PS2 Softmod ultimate guide

INDEX

• Post #1 this post Index
• Post #2 Stuff & Files needed and Getting started
• Post #3 Installing MC_BOOT and ESR
• Post #4 Creating ESR ready media
• Post #5 Official Web Sites & Credits
• Post #6 Cheat system for ESR
• Post #6 Backup save data to PC

PSX Loader, to add

STUFF NEEDED

1. A way to boot elf files (see Getting Started for more information and methods)
2. A Playstation 2 (RGB mode for install only after if you like switch back to Y Cb/Pb Cr/Pr mode)
3. A Playstation 2 memory card with apx 4MB free
4. A USB storage device formated as FAT

If you do not have any part of the above or do not feel you can do this alone we do have an install service [ADD LINK HERE]

FILES NEEDED

To Install

Download the correct region file for your console

PAL-E files (English) NTSC-U files NTSC-J files

The above can be extracted directly to the root of the USB storage device you are using, make sure the path structure is kept

To create ESR DVD's

ESR DVD Patcher ... More tools to come please wait

GETTING STARTED

First thing we need is a way of booting elf files on the PS2

Over the years there have been many methods of doing this, I will outline these here

• Mod chip that can boot elf files from USB
  Spoiler warning:

  • copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  • insert this into your PS2 and launch the elf file ULAUNCH
• Mod chip that can only boot CD-R's & DVD+/-R's
  Spoiler warning:

  • copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  • insert this into your PS2
  • Burn the uLaunch CD or DVD
  • Insert and boot up the uLaunch CD or DVD
• Swapmagic 3.2+ or higher/Game Injected with SwapMagic Elf
  Spoiler warning:

  • copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  • On the USB storage device create a folder called SWAPMAGIC
  • Make a copy of ULAUNCH.ELF and LAUNCHELF.CNF in the folder SWAPMAGIC
  • In the folder SWAPMAGIC rename ULAUNCH.ELF to SWAPMAGIC.ELF
  • Insert the UBS storage device into your PS2 and boot your SwapMagic CD or DVD to run uLaunch
• Swapmagic CD or DVD/Game Injected with SwapMagic Elf
  Spoiler warning:

  • copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  • insert this into your PS2
  • Burn the uLaunch CD or DVD
  • Boot Swapmagic CD or DVD
  • Insert and boot up the uLaunch CD or DVD
• Action Replay 2 v2 (Game Shark 2 v2) Cog Swop, Flip Lid or other PS2 CD swapping method
  Spoiler warning:

  • copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  • insert the USB storage device into your PS2
  • Burn the uLaunch CD
  • Boot up AR/GS 2 v2 wait for disc to stop, cog swop, fliptop or other method
  • Insert newly burned CD and select start game without cheats
  • this will now run uLaunch
  
  
  More methods to come (not all are listed already) [LINK IN GUIDES OR WRITE THEM]
  
• Action Replay Max Evo info not there yet
  Spoiler warning:

  copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  insert this into your PS2 and and launch the elf file ULAUNCH
• Code Breaker 8.1 + info not there yet
  Spoiler warning:

  copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  insert this into your PS2 and and launch the elf file ULAUNCH
• Memor32 card info not there yet
  Spoiler warning:

  copy everything in the PS2 ready folder to a USB storage device
  insert this into your PS2 and and launch the elf file ULAUNCH

Pre-built uLaunch CD & DVD can be found at http://sksapps.com/index.php?page=launchers.html [UPLOAD DIRECTLY AT SOME POINT]
[LINK UP GUIDE FOR CREATING A SWAPMAGIC DISC FROM A RETAIL OWNED GAME]

INSTALLING FREEMCBOOT & ESR

Now that you can run uLaunch you can get on with installing MC_BOOT and ESR to your PS2 memory card

Make sure both the memory card and usb device are both inserted into the PS2 before starting

1. run uLaunch with whatever method you use and press O once uLaunch loads
2. hit down until mass:/ is highlighted in red and press O
3. hit down until FREE_MCBOOT.ELF is highlighted in red and press O
4. MC_BOOT loads for the first time
5. Make sure Normal Install is highlighted and hit X (Multi-Version=works on all PS2's in the region your PS2 is made)
6. Wait for the install to complete
7. hit right until fmcb configurator is highlighted and hit X
8. hit X and press down on the D-pad until Configure ESR path... is selected and hit X
9. hit X and go to mc0:/APPS/ (navigating with the D-Pad hitting X to open the paths) and then highlight ESR.ELF and hit X
10. hit down until Return is highlighted and hit X
11. hit up on the D-pad until Configure OSDSYS options... is selected and hit X
12. make sure uLaunch.elf is setup correctly on path1: if not.. do much the same as you did for ESR but for uLaunch.elf (path should be mc0:/APPS/ULAUNCH.ELF)
13. once done hit down on the D-pad until Return is highlighted and hit X
14. hit down until Return is highlighted and hit X
15. hit down until Save CNF to MC0 is selected and hit X
16. hit down until PS2 Browser (FMCB Restart) is selected and hit X
17. once the PS2 has booted select uLaunchELF and hit X
18. Hit O and on the next screen Hit O again
19. Press down till you get to B?EXEC-SYSTEM is highlighted red and press O
20. Press down once to highlight osdmain.elf and hit R1
21. Press down until Rename is selected and hit O
22. Rename file to dvdplayer.elf using the d-pad to navigate and O to select, X will delete what is behind the curser, once done hit O over OK
23. Hit R1 again and select Copy and hit O
24. Hit Triangle twice
25. Hit down until mass:/ is highlighted and hit O
26. Hit down until B?EXEC-DVDPLAYER/ is highlighted and hit O
27. Hit R1 and select Paste and hit O then hit triangle
28. (B?EXEC-DVDPLAYER/ should still be highlighted, if not make sure it is) hit R1
29. select Copy and hit O then hit triangle
30. select mc0:/ and hit O
31. hit R1 and select Paste and hit O
32. power off and power on the PS2, your mod is completed

ESR DVD PATCHING - BURNING & MEDIA GUIDES

• CD media games, converted to DVD5 Media
  
  Spoiler warning:

  For now you may want to check out saito's Ps2 Cd To Dvd Tutorial
  
  List of CD games
• DVD5 media games (Create, Patch & Burn)
  
  Spoiler warning:

  Make an ISO from your DVD5 game with IMGBurn

  Spoiler warning:

  • Extract and install IMGBurn (If you don't have it)
  • Insert your DVD5 game you wish to copy
  • Run IMGBurn and select "Create Image from disc"
  • Hit the little icon that looks like a folder with a spy glass
  • Choose the destination for the new iso file to go
  • Now hit the huge icon that looks like a big CD + a play symbol to the right and a page with a picture of CD on it to very right
  • Now you have an ISO of your DVD5 Game but now it needs patching

  
  Patching your ISO with ESR boot code
  

  Spoiler warning:

  • Extract ESR_disc_patcher_GUI (If you have not already)
  • run ESR disc patcher
  • Hit Patch and select the ISO file

  
  Burn your ISO with IMGBurn
  

  Spoiler warning:

  • Extract and Install IMGBurn (If you have not already)
  • Run IMGBurn & select "Write image file to disc"
  • Insert blank DVD5 into your burning DVD drive
  • Select the little icon that looks like a folder with a spy glass on it
  • Select the DVD5 iso then hit OK
  • Now hit the huge icon that looks like a page with a picture of CD on it + a play symbol to the right and a big CD to very right
  • Well done you have just burned an ESR disc
• DVD9 media games, (Create, Patch, Burn & Convert)
  
  Spoiler warning:

  Make and ISO from your DVD9 game with IMGBurn
  

  Spoiler warning:

  • Extract and install IMGBurn (If you have not already)
  • Insert your DVD9 game you wish to copy
  • Run IMGBurn
  • select "Create Image from disc"
  • hit the little icon that looks like a folder with a spy glass and choose the destination for the new iso file to go
  • now hit the huge icon that looks like a big CD + a play symbol to the right and a page with a picture of a CD on it to very right
  • Now you have an ISO of your DVD9 Game though it still needs patching

  
  Patching DVD9 games
  

  Spoiler warning:

  • Extract Toxic DL patcher (If you have not already)
  • Run Toxic DL Patcher
  • Hit the ... buton and find your DVD9 iso file and hit Open
  • Hit Go, (the DVD9 still need one more patch to work)
  • Extract ESR_disc_patcher_GUI (If you have not already)
  • Run ESR disc patcher
  • Hit Patch and select the ISO file

  
  Burning your DVD9 games
  

  Spoiler warning:

  • Extract and install IMGBurn (If you have not already)
  • Run IMGBurn
  • Select "Write image file to disc"
  • Insert blank DVD9 into your burning DVD drive
  • Select the little icon that looks like a folder with a spy glass on it
  • Select the DVD9 iso then hit OK
  • Now hit the huge icon that looks like a page with a picture of CD on it + a play symbol to the right and a big CD to very right
  • Well done you have just burned an ESR disc

  
  Ripping DVD 9 games to DVD 5
  

  Spoiler warning:

  If your PS2 does not handle DVD9+R's (or does not read them very well)
  the next best thing is to rip these on to DVD5 discs, using Rip Kits.
  Most Rip Kits do not take anything away from the games but instead,
  split the contents over 2 or more DVD's or just remove language files out.
  
  WARNING some Rip Kits are detected as Virus software, as are some of the PSS re-sampling tools
• Online Games [DNAS]
  
  Spoiler warning:

  
  Only do this with your own personl backups or you risk having your PS2 banned
  You can google for a guide
• Good Quality Media Guide
  
  Spoiler warning:

  • DVD5 Media Verbatim DVD-R or Verbatim DVD+R
  • DVD9 Media Verbatim DVD+R DL (DVD-R DL are not recommended and will fail 90% of the time)

  
  Also note that not all PS2 lasers handle DVD+R DL discs very well if at all, often it is beter to look for DVD5 rips
  
  There are some none Verbatim branded media that do work just as well specially DVD+R media
  Most + media will work - media is a little harder to find quality media that works on the PS2
  Dual/Double Layer media is very hard to find good quality none Verbatm media
  Recommend you just stick to Verbatim DL media for your DVD9 games if you can play from DVD9 backup's at all
  
  If you are thinking of buying a cheaper discs though check out Video Help - DVD Media first and find the DVD's you want to buy there, this will provide you with good information including Console reliability

CREDITS

OFFICIAL PAGES

• sksapps Home Page (FREEMCBOOT host)
• ESR forums
• More to add later

CREDITS

• Guide created by Zorlon
• ESR created by ffgriever
• MC BOOT created by xxxxx
• Toxic DL Patcher created by Team Toxic
• CDGenPS2 created by xxxxx
• ImgBurn created by xxxxxx
• uLaunch created by xxxxxx
• Playstation 2 created by Sony

PARTIAL INFORMATION ORIGINS

• ESR Information written by xxxxxx
• Action Replay Max Evo Tutorial & CD install Method written by JNABK
• Action Replay (non Evo)/Indep. Exploit Tutorial Written by pepsi_max2k
• Codebreaker and Swapmagic Tutorials written by bootlegninja
• FMCB User Guides written by JNABK & bootlegninja
• Gameshark / Sharkport Tutorial written by Shadow147
• Gameshark Swaptrick Tutorial written by creaper

PS2 CHEAT SYSTEM

The only cheat system that will fully work with ESR patched games (will also work with original games) is Codebreaker version 9.2, 9.3 & 10

CODEBREAKER ELF FILES

Codebreaker 9.2 [MD5] [f279f8412cafe80f326bb945d7dc480f]
Codebreaker 9.2 unpacked [MD5] [7ccd8c03952838dc3a4ae9367b0c78a2] [Half way through the patching (this one is kinda complex to patch)]
Codebreaker 9.3 [MD5] [1c57469f0d7b923d8e8b72ebccedda3f]
Codebreaker 10 [MD5] [6e4d4c2723d0f83120cd06d2d0a6c8ed]

MD5 info is provided to show those are the correct version for patching

CODEBREAKER PATCHES

Patch codebreaker so it will boot up ESR instead of looking directly at the CD/DVD rom drive

Codebreaker 9.2 pre-patched [Because there is no options for patching I will give you this one pre-patched]
Codebreaker 9.3 Patch (You can use your own custom paths)
Codebreaker 10 Patch (You can use your own custom paths)

I will not include the patch for 9.2 and have instead provided that one pre-patched, see spoiler for what the patch does and the paths it looks for

Spoiler warning:

* All of the original cracked ELF features (no Anti-mod chip, disable CD/DVD check). ~ PS2TG
* HDL patch. Can load any ELF from the usual paths. ~ ffgriever
* RSA patched to allow loading of unsigned .cbc files, no upgrade.bin required. ~ Credits to misfire for the RSA work, patched by bfoos
* Domain changed to www.thegshi.com for retrieval of Day1 and game save files. ~ Patched by bfoos, Day1 server script by misfire, Day1 server setup by LiquidManZero of GSHI
* IRC server and channel lineup changed. ~ Patched by bfoos, DNS redirect provided by LiquidManZero and GSHI, permission granted by Jupi


The ELF will load any ELF file in the following paths, instead of launching CD/DVD...

hdd0:/__boot/CB_launch.elf
mass:/BOOT/CB_launch.elf
mc0:/BOOT/CB_launch.elf
hdd0:/__boot/boot.elf
mass:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF
mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF
mc0:/B?DATA-SYSTEM/BOOT.ELF
mc1:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF
mc1:/B?DATA-SYSTEM/BOOT.ELF
"?" means region code.


HINT: You can rename the elf file you want the above to start up to BOOT.ELF or CB_launch.elf and store it in the folder the above looks for

RUNNING CODEBREAKER ON YOUR PS2

• Patch Codebreaker to look for ESR on your Memory Card
• Put the patched Codebreaker.elf onto a USB storage device
• Insert the USB storage device into the first USB slot of the PS2
• Boot your PS2 up normaly and then goto the Free McBoot Configurator
• Go to Configure ESR Path...
• Change Path2: to be your usual ESR path
• Change Path1: to be your Codebreaker elf file stored on that USB storage device (listed as mass:)
• Go to Return then go to Save CNF to MC0
• Go to PS2 Browser (FMCB Restart)

The above will let you boot Codebreaker when the USB storage is inserted and just boot ESR when the USB storage is not plugged in

CODEBREAKER DIFFERENCES

• Codebreaker 9.2 [after patching] Works with both official & custom 1day code files [before patching] only official day1 code files
• Codebreaker 9.3 Works with both official & custom 1day code files
• Codebreaker 10 Only works with official day1 code files

CREATING YOUR OWN DAY1 FILES FOR V9.2 & V9.3


cbcMaker PS2 XP 2007

The above will let you make your own day 1 cbc code files, this does not work with version 10 of the Codebreaker and for version 9.3 you are required to have the update.bin also on the root of the USB storage device

If you want to update your codes in the later versions and do not want to do it on the PS2 with a control pad you can do this on your PC using this guide (this also includes information for converting other code types to Codebreaker format)

HOW TO BACKUP SAVES WITH CODEBREAKER

Method 1. A PS2 Codebreaker and a USB storage device that works with Codebreaker

1. Boot Codebreaker by whatever method works for you
2. Tap right twice on your D-Pad to the Device Manager and Hit X (You will know at this point if your USB device is being recognised by CodeBreaker)
3. Hit X again to select Memory Card 1
4. Select the saves that you wish to backup via the D-Pad and X
5. Hit Triangle to chose an action
6. You want Copy at this time so just hit X
7. You now want to select the destination of the save data with the D-Pad and then hit X (if there is only one device you only need hit X, as the D-Pad has no use)

That was simple eh now you can move that save to a PC with ease via USB (Files are named easy enough for you to recognis and they are in cbs format)

Method 2. A PS2 Codebreaker and a USB storage device that does not work with Codebreaker and uLaunch.elf

1. Boot Codebreaker by whatever method works for you
2. Tap right twice on your D-Pad to the Device Manager and Hit X (You will know at this point if your USB device is being recognised by CodeBreaker)
3. Hit X again to select Memory Card 1
4. Select the saves that you wish to backup via the D-Pad and X
5. Hit Triangle to chose an action
6. You want Compress at this time so tap down twice on the D-Pad & hit X
7. You now want to select the destination of the save data with the D-Pad and then hit X (if there is only one device you only need hit X, as the D-Pad has no use)
8. Next boot up uLaunch by whatever method you like
9. Hit O
10. D-Pad to the Memory Card you Compressed the data to mc0 or mc1 & Hit X
11. D-Pad down to CBDM and Hit X (this folder has all the Compressed saves in it)
12. D-Pad to the saves you want and Hit O to highlight them (they start with BESLES-#####/BESLUS-##### and vaious other codes #=numbers)
13. Once you have every save you want highlighted Hit R1
14. I would use the copy option here so just hit X (just think if you use move instead and something does go wrong you will of lost your save data)
15. D-Pad to ../ and Hit X and again D-Pad to ../ (../ is at the very top) and Hit X
16. D-Pad down to mass:/ (this is your USB device) and Hit X
17. (Skip this if you want to just use the root folder of your USB device) D-Pad to the folder you want the save to be stored and Hit X
18. Hit R1 (Paste should already be selected) and Hit X (Do make sure Paste is selected)

Slightly more complicated but it still works just fine and now the saves can be moved to your PC from USB for backup, these do not have a file extentions and are named by the games code.. e.g. SLUS15552 for Tomb Raider Anniversay NTSC version, might be an idea to store those in a folder named the same as the game the saves are from

Copy PSone-PSX-PS1-Playstation Saves

1. Boot the PS2 normally with no game inserted
2. Hit X on Browser
3. Hit the D-Pad to select the PS1 memory card (the gray one) and Hit X
4. Hit the D-Pad until you have selected the save you want and Hit X
5. Hit X again to select the Copy option, and X again to select the Memory Card (PS2)

Easy enough then all you do is one of the above methods to backup the PSone save data ;)

The compat list has now been seperated from this main guide and can be found at

http://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?80824