PS2 Modding...

[cleeg]

I'm thinking of modding my PS2 (really pleased with myself here, I managed to fix a stuck disc tray; works like a dream!), but I have a few questions...

1) It's plugged into my TV with an RBG SCART cable. I understand that this will not encode an NTSC colour signal, the AV channel the console is connected to can be switched between RGB and S-Video. Will the cable in use at the moment carry an S-Video signal with colour? Composite is not really a desirable option.

2) If this doesn't work, can it be solved by using some sort of region patching software?

3) What is the best modchip to use for a fat PS2 SCPH300003?

Thanks folks.

[Devil N]

Concerning points 1) and 2), your current situation is ideal. Don't change any of that.

The terms 'PAL' and 'NTSC' don't really apply when you're talking about RGB SCART. That's because an RGB connection carries neither a PAL colour signal, nor an NTSC colour signal. What it does carry is... RGB, which is an altogether different colour signal. That's why RGB SCART is ideal, because you don't need a TV that explicitly supports NTSC, and you get the best quality signal as well.

All you need is a TV that supports 525/30 line mode (same as PAL-60), and the rest is moot.

[retrospiel]

I recently got a modded PS2 (slim) with a Matrix Infinity chip. It runs everything, and all in RGB. The chip got a boot menu where you can enable some video options - like a green tint fix for DVD playback. So I don't think switching to S-Video is useful for anything.

[Yoder]

You can look at doing a FreeMCBoot soft mod. I did one and it's worked great. Doing the mod was a lot of fun too...takes a few hours of learning, modifying, burning. Not for everybody, but neither is soldering that crazy mod chip...

[cleeg]

Thanks for all the tips so far guys, it's appreciated.

You can look at doing a FreeMCBoot soft mod. I did one and it's worked great. Doing the mod was a lot of fun too...takes a few hours of learning, modifying, burning. Not for everybody, but neither is soldering that crazy mod chip...

Is that the one with that slide tool thing?

[cleeg]

There's a modded PS2 with a Hard Drive on eBay I've looked at, the seller says when run through RGB SCARTthe pic is in black and white for NTSC games. It's a PAL TV. Would my NTSC compatible TV run a colour picture through RGB SCART with that unit? He says he gets a colour picture with a composite cable.

[Yoder]

FreeMCBoot is a soft mod. It's a game save exploit that lets you play games patched with the ESR patch. You may have to do a disc swap to do the actual mod IIRC, so if you have a PS Phat, you may have to make a slide tool do that so that's a pain. I have a slim which required just taping down three switches in side to swap discs. Then I did the memory card thing that will actually allow me to use the memory card on any PS2 to play ESR patched burned games.

Gotta run for now but I can help with it later. For now, google freemcboot and you'll find a wealth of info. May help to borrow a PS2 slim from a buddy to do the first one...

[Devil N]

There's a modded PS2 with a Hard Drive on eBay I've looked at, the seller says when run through RGB SCARTthe pic is in black and white for NTSC games. It's a PAL TV. Would my NTSC compatible TV run a colour picture through RGB SCART with that unit? He says he gets a colour picture with a composite cable.

Well that information is just... wrong.

First of all, it's pretty rare that a PAL TV supports a native NTSC colour signal through composite, most of them only support PAL-60. My Bang & Olufsen TV happens to support NTSC colour, but it's the first one I've ever seen, and it's a pretty expensive TV.

Secondly, there's no reason why a TV with support for NTSC over composite would not support a colour 60Hz signal over RGB. RGB colour is supported by basically every modern PAL TV, so the worst thing that can happen is that the screen starts rolling because the TV does not support the 60Hz timing signal. But a black-and-white picture in 60Hz with a proper RGB connection? That is unheard of.

The only things I can think of that might have happened are A) the seller meant to say component instead of composite, B) the seller has connected his RGB SCART cable to a non-RGB capable SCART port, and/or C) the seller has connected his PS2 using an AV-SCART adapter and thinks it is an RGB SCART cable while it's not.

Bottom line: proper RGB SCART + a 60Hz capable TV = colour picture, always. It's as simple as that.

P.S.: With 'proper' RGB I mean: the device is connected to the TV using a fully-wired RGB SCART cable, the device is actually outputting an RGB signal, and the cable is connected to an RGB-capable SCART port on the TV, with RGB input selected if necessary.

[TmEE]

B/W image in 60Hz over RGB means the cable is faulty.

[cleeg]

This all sounds extremely promising. Thanks a lot everyone.

[Devil N]

By the way, you mentioned the Slide Tool in an earlier post. If you're interested to know how it works, I've been using Swap Magic for my PS2 with a homemade slide tool for many years now, with great satisfaction. The obvious advantage is that you don't need to do any modding to your PS2, yet you can play almost all imports and backups with it.

Coincidentally, I made a small video a few months ago demonstrating the use of my slide tool to boot a backup copy of the Japanese NiGHTS Into Dreams PS2 re-release:



That's using an RGB cable, by the way.

[cleeg]

Thanks for all this effort. I just have a couple more questions:

1) Is it possible to load games from an installed Hard Drive from all regions?
2) If so, do you have to have the console chipped as in the above post to run out of region games from this Hard Drive?

Thanks.

[Devil N]

I have a 80GB 3.5" hard drive installed in my unmodded PS2, along with an HDLoader (aka HDAdvance) disc. Installing imports and backups can be done by using a slide tool, or by hooking up the hard drive to a PC and using a special program. Once a game is installed to the HDD though, it will boot without the need for any special tricks, regardless of the game's region.