"Please insert PS2 disc" screen with Swap Magic...

[SamusKnight2K]

Okay, it finally came in the mail today, my Swap Magic discs. Unfortunately, I may have ordered the wrong set... I purchased the set of Swap Magic 3+ CODER 3.8 discs instead of 3.6. Anyway, it luckily does read them in my Playstation 2 despite my model version. But here's the problem... I insert the disc (DVD one works flawlessly, the CD one makes a slightly strange noise and takes a little longer to load.) and it loads up the program no problem. However, when I insert a burned DVD (In this case Final Fantasy XII.) and lock the tray again (Had to make a homemade swap tool, the one I got stuck with was for the V11-12 Models.) it starts loading it but after a few seconds returns to the PS2 menu before going to the red screen stating to put in a PS2 format disc. Irony too is that it even does this when swapping out the Swap Magic disc for a REAL PS2 NTSC disc. But if I insert the real PS2 disc into my PS2 without the Swap Magic disc it loads like normal.

I have a SCPH-50001 (V9 Model) Playstation 2 with the PS2 brand HDD installed. My Swap Magic 3 disc is the Swap Magic 3 + CODER DVD disc version 3.8 and I'm using Maxwell 4.7GB DVD-R discs burned at 1x speed using DVD Decrypter. Any idea as to why it's doing this? I'm hoping it's not because I'm using the 3.8 version on a V9 model. I tried searching the net regarding this but came to no avail, and the Swap Magic box states it works with ALL versions of the Playstation 2 up to the newer SCPH-70000+ series.

EDIT: Should also mention that my PS2 is a refurbished brand. I got it about 2 years ago but despite that I'd imagine it should still work with this version of Swap Magic even if any interior modifications were done.

[SegNin]

Maybe your copy of Swap Magic is defective?
Or you didn't install it properly?

If you know somebody who has an unchipped PS2, you could try your Swap Magic in their PS2 to see if it works.

If it doesn't, then maybe you could return your Swap Magic and get another one.

[Cookie Monster]

Does it happen with all your backups? FF XII doesn't have a big TOC so SM should load it without more swaps. Perhaps cleaning the lens would help.

[SamusKnight2K]

Here's the lowdown... When I insert the Swap Magic 3 Plus CODER 3.8 DVD disc it reads it fairly quickly. At the Boot Disc menu I insert my homemade Swap Tool, carefully pull open the drive and insert the backup. I close the tray, lock it with the Swap Tool again, and then start the game. It shows a screen stating it's loading the disc then goes to black. I can hear it reading the disc but then the LED on the drive comes on and I hear that being read. Shortly after the screen returns at the PS2 menu showing my memory card and HDD. The screen THEN fades out and the red screen stating to insert a PSX or PS2 format disc appears.

Now, I've tried this using my actual games I own (NTSC/US, not imports. My PS2 is an NTSC/US too.) implementing the Swap Trick and not even those will load. But if I insert them w/o using the Swap Trick those will load. And as for backups, I downloaded the FFXII ISO image and burned that with DVD Decrypter. But I then later ripped the first disc of my Star Ocean :TET and burned that using IMGBurn. Both attempts yielded the same results. I did an ID on my DVD-R's I have and came up with this info:

Manufacturer: Maxwell
ID Type: Prodisc2
Type: DVD-R (Not DVD+R, but DVD-R.)

My burner is an off-brand of some kind labeled as an ATAPI DVD DUAL Max4 2.30 with the letters "MSI" on the front. I salvaged it from an older PC but it's DVD R/RW capable. I plan to try a better brand of DVDR's when I get my paycheck this Friday and hope maybe that's the cause of this. Also, while it's probably normal as how they were made there are these notable rings going from the center out on the bottom of both the DVD and CD versions of my Swap Magic CODER. But being my first copies I can't be very certain.

EDIT: Might add I purchased these from the DIVINEO China website. I by mistake purchased the one with the Slide Card designed for the PS2 Slim and V11/V12 models. Still, the 3.8 version even states it's compatible with all models of Playstation 2's. Also, I haven't even opened my PS2 since purchasing it, the warranty seal is still intact.

[Haldrie]

Your PS2 is having trouble reading the disc and when it does that it reloads the bios. Try using DVD+Rs instead as the PS2 has issues with DVD-Rs. At least I know mine does.

A slide tool for the PS2 Slim? There's no such thing as the slim has a drive door that open on the top. Something is really messed up on that site.

[SamusKnight2K]

Your PS2 is having trouble reading the disc and when it does that it reloads the bios. Try using DVD+Rs instead as the PS2 has issues with DVD-Rs. At least I know mine does.

A slide tool for the PS2 Slim? There's no such thing as the slim has a drive door that open on the top. Something is really messed up on that site.

Good god that's all it was! On my way home I took a $10.00 I was saving and stopped at Walgreens. Lucky for me they had a 25Pk of Sony DVD+R's for $8.99. I wasn't sure if my DVD burner supported this format until I used the Nero Info Tool program. At least I know what the "Dual" part in my burner's name means now. Anyway, burned another copy of FFXII and tested it out on my system. Sure enough it ran flawlessly after using the Swap Trick.

Thanks for the help all, I intend on buying a flip top case at a later date to do away with the Slide Card method. Now to find a copy of HD Advance, burn that, and then install FFXII to my PS2's HDD...

[Haldrie]

You can get ELF versions of the original HDLoader and the hacked version that gives it more compatibility here. If you can't run homebrew on your PS2 then just use the Idependence Exploit which allows you to execute homebrew on any fat PS2 (they fixed the exploit on the slims) using any original PlayStation disc and a modified system file on your memory card. Don't exactly have much time to give you a link for that but Google is how I found everything I needed for it.

Oh and for FF12 you need to apply a patch to it for it to run on the hacked version of HDLoader otherwise it just shows a black screen when you try to run it.

[SamusKnight2K]

I don't see why I couldn't run homebrew programs off my PS2, Swap Magic CODER 3.8 has the option to load ELF files from the memory card or USB Storage Devices.