Gearing up to Freemcboot my old Fat PS2... Any tips or thoughts before I do?

[thetwaz]

Having read about it a reasonable amount, what I'm essentially planning on is:

1. Buying a 2TB HDD (rather than SSD) - as apparently the difference in speed is negligible and it requires more adapters to work
2. Buying if possible an official SATA/Newtork adapter, but will cope with a third party one (any particular suggestions?)
3. Probably buying a memory card with Freemcboot pre-loaded
4. Format HDD to FAT32
5. Following the magic steps to populate said hard drive with content
6. Load up Freemcboot and go

Have I got that right? Is there anything you learned from doing the process that would be wise to consider?

 

[NeonKnights]

I recommend getting an OEM Sony network adapter and buying the PS2 SATA Bitfunx adapter PCB kit (This kit requires no soldering) from Zed labs or wherever as the third party models usually don't offer any online functionality and the price of the third party model would factor into the OEM price anyway. I would also recommend the Grimdoomer OPL mod that allows for use of exFAT formatted drives letting you drag and drop your games. I also recommend you have a FAT32 formatted flash drive on hand. I have an SSD in my PS2 3000 model and I notice the fast load times especially in games like "The Fear" a Japan only FMV game with nearly seamless loading times with SSD, but it's up to you. The game doesn't start until you say yes.

 

[thetwaz]

I recommend getting an OEM Sony network adapter and buying the PS2 SATA Bitfunx adapter PCB kit (This kit requires no soldering) from Zed labs or wherever as the third party models usually don't offer any online functionality and the price of the third party model would factor into the OEM price anyway. I would also recommend the Grimdoomer OPL mod that allows for use of exFAT formatted drives letting you drag and drop your games. I also recommend you have a FAT32 formatted flash drive on hand. I have an SSD in my PS2 3000 model and I notice the fast load times especially in games like "The Fear" a Japan only FMV game with nearly seamless loading times with SSD, but it's up to you. The game doesn't start until you say yes.

Thanks - I will take these into consideration!