controlled.Could this be the reason???
It always shows “Network Cable Unplugged”, but when I run another app that supports networking such as Action Replay, it says “Unidentified network”
Sorry for the inconvenience I really wish you could help me.
Flash drive is a big issue. Please try a fat32 partition on your computer hard drive and try again.
May be your firewall would be a problem. Try turning it off.
Thanks a lot for your awesome tutorials…
I’m having the same symptoms that big boss have… I got everything configured according to your video… network countdown starts on 5 jumps to 2 and then… nothing…
Any ideas?
Thanks
Just in case… I’m using
PS2 Slim SCPH-77001
Exploited MemoryCard
FMCB
OpenPS2Loader 0.7
Laptop Dell Latitude D620
Seagate 500GB USB Drive with 3 Partitions (1 of them FAT32 formated)
Crossover cable
Thanks for your time!
Can you ping the PS2? Tell me all your network settings in the OPL and for your PC.
Finally, I found out what was wrong
It was my mod chip type, I tried it on another same ps2 version but with a different mod chip and it worked alright.
OK, here is my mod chip:
What kinds are best supported by OPL ????
Don’t know.
If ur pointing that this is a mod chip issue, than try disable ur modchip,may be like this way:
remove any memory card,leave the disk cover open>press and hold the reset button until sony screen appears release it,
o i forgot watch my video,
Regards
Congrats dude, this is exactly what I trying to do. I’m curious about your config, more specifically, the modchip you use, because it seems it will work on some modchips.
Best Regards.
Works great!
I’d love to run the games from a NAS drive and not have to use the computer. Any advice on how to do this?
Consult the psx-scene forums.
Please let me know how to connect ps2 game box with computer. ops software how to install ps2 and pc.
Read the tutorial carefully, it is very easy, if u stuck some where than tell us.
Regards
No. Go to pcsx2.net.
Hello Versatile, long time no see.
Ahh. . . Feels good to be coming here again. Just wanna let you know about the progress I’m making:
The burning method to play a backup DVD games are failed. Not you, it’s just that I failed greatly. It’s just the modchip, I guess, and I have no intention to change the modchip. So let’s just leave it at that. 🙂
Play it through a USB harddrive. Works great with no problem, I was able to use this method in one try.
Using SMB, well, at least I managed to do this. Just like ICE says, heaven it is! It really was the lan cable not being a crossover one, at that time. Then I bought a “real” one, and it works perfect.
Then again, I still have some questions for you:
1. When I play a heavy game through USB, like Baldur’s Gate, the game slows at some point where the game is rendering the environment. I can understand about the FMV being laggy, but I wonder why the in-game slows down. Is there a way to prevent this? Maybe by using a hi-speed USB cable, or using an external-powered harddrive?
2. I also found the slowing problem, even with the SMB method. The FMV plays with no flaw, but the game still slowing down at some point. Why is that?
1) I don’t know if there is a good answer for this. When I played God of War 1 and 2 with SMB or USB with OPL V.8. the FMVs were flawless. It helps to defrag the game every time you add or remove a game to your USB or PC computer drive. Although USB powered hard drives do work, I always recommend externally powered. I did a video on this on youtube that shows you that a flash drive, externally powered, and usb powered hard drive works all right.
2) What you mean FMV plays with no issues, but the game is slowing down? Not sure why the game would go into a slow mo mode for? If you want the best heaven experience, either try fat ps2 with internal hard drive, or perhaps use ESR launcher. This uses the laser, but at least no swapping required.
But now that hard drives are super cheap, I have a lot of hard drives laying around. I can’t resist a good deal. 1 TB to hold all my PS2 games? Sold!
1. Haha, I’ve watched your video, and I’m using the same WD Elements external HDD. Maybe you’d like to put the Baldur’s Gate .iso to your DVD folder and try playing it yourself? It’s a good game though, mate. And this is even better, it’s multiplayer so you could play with your friends! 🙂
2. Definitely gonna hunt an external powered USB device. So, this kind of device being better is not about the transfer speed, is it? Because PS2 has the USB 1.1 anyway, so transfer speed does not make any difference. It’s because the power source that makes it better than a USB powered external HDD, am I right?
3. Well, I can’t capture a video of Baldur’s Gate slowed gameplay (yet), but maybe you could try that yourself. It’s just a suggestion, which is if you do, it’d be a great help to straighten the confusion. Baldur’s Gate is a seamless hack n slash action RPG, seamless that it has no loading when you play in a dungeon. So no wonder when you move to a new area, the game renders the environment and, because I’m using a USB powered HDD, the game slows down a moment, and play normally after the environment has been rendered. Maybe you have misunderstand, the slow mo is just a moment and then the game plays beautifully.
4. About the ESR launcher, I’ve wathced your video but I’m still confused. You are using the 3 sensors blocking method, aren’t you? So when you play the game, the disc starts spinning itself. But I heard that I don’t have to do the sensor blocking, so how am I supposed to play the game? Close the tray and choose to boot the game,or choose to boot the game first and then close the tray?
Hey mate, I’m sorry about the numbers and all, but I hope you could reply to each corresponding numbers. It’s just to keep things tidy 😀
1) I have over 170+ PS2 games between my brother and myself. Bauldur’s Gate is not part of that list and I’ve only played 10 percent or so of my collection to 100 completion. Call me game whore, but I can’t resist collecting games. 🙂 Also, I have played this back in the day on PC many times, so I am not new to the game.
2) I have just grown up on the philosophy that externally powered devices are better than relying on the 2 USB ports for providing power. Who wants to mess around with 1 usb port, or get a 2 usb port y-adapter to make your enclosure work?
3) Don’t worry about it. I suspect the rendering of the environments is causing this temporary slow down.
4) The only reason why I still have 3 sensors blocked is because I need it blocked for playing PS1 games, and also when I have to use my swap magic discs for all my non-ESR games. If using ESR, the PS2 can just boot it when you load ESR. No need for blocking sensors for ESR method.
Hi there, thank you very much for the tutorials. I managed to start ps2 games over the network, which I was aiming to do. However, even during the game, the disc constantly spins. Is this normal, the whole point being to preserve the laser?
Thanks!
Why do you have a disc in the first place for?
I use it to boot uLauncher, since I have the slim version of PS2, free mcboot won’t start off my memory card.
When you start playing your game via USB/SMB just open the lid of your ps2. Disc would automatically stop spinning….Thats it!
Wow… nice guide. Working fine on my ps2. Thank you.
Where did you get your opl theme with the XMB and the moving background? I can find anything like it. thanks!
That is OPL v.7
Thanks for that info, Versatile 🙂
Hi! I folowed you tutorial and managed to get it working, but i have problems with some games like: Marvel vs capcom , The Fast and the furious , Call of Duty and others are working but the image has no color, just black and white. Know any fix for black and white , please?
And God of War 1 freezes during gameplay when I reach a movie.
That is unfortunate. Please defrag the hard drive, and make sure you are using NTSC or PAL for your region.
hello, i have a problem with SMB and my ps2, i did every thing in this tuto and worked fine the first attempt, later i turned off the console and when i tried to play again it does not show the games, so i restart the console and sometimes it shows the list of games and sometimes not, not frezee screen just the list does not appear in the TV.
even when the list of games does not appear, i can ping the ps2 from the pc with the ip.
sometimes i must restart 10 times the ps2 to get the game list… it that normal?
PLease any help will be so usefull!
i use:
a crossover cable
a 70000 NTSC console with died lens
OPL 0.8
win XP, FAT32 partition shared with guest account permission of read
games installed with usbutil 2.1
the cable was make it by a friend of me that know of that stuff…
thanks…
Are we sure IP did not change for PS2?
ips are static:
pc:
ip 192.168.1.2
mask 255.255.255.0
gateway empty
ps2:
ip 192.168.1.10
mask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.2
i tried with opl 0.7 last nigth and sometimes it shows the list of games and sometimes the count down jump from 5 to 2 then to 1 and the screen freeze. (sorry for my english, it is not my mother thong )
with opl 0.8 dont freeze, just activate the lan in the pc and could ping from pc to ps2 with response, but the games dont appear, but sometimes the list appear (that is what i cant understand, if work, works, if not, dont…), but when i restart the ps2 5 or 6 times, the list appear. that is so rare. i guess is the cable, i will try to purchase a original cable, couse this was made by a friend, a home made cable…
i will try to take a video and upload to youtube for you to understand better…
thanks…
Get a real crossover cable and try again.
prloblem solved, the cable is ok, it is not the cable, i did this:
get a switch, and a normal cable, conected the pc to the shitch with the crossover and the ps2 to the switch with the normal cable and works very well all the time…
with the crossover directly i saw that the network conection activated lately at the pc, and the ps2 didnt get the game list, couse the time-out was to short…
with the switch the lan in the pc is always activated and the ps2 always get the game list…
now i must purshase a switch…
there is a way to increase the time-out for the connection?
Thanks for your time…
No, always 5 seconds.
that’s a damn shame. I have this same issue. the program doesn’t seem to give my pc enough time to connect to the network. if there is no way to increase the time-out, we’ll have to see if there is another solution without going out and buying a hub. back to the drawing board.
Ideally, the crossover method should work out fine. I never had an issue with that solution.
Hi, i want to buy a Network Adapter for my fat ps2, and i have a question:
Can i get acces to hdd and play games when my computer is turned off?
Internal HD yes, PC, no when PC is off.
And for sure:
There is no matter if i connect ps2 directly to pc, or if i connect ps2 to my router?
BTW, im sorry for my poor english, but i’m still learning 🙂
See the PS2 router video, I just made it at youtube.com/gamedexterity
dude,
whenever i put ip as 192.168.0.2 the network fails.
what is the problem ?
Simple. Write down all the network configs for your PC and PS2 here and I’ll check them out.
Hello.
I can’t get the games working network connected.
my pc share PS2SMB hard drive with usb extreme loaded games ul.cfg.
They work with usb. The share work fine with sms but never had the game list on OPL 0.8.
Tried OPL0.7 but freeze at network starting
Ps2 ip 192.168.0.10 conneted to router.
PC ip 192.168.0.4 connected to router. win xp with simple file sharing activated.
Tried guest, administrator with password
PC ping ps2 ok.
ps2 slim scph 7004.
What am i missing?
Any ideas?
Defrag the hard drive and try once more.
Hi.
Defrag was at 0%. HDD full low format and FAT32 primary partitioned.
would Logical be better?
The OPL uses primary partitions only!
Crossover cable works great but for some reason i cant save games. I mounted a VMC, then i entered the game started saving and the game says “memory card not in the slot”. Pls help.
Never did VMC before, whats wrong using a real memory card?
Works fine now, you just need to create one save file.
Awesome as always. 🙂 I’m still waiting for the crossover cable I bought through ebay, can’t find any on stores here on our place. and btw, my fmcb doesn’t boot when I press the power button once, it just stays on the logo part, It only boots when I press the power button twice which sets my modchip to ps1 mode. I tried reinstalling using normal install and multi install, but it is still the same. any ideas??
Disable macrovision for the modchip. Do you have a manual for the modchip? Some modchips you got to boot holding triangle and some other button, but I have no idea since it changes for each modchip.
I have no idea what kind of modchip they installed on my ps2. haha, i guess i’m gonna have to try some things. One thing, I heard rumors that playing ps1 games on ps2 puts a lot of stress on the lens, is there any truth to this? and uh, network gaming for ps1??
Network gaming for PS1 does not exist, yet. Added stress on PS2? Never had it kill my PS2 yet.
Versatile, I’m planning to buy a ps3 in a few months, and uhh, I don’t really know how to choose the best and the things to look for, like buying a slim rather than a fat ps3. I wanted to ask for an advice first from PS masters like you. And most importantly, is it too late for ps3? Are they gonna release a ps4 soon? Thanks in advance!
PS4 is few years away. If you want to get a PS3 for modding, well, I suggest you find a PS3 that has the oldest firmware installed. Learn more about PS3 hacking at psx-scene.com
I see, but what ps3 would you prefer? and why?
Fat PS3 with older firmware because it could have PS2 emulation.
I can’t make it work on my ps2 slim. I bought a crossover cable online and still no progress. My pc doesn’t even recognize the ps2, it says network cable unplugged. I’m pretty sure that I did everything correct. I’m so confused right now.
You have FMCB and OPL v.8?
Yes, I have. I can’t make it work with SMS as well, I’m starting to think that something’s wrong with my ps2’s network adapter. I’m pretty sure it is a crossover cable because I can actually connect my desktop to my laptop and I could access the shared folder (PS2SMB). Maybe I should try the router method instead? Is it possible to have the loading times on router method to be as good as a direct connection? (considering that the ps2 is the only one connected to the router. no multiple connections)
Try the router method, speed is as good as crossover cable.
Video has been removed by YouTube
Fixed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ggtDMIovQ
nice post, keep it up