PS2 18000 HDD question

[belmondo]

I have an old Japanese PS2 (18000 series). If I want to add a hard drive, is my only option the official drive or is there some kind of 3rd party alternative that lets me use an existing HDD?

[gunrock]

I've done a bit of research on this as my PS2 is an SCPH-10000 (modded and still going strong).

The SCPH-10000, 15000 and 18000 cannot have a hard drive added except for the specific Linux kits that were available for those machines. This is because they only have the PCMCIA card interfaces and not the dev9 interface of later PS2's.

Even if you can find the original HDD kit for those models, the HDAdvance software does not support it (something to do with the way it copies it's drivers into RAM when attached) which means that it interferes with the way that most modern pieces of PS2 software are written.

Sorry.

[belmondo]

ok, cheers for the info.

[J0e Musashi]

The SCPH-10000, 15000 and 18000 cannot have a hard drive added except for the specific Linux kits that were available for those machines. This is because they only have the PCMCIA card interfaces and not the dev9 interface of later PS2's.

That's incorrect. You can (as I have) get a dedicated official SCPH-10210 external 40GB HDD retail unit for 10/15/18000 units. These are extremely rare outside of Japan to my knowledge, as you couldn't buy them directly from shops. A later utility disc allowed you to update the entire setup to a "PS2 BB Navigator", which ran an infantile version of the PSN (that still partially runs now).
If you are able to find a DTL-H10030 HDD dev kit, you can convert it into a retail unit HDD provided you have the correct utility disc(s).
Certain PS2 games can be installed to the HDD and offer zero load times aswell as direct-to-HDD saving. You can also use the HDD to backup PS1, PS2 and PocketStation save files. You could (up until the last firmware update) copy music CD's to it also, but they got rid of that once MiniDisc was phased out.

Even if you can find the original HDD kit for those models, the HDAdvance software does not support it (something to do with the way it copies it's drivers into RAM when attached) which means that it interferes with the way that most modern pieces of PS2 software are written.

That is correct, the official unit only supports compatible titles and offers the features I described above.

[gunrock]

I stand corrected. Wasn't the SCPH-10210 actually for Final Fantasy X (or was it XI) and a couple of other titles and also featured in the Linux setup, also?

[J0e Musashi]

It's the same unit, but they have different firmware. You either have Linux or BB Navigator compatability. The BB Unit is compatible with both FFX and FFXI (amongst about 15 other games for installation and direct HDD saving), the reason being that it has the network adapter built-in so it's needed for any game you wish to play online including the recent SNK releases.